Responsible tourism
Gorilla tourism is one of the clearer cases where visitor money and species survival are directly connected. That connection deserves explaining rather than asserting.
Why the permit costs what it costs
A gorilla permit is USD 800 in Uganda or USD 1,500 in Rwanda. Those prices are not set by demand alone. They fund park operations, ranger salaries, veterinary monitoring and anti-poaching work, and both countries direct a share of permit revenue to communities living around the parks.
Rwanda's higher price reflects an explicit high-value, low-volume policy: fewer visitors, each contributing more, to limit pressure on the animals.
The rules exist for the gorillas, not for you
Mountain gorillas share enough of our physiology to catch what we carry. A human respiratory infection can move through a habituated family quickly and with serious consequences.
That is why the rules are what they are: eight visitors per family per day, one hour maximum, seven metres distance, no flash, and screening for respiratory symptoms before the trek. Being turned away with a cold is not bad luck. It is the system working.
Porters
Hiring a porter at the trailhead costs little and is one of the most direct routes by which trekking money reaches households around the park. Many porters come from communities displaced when the parks were gazetted, and some are former poachers for whom this work is the alternative.
We recommend hiring one on every trek, whether or not you need the help. You almost certainly will need it.
Community-run experiences
The Batwa Trail at Mgahinga and the Batwa community walk near Bwindi are led by members of the community who lived in these forests before they became national parks. They are among the more substantive cultural experiences in the region rather than staged performances, and the histories they describe are not comfortable ones.
In Kenya, the Maasai conservancies bordering the Masai Mara are community-owned land leased from Maasai families. Staying in a conservancy directs lease income to those landowners and caps vehicle numbers at sightings.
To be supplied
Our own specific commitments belong here rather than general good practice: any community projects we support and what we actually contribute, our position on porter payment and tipping guidance, plastic and waste policy in camp, and how we select the lodges we work with.
These must be things we genuinely do. A responsible tourism page describing intentions rather than practices is worse than not having one.
What we will not claim
We do not claim conservation partnerships, certifications or accreditations we do not hold. If we say we support something, it will name what, how much, and how you can verify it.
This page needs expansion before launch
Our specific community commitments, tipping guidance, waste policy and lodge selection criteria must be supplied. Only genuine, verifiable commitments — no aspirational language.
Plan your Kenya and gorilla safari
Tell us roughly when you want to travel and how long you have. We will send a written itinerary and a quotation.