Uganda & Rwanda

Nights

12

Party

2–4 guests

Countries

Uganda · Rwanda

From

US$ 48,750 per person, based on four guests sharing, including private aircraftExcludes international flights to and from Africa.

Best season

Year-round; Jun–Sep and Dec–Feb driest

Two countries and two gorilla treks, with chimpanzees, golden monkeys and tree-climbing lions along the way. You start in western Uganda at Kyaninga, above a crater lake near Kibale Forest, and go in after the chimpanzees. Then Queen Elizabeth National Park, with the Kazinga Channel by boat and the lions of Ishasha in the fig trees. Into Bwindi Impenetrable Forest for your first hour with the mountain gorillas, then across into Rwanda and Volcanoes National Park for a second trek and the golden monkeys in the bamboo. You finish quietly in Kigali, at the memorial and among the city's artists. The minimum age for gorilla trekking is 15, and we book the permits well ahead.

Highlights

• Gorillas in Bwindi
• Gorillas in Volcanoes
• Chimpanzees in Kibale
• Golden monkeys in the bamboo
• Tree-climbing lions at Ishasha
• The Kazinga Channel by boat

1. Day 1–3

   Entebbe → Kyaninga Lodge, Kibale (3 nights)

   Your Cessna Caravan meets your international arrival at Entebbe and flies you west to the strip at Kasese. The pilot makes a low pass to check the runway is clear before landing, as pilots do on every bush strip in Africa. A short drive takes you to Kyaninga, its suites above a crater lake. One morning you walk into Kibale Forest National Park after the chimpanzees, following the calls through the canopy until the group shows itself.

2. Day 4–5

   Kyaninga → Kyambura Gorge Lodge, Queen Elizabeth NP (2 nights)

   A short helicopter flight south over the crater lakes brings you to Kyambura Gorge Lodge, on the edge of a forested gorge in Queen Elizabeth National Park. One afternoon you have a private boat on the Kazinga Channel, which carries more hippo and crocodile than almost any stretch of water in Africa. Elephant and buffalo come down to the banks to drink while you watch.

3. Day 6–8

   Kyambura → &Beyond Bwindi Lodge, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest (3 nights)

   We do this leg by road on purpose. It is a private game drive south through the Ishasha sector, near the Congo border, where the lions climb up into the fig trees. Then on to Bwindi Lodge, eight forest cottages beside the national park. On the second morning you trek for the mountain gorillas, with permits for the whole party secured well in advance. The third day is yours to rest, or to go in for a second trek.

4. Day 9–11

   Bwindi → One&Only Gorilla's Nest, Volcanoes NP, Rwanda (3 nights)

   The Caravan flies you from Kihihi to Kigali, where you clear into Rwanda, and a helicopter takes you north to the foot of the Virunga volcanoes. Gorilla's Nest is your base for three nights. One morning you track the golden monkeys through the bamboo. On another you climb for your second gorilla trek, this time on the Rwandan side of the Virungas.

5. Day 12

   Volcanoes → The Manor Hotel, Kigali (1 night)

   The helicopter brings you back down to Kigali. In the afternoon a specialist guide takes you privately through the Kigali Genocide Memorial, with no rush and time afterwards to sit with what you have seen. Later you visit the Inema Arts Center and the work of Rwanda's contemporary artists. Dinner is at The Manor, a 1950s house in an avocado garden.

6. Day 13

   Kigali → departure

   A short drive to Kigali International for your onward flight, or the Embraer Phenom 300 to Nairobi or Johannesburg if your international connection leaves from there.

Flown by turboprop, light and super-light jet and helicopter. How we choose the aircraft