Itineraries. Updated November 2026. 6 min read.
Book the gorilla permit first
Uganda gorilla permits are sold by the Uganda Wildlife Authority for a set date and park sector, and they sell out about six months ahead for June to September and December to February. Permits are generally not refundable once reserved, so we confirm yours before we book flights or lodges. Prices and rules change: check the official site.
Uganda Wildlife AuthorityLions in the morning in the Maasai Mara, and two days later an hour with a mountain gorilla family in a Ugandan forest. The permit costs $800 and sells out about six months ahead in the busy seasons. Everything else about this trip is easier than people expect, because two short flights do the work that used to take two days of road.
Our sample route runs 9 days: a night in Nairobi, three nights in the Mara, a flight to Entebbe, a light aircraft to the edge of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park for two nights and one trek, then a night at Lake Bunyonyi and home from Entebbe. In mid-range lodges it starts at about $5,800 per person sharing, including one gorilla permit. It is a sample route we tailor to you, not a fixed departure. If you are weighing Uganda against Kenya for a whole trip, our Kenya vs Uganda guide covers that; this page is about doing both.
Who this trip suits, and the honest fitness line
- Travelers who want the big cats and the great apes in one trip, without a long overland journey
- Teenagers and adults only: Uganda's minimum age for gorilla trekking is 15, so this is not a route for young families
- People who can walk 2 to 6 hours on steep, wet, muddy forest slopes, some of it at around 2,000 meters or more
- Repeat safari travelers who have done the Mara and want something entirely different alongside it
The trek is the part to be honest about. Bwindi is steep rainforest, and the gorillas go where they please, so a trek can be an hour or most of a day. Rangers set off in the morning from the sector headquarters, trackers go ahead to find the family, and once you reach them you have one hour with them, in a group of up to eight visitors. Hire a porter, about $20, to carry your daypack and give you a hand on the slopes; it is good local employment and it makes the day easier. If you are not a regular walker, a couple of months of hill walking before you go makes a real difference.
The permit: how it works and what it costs
| Permit | Price, non-resident | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Uganda gorilla trekking permit | $800 | One hour with a habituated gorilla family, after a trek of 2 to 6 hours |
| Uganda gorilla habituation experience | $1,500 | Several hours with a family still being habituated, in a very small group; few permits each day |
| Rwanda gorilla permit | $1,500 | Volcanoes National Park, a shorter drive from Kigali; see our Kenya and Rwanda route |
Permits are sold for a date and a sector of the park, so the permit decides your lodge, your airstrip and the shape of the whole trip. That is why it is the first thing we secure. For June to September and December to February, the two dry seasons, aim to book about six months ahead; at other times a few months is usually enough. Permits, like ticketed flights, are paid to the authority when they are reserved and are generally not refundable, which our booking conditions explain.
Getting from the Mara to Bwindi
| Leg | How | Time | Our note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mara to Nairobi | Light aircraft to Wilson, then road to JKIA | About 45 minutes, plus the transfer | We allow a wide margin for Nairobi traffic |
| Nairobi to Entebbe | Kenya Airways or Uganda Airlines | About 1 hour 15 minutes | We overnight near Entebbe, because the Bwindi flights leave in the morning |
| Entebbe to Kihihi or Kisoro | Scheduled light aircraft | About 90 minutes | Kihihi for the northern sectors, Kisoro for the southern ones |
| Airstrip to your lodge | Road | 1 to 2 hours | Slow, scenic roads through farmland and hills |
Bwindi has four trekking sectors: Buhoma and Ruhija in the north, reached from Kihihi, and Rushaga and Nkuringo in the south, reached from Kisoro. The south sits closer to Lake Bunyonyi, which is why our sample route ends there. You can also drive from Entebbe to Bwindi, but it takes most of a long day each way, and on a 9-day trip we would rather spend that time with the animals.
The paperwork, and the East Africa Tourist Visa question
- Kenya eTA: about $30 at the time of writing, applied for online before you fly
- Kenya's inbound health insurance: $44 plus fees on eCitizen, required since October 2026. It does not replace evacuation cover or your own travel insurance
- Uganda visa: a single-entry tourist e-visa, about $50 for U.S. citizens at the time of writing, applied for online before you travel
- Yellow fever: at the time of writing Uganda asks arriving travelers for a yellow fever certificate. Get the vaccine at least six weeks out; the certificate is valid from 10 days after the shot
- Going home: flying home from Entebbe, as this route does, means no second entry to Kenya. If you route back through Nairobi and leave the airport, you need a valid Kenya eTA for that entry
On paper, the East Africa Tourist Visa is made for this trip: $100 for 90 days of travel across Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda, bought from the country you enter first. Since Kenya replaced its visas with the eTA in 2024, the way the joint visa is issued and checked at Kenyan entry points has not always been clear, and the official portals have not always agreed. So at the time of writing our default is the version that cannot go wrong: a Kenya eTA for Kenya and a Uganda e-visa for Uganda, about $80 in all against $100 for the joint visa. If the joint visa is clearly on offer through the official portal of your first country of entry when you apply, it is a fine choice, and we will check it with you.
One more health point. Our Kenya trips include emergency evacuation cover through a flying-doctor service, but your Uganda days need cover that reaches Uganda too, so check that your travel insurance includes medical evacuation from Uganda before you buy it.
When to go
The dry seasons, June to August and December to February, are the best months for trekking: trails are firmer, and permits sell out first. Bwindi is a rainforest, though, and it can rain in any month, so pack a rain jacket whatever the season. July and August are the most popular combination of all, with the migration usually in the Mara and dry trails in Bwindi; book them early. March to May and October to November are wetter, muddier and quieter.
Swaps we often build
- Rwanda instead of Uganda: a $1,500 permit but a short drive from Kigali to Volcanoes National Park; see our Kenya and Rwanda route
- Queen Elizabeth National Park instead of Lake Bunyonyi: a boat on the Kazinga Channel and the lions of the Ishasha sector, at the cost of more road
- A second trek with a second permit: a different family, a different day's light, and a second chance if the weather is bad on the first
- The habituation experience instead of the standard trek, for longer with the gorillas, if a permit is available
What is included
- Airport pickup in Nairobi and all transfers in both countries
- Eight nights in the tier you choose, full board on safari and at Bwindi
- Flights from Wilson to the Mara and back, Nairobi to Entebbe, and Entebbe to Bwindi and back
- A private vehicle and Kenyan driver-guide in Kenya, and a driver-guide in Uganda
- Mara park or conservancy fees, one Uganda gorilla permit and Bwindi park entry
- Our 24-hour support throughout
What is not included
- International flights to Nairobi and home from Entebbe
- Kenya eTA, Kenya's inbound health insurance, the Uganda visa and the yellow fever vaccine
- Travel insurance with medical evacuation cover for Uganda
- Porters (about $20), tips for rangers, trackers, guides and camp teams
- Extra permits, optional activities and personal items
How to book
The permit comes first. Send us your dates, and we check gorilla permit availability before anything else is booked, then build the Mara nights and flights around it. We send a written quote that lists every fee, including the government ones you pay yourself. You can pay in full or monthly with no deposit; the permit is the one item that must be paid early, and we will show you how that fits your plan.
