15 Days - UGANDA ~ Rwenzori & Mountain Gorilla Trekking Adventure

Day notes

Arrive at Kigali International Airport. On your arrival you will be met by your driver/guide. Having passed immigration and luggage collection please exit the arrival hall and look out for your guide who will be holding up a signboard with your name. Transfer to Heaven boutique hotel for your overnight stay. 

Day notes

After breakfast, visit the Kigali Genocide memorial. Stop for lunch in the city before being transferred to Bwindi National park by road. Drive 3-3.5 hours to Cyanika border. Cross the border into Uganda with border assistance (30 minutes to an hour) and continue 2 hours to Gorilla Safari Lodge for your overnight stay. This drive will offer you excellent views including the triangular peaks of the Virunga Volcanoes of Rwanda and the Congo.

Day notes

An early start to check in at the park HQ by 07h45  for your briefing. Treks can take anywhere between 3-8 hours including your 1 hour with the gorillas themselves.

A visit to a mountain gorilla family is a life changing experience. Mountain gorillas are highly intelligent, good natured, and fascinating to observe. The silverbacks' powerful presence is awe-inspiring, yet his calm demeanor clearly earns him the title, 'gentle giant'. People are equally struck by the tenderness and care that mothers show their young. And then, of course, there are the juveniles who spend most of every waking hour at play and never cease to make visitors smile.

Mountain gorillas (gorilla beringei beringei), live in colder climates than the other gorilla species, with their longer and thicker fur providing additional warmth. They are usually smaller than their close cousins the Eastern Lowland Gorilla (gorilla beringei graueri). To the untrained eye, all gorillas may appear very similar in appearance, but they have unique nose prints that help to identify individuals.

Day notes

After breakfast drive in about 7 hours to Kasese Sandton hotel.  It is time to prepare yourself for the adventure starting tomorrow.

Day notes

Transfer by road (30 minutes) from your hotel to Kyanjuki base camp/Trekkers Hostel, where you will meet your guides for a briefing at 8h00, here you will also able to arrange porters.  After this you will walk 2.2km which will take approximately 45minutes to 1 hour to reach the UWA park gate to sign in and pay the park entrance fees.  

Your trek then begins by walking up the valley floor through tall forest trees of the Afro Montane Forest Zone. This is a steady climb with a chance to see multitudes of birds and blue monkeys scampering off through the forest. At times visitors may see troupes of 15 to 20 black and white Colobus monkeys as they swing through the tree tops. There are rare sightings of the L’Hoest monkey which are part of the Bukonzo cultural emblems and are protected by the virtue of the King of the kingdom of Rwenzururu (aka Omusinga) or you may hear wild chimpanzee in the distance. There is a wide variety of plant species from forest trees to bamboo thickets, low shrubs, flowers, fungi, moss and lichen covered vines hanging from the tall trees creating awesome canopies. Enock’s Falls are just 200 meters from Sine Hut and offer a splendid opportunity to capture a great sight for your memories.

Sleep at Sine Hut at 2,596 meters.

Day notes

After breakfast, your trekking will start at 8:30am and you will almost immediately enter the Bamboo-Mimulopsis Zone which is a steep climb with many high steps. In the wet season the bamboo zone is rather muddy and slippery making the pace slow. However the atmosphere in the forest is beautiful as you climb 551 metres in altitude and a distance of 1.8km to Kalalama Camp at 3,147 meters which is in the Heather-Rapanea Zone where you can take a rest and a quick cup of tea or coffee before heading on to Mutinda Camp 3,582 metres.

The trail meanders up and over several small knolls along a ridge top then drops down the side of the valley before climbing again, and in doing so crosses several small streams and a pass close to moss covered waterfalls. You then climb steadily along the side of a beautiful mossy river which tumbles down over the rocks under the Giant Heather trees whose trunks are covered in green moss with 'old man beards' (Usnea lichen) hanging from the branches. The trail twists and turns as you climb up the deep valley, filled with an enormous variety of plants and flowers. This valley is unique with many Giant Heather trees creating a ethereal atmosphere often shrouded in mist.

Day notes

The trail to Bugata Camp is boggy, particularly in the wet season.  But with a little skill you can step from tussock to tussock to make the going easier.  First you cross the Mutinda valley through the tussock grass and everlasting flowers interspersed with many Giant Lobelias, before climbing up a steep section up to the Namusangi Valley (3,840 meters), with sheer waterfalls and fantastic views of Mutinda Peaks when you look back. The Namusangi Valley is wide, with many ups and downs as the trail climbs steadily to Bugata Camp. You will overnight at Bugata Camp at 4,100 metres 

Day notes

Trek to Hunwick’s Camp via Bamwanjarra Pass. As you leave Bugata Camp you pass up a ridge then drop down slightly before ascending to Bamwanjarra Pass at 4,450 meters, where there is a hut to take shelter should the weather turn bad. From the pass on a clear day you get excellent views of the three main peaks. The trail passes down the valley and around the edge of some bogs and thick evergreen vegetation, moss, giant groundsel and lobelia. Here is possibly the best place in all the Rwenzori to observe the Malachite Sunbird as it feeds on the many lobelia flowers and is a known breeding site for them. Further on there are some steep sections before a steady climb up and over a ridge to Hunwick's Camp which is situated on the top of a deep valley and has good views of Mt Stanley, Mt Baker, Weismanns Peak and McConnell’s Prong.  Overnight at Hunwick’s Camp at 3,974 metres.

Day notes

From Hunwick's Camp you pass down and across the valley floor to Lake Kitendara which is very stunning with deep water and beautiful vegetation. From here you climb up Scott Elliott's pass then up the ridge to Margherita Camp 4,485 metres which is situated between some huge rocks and offering some shelter from the strong winds.  Overnight at Margherita Camp at 4,485 metres.

This is the very spot where the Duke of Abruzzi camped when making his climb to Margherita Peak in 1906.

Day notes

Today you will wake up at 2:00am for a very early breakfast before heading off to climb Mt Stanley at 2.30am. Such an early start is necessary as often, even during the dryer season the mountain is closed in with heavy clouds and snow fall from  pm to 4pm. This can happen within a very short period of 10 to 15 minutes as the clouds rise up from the extensive Congo rainforests. When the snow storms are heavy you will be unable to walk through them.

After ascending the peak at 5,109 metres you then pass directly down to Hunwick's Camp at 3,974 metres for your overnight stay.

Day notes

From Hunwick’s Camp start the day by climbing up a ridge towards McConnell’s Prong where you get the best views of all three peaks and Scott Elliott’s Pass before reaching Oliver’s Pass at 4,505 metres. The distance from Hunwick’s Camp to the top of Olivers Pass is 3km. The trail then cuts across below Weismann’s Peak to the confluence of the Nyamwamba River which flows down though Kilembe and Kasese to Lake George in Queen Elizabeth National Park.

On a clear day you get fantastic views of Margherita and Mt Stanley, Mt Speke and Mt Baker. After crossing the confluence, the trail meanders down the valley to Kiharo Camp which is situated in a deep valley with high cliffs and dense vegetation. On the way down the valley after each bog you will climb over a ridge of stones and earth which seems out of place but actually was pushed there by slow moving glaciers which eventually stopped moving, melted and left a pile of rocks and debris in front of where the glacier once stood. Total distance from Hunwick's camp to Kiharo camp is around 11km and takes approximately 4 to 7 hours to walk. Overnight at Kiharo Camp 3,460 meters.

Day notes

The trail down the Nyamwamba Valley is mostly downhill and absolutely stunning, moss covered rocks along the river, cascading waterfalls, deep valleys and forests are possibly the best in the Rwenzori Mountains. This part of the trail took six years to find a way through and to create a route which would be easy enough for climbers to use.

*In 1937 the explorer and geologist McConnell tried to find a way up this valley but failed and had to turn back and search for another route up the mountain.

A few kilometres from Kiharo Camp the path turns off to the right to pass along a river, you may catch a glimpse of a Duiker quietly feeding in small clearings as you hike past. If you wish you may prefer to walk down the river itself hopping across the rocks. A few kilometres down the river it becomes very steep with multitudes of waterfalls, so you will need to move away from the river and follow a narrow ridge to bypass the steep sections.

At the bottom you will again meet the river where there is a huge rock shelter providing a place to rest for a while. After crossing a small stream, you will climb up a gentle slope before turning back down to the river to avoid another set of waterfalls which are impassable. The forest along this section is magnificent and full of life with many birds, primates, duikers and hyrax. A great experience and ending to a fantastic trek.

After descending the mountains, your guide will be waiting for you to transfer you to Kyaninga Lodge where you can get some well deserved rest.

Day notes

After an early lunch drive to Entebbe for your overnight stay at The Boma Hotel Entebbe.

Day notes

Today you will have the chance to explore Entebbe, there are many activities to do in and around Entebbe:

• Search for Shoebill in Mabamba Swamp (we highly recommend this!)
• Walk through the Entebbe Botanical Gardens
• Visit the Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary
• Visit the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre

In the late afternoon you will be transferred to Entebbe International Airport for your international flight back home.