Travelmonke Tours and Travel · UTB/RTT/TT/2025/101816 · direct UWA permit allocations

Luxury Uganda Safaris, built around confirmed gorilla permits

Tailor-made luxury gorilla trekking, small-capacity lodges, and senior guides who know every sector by name — at roughly half the permit cost of neighbouring Rwanda.

Check permit availability View safari packages
$800
vs Rwanda's $1,500 permit
4
Bwindi trekking sectors
~20
habituated gorilla families
8–10
rooms at our featured lodges

Luxury Safaris in Uganda, Planned by a Kampala Ground Team

Travelmonke designs tailor-made luxury safaris in Uganda for travellers who want the country's rarest encounters — mountain gorilla trekking, chimpanzee tracking, and classic savanna game drives — without the compromises of a resold, templated itinerary. As one of the Uganda luxury safari operators travellers compare first, we're a Uganda Tourism Board–licensed local team with direct UWA permit allocations, planning every private Uganda safari around confirmed trekking dates, small-capacity luxury lodges, and a senior guide matched to your fitness level and interests.

Whether you're comparing a luxury Uganda safari for a first gorilla trek, planning a honeymoon safari, or building a multi-park itinerary that combines primates with the Big Five, our team designs the trip around you rather than fitting you into a fixed package. It's what separates a genuinely bespoke luxury safari Uganda experience from a brochure itinerary with the dates changed.

Featured itineraries

Luxury Uganda safari packages

Luxury fly-in gorilla trekking safari itinerary in Uganda

8 days

Uganda By Air Collection

Bwindi, Kibale, and Queen Elizabeth connected entirely by domestic charter flight — no long road transfers.

5 Days Ultimate Uganda Gorilla Collection luxury safari

5 days

Ultimate Uganda Gorilla Collection

Our tightest luxury Uganda safari, built around a single confirmed gorilla trek using domestic charter flights.

9 Days Gorillas and Chimps Collection luxury safari

9 days · primates

Gorillas and Chimps Collection

Gorilla trekking in Bwindi plus two distinct chimpanzee encounters, in Kibale Forest and Kyambura Gorge.

8 Days Uganda Romance Collection luxury honeymoon safari

8 days · romance

Uganda Honeymoon Collection

A private gorilla trek paired with an intimate Queen Elizabeth lodge stay, built for couples.

10 Days Uganda Family Safari Collection luxury safari

10 days · family

Uganda Family Safari Collection

Lake Mburo, Queen Elizabeth, and Bwindi, planned around the gorilla trekking age limit with alternating parent treks.

12 Days Pearl of Africa Grand Journey luxury safari

12 days · grand journey

Pearl of Africa Grand Journey

Our most complete circuit: Murchison Falls, Kibale, Queen Elizabeth, Bwindi, and Lake Mburo in one trip.

See all luxury Uganda safari packages →

Start here

The gorilla trekking essentials

Mountain gorilla family in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest

Most requested

Permit booking guide

2026–2027 pricing, sector-by-sector permit numbers, and the exact booking sequence now that UWA's reservation hold is gone.

Read the guide →
Silverback mountain gorilla close-up in Uganda

Rushaga sector, limited

Gorilla habituation experience

Four hours with a semi-habituated family instead of one. $1,500 through 2026, rising to $1,800 from January 2027.

Read the guide →
Luxury gorilla trekking safari in Uganda

The $700 question

Uganda vs Rwanda

Same encounter, roughly half the permit cost. Where the extra transfer time in Uganda is, and isn't, worth it.

Read the comparison →

Parks & destinations

Where your safari takes place

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park gorilla trekking

Bwindi Impenetrable

Roughly half the world's remaining mountain gorillas, across four distinct trekking sectors.

Explore Bwindi →
Queen Elizabeth National Park luxury safari

Queen Elizabeth

The Kazinga Channel, tree-climbing lions at Ishasha, and chimp tracking at Kyambura Gorge.

Explore Queen Elizabeth →
Murchison Falls wilderness landscape

Murchison Falls

The entire Victoria Nile forced through a seven-metre gorge, and the boat safari built around it.

Explore Murchison Falls →

See all seven parks & destinations →

Where to stay

Small-capacity luxury lodges

Clouds Mountain Gorilla Lodge in Bwindi

Bwindi · Nkuringo

Clouds Mountain Gorilla Lodge

Uganda's highest lodge, over 2,000m, eight volcanic-stone cottages with views to Rwanda and DR Congo.

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Nile Safari Lodge in Murchison Falls National Park

Murchison Falls

Nile Safari Lodge

Eight riverside bandas on the Victoria Nile's southern bank, elephants visible from your own deck.

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Mihingo Lodge infinity pool at Lake Mburo

Lake Mburo

Mihingo Lodge

An infinity pool carved directly into a granite kopje, overlooking buffalo and zebra in the valley below.

See the lodge →

See all luxury lodges →

Beyond the gorillas

Chimpanzee trekking in Kibale, a Nile boat safari to the base of Murchison Falls, tree-climbing lions at Ishasha, shoebill storks at Mabamba — a Uganda safari is never just one encounter.

Every itinerary we build combines primates, classic savanna game viewing, and at least one experience most operators never mention.

See all experiences

Built for honeymoons and families alike

A private plunge pool for two, or lodge-based programmes and alternating trek days for families with children under the gorilla trekking age limit — we plan around who's actually travelling.

Our honeymoon and family itineraries start from the same question: what does your specific group actually need this trip to be?

Honeymoon safaris

What our travellers say

Reviews from TripAdvisor

5.0
★★★★★
21 reviews · #197 of 1,697 Tours & Activities in Kampala
AS
★★★★★

Praised our guide Julius as informative and genuinely fun, going out of his way to make the day work — game drive, boat trip, and the falls all in one, and worth every cent.

Arianna S. · 3-day safari, February 2026

K
★★★★★

Saw the Big Five in under 24 hours, with our guide Eddy spotting a leopard entirely on his own by reading the wildlife around us. Comfortable stay, good food throughout.

Kristin · Solo safari, December 2025

SP
★★★★★

A very well organised Murchison Falls trip — easy to reach, responsive to changing needs, with a guide who delivered what she called a lion encounter she'll never forget.

Susanne P. · Family safari, December 2025

MM
★★★★★

Requested only a 4-day luxury tour and let the team plan everything — minor lodge issues were handled promptly, and she never had to worry about a thing.

Mark M. · Solo safari, December 2024

OL
★★★★★

Called the team consistently available, organised, and professional after multiple changes to their programme — and said she'd highly recommend the agency for a perfect Uganda trip.

Océane L. · December 2025

RS
★★★★★

A 3-day Murchison Falls and Ziwa combination with excellent organisation throughout, and a guide praised for genuine skill spotting wildlife along the way.

Reinhard S. · Solo safari, November 2025

Reviews shown are paraphrased summaries of guest feedback originally posted on TripAdvisor, under our parent company Travelmonke Tours and Travel. Reviews are the subjective opinion of individual travellers.

Frequently asked

Before you enquire

How much does a Uganda gorilla permit cost?

A standard permit costs $800 per person in peak season, or $600 during the low-season months of April, May, and November. See our full permit booking guide for the complete 2026–2027 pricing structure.

Is Uganda or Rwanda better for gorilla trekking?

Uganda offers a significantly lower permit price and a larger habituated gorilla population; Rwanda offers a shorter transfer from Kigali. See our full comparison.

How far in advance should I book?

6–10 months ahead for peak season (June–September, December–February), 3–4 months for low season. Full detail in our permit guide.

Is Uganda safe to visit right now?

Read our fully transparent, regularly updated honest safety assessment, including current status on regional health advisories.

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