How to Reserve and Pay For Gorilla Trekking Permits in Uganda

How to Reserve and Pay For Gorilla Trekking Permits in Uganda

Are you planning to visit Bwindi or Mgahinga soon for gorilla trekking? And how do you reserve and Pay For Gorilla Trekking Permits in Uganda? A Gorilla Trekking permit can be reserved and paid for fully (100%) through only a licensed tour operator like Native Africa Tours.

Gorilla trekking permits are essential for all tourists on gorilla tours in Uganda. Gorilla permits are a ticket to gorilla trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park or Mgahinga National Park. Before visiting any gorilla park in Uganda, you must have a valid permit.

A valid gorilla permit should be reserved and paid for in full, that is, 100% payment, before your actual trekking dates. The trekking dates should fall within a period not beyond 1 year from the booking date. The current guide permits reservation per the Uganda Wildlife Authority, which manages all the parks and sets conservation tariffs.

Reserving and paying for a permit offline

Permits or tickets can be booked offline. The process starts by contacting the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) to ask about the availability of trekking slots on your planned date.  The visitor must also mention their desired gorilla tracking sector. Your local tour operator can cross-check the availability of permits/tickets on your behalf.

The ticket inquiry can be emailed to the Uganda Wildlife Authority reservation team. Our team can also physically visit the UWA reservation desk to interact closely with one of the sales executives.

If the trekking slots are unavailable, the UWA sales executive can inform the local tour operator and offer alternative dates and locations/sectors.

If available, the tour operator shall instruct the UWA sales executive to reserve the permit in the booking system.

UWA issues a proforma invoice to confirm the client’s gorilla ticket/permit reservation.

As you know, a ticket or permit reservation is valid for 7 days without payment. To secure and guarantee the booking, the tour operator must make the total invoiced funds available to the UWA bank accounts provided within 7 days. If the tour operator fails to meet this requirement, the ticket reservation will be returned to the market for sale to other interested parties.

Online reservation & payment

UWA does implement online reservation and payment modules as well. The online payments for gorilla tickets should be made to 100%. Online payment can be done using the tour operator’s card details or mobile money.

The acceptable payment methods

Online payment/card or mobile money; the gorilla tickets or permits can be booked/reserved online following the terms below;

• Eligible tour operators can access the booking system for reservations and bookings. The team at UWA will process the tour company’s admission to the booking system. The tour operator must fill out the prescribed application form.
• Once the ticket has been reserved online, the system generates the booking ID and invoice and provides them to the visitor.
• The client must pay against the invoice through their cards, mobile money, or any other online payment method as advised by UWA.
• All payments for gorilla tickets/permits reserved online shall be made immediately and in full.
• After successfully paying for your ticket or permit, a system-generated receipt will be sent to the client’s email.
• Where the local tour company or client fails to make full payment for the gorilla permits due to specific challenges with their cards or mobile money balances, such booking/reservation shall be automatically canceled.

Point of sale (POS) card payment

Gorilla permits can only be paid for at the UWA headquarters in Kampala. Point-of-sale machines in US Dollars and Ugandan shillings are available at payment centers, and visa-enabled cards can be used.

After you have been invoiced, you can insert the invoice into the machine and enter your relevant PIN code. The Uganda Wildlife Authority receipt and the POS slip are issued to the visitor immediately after the machine accepts the payment.

Bank deposits or transfers

Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) provides active bank account details where all the money for tickets or gorilla permits will be deposited.

All bank deposits and transfers should be made based on a system-generated invoice. Partial settlement of bank deposits or transfers will not be accepted.

Once you have made a deposit/bank transfer, the tour operator should present a payment advice slip from the bank to an authorized official in the Uganda Wildlife Authority for verification. This is to ascertain if the total invoiced amounts have been reflected in the UWA bank accounts.

Payment for gorilla permits will involve verifying bank transfers and deposits, which are to be done at the UWA headquarters in Kampala.

The visitor shall incur all bank charges and any fees. The total invoiced amount should be reflected as received funds in the UWA bank accounts.

When verification is done, permits are issued, and a receipt is generated for the tour operator/visitor.

Mobile Money Merchant Payment

Mobile money payment options include M-Pesa Pay and Airtel Money Pay. Multiple mobile money payment alternatives exist at all the payment centers at UWA gates, park headquarters, visitor information centers, the Sheraton visitor information center, and the reservation office.

Each UWA payment location has a merchant code that clients can view. If you pay for gorilla permits, you can only use the mobile money options available at the Kampala locations.

Once an invoice from the reservation team at UWA is received, the tour company initiates payment on their telephone as follows;

• Airtel Money –Dial *185*9#, and you can enter the merchant ID displayed at each gate.
• MTN MOMO – Dial *165*3# using the MTN line, and you must enter the merchant ID displayed.

So that you know, the Uganda Wildlife Authority has no agents within or outside Uganda. Payments should be made directly to the provided UWA bank accounts, and the Native Africa Tours reservation team can guide you.

Issuance of gorilla permits

After you complete your payment, you will be issued and sent to your official email.

Visitors booking gorilla permits must update the authorities with their biodata before the trekking date. Clients should make the update if their details were not captured during the reservation process.

A registered tour operator like Native Africa Tours must collect the permit from the UWA offices on behalf of their clients.

Gorilla trekking in Uganda –best places to visit

Gorilla trekking adventures in Uganda are mainly done in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga National Park. The two gorilla parks are located in southwestern Uganda, and each has gorilla trekking points. Each gorilla sector in Uganda already has habituated families of mountain gorillas.

Uganda’s key gorilla trekking points include Ruhija, Nkuringo, Rushaga, Buhoma, and Ntebeko. Overall, Uganda boasts over 25 groups of mountain gorillas –each group is visited by a maximum of 8 (eight) guests. With each gorilla group family trekked by a maximum of 8 visitors, about 200 valid gorilla permits are open for booking. A permit/ticket for gorilla trekking must be secured in advance. We recommend you do so at least 2-6 months before the planned Gorilla trekking date. Kindly contact us on how you reserve and Pay For Gorilla Trekking Permits in Uganda at our company’s official contacts.