Gorilla trekking for seniors or old people in Uganda and Rwanda.
All ages, including seniors and the elderly, are eligible to go gorilla trekking as long as they are at least fifteen years old. All you have to do is get a gorilla trekking permit for the date you want to travel. To successfully complete the entire gorilla trekking experience, you can still perform additional workouts to further extend your muscles.
Sedan chairs are reasonably priced and available for rental if you have a physical disability. Porters are also included in the price, but it depends on the type of chair you choose—some original chairs and locally manufactured sedan chairs are available. A porter is someone who raises the sedan chair or carries your gorilla trekking equipment for the entire journey.
It is essential to provide your age when reserving your gorilla permit so that you are informed of the requirements in the event that you get older. As long as they are eligible, anyone can go gorilla trekking.
How to Reserve an Elderly Gorilla Trekking Permit in Rwanda and Uganda
Decide on a date for your gorilla trekking trip in Rwanda or Uganda. It’s also crucial to know how many individuals you could be traveling with.
When you contact Katland Safari to inquire about gorilla trekking, our safari advisors look up the gorilla permit listing from the Rwanda Development Board and Uganda Wildlife Authority to see whether it is available. If you want the consultant to give your age greater consideration while scheduling the gorilla permits, be sure to mention that.
To avoid being outbid by other bidders, we suggest our clients to get their gorilla permits in advance if possible. The gorilla permits are reserved on a first-come, first-served basis. This is due to the fact that each gorilla family is only allowed a maximum of eight permits each day.
Personal information such as nationality, birthdate, complete name as listed on the passport, passport expiration date, and others must be provided later.
These information are kept on file and are used to determine where safaris in Rwanda or Uganda should focus their marketing efforts.
How Much Does It Cost To Purchase An Elderly Gorilla Trekking Permit In Rwanda Or Uganda?
Ugandan gorilla permits cost $800 per person, whereas Rwandan gorilla permits cost $1500 per person per trip.
What Does the Price of a Gorilla Permit Include?
One hour with the mountain gorillas, as they are accustomed to spending that much time in front of people.
Gorilla medicine: Despite being untamed creatures that must forage for sustenance, gorillas occasionally need additional assistance from gorilla physicians. They occasionally get into traps that harm them. Veterinary professionals may need to give them extra care, but this is done in the forest.
Security when gorilla trekking is a wilderness excursion where everyone wants to make it home safely. In order to maintain security in the park and its environs, the ranger guides collaborate with other security agencies in both nations.
Park fees are used to fund conservation efforts. You have to pay park admission fees before you may enter any national park in Rwanda or Uganda.
ranger guide costs because the ranger guide conducts every gorilla walk, discusses other forest inhabitants, and provides a detailed explanation of the characteristics of the gorilla family you are seeing. The genuine truth of the gorilla families can only be found on the ground, despite the fact that broad information about them is written about online and in other papers. The reason for this is that the gorilla families are always changing.
What a Gorilla Trekking Permit Does Not Include
Porter fees, refreshments, a packed lunch, gratuity, transportation to the gorilla trekking locations, and other personal belongings.
Can my Gorilla Trekking Permit be rescheduled?
Rescheduling a gorilla permit is feasible, but make sure you have topped off your permits if you bought them in installments.
You send a letter explaining your want to change the dates to the Rwanda Development Board or the Uganda Wildlife Authority. Add evidence as well to support your argument.
Make sure you know the date you want to transfer your gorilla permit if you receive a good response. Your permit is adjusted to that date if there is still room after our safari expert verifies the availability.
In Rwanda or Uganda, how much does a gorilla trekking safari cost?
The permit fee, which applies to all packages—luxury, mid-range, and budget—is the first expense of a gorilla trekking safari in Rwanda and Uganda.
The following is the basis for additional gorilla trekking package costs:
Time of Reservation for the Gorilla Trek
Due to competition for services from other safari activities like game drives, birdwatching, and others, gorilla trekking often has high prices during the peak season, which is June to September or December to January. However, because there is less demand for services like lodging, driver guides, and others during these times, low seasons may provide lower prices.
Traveling with a large group of people allows you to split expenses like petrol, car rental, and other expenses. The whole safari budget is also borne by lone tourists.
amount of days on a gorilla trekking safari; in Rwanda, the minimum gorilla trekking duration is two days, whereas in Uganda, it is three days. Additionally, the cost of your safari goes up with each extra day.
Chimpanzee trekking, wildlife drives, birdwatching, sport fishing, and other activities are sometimes coupled with gorilla trekking.
Which Rwandan Volcanoes National Park locations are best for gorilla trekking in Uganda or Rwanda?
Volcanoes National Park is located in Rwanda’s northwest. There are now 15 gorilla families in this park that are accessible to tourists. Amahoro, Karisimbi, Umbano, Kwitonda, Susa, Agashya, and other gorilla families are among them.
Volcanoes National Park is made up of three unique volcanoes: Mountain Gahinga, Mountain Muhabura, Mountain Bisoke, Mountain Karisimbi, and Mountain Sabyinyo.
With over 300 bird species identified, this area is also a Rwandan birdwatcher’s paradise. Because many birds, including endemics of the Albertine Rift, thrive in this region, ornithologists continue to record new species.
Olive baboons, blue monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, grey-cheeked mangabeys, and other primates may be found in this park.
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda
Bwindi, which meaning impenetrable in the local dialect, is a fitting twofold descriptor for this park. There are now 18 gorilla families in the park that are accessible to tourists, albeit reservations are made based on the region. The Buhoma, Rushaga, Nkuringo, and Ruhija regions make up the four sections that make up Bwindi’s impenetrable national park.
This park’s vegetation, which is made up of tangled vegetation that hangs over peaks and plateaus, has developed throughout time. This dense forest cover is home to more than 300 tree species. Numerous primates, including olive baboons, chimpanzees, red-tailed monkeys, grey-cheeked mangabeys, L’hoest’s, black and white colobus, and others, find a pleasant home there.
The Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, home to more than 350 bird species, is a must for feeding in Uganda. The Western Green Tinkerbird, Red-faced Woodland, Rwenzori Batis, Collared Apalis, and other species may be observed.
Make sure you are aware of the region where your gorilla permit is scheduled before making any reservations for lodging in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
Mgahinga Gorilla National Park
At around 33.7 square kilometers, this is the mountain gorillas’ smallest home. The park is located in Uganda’s far southwest. The Nyakagezi gorilla family is the only gorilla family currently found in this park. But in the past, this family was highly migratory, frequently crossing into Rwanda.
This woodland is home to a variety of different primates, such as olive baboons, red-tailed monkeys, grey-cheeked mangabeys, black and white colobus, and blue monkeys.
Mountain Muhavura, Mountain Gahinga, and Mountain Sabyinyo are the three unique volcanoes to which you may go on a day’s climbing safari.
More than 115 bird species may be seen at Mgahinga National Park, which is a haven for avid birdwatchers. Ornithologists claim that despite the park’s low visitor volume, its birding list is continuously growing.
How to Travel by Road to Gorilla Trekking Locations
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
It takes around eight to nine hours to get from Kampala to Kabale, Kanungu, and Buhoma. About 414 kilometers separate Kampala from Kabale, whereas 150 kilometers separate Kanungu and Kanyantorogo.
The shortest route is from Kampala via Ntungamo to Rukungiri to Kihihi to Buhoma; the trip from Kampala to Rukungiri is around 390 kilometers, and the last 32 kilometers are to Buhoma.
The travel from Kampala to Kabale to Nkuringo is around 414 kilometers long, with a further 105 kilometers heading to Nkuringo.
Mgahinga Gorilla National Park
It is approximately 540 kilometers from Kampala to Kabale to Kisoro, 414 kilometers from Kampala to Kabale, and then another 80 kilometers. Lastly, continue 14 kilometers from Kisoro to Ntebeko, the headquarters of Mgahinga National Park.
Volcanoes National Park
It takes around three hours to get from Kigali Airport to Musaze in Volcanoes National Park.
By Air
If you visit Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, daily flights depart from Entebbe Airport or Kajjansi Airstrip to Kihihi Airstrip.
If you are traveling to Mgahinga National Park, even planes depart from Entebbe Airport or Kajjansi Airport to Kisoro Airport.
Kigali Airport is the departure point for charter flights to Volcanoes National Park.
You may schedule a charter flight from Entebbe Airport or Kajjansi Airstrip even in Uganda.
When Can I Reserve An Elderly Person’s Gorilla Trekking Safari?
Although it is possible to go gorilla trekking at any time of year, most people choose to go during the dry season, which runs from June to September or December to January.
Rainfall is known to occur unexpectedly and at any time in the woods of the Virunga region, however it is less often during the dry season. As a result, during the dry season, the humidity in this location is lower, and the mountain gorillas and other forest inhabitants are more active.
The routes are not covered by overgrown vegetation, and the trails are drier. The dry season is the ideal time of year to get better pictures of mountain gorillas. Due to the increased demand for gorilla trekking experiences globally, this season is also very expensive.
There are benefits to the off-peak months of March through May and November as well, particularly for individuals on a tight budget because service costs can occasionally be lower.
If you want to go on an exclusive experience, your chances are better during the off-peak period because even the off-peak period typically has less individuals making reservations for gorilla trekking.
What Are The Elderly’s Guidelines For Gorilla Trekking?
In the event that you contract a contagious illness such as the flu, cough, COVID-19, or another, offer to stay behind.
When you encounter the mountain gorillas, keep an approximate distance of 8 meters. This is one way to keep them from contracting diseases from people.
To prevent the mountain gorillas from stealing anything from you, if you want to eat or smoke, stay at least 300 meters away from them.
It is prohibited to litter in the forest because it changes the environment in which mountain gorillas reside.
Once you find the mountain gorillas, you are only permitted to spend an hour with them. They are habituated before the mountain gorillas just during this period.
Ask the ranger guide to dig a hole for you that is at least 30 cm deep and bury everything completely buried if you want to relax.
Flash photography should be avoided during gorilla trekking since it might frighten the mountain gorillas.
When looking for the mountain gorillas in the bush, try to speak quietly. This is a result of their heightened sensitivity to novel events occurring in their immediate environment.
