Covid-19
Information on COVID19 Protocols for Travel to Uganda
Clients/agents should be aware that COVID19 not only poses risks for human beings but also for great apes given the close genetic relationship between them. Gorilla and chimpanzee tracking has resumed and it’s essential that clients who go tracking play their part in safeguarding the health of the great apes.
- Please ensure you are familiar with IUCN Best Practice Guidelines for great ape
- Please follow all current rules and protocols for gorilla and chimpanzee tracking, including any COVID19 testing requirements, hand washing and sanitising, maintaining a 10 metre distance from gorillas and from the rangers, wearing masks and gloves, not sneezing or coughing in the presence of gorillas.
- Please do not go tracking if you are not feeling well and report any symptoms to your guide and seek medical
- Please speak to the duty manager at the lodge if you have any questions or concerns about these
- At the briefing points, visitors and staff shall wash hands or sanitise and have their body temperature
- Briefing and debriefing shall be done in small groups of eight (08) tourists after they have been assigned gorilla families for
- Tourists, staff, and porters who, during the briefing, are observed to be sick shall not be allowed to be tracked. These include anyone with signs of flu, and those who report having diarrhea, stomach upsets and malaria, among others.
- All the visitors, staff and trackers must wear
- A maximum of eight (8) tourists shall be allowed to track a gorilla group per
- A maximum of six (6) tourists shall be allowed to track a chimpanzee group at a
- The tourists must keep a distance of not less than 10 meters from the gorillas and chimpanzees during this
- The assigned UWA guides shall ensure there is social distancing of 2 meters among the tourists while tracking, where
- Before the gorilla and chimpanzee viewing commences, all people in the group shall sanitise their hands
- The tourists shall carry light equipment to minimise the need for porters while they undertake the tracking. This information shall be communicated to potential tourists through the tour operators and other UWA communication platforms, such as the UWA website and social media platforms.
- Due to the reported side effects of wearing masks for long periods and in high altitudes, visitors shall take frequent breaks during the tracking give themselves time to breathe fresh air.
- During these breaks, social distancing shall be strictly
- In case a tourist or accompanying members of the team experience a health-related problem, UWA staff shall apply the established evacuation and first aid guidelines to move the affected individual from the field.
- Pricings that we have shared with our clients and on our website are subject to change without prior notice until after confirmation.
- B. Quotes on all our itineraries are inclusive of all activities, meal and accommodations as well as excursions as described on our itinerary except for the items noted on our exclusions.
- Spine Pearl Safaris has all the rights to make changes on the quotes shared should there be any sudden changes in prices, however we shall ensure that this does not affect confirmed bookings and we shall also try to ensure there are no increments in our quotations.
- D. We request all travelers to check their visa, passport, and health and visa requirements beforehand and have all the necessary information for travel. This they can do with the different embassies as well as consulates,
We are always happy to provide general information to our clients for instance, most countries now require passports to be valid for at least 6 months, some countries strictly require online application for visas, be sure to double check information like this .
- Our pricings are always advised based on the itineraries shared all that is included will clearly be stated in the inclusions while all that is not included will be stated in our exclusions.
- Mandatory temperature screening using non-contact infra-red thermometers at the key tourism gates of the different protected
- Mandatory hand washing / sanitizing at the entrances of all UWA premises and protected areas.
- Wearing a face mask while inside the protected
- Observing social
- All tourists going for primate tracking activities should carry at least two N95 masks or surgical masks or double layered cloth masks with
- Government guidelines of carrying half capacity in order observe social distance shall apply to the use of vehicles and boats in the parks. These include concessionaire delivery
- Saloon car vehicles shall not be permitted to carry out game drives activities in the protected areas.
- Visitors going to the parks are encouraged to carry their own hand
- Visa on arrival services in Uganda are suspended for majority of countries.
All travellers holding ordinary passports from countries whose citizens are required to have visas to enter Uganda will be required to apply for visas online prior to travel, and will receive an approved notification that they must print and carry with them as travel authorization.
Effective 16- Feb 2022 there is no mandatory testing for Covid on arrival at Entebbe.
Passengers must have a negative COVID19 PCR test done within 72 hours before departure from the first embarkation point. The 72 hours start when the sample is collected, and passengers must not display any signs or symptoms of any infectious disease before boarding.
The COVID19 PCR test must be taken at a laboratory approved by the country where the passenger’s journey starts.
A passenger who shows signs and symptoms of an infectious disease on arrival will be taken to an isolation centre.
If a passenger tests positive for COVID19 he/she will be taken to a COVID19 treatment centre or repatriated for treatment outside Uganda at their own cost following COVID19 medical evacuation procedures.
Parents/legal guardians who are travelling with a child between the age of 3 and 12 need to present a negative COVID19 PCR test result. Babies/infants 3 years and below are allowed to travel without a COVID19 PCR test as long as the legal guardians/parents carry a negative COVID19 PCR test result.
The COVID19 PCR requirement also applies to vaccinated passengers.
Passengers travelling from India are required to have a negative COVID19 PCR test done 72 hours prior to travel, and they will be subjected to mandatory PCR testing upon arrival irrespective of the vaccination status, at their own cost.
- For departing passengers who are required to take a COVID19 PCR test before departure, the test can be done at these approved testing facilities. The test certificate must include a QR code linked to the original report.