Uganda

Uganda's gorilla permit costs USD 700. Rwanda's costs USD 1,500. That gap is the main reason people choose Uganda for gorilla trekking, and it's a perfectly good reason. The trekking experience itself, spending one hour with a habituated gorilla family in dense mountain forest, is the same on both sides of the border. Bwindi Impenetrable Forest is where most Uganda treks depart. It's in the southwest corner of the country, and getting there involves a flight to Entebbe and either a full-day road journey or a small charter flight to an airstrip near the park. The road takes roughly eight hours and isn't difficult. Many operators break it with a lodge stop in western Uganda. Charter flight passengers are in camp by early afternoon. Both options work. The trekking itself varies more than the marketing suggests. Some groups find their gorilla family within thirty minutes of setting off. Others trek for four to six hours through steep, muddy vegetation. It depends entirely on where the family has moved overnight. Everyone gets the full hour once the gorillas are located. The trek is classified as moderate to strenuous. You don't need to be an athlete, but you should be comfortable walking uphill in mud. Uganda has more than gorillas. Kibale Forest holds one of the highest concentrations of chimpanzees in the world, and a chimp tracking experience runs alongside the gorilla permits. Queen Elizabeth National Park has tree-climbing lions that lounge in fig trees at midday and flat savannah that runs to the Rwenzori foothills. A five-to-seven day itinerary combining gorillas, chimps and savannah game driving is realistic and genuinely satisfying. The East Africa Tourist Visa covers Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda in a single purchase. If your itinerary touches more than one country, it's worth checking whether it works out cheaper than individual visas.