UGANDA

Permits to view gorillas in Uganda are on high demand, with only 24 permits available per day in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park. A percentage of the permits in Bwindi are sold in advance to memebres of the Association of Uganda Tour Operators, and the rest sold three months prior to trekking to any individual.

Clients who are interested in gorilla viewing should book as early as possible. We can always try to secure permits at short notice for clients to track in Rwanda.

RWANDA

There are four family groups for trekking in Rwanda, with a total of 32 permits per day being available. These may be pre-booked as in Bwindi, but being a big number of permits per day, chances of securing a permit even at short notice are quite high except in the high season period of July and August. Gorilla viewing is excellent.

Booking Procedure:

1. Booking Office

· Booking for all gorilla permits in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park is done at UWA Headquarters in Kampala. Permits as of July 31st 2007 are US$500.

Trekking permits for Rwanda cost US$500.

2. Long Term (Two Years in Advance) Booking Allocations

· Advance booking shall be allowed up to two years as long as a deposit of 30% is made and the balance shall be paid 91 days to the tracking date.

· 80% of all the gorilla permits in each month can be booked for two years in advance by the Association of Uganda Tour Operations (AUTO) members only. Foreign tour operators must book through local tour operators.

· Each tour operator (AUTO) shall book up to only 20 permits for that particular month on the day the booking opens, which is the first working day (Monday to Friday) of the month.

3. Short time booking (three months in advance)

· Individual trackers can buy from Uganda Wildlife Authority not more than 2 permits for the month. There is no guarantee, which dates or how many per day will be available. Booking can be done on the day the booking opens, which is the first working day of the month.

4. Refunds

· UWA shall refund the full tracking fee, if the visitor fails to track due to illness, this will be at recommendation of the Warden in Charge and this clause only applies to visitors who have already tracked BINP or MGNP.

· Visitors who have tracked the whole day and failed to view the gorillas for one reason or another will be refunded 75% of the tracking fee. All refunds shall be effected through the Reservation Office at UWA Headquarters in Kampala.

The tracking time is limited from 8:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. All visitors are expected back at the campground by 7:00 p.m.