How do you I get mountain gorilla trekking permit during this Covid 19 time?
How do you I get mountain gorilla trekking permit during this Covid 19 time? : Mountain gorilla trekking is one of the most sought after tourist activities in Uganda Rwanda and DRC. The three countries receive numerous travellers every year seeking a golden chance to spend an hour with the famous mountain gorillas. Trekkers are always excited at this opportunity and as the world recovers from the different lockdowns that were imposed to curb covid-19; travellers are gearing up to take up mountain gorilla safaris in any of the three countries. However given the many changes with covid-19 many wonder, how does one get a mountain gorilla trekking permit in this season.
Well due to the covid-19 pandemic, a lot of things have had to change to ensure safe service delivery with minimal chances of spreading the covid-19 pandemic. Several sectors have implemented different measures to guide safe service delivery as a way to reduce the spread of the covid-19 virus.
The tourism sector has also put in place different measures to guide a safe delivery of its services which include moving most services online and having in-person services following the covid-19 sops to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
In that light that, some of the mountain gorilla trekking services have entirely moved online including the purchase of mountain gorilla trekking permits. The permits were already being purchased online even before the pandemic but there was an option of purchasing them also in person from the different authorities.
Since the pandemic the in person has been totally scrapped and the online option is the only one available. For the purpose of this article we shall focus on Uganda and Rwanda. So the mountain gorilla permit purchasing process is as follows.
- Go through the country’s mountain gorilla governing authority
Depending on your preference, choose the country you would like to have your mountain gorilla trekking in and then search for the either the mountain gorilla governing authority in that country or a reliable tour operator.
In Uganda the mountain gorilla governing authority is the Uganda Wildlife Authority and in Rwanda it’s the Rwanda development Board.
When you go online with check for the authority’s portal and then search for the mountain gorilla trekking permits, follow the instructions of the website, fill in your details as required and them submit in the booking form.
You will receive an email with details of payments and after you make your payments; your permit booking will be confirmed with an e-receipt; this confirmation will also contain the details of your trekking trip especially the date of trekking.
When your arrive in the country for your mountain gorilla trekking trip, you will present the email confirmation which acts as an e-receipt at the trekking grounds.
- Use a Tour operator
If you prefer to use a tour operator, you will need to book a mountain gorilla trekking safari with your preferred tour operator through their online portal and the tour operator will purchase the trekking permit on your behalf on top of arranging all the other details of your safari. When you arrive in the country you will link with your tour operator who will have all the details of your safari and mountain gorilla trekking permit at hand. This is the easier option because; you literally just let the tour operator all the preparations for you.
In a nutshell all we are saying is the only way to purchase a mountain gorilla trekking permit in this covid-19 season is through the online portals they maybe the Authorities portals or a tour operator’s portals depending on your preference.
