What is a Gorilla Permit?

Travellers seeking adventure in Rwanda most times think of Mountain gorillas, these are found in the volcanoes national park in the northern part of the country, the conservation area is Africa’s first national park to be gazette, it used to cover a large area of space however due to pressure from the growing population numbers and effects of the 1994 Rwanda genocide, today it covers an area space of approximately 160 square kilometres straddling along the country’s border with Uganda and the democratic republic of Congo, it is the nearest of parks to the city centre of Kigali it takes about 2 hours 30 minutes’ drive.

What is a gorilla permit, the gorilla permit is the document required for one to be able to track gorillas within the biodiverse environment, mountain gorillas are the world’s largest primates characterized by their large fur bodies, brown eyes, gentleness, they live in families of up to 20 members led by a male silverback, gorillas love to nest on the ground and solemnly drink water, they, however, eat food that is succulent enough for them to survive, they have been sciential proved to have similar DNA with humans after the chimpanzee, the primates are critically endangered according to the IUCN red list.

A gorilla permit is issued by the Rwanda Development Board a body that regulates tourism activity in the conservation areas of Rwanda recently the gorilla permit was purchased at $1,500 per permit foreign nonresidents, east African citizens and foreign residents of Rwanda are given discounted permits depending on what they are coming to see in the country, permits can be purchased directly from the Rwanda development board or through a registered tour operator of Rwanda, it is advisable to buy permits before the time of tracking because they are a limited number in a day Rwanda sells only 96 permits for tracking all of the 10 gorilla groups present within the ecosystem.

Following the understanding of what is a gorilla permit, the next step is to go gorilla trekking, he activity is done once a day beginning in the morning with a briefing from the park rangers, they will tell you how to conduct yourself while with the primate species, after which you will be allocated a gorilla family to trek in groups of 8, it takes 2- 8 hours doing the activity depending on how far gorilla families have moved the hike is strenuous but rewarding by the end of the day.

Visiting the mountain gorillas in the Volcanoes National Park can be done all year round, it is beat during the dry season between December -February, and June -September, the country experiences more of a warm weather with sunshine, and the trails of the forest are drier which makes trekking easier.  The park is approximately 2 two-hour drive from the Kigali International Airport which makes it easy to access, flights can be arranged to the destination through Akagera Aviation in 30 minutes the helicopter ride arrives at the Ruhengeri airstrip.

In conclusion, if you are considering buying a gorilla permit, it should be noted that one is required to have paid or confirmed a safari with all their booking details and passport information, passports need to be valid at least six months from the date of expiry.