The Best Time to Visit Uganda. Month By Month. Weather & Season.

Best Time to Visit Uganda

It is paramount to remember that Uganda can be visited throughout the year. The major activity in Uganda is gorilla trekking, and gorillas can be tracked throughout the year because their movements are not affected by changing seasons.

The best time to visit Uganda for an unforgettable gorilla trekking experience is during the dry seasons, which fall between June to September and December to February. These months are considered the high season, offering the most favorable trekking conditions with less rainfall, making the forest trails in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park easier to navigate. Wildlife is also more active during this period, and gorilla sightings are highly reliable. However, due to the high demand, gorilla permits tend to sell out quickly, and prices can be higher, requiring travelers to book well in advance.

Alternatively, the low season during the rainy months of March to May and October to November provides a more budget-friendly option with lower permit prices and fewer tourists. While the forest can be muddy and trekking more challenging, the rainforests are lush and vibrant, offering a unique, intimate experience with nature. Gorilla families remain accessible, and sightings are still very likely. For adventurous travelers seeking a quieter, more serene encounter with Uganda’s mountain gorillas, the low season can be a rewarding choice.

Best Time To Visit Uganda continued…

The months of March to April and October to November are considered wet seasons and also referred to as low seasons. The forests can get very muddy and tracking mountain gorillas becomes more challenging. We cannot disregard mud even during the dry season because mountain gorillas stay in rain forests and it can rain at any time of the year. It is crucial to note that the rains in Uganda do not go on throughout the day like it is in Europe or North America. It rains for between one to two hours before the sun appears again thus enabling the activity to go on regardless of whether it is raining or not.

The best time to go gorilla tracking is in the dry season where the vegetation is not thick and the ground trails aren’t very slippery. Getting this time right is kind of complicated because global warming has affected weather patterns a lot in Africa making it very hard to predict the beginning and end of the wet and dry seasons. At the end of the day, the final decision of when to visit the gorillas remains with the traveler.