Comparing Gorilla Trekking Tours In 2017 : Uganda Vs Rwanda – Compare prices, tracking experience, hardness, etc

Comparison of 2017 Gorilla Tracking in Uganda and Uganda – Which is the best place to do a gorilla trek – Uganda or Rwanda? Which is more viable or cheaper: Bwindi or Volcanoes National Park, Which is more easy to access, Is tracking Rwanda better than Uganda?

The exhilaration attached to the first setting eyes on a wild mountain gorilla is difficult to describe. Yet in the same sense, that magical one hour spent with the gorillas does not come cheaply considering that a permit goes for US$1500 in Rwanda and $600 in Uganda – but it is unusual to find someone who regretted the financial outlay.
Mountain gorillas live in families similar to those of humans. Although the current mountain gorilla population is about 848, gorilla tracking can only be done on the habituated mountain gorilla families. 13 of the habituated families live in Rwanda’s Volcanoes NP, another 14 habituated mountain gorilla families live in Uganda (13 in Bwindi Impenetrable NP, 1 in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park) and 1 in D.R.Congo’s Virunga NP.
A maximum of 8 persons can visit a given gorilla family per day.
All else being equal, Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park has a slight edge over the rest because its gorillas are the most wholly habituated, and they are often found in bamboo than the dense forest which makes photographing easier.

The major challenge with tracking gorillas in Rwanda is certainly the price of the gorilla permit at US$1500 compared to Uganda’s US$600 per permit. However, Rwanda’s pride is in the ability for one to do the gorilla trek even in one day and fly back home which is impossible for Uganda. Volcanoes National Park is located 116 km from Kigali and can be driven in just 2 hours. On the other hand, Bwindi is located 500 km from Kampala/ Entebbe Airport and a drive can take 8 hours plus. In that sense, you will spend at least 3 days for your gorilla trek tour – one travelling to Bwindi, another doing the gorilla trek, and the other driving back to Kampala/Entebbe. If a tour operator is making you a tour package, they shall definitely have to consider this cost and include it in your tour cost.
With the on coming of daily scheduled flights to Bwindi, operators now can have 3 days flying packages to Bwindi.
In real practice though, the one-day gorilla trek tour is not recommended because of the pressure it exerts on the trekker. For those limited on time, we would suggest the 2-days gorillas package.

Tree climbing lions often sighted in Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth NP on your way to track the mountain gorillas in Bwindi safari

However, the long drive to Bwindi is quite enchanting with great sceneries all through like the Equator, Lake Mburo National Park ( for some Queen Elizabeth National Park with abundant wildlife), terraced mountains with flowing rivers, and a lot of rural Africa. This is not so really the case for the drive from Kigali to Volcanoes National Park.
You will certainly need spend more on transport and time to track the mountain gorillas in Uganda than it’s for Rwanda although this cost is compensated for by a cheaper gorilla permit.
Besides, some sections of the roads to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park are not so comfortable to drive on yet in the case of Rwanda, you drive on smooth tarmac at least up to the Volcanoes National Park head office. Not to mention though, the roads leading from Volcanoes park office to the gorilla trek trail-heads can only be accessed with a raised 4x4 vehicle.

Comparison of The Gorilla Trekking Experience
Of course you can get this in Uganda in evenings (at a fee) from the various traditional cultural groups that are near the park. However, the drive from Kampala to Bwindi is a very fabulous one traversing at least another national park (either Kibale or Queen Elizabeth National Park famous for tree climbing lions and many other big mammals, or Lake Mburo National Park) and not to miss- the Equator. In a way, even before you arrive Bwindi you have had a bit of the ‘Pearl of Africa’ as is fondly known. To many, driving along paved eucalyptus avenues to the gorillas in not the best deal. Indeed many to purchase tour packages combining both Rwanda and Uganda, first doing Gorillas in Rwanda and then crossing to Uganda to visit Queen Elizabeth National Park for the BIG 5 safaris and chimpanzee tracking among other tours.
Lets compare the tour costs in general.Because of the long drive one endures from Kampala to Bwindi, the general cost is increased (even when you travel by public buses). It even increases more because you have to travel 2 days (to and from Bwindi). However, the increased cost is countered by the low cost gorilla permit of US$600 ($450 in April and May, November 2017). A low budget 3 days gorilla trek tour in Uganda goes for about $1250 (with gorilla permit, accommodation, and transport) for one person on tour. The two days Rwanda gorilla trek costs about $1220 ( with gorilla permit, accommodation, and transport) and a three days Rwanda gorilla tracking tour costs is about $2030 (with gorilla permit, accommodation, and transport) . Costs samples got from Gorillas and Wildlife Safaris website effective Jan 2017.
Other things in addition to the actual gorilla tracking
Lastly, if you are not travelling just to see the mountain gorilla, and you want to include other activities in your visit, Rwanda may not be the best choice. Many tourists have continually had to cross to Uganda after their Rwanda gorilla trek to tour other reserves like Queen Elizabeth National Parks so endowed with abundant wildlife one cannot see in Rwanda. This is why probably folks continue enduring the long drives to Bwindi yet there is an easy way out.
At the end of the day – the ultimate jury are those who are looking as to which country to visit in order to track Gorillas – it is not Rwanda, not Uganda, not the Democratic Republic of Congo but where their pockets and hearts choose. If you precisely want the mountain gorillas and nothing else, go for a one-day gorilla trek but if you are a one who wants it and all of it, go for the long drive – you won’t regret…
Have you been on a gorilla trek in Rwanda or Uganda? What was your experience? What have you had about tracking gorillas in Rwanda Vs Uganda? Let me hear you views.
from the Rwanda/Uganda border post in Chanika .
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Indifference among States Puts Single East Africa Community Tourist visa Plans in Balance

PLANS to have an East African Community (EAC) single tourist visa remain in balance as some partner states show signs of indifference with regard to adopting common policies necessary to spearhead the project.

Although it was initially envisaged as a fundamental initiative that would help attract more foreign earnings through increased tourists, some member countries seem to be dragging their feet in implementation.

Rica Rwigamba, in charge of Tourism and Conservation at the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), could not tell exactly when the regional visa will start operating.
She said that delays by other member countries have derailed progress.
“Everybody would want to have it but there are some pre-requisite factors, especially harmonising immigration policies and ICT to help ease the process. We are pushing it but we realised it requires a lot of consultations because we need to be at the same level,” she said.

Rwigamba explained that while Rwanda had made significant strides in use of ICT, there was need for the rest of the EAC partner states to move at the same pace if the trading bloc is to become a single tourist destination.

Initially, the single tourist visa had been planned to be operational by July 2012.

For instance, coming to Rwanda, one can apply for a visa online and get it, a facility that can hardly be found in other member states.

It is expected that the projected single visa would save potential tourists time and the rigorous process of having to jump from one embassy to the other to apply for different visas to travel across the East African region.

“Today travelers want to have a much wider menu. And it is easier to market the block as a single destination as opposed to one country. It means having features like the Mountain Gorillas in Rwanda, Maasai Mara in Kenya, Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, among others, all on one menu,” she said.

The long procedures in acquiring visa by tourists, especially those from Europe, the Americas sometimes discourages them, forcing them to divert to other destinations.

The EAC Sectoral Council on Tourism and Wildlife Management has called on partner states to fast-track the introduction of the single EAC tourist visa, saying the process was taking unnecessarily too long.
The move to have the single EAC visa followed an appeal by tourism boards of the five partner states requesting for a common visa to accelerate promotion of the region as a single tourist destination.

Rwigamba, however, says that they expect to have hold negotiations at the ministerial level starting next year during which they will assess the recommendations and determine a way forward.

Tourism in east Africa is among the highest earners in terms of investments, with enormous employment opportunities.
In Rwanda, from January to September 2012 tourism is estimated to have generated US$210.5 million, compared to US$184.4 million it generated during the same period in 2011 – that represents an increase of 14 per cent.
The number of tourists from EAC member states and Democratic Republic of Congo also increased from 498,617 to 639,536.

The majority of the international tourists came from the United States of America, United Kingdom, Belgium and Germany, according to official figures.