How to reschedule a gorilla trekking permit in Uganda
How to reschedule a gorilla trekking permit in Uganda: Uganda the pearl of Africa is known as the most visited destination in Africa and the world at large for Gorilla trekking adventure which is the top tourist activity done here in the pearl and to trek Mountain gorillas in Uganda, one needs to present a gorilla trekking permit as an assurance to confirm that he or she paid for the activity. However, in some cases, tourists get challenges of failing to make it for the gorilla trek due to some factors and the challenge arise as to how best they could reschedule the Gorilla trekking permits for future use. Worry not, today I bring you all the necessary information about the reschedule of a gorilla trekking permit in Uganda and trust me it isn’t a hard task.
Taking into considerations that a gorilla trekking permit in Uganda costs $700 for Foreign Nonresidents, $600 for foreign residents and Ugandan Shillings 250, 000 for Ugandans and East African community member states. Probably that’s a lot of money to lose in case of any hindrances with your travel plan to Uganda for Gorilla trekking safari.
Well, to avoid making such unplanned losses by losing out on your money paid for a gorilla permit, there is a golden chance of pushing the permits to the near future where you are sure of traveling to Uganda and enjoy your memorable gorilla trekking activity at ease. To ease all that stress of overthinking about losing your Gorilla trekking money, the best option is to request for a reschedule of the permits to any date of your choice provided there in availability of gorilla trekking permits at the Uganda Wildlife Authority at that particular date you wish to reschedule to.
Some of the reasons to reschedule gorilla trekking permit could be due to sickness probably you are ill and cannot make it to trek gorillas, loss of loved one, you could have missed a flight or rescheduled a flight due to some conditions thus unable to make it into Uganda for gorilla trekking on the already booked date and many other factors.
Rescheduling the Gorilla trekking permit implies that even the dates to stay in the accommodations have to change thus requires us to ensure that as we reschedule your gorilla trekking permits to the new dates, we as well need to confirm with the accommodations for availability of rooms on the required dates and you as well need to be sure that you will reschedule the flights to the favorable dates such that you meet with the required dates for Gorilla trekking in Uganda. The part of Accommodation and Gorilla trekking permits can easily be rescheduled using a trusted tour company like Achieve Global safari based in Kampala Uganda but all that is required is to provide a reason as to why you wish to reschedule your permits and then attach the receipts to the reschedule letter and submit to the Reservations at Uganda Wildlife Authority headquarters.
Note: The permits to be rescheduled should at least be 14 days to original trekking dates.
About gorilla trekking in Uganda,
Uganda the pearl of Africa harbors the largest population of endangered mountain gorillas that are available for trekking all year round in 2 stunning parks of Bwindi impenetrable national park and Mgahinga gorilla national park all located in south western part of Uganda.
With the largest population of these primates, Gorilla trekking remains the major tourist activity in Uganda and the rest like chimpanzee trekking, game drives, golden monkey trekking, volcano hiking, birding and many more just follow.
As of now in 2021, uganda harbors over 21 habituated gorilla families in Bwindi impenetrable national park and 1 Nyakagezi gorilla family in Mgahinga gorilla national park making a total of 22 habituated gorilla families trekked on a daily basis. Since each gorilla family allows 8 trekkers per day, it implies that Uganda Wildlife Authority issues out about 176 gorilla trekking permits on a daily basis thus bringing lots of revenue to the tourism sector and the government of Uganda.
Gorilla trekking in Uganda starts very early in the morning everyday with briefing at different trail heads. In Bwindi impenetrable national park, gorilla trekking is conducted in 4 different sectors of Buhoma, Ruhija, Rushaga and Nkuringo while in Mgahinga gorilla national park, there is just one family that has been habituated and briefing is done at the park headquarters.
After briefing, trekkers be grouped into different categories depending on the age group, fitness level and many other factors considered by the rangers or special requests from trekkers and then trekkers are led into the forest for about 1-8 hours depending how gorillas move. Once trekkers find their respective gorilla families, only 1 hour is allowed in their presence closely interacting with gorillas and taking beautiful pictures plus short videos of Gorillas.
After one hour, trekkers are advised to exit the forest and return to their respective trailheads, obtain gorilla trekking certificates and proceed with other park activities depending on their travel plans.
Gorilla trekking dos and don’ts,
The Uganda Wildlife Authority stipulates rules and regulations to be followed by anyone planning to visit Uganda for Gorilla trekking safari and they include;
- Gorilla trekking permits must be bought in advance at least 6 months and each permit is valid for one day thus no one is allowed to participate in Gorilla trekking with an expired permit.
- Minimum age limit for gorilla trekking in Uganda is 15 years
- Maximum duration spend with gorillas is 1 hour
- Only 8 persons are allowed to trek a particular gorilla family per day
- Sick people with flue or cold are not supposed to trek gorillas
- While in the park, no making noise, no eating, no drinking, no smoking and no littering the park
- A minimum social distance of 7M is recommended between you and gorillas
- Never use a camera with flash light on while in the habitat of gorillas
- In case you need to cough or sneeze turn your back away from gorillas as sneeze in Handkerchief or elbow.
- Always follow all the guidelines from the rangers at any given period of time while in the wild with gorillas.
Let us plan your dream gorilla trekking safari to either Bwindi impenetrable national park or Mgahinga gorilla national park even in Volcanoes national park in Rwanda and Virunga national park in Democratic Republic of Congo.
