It was supposed to be the highlight of our trip – the visit to the gorilla. We were in touch with several guides/agents in advance but could not fix the date because of our travel style. But they said that Bwindi would not be possible, so we drove to Kisoro – the gate to the Mgahinga National Park. The original talk was that they sell unpaid permits. Once the agent confirmed that he found two available permits, we paid him 800 USD per person and waited for it. He said it would arrive at the gate, and we could pay him there, too. So we drove there at 6 AM on a lovely sunny morning, and to our surprise, we found out that there were no permits and they just wanted the cash to add us to some group of 7 people. In the end, we agreed with that, but it was still impossible because they got scared to do it for some unknown reason. Anyway, in this park, there is just one gorilla family of 9 members, so we could recommend focusing on Bwindi NP. Again, There were arguments about getting money back, including 50 USD for the transportation, but we got it.
Kisoro, which borders Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, is a local tourism hub. We parked at the fire department station (50000 UGX), just a few steps from the UWA office and opposite Gorilla Highlands Coffee, where we had our dinner and breakfast.
Parking location – Kisoro: 1.283220S 29.689749E (🚻)