How To Avoid Gorilla Permit Scams In Uganda

Gorilla trekking is the flagship safari experience Uganda has to offer, and for that reason, many people travel to Uganda specifically to encounter the mountain gorillas in their natural habitat. However, unlike savannah game drives where park entrances are handled at the park gate, gorilla trekking requires you to book in advance. The booking helps you to secure what is called a gorilla trekking permit.

Formerly, a gorilla trekking permit was a card issued to you by the Uganda Wildlife Authority to allow you to track mountain gorillas on a specific day in a specific location. With the increase in the gorilla trekking locations, the cards became unsustainable. In the new gorilla permit issuing process, the permit is simply a document issued by the Uganda Wildlife Authority showing trekking dates, location, and the number of people permitted. These permits are usually issued in company names; however, the company can key in your names once they have successfully secured the permits so that your registration process at the park is shortened.

All the above seems straightforward until you send money and notice that you are not getting anything in return. That is where this article comes in handy to give you a heads-up on what to avoid and how best to go about the gorilla permit scams in Uganda.

Never Send Money On a Personal Account 

Every tour company in Uganda that is licensed has a company account. Unregistered companies often use personal accounts to receive money. They might have ever purchased gorilla trekking permits before for people, but because they are not licensed operators, they can disappear with your money at any point. You would do well to only send money to a company account. Other times, you might be tempted to send money via Western Union; these are often means that are harder to trace in case you are scammed. This is not to say that a licensed company cannot scam you, but chances are very low that a licensed company will fail to deliver.

Online Money Transfer Interface Concept

Send Money Via Pesapal Instead Of Wire Transfer

Unless you are an Agent that already has an established relationship with the tour operator, we highly recommend sending the gorilla permits money via pesapal. Unlike wire transfers, pesapal has an option of cashback. With this option, you can task pesapal to revert your money as long as you have the evidence that the service you paid for was not delivered. It is also important to note that pesapal tends to be more expensive that wire transfer if you are sending a lot of money. But it is far more secure than doing a wire transfer.

Check Uganda Tourism Board Listing

The only companies allowed to purchase gorilla trekking permits from Uganda wildlife Authority are those that have been listed on the Uganda tourism board licensed companies page. Any company that is not listed on the Uganda tourism board is not allowed to purchase permits. Feel free to ask for a Uganda tourism board license number.

It is also important to note that there are companies that specialize in car rentals and are not licensed by Uganda tourism board. They usually have the permits organized by a third party. We recommend that instead of sending the money to the none licensed operator, you ask for the contact of the licensed operator where you can send the money directly and make accountability easy.

Do Not Be Misled By Google Reviews

The majority of the scammers have inflated google reviews. Compare the company with some already established big companies. If you find that its review profile to too high; chances are very high that they do not only fake reviews but also potential scammers. AIs can easily recommend you these people on the basis of having many good google reviews which in most cases are self generated. For instance, you can easily find a car rental company that has not been in business for 5 years but has more than 250 google reviews. Given the Ugandan car rental industry, this already shows that this is an inflated profile.

With that said, take due diligence before sending money for the gorilla trekking permits.