Rwanda and Uganda: Gorillas, Bwindi and the Kazinga Channel

Arrive in Kigali

Kigali International Airport to your hotel in Kigali

• Welcome dinner
• Nuit : Kigali
• Environ 30 min de route

Soir

Arrive when you like: nothing is planned before the evening. Kigali spreads over a series of green ridges at about 1,500 m, so the air is mild. Plastic bags have been banned in Rwanda since 2008, so leave them out of your luggage. If you land early, walk to a cafe for a cup of Rwandan coffee or simply rest off the long flight. At about 6 pm your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a briefing on the days ahead: what to wear on the trek, how gorilla families are assigned, and what the border day involves. Then we sit down together to a welcome dinner at a local restaurant, a first taste of brochettes, isombe (pounded cassava leaves) and plantain.

Compris

• Pick-up at Kigali International Airport (KGL)
• Welcome briefing with your guide
• Welcome dinner

The memorial, then north to the volcanoes

Kigali to the Kigali Genocide Memorial, then Musanze and Kinigi

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Musanze
• Environ 2.5 h de route

Après-midi

Lunch is a sit-down meal in Kigali at about 11:30 am before we drive about two and a half hours north through terraced hills to Musanze, the town formerly called Ruhengeri, at about 1,850 m, as the chain of Virunga volcanoes fills the skyline. At about 3:30 pm we visit the Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund at Kinigi, near the park headquarters, to learn how researchers follow and protect the gorillas before you meet them tomorrow.

Compris

• Kigali Genocide Memorial with an audio guide
• Sit-down lunch in Kigali
• Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, Kinigi
• Dinner at the hotel

Mountain gorillas in Volcanoes National Park

Musanze to the park headquarters at Kinigi, then on foot into the park

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Musanze
• Environ 1.5 h de route

Après-midi

Lunch is packed because return times vary, and the afternoon is free at the hotel.

Compris

• Mountain gorilla trek in Volcanoes National Park with park rangers and trackers (permit billed at cost, see exclusions)
• A porter for each guest
• Packed lunch
• Dinner at the hotel

Across the border to Lake Bunyonyi

Musanze to the Cyanika border, then Kisoro, Kabale and Lake Bunyonyi

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Lake Bunyonyi
• Environ 3.5 h de route

Matin

After breakfast we drive about 25 km west along the foot of the volcanoes to the Cyanika border. Leaving Rwanda and entering Uganda usually takes about an hour, so keep your passport, visa and yellow fever certificate handy. Clocks go forward one hour, and from here traffic keeps to the left. On the Ugandan side our 4x4 safari vehicle and driver take over.

Après-midi

We pass through Kisoro, then climb the winding road over the Kanaba Gap towards Kabale and stop for a sit-down lunch on the way. By mid-afternoon we reach our lodge on Lake Bunyonyi, a long, many-armed lake at about 1,960 m dotted with small islands and ringed by terraced hills. In the late afternoon a local guide takes us by boat among the islands, past tiny Akampene, Punishment Island, telling their stories as the light goes. With about an hour at the border on top of 3.5 hours of road, the day runs to about 4.5 hours door to door, a little over our cap; the formalities cannot be shortened, and lunch breaks the drive. We stop here so the border and the road to Bwindi are two days rather than one long one.

Compris

• Cyanika border crossing with your guide
• Sit-down lunch on the way
• Late-afternoon boat trip among the islands of Lake Bunyonyi with a local guide
• Dinner at the lodge

To Buhoma, on the edge of Bwindi

Lake Bunyonyi to Kabale, then north through Kanungu district to Buhoma

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Bwindi (Buhoma)
• Environ 4 h de route

Matin

Mist often sits on the lake at first light, and if you are up early you can paddle out in a dugout canoe before breakfast. We leave at about 9 am and drive about four hours north to Buhoma, the gateway to the northern sector of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. The road runs through Kabale, then over ridges of tea, bananas and patchwork farms in Kanungu district; the last stretch is unpaved and slow, so we take a break halfway.

Après-midi

Lunch is at our lodge on arrival. Bwindi has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1994, a steep, ancient rainforest at roughly 1,200 to 2,600 m that holds close to half of the world's mountain gorillas. In the late afternoon a community guide walks us through Buhoma village and its small farms; we confirm the stops with your final itinerary.

Soir

Dinner is at the lodge, with the sounds of the forest just beyond the garden.

Compris

• Buhoma community walk with a local guide
• Lunch and dinner at the lodge

Activités en option

• Early canoe on Lake Bunyonyi before breakfast

Bwindi: a second trek or the forest on foot

Buhoma and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Bwindi (Buhoma)

Matin

Everyone else joins the included plan: a ranger-led walk of about three hours on the waterfall trail along the Munyaga River, through tree ferns and tall forest, looking for black-and-white colobus, red-tailed and L'Hoest's monkeys, butterflies and some of Bwindi's many birds, with the forest at its liveliest in the morning.

Après-midi

Both groups meet for lunch at the lodge. The afternoon is free: sit on the deck, sleep, or walk back to the village.

Soir

Your guide is there for anyone who wants to talk through the trek, and the group comes together again for dinner.

Compris

• Ranger-led waterfall forest walk in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, park fee included
• All meals at the lodge

Activités en option

• Second gorilla trek in Bwindi (Uganda permit bought at booking)

Ishasha and north to the Kazinga Channel

Buhoma to the Ishasha sector, then north through Queen Elizabeth National Park to the Kazinga Channel

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Queen Elizabeth National Park
• Environ 4.5 h de route

Matin

We leave Bwindi after breakfast and drive about two hours north through Kihihi to the Ishasha sector in the south of Queen Elizabeth National Park. Ishasha is known for lions that rest in the branches of fig trees, a habit seen in only a few places in Africa; numbers have fallen in recent years, so a sighting is possible, not promised.

Après-midi

We game-drive the Ishasha tracks for about two hours, among Uganda kob, topi and buffalo, then stop for a sit-down lunch in the sector. From there it is about two and a half hours north across the park to our lodge near the Kazinga Channel. This is the longest day on the road, about 4.5 hours of driving, a little over our usual cap: no shorter road links Bwindi with the north of the park, and the game drive and lunch break it in the middle.

Soir

We arrive by about 5 pm, with the evening to rest.

Compris

• Game drive in the Ishasha sector
• Sit-down lunch in Ishasha
• Dinner at the lodge

Kasenyi at dawn, the Kazinga Channel by boat

Queen Elizabeth National Park: the Kasenyi plains and the Kazinga Channel

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Queen Elizabeth National Park
• Environ 2 h de route

Matin

We are back at the lodge for a full breakfast by mid-morning, and the hot middle of the day is free.

Après-midi

After lunch we take a two-hour boat trip along the Kazinga Channel, the natural channel of about 32 km that links Lake George and Lake Edward. Hippos gather in large groups along its banks, with buffalo and elephants coming down to drink, Nile crocodiles, and birds from pied kingfishers to African fish eagles, all at close range from the water.

Soir

The boat is the easy, gentle end to the wildlife days, and dinner is at the lodge with the guide recapping the trip.

Compris

• Dawn game drive on the Kasenyi plains
• Kazinga Channel boat trip, about 2 hours
• All meals at the lodge

Activités en option

• Chimpanzee tracking in Kyambura Gorge (priced at booking)

Fly to Entebbe and home

Queen Elizabeth National Park to Kasese, then a domestic flight to Entebbe

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Environ 1 h de route

Matin

After an early breakfast we drive about an hour to the airstrip at Kasese, crossing the equator on the way, for a scheduled domestic flight to Entebbe of a little over an hour. The same journey by road takes seven to eight hours, which is how many trips end.

Après-midi

Light aircraft take about 15 kg per person in a soft bag, so your main bag travels by road in our vehicle, which leaves the park at dawn and reaches Entebbe in the afternoon. Entebbe sits on the shore of Lake Victoria. We have lunch together there, and if you want to stretch your legs, the Entebbe Botanical Gardens, with monkeys in the old trees by the lake, are a short ride away. From mid-afternoon, once your bag arrives, a day room near the airport lets you shower and repack before the long flight; keep what you need until then in your soft bag. Your guide sees you to Entebbe International Airport (EBB).

Soir

Book a flight leaving after about 7 pm; many long-haul flights leave Entebbe in the evening or overnight.

Compris

• Scheduled domestic flight from Kasese to Entebbe
• Lunch in Entebbe
• Day room near the airport
• Drop-off at Entebbe International Airport (EBB)