Travelling in Uganda: Gorilla trekking and the Rwenzori mountains

Combining a Ruwenzori hike and gorilla trekking is a unique experience that shouldn’t be missed by any adventurous traveler while in Uganda. A licensed local safari company is a must for an optimal and safe experience. Rwenzori Expeditions offer packages such as their 12 days Rwenzori and gorilla trekking tour, which is available at $3,780 per person including the gorilla permit and climbing permit.

Coming face-to-face with the mountain gorillas of Uganda is only possible in the best locations, and many reviewers recommend the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park and the Mgahinga National Park. Uganda is known to be one of the best destinations, offering unique adventures like wildlife safaris, mountaineering and primate watching.

All of the above is possible on a Uganda safari, such as those tailored by Primate Safari Experiences Limited (trading as Rwenzori Expeditions). This local operator is registered and licensed by the Ugandan tourism board and is a member of the Association of Uganda Tour Operators. They are also listed as fully registered with the Uganda wildlife authority and can buy gorilla permits for any traveller booked on a safari with them, per the new rules.

The Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and the Mgahinga National Park are the only places in Uganda where real gorilla trekking is possible. They offer close encounters with mountain gorillas in the wilderness of the tropical rainforests with a certified ranger guide from Uganda wildlife authority with the required expertise.

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

This is a popular, well-known destination for gorilla trekking in Uganda. Most tours lead to the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, a UNESCO world Heritage site since 1994 because of its great biodiversity. Visitors can find several primates in the park, including chimpanzees, L’Hoest’s monkeys and black and white colobus monkeys.

The forest has four sectors for tracking these animals: Rushaga, Nkuringo, Ruhija and Buhoma. It is therefore possible to do double gorilla tracking in Bwindi, unlike in Mgahinga, as one can track gorillas in one section and then another the next day. Watching them twice means being able to compare experiences tracking different gorilla families and in different areas.

• Buhoma sector

Situated in the northern side of the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, the Buhoma region is one of four exceptional tracking regions that shouldn’t be missed. This area features as the most famous, being the oldest trailhead in Uganda when it comes to mountain gorilla adventures.

• Rushaga sector

Located in the southern part of the park, this sector has the highest number of habituated gorilla families. It is easily accessible for travellers coming from Kigali through the Cyanika border in Kisoro, which is approximately a three-hour drive. Rushaga has the highest population of settled gorillas compared with other sectors in Bwindi impenetrable National Park with an astonishing eight families, so visitors interested in the Rushaga sector can choose the group they prefer to see.

• Nkuringo sector

Nkuringo is situated in the southern region of the park and is home to three fully habituated gorilla families. Though it’s one of the hardest sectors to trek because of the terrain, it has some of the best views at high altitudes, known for its views of Mount Nyiragongo and Mount Nyamuragira. In addition, the area can easily be accessed from Kabale District, which is 45km to Kisoro with a three-hour drive on the Kabale-Kisoro highway.

• Ruhija sector

Situated on the eastern part of the park. Ruhija is suitable for those travellers with Queen Elizabeth National Park as part of their itinerary using. Of the four sectors, it’s one of the coldest, but it is home to four habituated gorilla families as well as monkeys, and it’s the only sector in the park with elephants. Some of the activities available in this sector include cycling and mountain biking, birdwatching, cultural encounters with the Batwa community, and nature walks.

Mgahinga National Park

Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is part of the wider Virunga conservation region that also includes the Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda and the Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The park is located on the south-western corner of Uganda in the town of Kisoro. Mgahinga was upgraded from a game reserve into a full national park in 1991, mainly to protect the mountain gorillas that were in frequent conflicts with humans living within and outside the area. This is the smallest national park in Uganda and covers an area of 34 square kilometres. It gets its name from a Kinyarwanda word “Gahinga” referring to the small lava stones common in gardens at the foot of the mountain.

Mgahinga National Park has a total population of 80 mountain gorillas, but only one gorilla group is habituated and open to tourists: the Nyakagezi family. The group used to move between Rwanda and Congo but have now been settled in Uganda for more than three years. Gorilla safaris to Mgahinga are great because there are fewer crowds as having one habituated gorilla group means only eight gorilla permits can be sold in a day. Visitors are advised to book their permits weeks in advance from the Uganda Wildlife Authority offices in Kampala or the park headquarters in Ntebeko.

Gorilla trekking in Mgahinga starts at 8am with a briefing, after which, visitors are led by the park rangers to find the group. While tracking they can expect to encounter pristine forest, primates, birds and other forest creatures. The time taken tracking the gorillas will depend on the location of the group that day and can take anywhere between two to three hours. It’s worth going prepared with a good camera to the amazing wildlife experiences, and the chance of seeing mountain gorillas is pretty high.

Insight into the Rwenzori Mountains

Rwenzori is commonly known to outside world as the Mountain of the Moon. Mountain climbing here offers an opportunity to scale Africa’s third highest peak, with great scenery in the Rwenzori mountain ranges.

The Ruwenzori (also spelled Rwenzori and Rwenjura) are a range of mountains in eastern equatorial Africa, located on the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The highest peak of the Ruwenzori is a block mountain resulting from the formation of the Rift Valley; it reaches 5,109 metres. With upper regions that are permanently snowcapped and glaciated, this is the highest mountain range in Africa, with six glacial peaks: Mount Stanley, Mount Speke, Mount Emin Pasha, Mount Gessi, Mount Luigi da Savoia and Mount Baker. Tailored mountaineering tours are handled by Rwenzori Expeditions, experts that have been leading and designing such expeditions for a decade.

Most of the Rwenzori climbing tours offered by Rwenzori Expeditions ensure that summiting the peak is a condition. In cases when this is not achieved in a single trip, they recommend adding on one extra day for an additional $150, paid at the end of the trip. The popular seven-day Rwenzori climb costs around $1,120 per person and the price can be discounted to $1,050 for the Rwenzori central circuit route. Climbing the Ruwenzori Mountains via the designed Kilembe trail can be expensive, with the week-long tour costing $1,450 excluding park entrance fees of $35 per day.

In summary, the team at Rwenzori Expeditions recommends starting with gorilla trekking and winding up with climbing the Rwenzori mountains to view the plants and vegetation from the snowcapped mountain.

Uganda is blessed with a lot of nature and wildlife, with options for every kind of tourist in “the pearl of Africa”. In any case, gorilla trekking is a must for the bucket list!

The editorial unit