When can i track Gorillas in Uganda? What are the best months for visiting the mountain gorillas in Uganda?
One of the most asked questions is when is the best time to go gorilla tracking in Uganda. Here is a guidelines to best times to enjoy a gorilla safari in Bwindi Forest and Mgahinga National Parks.
Several intending gorilla trekkers get confused on when to visit these National Parks for this life changing activity. The best I can assure you is that Uganda is an all year destination for mountain gorilla trekking. The pleasant climatic conditions make mountain gorilla tracking an activity that can be taken anytime of the year. However hiking in the forest becomes more challenging during the rainy seasons and thus most travelers would like to go gorilla tracking during the dry season months.
Uganda experiences an average daytime temperature of 22 celcius degrees and nighttime temperature of 10 celcius degrees and experiences two main rainy seasons that is to say the long rainy season that starts from early March to end of May and the short rainy season starts from early October to end of November. Much as the rest of the months are considered dry seasons, the key dry season is June to September and from December to February. Both dry and rainy seasons have advantages and disadvantages.
Much as Bwindi Impenetrable National Park can be visited at anytime of the year for mountain gorilla trekking, maximum experience and satisfaction is always achieved if it is conducted within the Dry season, which is also the high season. The high season is from June to September and December to February, and December is the busiest month of the year for gorilla tourism.
Majority of the tourists opt for the dry season because the hiking trails are less muddy and slippery during the dry season, hence there is high demand for gorilla permits which requires tourists to book for the permits at least 6 months in advance. Gorilla permits during this season cost US$700 for foreign non-residents, $500 for foreign residents and UGX 250,000 for East African Community residents.
The rainy season is not preferred because the hiking trails tend to be slippery and muddy during this season. It is also the low season (April, May and November) and always the best for tourists traveling on a budget safari.
During the low season, gorilla permits are discounted whereby foreign non residents pay $450, foreign residents pay $400 and East African Community residents pay UGX 250,000 per person. Not only that, most safari lodges offer discounts for their rooms hence is the best time for budget travelers. you should not be worried that your trip might be cancelled because of rain, because after the rain, the trek will continue. There has never been a whole day lost to rain, which means the sun always shines soon after the rain.
The wet season is the best for gorilla trekking because the process of tracking does not take long due to the abundance of food for the mountain gorillas hence do not need to move to far distances in search of food. No matter how most people praise the dry season, gorilla trekkers have to move to far/long distances in search o the Mountain gorillas who move to far distances in search of food. With the high rate of climate change, it has increasingly become difficult to predict the weather whereby when everyone thinks it’s a dry season, you will be surprised when it starts raining in the middle of the day.
Therefore, if planning to visit Uganda for a gorilla trekking safari, it is better to do it in the dry season because the hiking trails are less muddy and slippery as it is in the wet season much as the activity can be conducted at anytime of the year.
Fore more about gorilla tracking in Uganda, refer to the safari planning information section of this website or look at the Frequently asked questions.
Mountain Gorillas