Gorilla trekking cancellation policy Uganda — what fair protection actually looks like
The cancellation policy of a gorilla trekking operator tells you something important about how the company thinks about its relationship with clients. A policy written entirely to protect the operator’s revenue — non-refundable from the moment of booking, regardless of circumstances — serves the operator at the client’s expense. A policy written to be client-friendly regardless of operational reality — fully refundable until departure day — is either financially unsustainable or backed by fully flexible supplier relationships that sacrifice the certainty of supply that genuine protection requires. Our cancellation policy is written to be genuinely fair to both parties — transparent about the real costs that cancellation imposes on our operations, and generous in the circumstances where flexibility does not create genuine financial losses for us.
The cancellation timeline and refund schedule
For bookings cancelled more than 90 days before the trek date: we refund the full deposit minus a small administrative fee (the cost of the bank transfers and payment processing associated with the refund). For bookings cancelled between 60 and 90 days before the trek date: we retain a proportion of the deposit reflecting the cancellation fees charged by Uganda Wildlife Authority for permit cancellation at this stage, and refund the remainder. For bookings cancelled between 30 and 60 days before the trek date: we retain the full deposit, which reflects the real costs we have incurred in securing your permit and the reduced probability of reselling the cancelled dates at this stage. For bookings cancelled within 30 days of the trek date: the full booking value may be non-refundable, depending on whether the accommodation and permit can be resold on short notice.
The balance payment and cancellation after payment
For clients who have paid the full balance of their booking — which is typically due 60 days before the trek date — a cancellation after balance payment is more complex. The refundable portion depends on what can be recovered from accommodation suppliers, transport operators, and Uganda Wildlife Authority given the notice provided. We provide a specific refund calculation within 24 hours of a cancellation request, based on what has and has not been recoverable from suppliers at that point.
Force majeure and exceptional circumstances
For cancellations caused by circumstances genuinely outside the client’s control — documented medical emergencies, bereavement, declared natural disasters or political events affecting travel — we apply a more flexible interpretation of our standard cancellation terms. We cannot override the non-refundable costs that Uganda Wildlife Authority and accommodation suppliers impose on us in these circumstances, but we absorb our own margin in cases where the emergency is clearly genuine and documented. This is not a policy provision that appears in our standard terms because it is applied case by case — but it is a consistent practice that reflects how we actually handle the small number of genuine emergency cancellations we receive each year.
Travel insurance as the real protection
The most comprehensive protection against financial loss from trip cancellation is a travel insurance policy that covers: trip cancellation for specified reasons (illness, bereavement, etc.), trip interruption if you need to leave Uganda early, and medical evacuation. We strongly recommend — and our booking terms require — that all clients have such a policy in place before their trek date. The cost of adequate travel insurance is a small fraction of the total trip cost, and it provides the protection that our own cancellation policy, however fairly designed, cannot provide against all possible circumstances.
