Safari Overview
This 6-day bucket-list Gorilla Trekking Adventure takes you to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda’s far southwest mountainous region, where you will have the opportunity to track Mountain Gorillas. This action-filled excursion will take you also to Mgahinga National Park, where you will trek up Mount Sabinyo 3,645m, one of the region’s inactive volcanoes. You will have the opportunity to get up close to another endangered species, the Golden Monkey Golden in its natural habitat of bamboo forest. Local tribes people will pilot dug-out canoes as we traverse Lake Mutanda.
Bwindi Impenetrable Forest is home to one of the richest ecosystems in Africa, including one of the most Endangered apes species, the mountain gorillas. An estimated population of just above 1000 mountain gorillas is left in the world. Almost half of them live in the Bwindi protected park; the other population roams the slopes of the Virunga mountains shared between Rwanda, Uganda, and DRC.
Safari Itinerary
DAY 1: Entebbe – Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
After an early breakfast and briefing on your Gorilla Trekking Adventure, your assigned driver will transfer you to Entebbe Airport, where you’ll catch your local flight to Kisoro in southern Uganda. During the short flight, you will see Uganda’s diversity from high up. We will pick you up from the airstrip and drive you to Nkuringo – a short distance that can take up to 2 hours.
Nkuringo Bwindi Gorilla Lodge is set 2160 meters above sea level and offers stunning views looking north over the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, south to the volcanoes of the Virunga, and west into the rift valley and DR Congo.
DAY 2: Gorilla Tracking Activity in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
Early morning after your breakfast, the highlight of the Gorilla Trekking Adventure starts with a briefing at the visitor centre, park headquarters. At 8 am, the gorilla trekking will start with a detailed briefing about gorilla etiquette. Depending on which family you are trekking, the briefing point is either 300 meters or 23 km away. After the briefing, we will either start walking or be driven to the closest starting point. We will then begin searching for the gorillas. Once we find them, we will spend 1 hour with them
Day 3: Forest Nature Walk – Bwindi Forest
Your next Gorilla Trekking Adventure challenge is a hike through the natural African jungle accompanied by our local guides through the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, one of the most diverse habitats on earth and home to 120 species of mammals, 200 varieties of tree, and more than 50 reptiles. 08.00 am with your guide commence the activity into the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park as part of the Kashasha River and Ivy River trails.
This walk is a full-day activity where there would be an opportunity to visit the Munyaga River falls in the forest. Your walking guide will furnish you with knowledge about the woods and their inhabitants. The walk is about 15 km and can take from 4-7 hours, depending on your walking speed. You will rendezvous with your vehicle at Nteko Village on the DR Congo border. From here, your driver will drive through the beautiful landscapes from 10 km back to Nkuringo Bwindi Gorilla Lodge
Day 4: Community Walk and Canoe Excursion on Lake Mutanda
Another exciting Gorilla Trekking Adventure day with a local community walk and canoe excursion on lake mutanda near the Bwindi Impenetrable NP. Depart Nkuringo after breakfast with your Nkuringo Walking Safari guide to begin walking to Lake Mutanda, having been dropped by your safari vehicle at Rubuguri Junction.
From the junction, you can take a 9-km walk to the north shore of the lake or drive down. Here, you’ll join the dugout canoe team at the Rwajenje landing site for a two-and-a-half-hour canoeing adventure to the southern shore. You’ll take a 90-minute walk into Kisoro town from Lake Mutanda’s south coast. Then we will drive past Kisoro to Mount Gahinga National Park. Overnight: twin room at Volcanoes Mgahinga Lodge.
Day 5: Golden Monkey Tracking in Mgahinga Gorilla National park
The 33 sq km Gahinga National Park is the smallest national park in Uganda. Nonetheless, its flora, fauna, and three extinct volcanoes offer a wide range of adventure activities that make for excellent hiking, trekking, and birding in the area.
Your driver will ensure that you’re at the Ntebeko visitor centre from your lodge by 7:30 am to join the daily guided Golden Monkey tracking adventure excursion. The tracking and viewing activity occurs in a 4 to 5-hour window. Golden Monkeys are a unique endangered primate species that can only be found on the volcanoes of the Virunga and in the Nyungwe Forest in Rwanda.
Optional activity – Mt Sabinyo Volcano Climb
Tracking usually takes approximately 1-8 hours.
After breakfast, proceed to Mgahinga National Park headquarters for a briefing to start a Volcano climb of Mount Sabinyo Mt. Sabinyo at 3,669m, takes about eight hours to cover the 14km round trip, following a steep ridge up to the peak. A Nkuringo Walking Safari guide will be with you on this trek.
Mount Sabinyo, known locally as ‘Old Man’s Teeth’ because of its serrated rim, an extinct volcano, and at 3645 meters, it is one of the region’s highest peaks.
Day 6: Domestic Flight to Entebbe
Transfer to Kisoro Airstrip – Entebbe We will drive back to Kisoro for your flight back to Entebbe. Approximate arrival time 10.30hrs
