Gorilla Trekking Permits for Ruhija Sector
Ruhija is a wonderful and secluded gorilla trekking region/sector within the Eastern side of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. On a daily, 24 Gorilla Trekking permits are availed for Ruhija sector and visitors can book directly from Uganda Wildlife Authority or indirectly through tour operators. This region/sector is one of the four gorilla trekking sectors of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, within south-western Uganda. Of the 400-500 mountain gorillas found in the 321-square kilometer area of Bwindi, some of them are residents of Ruhija.
This amazing sector shelters four fully habituated gorilla families, three of which are open for tourism (trekking) while one is set aside for research purposes by Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. This means there are only 24 gorilla permits available for this sector every day at the UWA Head Offices on “first come first serve basis”. The Habituated gorilla families here are Kyaguliro, Mukiza, Oruzogo and Bitukura.
Prices of Gorilla Trekking permits for Ruhija sector
Gorilla Trekking permits for Ruhija or any other sector in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park as well as Mgahinga Gorilla National Park costs $700 for foreign non-residents, $600 for foreign residents and Shs 250,000 for East African Community residents. These costs include Park entrance fees, the gorilla trekking experience, Park ranger/guide fees and the one hour to spend in the presence of mountain gorillas. The price excludes porter fees, personal expenses such as beverages, snacks and tips to rangers/guides/porters.
Who is eligible to booking gorilla Trekking permits for Ruhija sector?
Anyone of 15 years and above is eligible to booking for Gorilla Trekking Permits for Ruhija sector, or any other gorilla trekking destination.
How to book for Gorilla Trekking permits for Ruhija sector
Gorilla Permits for Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park are now issued based on the sector where the gorilla families are sheltered. If you have been booked to trek from Ruhija sector, you will definitely trek any of the three available families.
Gorilla Permits are “ONLY” issued by Uganda Wildlife Authority although booking can either be directly from UWA or indirectly through some of the trusted tour operators/ or travel agencies. Because of the high demand for permits, acquiring/booking sometimes involves bureaucracy and to avoid this, visitors are always advised to make use of the services of tour operators who just need a commission for booking the permits. All you need is to provide your intended trekking dates which the Company will use to check availability at UWA and should it be positive, make payments within 5-7 days of booking.
The Tour operator then scans and sends copies to you, to allow you go ahead with other bookings of the safari, for instance places to stay within Ruhija sector, nearby Buhoma, Kabale Town and Lake Bunyonyi. Allocation of visitors to a particular gorilla family is conducted on the trekking day, after briefing on trekking guidelines and it’s for this reason that visitors should make known their personal interests. Not only that, trekkers are allocated to particular gorilla groups based on level of physical fitness and age.
Best time to book for gorilla Trekking Permits for Ruhija sector
Booking for gorilla Trekking Permits for Ruhija sector has to be done at least 6 months before the trekking date for the peak season (months of June to September as well as December to February). For the low season (months of March to April and October to November), you can book for permits at least 3-4 months before the trekking date. This is done to allow advance preparations/planning in addition to avoiding any future disappointments, especially at the last minute. You may need to read about the best time to visit Ruhija sector.