Are you busy online searching for where to go for the end-of-year grand celebrations? Gorilla Holidays presents to you New Year’s gorilla trekking safari tours in Rwanda and Uganda.
Gorilla trekking is done in Uganda’s Bwindi impenetrable national park and Mgahinga National Park, Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda and Virunga national park in Congo. Kahuzi Biega National Park in Congo gives an opportunity to see lowland gorillas as well in their natural habitat.
If there is that best moment and time to be in Africa for your gorilla trekking safari, then it has to be at that moment when you are excited and grateful about hitting the finishing line for the year ending and all set to receive and celebrate the incoming fresh new year.
In this period Rwanda’s capital Kigali is extremely exciting and charming welcoming right from the moment you step in at Kigali airport. The cleanliest city, beautiful people of Rwanda, hospitality from all the hotels and safari lodges within the are all just unmatched, let it be during night or even day time it’s all over extremely magical.
For both Uganda and Rwanda New Year celebrations, energy, feelings and the vibe is almost similar welcoming, happy people all over straight from the airport Entebbe to their city Kampala. Indeed the best time to be in any of these countries for this once in lifetime experience mountain gorilla trekking.
Booking for the New Year’s gorilla safari in either Uganda or Rwanda, surely requires smart/proper planning and is better done quite in advance about 5 months prior to the travel dates.
Booking for the New Year’s gorilla trekking safari in any of the three gorilla trekking destinations requires a gorilla trekking permit issued by Uganda Wildlife Authority in Uganda and Rwanda Development Board in Rwanda. Therefore advance booking for gorilla permits is highly recommended especially for all travelers interested in gorilla trekking in the festive season.
During festive days like Christmas, and New Year’s Day, gorilla trekking permits are always in high demand and tend to sell out so fast and these are always sold on a first come first serve basis. Therefore, timely booking is really paramount as far as planning a remarkable gorilla trekking experience should be.
Where to go for New Year’s gorilla trekking safari?
In this, we look at which is the best place/gorilla destination to go to for the New Year’s gorilla trekking experience.
Generally, the gorilla trekking experience is the same across all the gorilla trekking destinations, however, a few factors here and there may end up making one destination better than others to various different travelers. These may include;
Cost of gorilla permits; in Rwanda, the gorilla permit costs $1500 per permit per trek to foreign nonresidents, $500 to foreign residents, and $200 for all East African nationals.
In Uganda gorilla permits are available at $700 per permit per trek to foreign nonresidents, $600 to foreign residents and $70 for eat African nationals.
Gorilla trekking permits in Congo costs $400 per permit per trek to foreign nonresidents and $200 to all East African nationals.
Gorilla trekking permits across all three gorilla trekking destinations mentioned at different costs provide an opportunity for maximum one-hour close encounter with the gorillas the moment they are allocated on the trek with the help of trackers and guide rangers. Standing at just 7 meters in the presence of a silverback with his entire family/group members is a magical adventure in the wild.
Number of gorilla permits available daily; Uganda has 19 habituated gorilla families and each family is given 8 permits per day summing up to 152 gorilla permits available in Uganda.
Uganda gives another great opportunity to spend more time with the gorillas 4 hours of gorilla habituation that involves joining the habituation team of researchers and ranger guides on a mission of visiting the semi-habituated gorillas regularly as a process of getting them fully habituated and available for regular trekking.
In Rwanda, Volcanoes National Park apparently is a habitat to 12 habituated gorilla families available for gorilla tourism and this guarantees a total of 96 gorilla permits daily.
Rwanda gorilla trekking permits can be booked with the Rwanda Development Board or through any trusted Rwanda tour operator like gorilla holidays.
In addition to gorilla trekking, one may opt to combine other safari adventures for their new year’s gorilla trekking safari tour in Rwanda and Uganda. Other experiences like cultural tours, game viewing, golden monkey, and chimpanzee tracking amongst others.
We also offer combined safari tours across all three gorilla destinations starting from Kigali Rwanda or Entebbe airport Uganda to DR-Congo.
Distance and time taken from the airport to the gorillas
Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda remains the most strategically situated in terms of distance and time taken from Kigali airport to Volcanoes. This takes approximately 3 hours driving and transferring from Kigali to Volcanoes National Park in Musanze Kinigi village.
Transferring from Entebbe airport to Bindi impenetrable national park found in the southwestern part of Uganda takes about 9 hour’s drive through Masaka-Mbarara-Kabale highway circuit. However, this gives the best views of the other countryside to appreciate the stunning beauty of this country.
Consider our Uganda gorilla trekking tours from Kigali by flying in and out of Kigali airport and tracking gorillas in Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and Mgahinga National Parks. This takes about a 4 hour drive transferring from Kigali to Bwindi via the Katuna Border.
Where to stay for a gorilla trekking experience on New Year’s Day in Uganda and Rwanda?
Both Rwanda and Uganda give incredible safari accommodation options with a number of various safari lodges to choose from for where to stay for your African gorilla safari.
If you’re looking out for high-end safari accommodation, Rwanda without a doubt is the best for that, luxury; mid-range and budget gorilla safaris are also well organized across these destinations.
Some of the safari lodges available in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park include; Bwindi Gorilla Lodge, Four Gorillas Lodge, Clouds Mountain Gorilla Lodge, Mahogany Springs Lodge, Nkuringo Gorilla Lodge, Gorilla Havens Lodge, Ichumbi Gorilla Lodge, Buhoma loge, Silverback lodge, and Gorilla heights lodge amongst others.
Some of the accommodations available in Volcanoes National Park include; Mountain Gorilla View Lodge Virunga lodge, Kwitonda Singita Lodge, Wilderness Bisate Lodge, Wilderness Sabyinyo Lodge, and Da Vinci Lodge among others.
Contact Gorilla Holidays for your entire gorilla trekking safari needs in Uganda and Rwanda on New Year’s Day and we will be ready to answer all your queries with firsthand information in case you may need to understand anything in detail. It’s always a lifetime of memories exploring with us.
