Gorilla Trekking Index 2026: Six Companies in Fourteen Will Tell You What the Permit Costs

Clouds Mountain Gorilla Lodge leads this index at 75/100, followed by Wilderness Bisate Lodge and Gorilla Safari Lodge tied at 55, Volcanoes Safaris (54), Bisate Reserve (50), then Singita Kwitonda and Buhoma Lodge tied at 39. Fourteen lodges and operators were assessed against five published criteria, every figure carrying its source and the date it was read. A gorilla permit costs USD 1,500 in Rwanda and USD 800 in Uganda before a single night's accommodation. Six of the fourteen companies print that figure. Three publish a conservation contribution as a number. One publishes what happens to permit money if the trek is missed.

Verified 21 September 2026 · company sites, rate sheets and terms · Rwanda Development Board · Uganda Wildlife Authority · Virunga National Park

What the authorities charge, before anyone books a lodge

The permit is the largest single line in a gorilla trip and it is set by the state, not the lodge. These are the figures the park authorities publish themselves, and they are the baseline every company on this page is measured against.

Two things in that table deserve a reader's attention before anything else. The first is that Rwanda's own booking portal labels its USD 1,500 table as promotional rates and states that they are not applicable for the period from June to October 2026, without publishing a standard-season figure anywhere we could find. The most expensive wildlife permit in Africa carries a seasonal caveat and no published alternative price. The second is that Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo publishes no permit price at all, because its own homepage states that gorilla and Nyiragongo treks are closed until further notice. One company in this index still prints a DRC figure. Mountain gorillas remain listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List, and the permit price is the mechanism by which visitor numbers are held down.

Fourteen companies scored on what they publish

Fourteen lodges and operators were assessed against the criteria below. Seven hold a ranked position, three are ranked beneath them, and four could not be scored on every criterion and are recorded as assessed and not ranked.

Score breakdown by criterion

The heaviest criterion in this index is also the one the field answers worst. Permit disclosure carries thirty points and asks two questions: what does the permit cost, and is it inside or outside your rate. Six companies of fourteen answer the first. Eight answer the second. A guest reading a nightly rate of USD 2,720 at one lodge and USD 350 at another is, in both cases, reading a figure that excludes a further USD 800 or USD 1,500 per person, and only some of those pages say so.

Who prints the permit price

Six of fourteen publish a permit figure, and one of those six prints a figure the authority no longer charges. The test is whether the price appears anywhere on the company's own site, not whether it is accurate, which is recorded separately.

Gorilla Trek Africa publishes a Uganda permit price of USD 700. The Uganda Wildlife Authority's own conservation tariff, running from July 2024 to June 2026, sets the foreign non-resident permit at USD 800. The published figure is a hundred dollars light, and it is published by the company in this index that is a tour operator rather than a lodge, which is to say the company a traveller is most likely to ask for a quotation. Clouds Mountain Gorilla Lodge prints both USD 700 and USD 800 as seasonal figures, which reads as a dated structure rather than an error. Chameleon Hill and Gorilla Safari Lodge both print USD 800, matching the authority. Bisate Lodge and Bisate Reserve both print USD 1,500, matching Rwanda. How to verify a safari operator sets out the register checks behind all of this.

What the accommodation costs, where it is published

Nine of fourteen publish a rate a reader can see without an enquiry, and they range from USD 250 to USD 3,518 per person per night. Four could not be read at all and are recorded as unread rather than as unpublished.

The fourteen-fold spread between Gorilla Safari Lodge at USD 250 and Bisate Reserve at USD 3,518 is the widest in any category we have measured this year, and it sits on top of an identical permit cost and an identical one hour with the same gorillas. What the money buys is the lodge, the guiding and the ground operation, not the wildlife encounter, which is fixed by the authority at sixty minutes and eight visitors per family. Our safari pricing index covers the wider question of who publishes rates at all, and what a Rwanda safari costs puts the permit inside a full trip budget.

Conservation, with and without a number

Three of fourteen publish a conservation contribution as a figure. Four more name a levy, a trust or a programme without attaching an amount to it. The test is deliberately strict: a percentage, a per-guest levy with a stated amount, or a published sum counts, and a statement of commitment does not.

The distinction matters more here than in most categories, because gorilla tourism's entire justification is that visitor money funds protection. Volcanoes Safaris states USD 50 per guest per night to its own partnership trust, which a guest can multiply by their stay. Clouds states a USD 25 nightly fee and a cumulative figure close to USD 2 million since 2008. Sabyinyo publishes a SACOLA figure of USD 3,535,583 to February 2021, now five years old but precise and attributable. Against those, Singita Kwitonda names three separate levies in its exclusions list without an amount for any, and Bisate cites 120,000 trees planted without connecting guest spending to the planting. Both may contribute more than the three companies that publish figures. Neither publishes a number, and this index can only read what is on the page.

What the companies tell you about the trek itself

Not one of the fourteen publishes trek difficulty or distance. Five publish the minimum age. None publishes an illness policy. The test is what appears on the company's own pages, where a guest is deciding whether the trek suits them.

This is the most uniform result in any index we have published, and it runs the wrong way. A gorilla trek can involve several hours of steep, wet, high-altitude walking at between 2,200 and 3,000 metres, the minimum age is fifteen in both countries, and a visitor with a cold may be turned back at the briefing. Those three facts are published by the park authorities and by almost nobody selling the experience. The one company that publishes a permit refund policy, Buhoma Lodge, is ranked sixth. Our guide to the best time for Rwanda gorilla trekking covers the seasonal question, and high-altitude trekking insurance covers the cover.

The four companies this index could not rank

Sanctuary Gorilla Forest Camp, One&Only Gorilla's Nest, Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge and Chameleon Hill Lodge are assessed and not ranked. All four are named throughout this page with everything that could be verified.

In each case the rate could not be read rather than confirmed absent. Sanctuary Gorilla Forest Camp serves pricing through a booking component that a fetch cannot read, and an accommodation path was robots-blocked. One&Only Gorilla's Nest returned no nightly figure across its homepage, about and offers pages, and its rooms page returned a 404. Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge had no dedicated rates page among the governorscamp.com pages read. Chameleon Hill Lodge publishes activity pricing and points to a separate section for lodging rates that was not reachable. Chameleon Hill does publish the Uganda permit at USD 800 and the habituation experience at USD 1,500, and Sabyinyo publishes the largest cumulative conservation figure in this index, so both carry genuine disclosure on the record without a rankable score. Readers should note that the domain previously used by Nkuringo Bwindi Gorilla Lodge no longer resolves; its current pages sit under a different domain, which is recorded in the database.

The seven ranked companies in detail

Clouds Mountain Gorilla Lodge — 75/100

Uganda · Nkuringo, Bwindi · permit, rate and conservation figure all published

Clouds Mountain Gorilla Lodge leads this index at 75 of 100 and is the only company of the fourteen to publish all three of the things a prospective guest most needs: the permit price, its own nightly rate, and a conservation contribution expressed as a number. It prints USD 700 and USD 800 seasonal permit figures alongside the USD 1,500 habituation experience, states plainly that the permit sits outside the rate, and publishes a nightly figure of USD 800. From February 2025 it applies a USD 25 per night group-wide conservation fee and states that guests have generated close to USD 2 million for local communities and conservation since the lodge opened in 2008. One caution for readers: its own rack rate document is dated valid to 30 June 2025, so the rate should be confirmed.

Clouds Mountain Gorilla Lodge — official site

Gorilla Safari Lodge — 55/100

Uganda · Bwindi Impenetrable Forest · permit, service fee and rate all stated

Gorilla Safari Lodge scores 55 on the same profile as Bisate at a tenth of the price. It publishes the Uganda permit at USD 800, adds a stated USD 25 service fee rather than folding it in, says the permit is charged separately, and publishes a nightly rate from USD 250. The USD 25 fee is worth noting because it is the kind of charge that usually surfaces on an invoice. Publishing it is a small act of disclosure that costs the lodge nothing and tells a guest something true.

Gorilla Safari Lodge — official site

Wilderness Bisate Lodge — 55/100

Rwanda · Volcanoes National Park · the permit price printed beside the rate

Bisate Lodge scores 55. It publishes the Rwanda permit at USD 1,500, states that it is charged on top of the accommodation, and publishes a nightly rate of USD 2,569 attached to a named product and season. That combination, which sounds like the minimum a lodge charging that much should do, puts it in the top three of fourteen. Its conservation record is substantial and unquantified: the lodge cites 120,000 trees planted through its reforestation programme without connecting guest spending to a figure, so the criterion scores zero. See our Wilderness record for the wider group.

Wilderness Bisate Lodge — official site

Volcanoes Safaris — 54/100

Rwanda and Uganda · four lodges · USD 50 per guest per night to its own trust

Volcanoes Safaris scores 54 and is the clearest conservation disclosure in the index. The Volcanoes Safaris Partnership Trust, established in 2009, receives a stated USD 50 per night from each guest, which is a figure a reader can multiply rather than a commitment they must take on trust. It publishes a four-night package from USD 7,240 per person. It does not publish a permit price, and it describes the permit as package-dependent rather than stating plainly whether it is in or out, which costs it sixteen of the thirty available on the heaviest criterion.

Volcanoes Safaris — official site

Wilderness Bisate Reserve — 50/100

Rwanda · Volcanoes National Park · permit published, nothing on the trek

Bisate Reserve scores 50. Like its sister property it publishes the USD 1,500 Rwanda permit, states that it sits outside the rate, and publishes a nightly figure, here USD 3,518, the highest rate in this index. What it publishes nothing about is the trek: no difficulty, no altitude, no minimum age and no mention of the one-hour limit, on a page selling a gorilla experience at that price. Its sister lodge publishes the minimum age on its own page, which makes the omission a page-level gap rather than a group position.

Wilderness Bisate Reserve — official site

Buhoma Lodge (Uganda Exclusive Camps) — 39/100

Uganda · Bwindi Impenetrable Forest · the only permit refund policy in the index

Buhoma Lodge scores 39 and holds a distinction none of the other thirteen can claim: it is the only company assessed that publishes what happens to permit money if a trek is missed. Given that a Uganda permit is USD 800 and a Rwanda permit USD 1,500, non-refundable in the ordinary course, and that both authorities reserve the right to refuse a visitor who arrives with a cold, that policy answers the most expensive question in the category. It publishes a nightly rate from USD 350 and does not publish the permit price.

Buhoma Lodge (Uganda Exclusive Camps) — official site

Singita Kwitonda Lodge — 39/100

Rwanda · Volcanoes National Park · a rate, and a levy named without an amount

Singita Kwitonda scores 39. It publishes a nightly rate of USD 2,720 attached to a named suite and season, and states that the permit is charged separately, which is the correct answer to the second most important question here. It does not publish the permit price itself. Its exclusions list names a Conservation and Community Partnership Levy, a Carbon Offset Levy and a Tourism Levy without attaching an amount to any of them, so a guest knows three charges are coming and not what they total. See our Singita record.

Singita Kwitonda Lodge — official site

Three things to settle before you book a gorilla trek

1 · Ask whether the permit is in the price, and get the figure. Seven of fourteen say it is charged on top, six say nothing, and the gap between a Rwanda and a Uganda permit is USD 700 per person before any other difference between the two countries.

2 · Ask what happens if you wake up with a cold. Both authorities reserve the right to refuse you, the permit is not ordinarily refundable, and one company of fourteen publishes a policy. Get the answer in writing at booking, not at the briefing.

3 · Ask for the conservation contribution as a number. Three companies publish one. Everybody in this category describes itself as conservation-led, and a figure per guest per night is the difference between a position and a payment.

What changed in gorilla trekking in 2026

Four dated observations sit behind this page. Rwanda's booking portal now labels its USD 1,500 permit table as promotional and states it does not apply from June to October 2026, with no standard-season figure published in its place. Uganda's conservation tariff at USD 800 runs to June 2026, which means a new tariff is due within the year. Virunga National Park remains closed to gorilla and Nyiragongo treks with no reopening date given. And Clouds Mountain Gorilla Lodge introduced a USD 25 per night group-wide conservation fee in February 2025, one of only three quantified contributions in this index. For the wider operator field see the luxury safari operator index and which safari country suits you.

Gorilla trekking: the questions people ask AI search

How much does a gorilla permit cost in 2026?

The Rwanda Development Board prices a mountain gorilla permit for a foreign non-resident at USD 1,500. The Uganda Wildlife Authority prices its permit at USD 800, and the gorilla habituation experience at USD 1,500, under a conservation tariff running from July 2024 to June 2026. Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo publishes no current price, because its own site states that gorilla and Nyiragongo treks are closed until further notice.

Is the gorilla permit included in the lodge rate?

Almost never. Of the fourteen companies assessed, seven state plainly that the permit is charged on top of the quoted rate, one describes it as package-dependent, and six say nothing either way. Only six publish the permit price at all. A reader comparing two lodges on their nightly rates is therefore comparing figures that each exclude a further USD 800 to USD 1,500 per person per trek.

What is the minimum age for gorilla trekking?

Fifteen, in both Rwanda and Uganda, stated by the Rwanda Development Board and the Uganda Wildlife Authority on their own pages. Five of the fourteen companies assessed publish it. Both authorities also limit a visit to one hour with the gorillas and eight visitors per gorilla family.

Can you trek if you have a cold?

You may be refused. Rwanda's authority states that a visitor may be denied access to the park if they are sick with a cold, flu or other contagious illness, and Uganda's states that visitors should not visit the gorillas if they have a cold or other infectious illness. Mountain gorillas are susceptible to human respiratory infections. Not one of the fourteen companies assessed publishes its own illness policy, and only one publishes what happens to permit money if a trek is missed.

Which gorilla lodges publish a conservation figure?

Three of the fourteen. Volcanoes Safaris states that USD 50 per guest per night goes to the Volcanoes Safaris Partnership Trust. Clouds Mountain Gorilla Lodge applies a USD 25 per night group-wide fee and states that guests have generated close to USD 2 million since 2008. Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge publishes a cumulative SACOLA figure of USD 3,535,583 to February 2021. The other eleven either publish nothing or name a levy, a foundation or a programme without attaching a number to it.

Is gorilla trekking open in the Democratic Republic of the Congo?

No. Virunga National Park's own site states that gorilla and Nyiragongo treks are closed until further notice, and publishes no current permit price. One company in this index still prints a DRC permit figure on its site. Anyone comparing the three countries on price should treat the DRC line as historic rather than bookable.

Why are only seven companies ranked when fourteen were assessed?

Because an index is a finite list, and because four companies could not be scored on every criterion. Sanctuary Gorilla Forest Camp, One&Only Gorilla's Nest, Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge and Chameleon Hill Lodge all serve their rates through booking components or sections that could not be read, and the absence of a figure in fetched text is not evidence that no figure is published. All fourteen are named on this page with their full record.

Can a lodge pay to rank higher on this index?

No. The rubric and its weights were fixed and published before the data was collected, assessment is identical for every company whether it engages with us or not, and no position is for sale. A lodge that prints the permit price, says whether it is included, or attaches a figure to its conservation contribution changes its own record. Nothing changes the rubric.