Uganda or Rwanda for Gorillas?
Uganda or Rwanda for gorillas? Both offer the same thing at the heart of the trip: one hour with a habituated family of mountain gorillas, in a group of no more than eight. What differs is the price of the permit, the forest you walk through, how long it takes to get there and what else you can add.
The short answer
- Choose Rwanda if time is short, you want the quickest journey from an international airport and you're happy to pay more for the permit and the lodges.
- Choose Uganda if you want the lower permit price, a wilder forest, and the chance to add chimpanzees and savannah parks to the same trip.
- Choose both if you can. Two treks in two countries show you two different forests and two different families.
Permit prices
A gorilla permit in Rwanda costs US$1,500 per person. In Uganda it costs US$800. Both include park entry, the rangers and trackers, and one hour with the gorillas. Over a couple, the difference is US$1,400, enough to pay for several nights in a good lodge.
Uganda also offers the gorilla habituation experience in Bwindi's Rushaga sector, where a group of up to four spends up to four hours with a family that is still being habituated. It costs more than a standard permit, and there are only a few places each day. Our guide to gorilla permits covers the rules in detail.
The forest and the trek
Rwanda's gorillas live in Volcanoes National Park, on the slopes of the Virunga volcanoes. The vegetation is bamboo and montane forest, more open than Bwindi, and treks often take between one and four hours. When the gorillas are in the open, the light for photography can be excellent.
Uganda's main gorilla park, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, lives up to its name. It is dense, steep rainforest on a tangle of ridges, and treks can be short or can take most of the day. Many travellers find Bwindi feels wilder; it is also more physically demanding. Uganda has one more option, Mgahinga, on its own side of the Virungas, with a single habituated family.
Getting there
Rwanda is quick. From Kigali International Airport, Volcanoes National Park is about two and a half hours by road, so a gorilla trek fits into three days, or even two if you are prepared to rush.
Uganda takes longer. Bwindi is a full day's drive from Entebbe, which is why most of our Uganda gorilla trips either fly to Kihihi or Kisoro, or start in Kigali and cross the border to Bwindi's southern sectors, about four to five hours away. See our 3-day Bwindi trek from Kigali for that route.
Lodges
Rwanda has some of the most luxurious lodges in Africa around Volcanoes National Park, with prices to match. Uganda's best Bwindi lodges are excellent but generally simpler, and they cost less. Both countries have comfortable options well below the top end. Browse our lodges to compare.
What else you can see
This is where Uganda pulls ahead for longer trips. A single itinerary can combine gorillas in Bwindi with chimpanzees in Kibale, the Kazinga Channel and tree-climbing lions in Queen Elizabeth, and the Nile at Murchison Falls.
Rwanda is smaller but varied: golden monkeys in the Virungas, chimpanzees and a canopy walkway in Nyungwe, and the Big Five in Akagera, all on good roads.
Why not both?
Southern Bwindi is only a few hours from Volcanoes across the Cyanika border, and the East Africa Tourist Visa covers both countries. Our 4-day double gorilla trek starts and ends in Kigali and includes a permit in each country.
A cost comparison
For a couple on a three-day trip, the permit difference alone is US$1,400. Rwanda's shorter journey can offset some of that, because there is no need for internal flights. Compare our 3-day Rwanda gorilla trek with the 3-day Bwindi trek from Kigali, and ask us for a quote on both.
