Uganda cuts gorilla tracking fees to $600
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Nile Post
Uganda’s wildlife authority is cutting tracking fees for international tourists from $800 to $600. The move is intended to support tourism and communities ahead of the Mountain Gorilla Festival, scheduled for 19 to 22 November 2026 in Kisoro, according to its director James Musinguzi.
The Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) has reduced mountain gorilla tracking fees for international tourists from $800 to $600. Ugandans and nationals of East African countries will pay 300,000 Ugandan shillings, according to UWA Executive Director James Musinguzi.
The $200 reduction comes ahead of the first Mountain Gorilla Festival, scheduled for 19 to 22 November 2026 in Kisoro district, under the theme “Protecting gorillas, empowering communities”. James Musinguzi said the event was intended to bring wildlife conservation, tourism and local people’s incomes closer together.
The UWA aims in particular to create more opportunities for young people, women and local entrepreneurs in employment, accommodation, visitor guiding, cultural tourism and crafts. The agency is also working to improve access roads and tracking trails in the Bwindi-Mgahinga Conservation Area.
Partnerships are being considered with local investors to offer lower-cost accommodation and with Kira Motors to develop buses for affordable excursions to national parks, James Musinguzi said. Each festival kit costs 70,000 shillings and includes, among other things, a vest and a bag.
