A mountain gorilla of the Susa group in the Karisimbi thicket, Volcanoes National Park

12 days, Uganda and Rwanda

12-Day Uganda and Rwanda Combined

Two gorilla treks in two countries, chimpanzees twice, and the Cyanika border crossing in between

Duration: 12 days, 11 nights
Group size: 2 to 6 guests
Physical demand: Challenging
From: $11,400

About this safari

The Virunga massif does not care about the border, and neither does this route. You work south through Uganda from Kibale to Queen Elizabeth to Bwindi, trek in the Buhoma sector, then cross at Cyanika into Rwanda and trek again on the volcano flanks above Kinigi two days later. Two gorilla treks in two countries is the only honest way to understand how different the same animal feels in dense forest at 1,800 metres and in open bamboo at 2,800.

The chimpanzees get the same treatment. Kanyanchu in Kibale is the most reliable chimpanzee tracking anywhere, on flat ground, with a sighting rate above 90 per cent. Cyamudongo in Nyungwe is a small isolated forest block reached before dawn where the walking is steeper, the odds are lower and the whole thing feels less arranged. Doing both, a week apart, tells you more than doing either twice.

Be clear-eyed about the effort. Both gorilla treks can take up to eight hours in each direction, at altitude, in humidity and often in deep mud on a steep slope, and there is no way to know the night before which kind of day you will get. Day eight is a five to six hour drive from Buhoma to Kinigi including a land border. The two gorilla permits alone are 2,300 US dollars per person, 800 in Uganda and 1,500 in Rwanda, both set by the respective park authorities and both subject to change without much notice.

Highlights

Two gorilla treks in two countries, one in dense Bwindi forest and one in the Virunga bamboo above Kinigi
Chimpanzee tracking twice: Kanyanchu in Kibale and Cyamudongo in Nyungwe, which are nothing like each other
The Kazinga Channel launch and the Kasenyi kob plains at first light
Lions in the fig trees at Ishasha, on the natural road south rather than as a detour
The Cyanika border crossing on foot with the Virunga chain in front of you the whole way
The Nyungwe canopy walkway on the Igishigishigi trail, sixty metres above the forest floor
The short flight from Kigali to Kamembe, which replaces a six hour drive across Rwanda
One driver guide in Uganda and one in Rwanda, both working country they actually live in

Day by day

01
Arrive at Entebbe
Met in arrivals and ten minutes to the lake shore. Nothing is scheduled on a landing day. Over dinner your guide runs through the twelve days, the two permit dates that everything else is pinned to, and what to keep in the day pack for the forest mornings.
- Entebbe, Uganda
- The Boma Entebbe
- Dinner
02
Fly to Kasese and drive up to Kibale
The morning aircraft to Kasese takes about an hour and lands under the eastern wall of the Rwenzori range. From the strip it is two hours north through Fort Portal and then back south to the forest edge, which puts you at the lodge for a late lunch. The afternoon is free, and at 1,500 metres on the crater rim the evening is cool enough for a fire.
- Entebbe to Kibale Forest, Uganda
- Kyaninga Lodge
- Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
03
Chimpanzee tracking at Kanyanchu
Out at 08:00 in a group of six with a ranger, on flat to gently rolling ground that is a great deal kinder than anything you will walk later in this trip. Kibale holds thirteen primate species and the highest primate density recorded in Africa, so expect red colobus, grey-cheeked mangabey and red-tailed monkey on the way in. One hour with the community. The afternoon is the Bigodi wetland circuit on the boundary, run by the community association.
- Kibale Forest and Bigodi, Uganda
- Kyaninga Lodge
- Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
04
The crater lakes and the Kazinga Channel
Two hours south through the Ndali and Kasenda crater field, stopping above Lake Nyabikere for the view down into the water. Lunch at Mweya on the peninsula between the channel and Lake Edward. The afternoon launch runs thirty-two kilometres of water at eye level, with hippo pods continuously, elephant coming down to drink and buffalo standing in the shallows.
- Kibale to Mweya, Queen Elizabeth National Park
- Mweya Safari Lodge
- Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
05
Kasenyi at dawn, then south to Ishasha
Out at 06:00 onto the Kasenyi plains where the Uganda kob gather and the lions that hunt them work the tracks. Back for breakfast, then two hours south to Ishasha, a different landscape of open acacia and fig. The afternoon is spent driving the northern and southern fig loops looking along the horizontal branches, which your guide will approach by knowing which trees the pride has used that week.
- Kasenyi to Ishasha, Queen Elizabeth National Park
- Ishasha Wilderness Camp
- Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
06
Into Bwindi at Buhoma
A last fig tree circuit at first light, then the two hour drive south on rough road into Buhoma, with the forest wall closing in over the last half hour. You arrive for lunch. The afternoon is the gorilla briefing at the sector headquarters and, if you want it, a Batwa community walk led by the Batwa themselves rather than performed for a coach party.
- Ishasha to Buhoma, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
- Bwindi Lodge
- Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
07
Gorilla trek in the Buhoma sector
Briefing at 07:30, walking by 08:00 with a ranger, two trackers and an armed escort. Bwindi is dense: you are moving through vine and nettle on a slope while a tracker cuts the way with a machete, mostly between 1,500 and 2,300 metres, and it can take forty minutes or eight hours in each direction. One hour with the family. The afternoon is a hot shower and nothing on the schedule.
- Buhoma sector, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
- Bwindi Lodge
- Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
08
Across the border at Cyanika to Kinigi
A long transfer day, five to six hours in total. The road runs south past the Ruhija and Rushaga sectors, drops to Kisoro with Lake Mutanda below and the Virunga cones ahead, and reaches the Cyanika post an hour later. You walk the border, your Ugandan guide hands over and a Rwandan vehicle and guide take you the last forty minutes to Kinigi on tarmac. At around 2,600 metres you notice the altitude when you carry your own bag.
- Buhoma to Cyanika and Kinigi, Rwanda
- Bisate Lodge
- Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
09
Gorilla trek in Volcanoes National Park
Report to the Kinigi headquarters at 07:00 for the briefing and family allocation, which is made on the morning according to how far each group is prepared to walk. The trailhead walk climbs through potato and pyrethrum fields, over the buffalo wall and into bamboo and hagenia, thinner air than Bwindi and just as wet underfoot. Up to eight hours in each direction is still the honest ceiling. One hour with the family, then the afternoon off.
- Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda
- Bisate Lodge
- Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
10
Musanze, then the flight south to Nyungwe
A morning at the Dian Fossey Fossey Fund campus in Musanze, which is where the long-term research is now run from and which is far more interesting than the roadside version of the same story. Then two hours down to Kigali and the short scheduled flight to Kamembe on the Lake Kivu shore, which takes about forty minutes and replaces a six hour drive. From Kamembe it is ninety minutes up into the tea estates on the forest edge.
- Musanze to Kigali, Kamembe and Nyungwe, Rwanda
- One&Only Nyungwe House
- Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
11
Cyamudongo chimpanzees and the canopy walkway
A 04:30 breakfast and a drive out to the Cyamudongo forest block, because the chimpanzees are tracked from their night nests and they move fast once they are up. This is a small isolated community, the ground is steeper than Kibale and the odds are lower, so treat a sighting as earned rather than owed. The afternoon is the Igishigishigi trail and the canopy walkway, a suspended bridge sixty metres above the forest floor with the canopy at eye level.
- Nyungwe Forest, Rwanda
- One&Only Nyungwe House
- Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
12
Kamembe to Kigali and home
A last walk in the tea estate after breakfast, then ninety minutes back down to Kamembe for the morning flight. You are at Kigali International by early afternoon, which leaves time for the Genocide Memorial or a coffee in Kiyovu before an evening departure. We can hold a day room at a hotel near the airport if your flight is late.
- Nyungwe to Kamembe and Kigali, Rwanda
- Departure day, no accommodation
- Breakfast

What is included

One Uganda gorilla trekking permit per person, currently 800 US dollars, set by the Uganda Wildlife Authority
One Rwanda gorilla trekking permit per person, currently 1,500 US dollars, set by the Rwanda Development Board
One Kibale chimpanzee permit at 250 US dollars and one Nyungwe chimpanzee permit, both authority-set
The scheduled flight from Entebbe to Kasese, and the Kigali to Kamembe and Kamembe to Kigali legs
Eleven nights on full board at the lodges named in the itinerary, or comparable properties
A private 4x4 and driver guide in Uganda, and a second private vehicle and guide in Rwanda
All park entry fees, ranger guides, trackers and armed escorts on the four tracking days
One porter per guest on both gorilla trekking days, with the fees paid in advance
The Kazinga Channel launch, the Bigodi wetland walk and the Nyungwe canopy walkway
Border assistance at Cyanika, including the vehicle changeover and the paperwork
Bottled water in the vehicles daily and packed lunches on the permit and long driving days
A loan set of gaiters, gardening gloves and a walking pole for the forest days

What is not included

International flights, which are usually best booked into Entebbe and out of Kigali
Uganda and Rwanda visas, or an East Africa Tourist Visa, which covers both and is usually the cheaper route
Travel insurance, which must cover trekking above 2,500 metres and medical evacuation by air
All drinks, including beer, wine, spirits and soft drinks at the lodges
Tips for both driver guides, the rangers, trackers, porters and lodge teams
Any additional gorilla permit if you decide to trek a third time, at the authority rate of the day
The Dian Fossey tomb hike and the Bisoke crater climb, which need an extra day in Rwanda
Laundry, telephone and anything else charged to your lodge account