With the required paper work tourists it’s very possible to film mountain gorillas in the three countries. Each national park with gorillas in those three countries has its own filming permits or documentation.
The following organization are responsible for processing permits in their respective countries; Uganda wildlife Authority for Uganda, Rwanda Development Board for Rwanda and Virunga National Park for DRC.
Filming mountain gorillas is allowed in all three countries because it’s one way of promoting tourism and global awareness to the worlds and raising resources for conservation of these endangered species. The filming crew does not mix with other travelers except for park guides.
The first step to be done when you want gorilla filming is to apply for a media card from Uganda Media Centre before every member of the film crew must have this card. The Uganda media Centre requires knowing the tourist names, address, nationality, passport and the purpose of the visit as well as how many days they will stay in the country.
The approval from the Uganda media might take 3-5 days. When a tourist receives the approval form, they write a letter to Uganda Wildlife Authority with details about the filming company, purpose of the filming and park they are going to film at.
In Uganda a charge equivalent to 40% of the activity fee plus 10% monitoring fee. For tourist that with intention to film in Bwindi Impenetrable forest national park will pay for a gorilla permit ($700 per person to film for one hour), 40% of the permit fee and 10% group fee as monitoring fees.
The gorilla habituation filming permit of four hours costs $1500 per person. After payment to Uganda wildlife authority, a memorandum of understanding to approve filming is signed between the tourist filming and Uganda Wildilfe Authority. Upon compilation of costs a 5% charge will be applied on the total fee to cater for impacts to the environment in the forest.
Book in advance at least 4 months before the actual filming day for better planning.
On arrival in Uganda, the gorilla filming crew have to show their equipment at the airport for clearance. The filming tourists that intend to use a drone need another approval from Uganda people’s defense forces and the aviation authority.
Volcanoes National park is the only place in Rwanda where gorillas are found with 10 habituated groups. The Rwanda development board is the body responsible for approving of gorilla filming tours in the country. Filming gorillas in Rwanda costs about $5000 not including gorilla permits.
Rwanda gorillas permit costs $1500 per person. Rwanda development board requires you to pay an additional fee of $2000 which is refunded later if you share a copy of your film/documentary.
Tourists need to book your permit and clear filming equipment in advance.
Kahuzi Biega National park where you find eastern lowland gorillas and Virunga National Park is where gorillas can be filmed. Gorilla filming can be best done in DRC because the parks receive fewer visitors which enable them to enjoy the undisturbed wilderness in privacy though it is very expensive in DRC than in Uganda and Rwanda since the country doesn’t have an established system for allowing gorilla filming.
Tourists who want to film apply at the national parks and wait for response. Unauthorized filming without military or government approval can result into confiscation of equipment and arrest. The eastern side of DRC has civil unrest every other time for the last decades and tourists should expect heavy deployments and many armed rangers.
A tourist planning to do photography for gorillas is advised to carry two cameras as the gorillas are always on the move and there no likely change to change lenses. Tourists ought to move carefully and slowly when photographing gorillas. Flash photography is not allowed in the forest as it scares and frightens the gorillas. In Bwindi Impenetrable forest national park and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, there is no price set up for photographing gorillas.
A tourist is expected to use the one hour encounter with the gorillas to take some good snaps. For those who would like a longer time experience with the gorillas should book the gorilla habituation experience which lasts about four hours and this gives more time to capture nice pictures.
Photographers are advised to follow the gorilla trekking guidelines and rules issues by the park rangers like keeping a distance of 7 meters from the gorillas, avoiding direct eye contact and not standing taller than the gorillas when near them. Best time to photograph the gorillas is the dry season of June to September and December to February.