Are you planning for your great holiday in Africa, you can think of gorilla tours in Uganda and Congo, which you need a gorilla permit to go gorilla trekking. And it is Uganda and Congo that offers affordable gorilla permit and gorilla permits in Congo (as of 2017) are at $400 per person. They are $600 per person in Uganda. The permit gets you an hour of time spent with the gorillas with an 8 person group. If you buck at the price think of it this way. You are contributing to the preservation of gorillas and as a “thank you” you get to spend an hour with them. Remember only 80 people a day get to see them and their habitat is very fragile. Every time you walk through the forest you are leaving a footprint.

Seeing mountain gorillas can involve 2-4 hours of hiking to find them. In Uganda, this is going to be a long day and the hikes can vary quite a bit depending on where the animals spent the night and which troop you are seeing. When in Congo you will also get another experience with the lowland gorillas. In general lowland gorillas tend to be smaller having brownish-gray coats and a pronounced brow ridge, while mountain gorillas are large with blacker coats.

You can track gorillas at any time of the year, especially in Uganda. The rainy seasons of March to May, and October to November, do make it slightly harder work under foot as conditions get muddy. These times, however, are often great for photography as the overcast conditions provide better lighting and the vegetation is more vibrant. For our favourite times, stick to the shoulder seasons of February and September. During these months you are out of the peak season which makes it quieter and you can also combine a fantastic extension to Kenya or Tanzania for the migration, again avoiding the peak holiday months making for much better quality sightings.

Our safaris to track lowland gorillas in the Republic of Congo depart between May and December. The long dry season is May to August which generally brings light skies and easier terrain, but is perhaps more difficult for photography with bright overhead light. The short dry season, January to February, is similar. The long wet season and short wet season (September to December and March to April respectively), bring more challenging and unpredictable terrain, alongside some incredible photo opportunities under cloudy skies and impressive thunder storms. The Congo is never ‘busy’ so you don’t have to avoid the peak travel times. You will need to discuss with us the best time for you to travel.