$3,098 pp (USD)
2 travelers on Start dateArrival
Arrival
Day 1
Arrive Entebbe / Kampala – Transfer to Kasese
Arrive Entebbe / Kampala – Transfer to Kasese
Your driver-guide meets you at Entebbe International Airport or your Kampala hotel for a safari briefing before departing for Kasese, the gateway to Rwenzori Mountains National Park. The 6–8 hour drive passes through western Uganda's scenic highlands, including the tea estates around Fort Portal, before descending to the plains beneath the Rwenzori Mountains. Arrive in the afternoon for check-in, dinner, and an overnight stay, ready for an early start on your Rwenzori hiking adventure the following morning.
- Main Destination:
- Kasese (Town)
- Accommodation:
- Sandstone Hotel Kasese
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 2
Into the mountains of the moon
Into the mountains of the moon
After an early departure from Kasese, travel to Nyakalengija, the main entrance to Rwenzori Mountains National Park, for registration and a briefing from your certified mountain ranger. Learn about the trail, altitude, wildlife, and safety before beginning your hike.
The Mahoma Trail climbs through lush montane forest, home to colourful birdlife, including the endemic Rwenzori Turaco, as well as L'Hoest's and colobus monkeys. Cross glacier-fed streams and continue through bamboo forest before reaching the giant heather zone, where the scenery becomes distinctly Afro-alpine.
Following the Mahoma River valley, the trail leads to the tranquil Mahoma Lake, a scenic mountain lake surrounded by forest and ridges. Enjoy a picnic lunch while your ranger shares insights into the area's unique plants and wildlife before beginning the return hike or settling into camp if staying overnight on the mountain.
- Main Destination:
- Rwenzori Mountains (Mountain Range)
- Accommodation:
- Nyakalengija Base Camp
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 3
Upper Trails, Alpine Views & Descent
Upper Trails, Alpine Views & Descent
Your second day on the Rwenzori explores the mountain's spectacular upper slopes, where ancient giant heathers give way to the unique Afro-alpine moorland. Here, towering giant lobelias and groundsels create one of Africa's most extraordinary high-altitude landscapes, with panoramic views and, on clear days, glimpses of the glaciers of Mount Stanley and Mount Speke.
After taking in this remarkable scenery, descend through the heather, bamboo, and montane forest zones, enjoying the changing landscapes and birdlife along the way. Arrive back at Nyakalengija in the afternoon before transferring to Kasese for dinner and an overnight stay.
- Main Destination:
- Rwenzori Mountains (Mountain Range)
- Accommodation:
- Sandstone Hotel Kasese
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 4
Transfer to kibale national park
Transfer to kibale national park
The transfer from Kasese to Kibale Forest takes approximately three and a half to four hours through some of western Uganda's finest scenery. The road passes through Fort Portal — a charming highland town set in tea plantation country with the Rwenzori Mountains still visible on the southern horizon — before entering the crater lakes district, where a series of ancient volcanic craters have filled with water to create a landscape of extraordinary beauty.
Arrival at Kibale Forest in the late afternoon gives time to check in at the lodge, walk the forest boundary where primates are often active in the early evening.
- Main Destination:
- Kibale National Park (Chimps)
- Accommodation:
-
Kibale Forest Camp (Camping)
Wildlife in Kibale NP
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 5
Chimpanzee Tracking in Kibale – Transfer to Bwindi
Chimpanzee Tracking in Kibale – Transfer to Bwindi
After breakfast, head to Kibale Forest Np headquarters for a briefing before setting out with an experienced ranger to track one of the park's habituated chimpanzee communities. When your ranger signals that the chimpanzees have been located, the experience becomes intensely focused. You may find the group feeding high in a fruiting fig tree, the canopy shaking with their movement and filling with their calls. You may encounter a ground-level social session — grooming, play-chasing, the complex negotiations of primate social life conducted at close range around you. Your ranger narrates everything, identifying individuals and explaining the social dynamics that structure the community's daily life. Your ranger will interpret their behaviour and the forest ecosystem throughout the experience.
After the trek, continue south on a scenic 5–7 hour drive to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. Arrive at your lodge in the evening for dinner, an overnight stay.
- Main Destination:
- Kibale National Park (Chimps)
- Accommodation:
- Bwindi Neck View Lodge
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 6
Gorilla Trekking
Gorilla Trekking
The morning begins before full light with breakfast, then the short drive to the park headquarters for group assignment and ranger briefing.
When the ranger signals that the gorillas are close, conversation stops entirely. You enter the permitted observation zone in a quiet group, and the gorilla family becomes visible through the vegetation. A silverback — the family's dominant male — may be sitting in a clearing, feeding calmly. The rest of the family moves around him females with infants clinging to their backs, juveniles at the family's edge, the whole social structure of a gorilla community visible and active in front of you. Your ranger narrates quietly throughout the hour, naming individuals, explaining relationships, interpreting the behaviour you are witnessing.
The afternoon at the lodge is entirely at leisure.
- Main Destination:
- Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (Gorillas)
- Accommodation:
- Bwindi Neck View Lodge
Wildlife in Bwindi Impenetrable NP
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 7
Transfer To Kampala
Transfer To Kampala
The final day begins with breakfast and checkout from Bwindi, then the long drive east toward Kampala and Entebbe.
- Main Destination:
- Kampala (City)
- Accommodation:
- No accommodation (End of tour)
- Meals & Drinks:
