Gorilla Trek Highlights

This short and sweet tour is ideal for those looking to add a bit more to their African adventure. Visit Uganda & Rwanda’s famous National Parks where these magnificent animals live in their natural environment. Trek through forests and jungles in small groups with expert guides to view them up close.

YOU WILL STAY

Mutanda Lake Resort

Lake Mutanda Uganda

STAY 2 NIGHTS

Enjoy wildlife, flora, adventure, hiking, leisure and more

Discover one of the most untouched, wildest and most beautiful places left on Earth, home to huge gorillas and tall indigenous trees.

Mountain Gorilla View Lodge

Parc National des Volcans Rwanda

STAY 2 NIGHTS

Enjoy relaxation, flora, wildlife, birding, adventure and more

Book your once in a lifetime holiday at Mountain Gorilla View Lodge in Musanze district, northern Rwanda, next door to Volcanoes National Park. Experience unique sightings of the world’s most endangered ape, Gorilla Gorilla Berengie, or the mountain gorilla.

VIEW ITINERARY

HIGHLIGHTS

Highly sought after Gorilla trekking encounter
Permits included in package price
Visit two different countries and their National Parks
Professionally guided and accommodated

INCLUDES

Accommodation in standard twin rooms
Meals as indicated in the daily meal plan
Inclusions at each lodge as per the policy
Mutanda Lake Resort: All meals, tea/coffee, complementary wifi and laundry for two or more nights
Mountain Gorilla View Lodge: All meals, one soft drink at mealtimes, drinking water/tea/coffee in rooms, shoe-cleaning service, wi-fi
All road transfers as indicated
2 gorilla permits per person
All vehicles & guides on private basis
Services of an English speaking driver guide
Park fees
All activities described in the itinerary, unless specified as extras
Mineral water, tea and coffee in the vehicle
Medical Evacuation to a hospital in Nairobi

EXCLUDES

BOOKING ENQUIRY

Booking Enquiry

DETAILED ITINERARY: Gorilla Trek Highlights

This short and sweet tour is ideal for those looking to add a bit more to their African adventure. Visit Uganda & Rwanda's famous National Parks where these magnificent animals live in their natural environment. Trek through forests and jungles to view them up close.

Day 1

Drinks: None

Room: Dinner Bed And Breakfast

This morning, we are picked up from our hotel in Kigali/Rwanda (pre-booked at additional cost) or directly from Kigali International Airport for a 3 hours drive to the border. We shall cross over into Uganda heading to our lodge near Bwindi National Park in Uganda. Our drive is through hills around the lake dotted with small homesteads where villagers are to be seen cultivating their fields and attending to livestock on what appears to be impossibly steep gradients. Lunch will be en-route in Kisoro. Lake Mutanda Resort is set in a glade of papyrus and eucalyptus forest on Lake Mutanda's northern shore, on its own peninsula with spectacular views of the Virunga Volcanoes on the Rwanda/Uganda border. The lodge offers simple but comfortable accommodation in 13 en suite rooms, each facing the lake. Guests can enjoy a drink in the cozy lodge restaurant and lounge area, sitting around a roaring log fire. The 331 square-kilometer (128 square-mile) Bwindi Impenetrable Forest is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is comprised of both montane and lowland forest. The forest is one of the richest ecosystems in Africa, with some 120 species of mammals, 348 species of birds, 220 species of butterflies, and over 27 species of reptiles and amphibians. Bwindi is amongst the most diverse forests in East Africa, with more than 1,000 flowering plant species including 163 species of trees and 104 species of ferns.

Along with the numerous primate species and endangered Chimpanzees, the most notable inhabitants of the park have to be the critically endangered mountain gorillas, which live in family groups of between 8 and 25 individuals. Only 880 of these gentle giants remain in the wild today, and a number of these families have been habituated over a period of years each to tolerate human presence for a brief period every day. In this southern part of Bwindi are found the Nkuringo, Nshongi, Mishaya, Kahungye and Bweza families. Only 8 visitors per day are allowed to track each gorilla family.

Day 2

Drinks: None

Room: Dinner Bed And Breakfast

As we go gorilla tracking, we will have an early start from the lodge, walking to the nearby park headquarters, where we receive a briefing and select our porters for the day. Then we’re off on a drive that may last anything from 10 minutes to 2 hours before we start our gorilla track. The tracking can be strenuous because of the steep slopes and the high altitude. Initially, we will walk along established paths, our ranger coordinating with the advance trackers by radio to guide us in to the gorillas last know location. As we get to where the gorillas are, we will leave the paths and begin hacking our way through the slippery underbrush. Our porters will stay back as only our privileged party of 8 and our ranger approach the gorillas to spend our magical hour with them. The hour passes all too quickly, and then it’s time to reluctantly make our way back to our waiting vehicles. If weather permits, we will have a sundowner on Lake Mutanda.

Activities For The Day

Gorilla Trekking

Day 3

Drinks: None

Room: Dinner Bed Breakfast And Lunch

Today, we will have a leisurely breakfast at the lodge and later transfer to the Northern part of Rwanda where Volcanoes National Park and check in at the lodge. Located at the foot of Mount Sabyinyo, Mountain Gorilla View Lodge provides spectacular views of the Virunga Volcanoes and the rolling hills of Ruhengeri. The lodge offers 30 stone cottages, each with their own en-suite facilities and private verandah. The main lodge consists of a restaurant, bar and curio shop, set in landscaped gardens, and is an excellent base from which to track gorillas (just 15 minutes away from the entrance to Volcanoes National Park). First gazetted in 1925, Volcanoes National Park was the first national park in Africa, intended to protect the Mountain Gorillas that were discovered on the ridges of the mountains by German explorer Captain Robert von Beringe in 1902. In 1967, American naturalist Dian Fossey arrived in the park and set up her research centre, Karisoke, a combination of the names of the two mountains between which the centre was located, Karisimbi and Visoke. What is left of Karisoke can still be visited to this day. The park offers stunning scenery on a clear day, with 9 volcanoes stretching into the horizon from east to west. Two of these, Nyiragongo and Nyamuragira in the Democratic Republic Congo are still active, and Nyamuragira’s red glow can often be seen reflected off low-lying clouds above the mountain.

Day 4

Drinks: None

Room: Dinner Bed Breakfast And Lunch

We will be transferred to the park headquarters for our second gorilla tracking activity to one of the 10 Gorilla families that have been habituated to the presence of humans. In the afternoon, we will have a cultural tour of the Iby'Iwacyu at an extra cost. Located at the edge of Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park, Iby’Iwacu cultural village grants visitors the opportunity to meet with the local people in their local environment and have a taste of their culture. The tour focuses on a variety of the local community activities and practices that you can watch and engage in during your visit.

Activities For The Day

Rwanda Gorilla Trekking

Day 5

Drinks: None

Room: None

This morning, we will drive back to Kigali and transfer to the Airport for your flight back home. If time permits while in Kigali you can have a brief city tour and also visit the Genocide Memorial.