Mountain gorillas and golden monkey trekking safari in Uganda

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See mountain gorillas in Bwindi and golden monkies in Mgahinga on a 7-day trekking safari in southwestern Uganda.

7 DAYS
USD $$$$
Type
Tailor-made
Activity
Physical

Overview

Fly between Entebbe and Kisoro to avoid the 10-hour drive and marvel at the highland landscapes of southwestern Uganda.
Spend three nights at the heavenly Nkuringo Bwindi Gorilla Lodge, nestled on a forested ridge with sweeping views over the misty Bwindi and the entire Virunga Volcanos chain. And spend two nights in the idyllic Gahinga Lodge at the base of the Virugas. Both bush lodges have exceptional guest services and a tasty gourmet selection.
With the starting point for trekking a five-minute walk away, join the gorilla trekking excursion on the third day and the golden monkey trekking on the sixth day. Spend one precious hour observing the primates' basic behaviours and social lives with an expert tracker guide.
Take a guided walk through remote villages, terraced gardens, and meet the Batwa forest people on a cultural experience. This trip is an authentic off-the-beaten-path safari experience you want to miss.

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gorillas and golden monkey trekking safari map

Price includes/excludes

Local English-speaking guides/driver
Tourist Visa (apply online at visas.immigration.go.ug)
Accommodation & Meals as indicated in itinerary
Trekking permit & park fees (worth USD 945 pp)
Land transport in 4x4 safari truck with fuel
Return Flight (Entebbe-Kisoro) availability holds - 542 USD pp
Activities & excursions as shown in itinerary
Extra meals, snacks, gratuities, souvenirs, service tips
AMREF evacuation cover, and government taxes
Travel Insurance

See detailed itinerary

Detailed Itinerary

The mountain gorillas and golden monkey trekking safari is for the off-the-beaten-track adventurer who wants a mix of rural, cultural, nature hiking, and primate experiences. The trip is tailor-made for each traveler and occurs in remote African country.

From Entebbe, you'll fly to Kisoro, across southwestern Uganda's Tuscan-like landscape, and check into a serene forest lodge on the edge of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest for the next three nights. From here, you will track the mountain gorillas of Bwindi and spend one exciting hour observing the great apes in their natural setting.

On the fifth day, you'll explore the region, join the traditional dug-out canoeing excursion on the calm waters of Lake Mutanda and check into the idyllic Gahinga Lodge at the base of Mount Gahinga.

From your forest cottage with breathtaking volcano views, you'll join the golden monkey excursion party and meet the Batwa forest people for an immersive cultural experience. You'll fly back to Entebbe from Kisoro on the seventh day to catch your late flight back home.

Day 1: Entebbe — Shoebill tracking

Our driver will pick you up from Entebbe International Airport (15 minutes) and check you in at your hotel within Entebbe. You'll meet with your trip specialist for a briefing just before dinner.

Otherwise, there are optional activities around Entebbe for those who arrive early and want to stay active. For example, bird-watchers can visit the world-renowned botanical gardens or Mabamba swamps to meet the prehistoric shoebill. You can take a quiet walk to the local markets or shop at the modern malls.

You'll stay at: Boutique Hotel Number 5 (Luxury) or Papyrus Guesthouse (Comfortable)

Day 2: Fly Entebbe to Kisoro - Canoeing

You will take an early morning flight from Entebbe to Kisoro. In Kisoro, you'll join the walking guide on a guided walk through village communities and terraced gardens and stop at the calm shores of Lake Mutanda.

At lake Mutanda, you'll join the fishermen on a canoeing experience across the volcano lake in traditional dug-out canoes. The relaxing ride drops you off for another garden walk to meet your driver uphill.

Staying at: Nkuringo Bwindi Gorilla Lodge

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.

Day 3: Gorilla Trekking Excursion

Your butler will ensure you are up and about by 7:00 am with a packed lunch, the right trekking gear, drinking water, and a walking stick. The trekking excursion briefing starts at 7:30 am at the visitor's centre.

8:00 am: Your gorilla tracking guide and two gun-bearing rangers will lead you and six other tourists into the rainforest to find a habituated gorilla group. Once you find the mountain gorilla family, you will observe them for about an hour at a 10 meters distance. Alternatively, you can observe the gorillas for about four hours if you book a gorilla habituation pass.

Your time in the forest can not be pre-determined as every day differs from the other. However, most trekkers are out of the jungle by 2:00 pm with a satisfactory grin.

We recommend a massage at the lodge spa when you return and a relaxing evening.

Staying at: Nkuringo Bwindi Gorilla Lodge

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch (packed), and Dinner.

Day 4: Optional Activities

The fourth day of this Uganda gorillas & walking safari adventure has some optional activities to keep you active. Otherwise, you can unwind at your forest cottage for a relaxing day.

Stay back at the lodge and relax, read a book, join a cooking class or take a walk around the property and talk to some locals.
Go back into the mysterious jungle to meet with the gorillas for a second time. Maybe join the rangers for the habituation experience that gives you more time with the gorillas. But remember, you must have pre-booked the trekking permit.
Visit the Batwa forest people on a short forest trail where they showcase their ancient forest medicines, cultures, drama, and dance.
Go on a sundowner picnic on top of the world with 360-degree spellbinding views of the hilly landscapes. It's a walking distance from the lodge.

Staying at: Nkuringo Bwindi Gorilla Lodge

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.

Day 5: Bwindi to Mgahinga - Walking Safari

The starts early after breakfast and with pack lunch, drive down to Rubuguri junction for an optional 9-kilometer walk down to Lake Mutanda through villages and cultivated gardens. This part allows you to admire the rural landscape and connect with the community layouts of rural villages.

You can join the fishermen on another canoeing experience on Lake Mutanda or join your driver to Kisoro town. At Kisoro town, we will explore the local fresh-food markets and the town's cultural feel before driving to Gahinga Lodge at the base of the Virunga Volcanoes, a few meters outside the park entrance. You will spend the following two nights at Gahinga in a private cottage.

You'll stay at: Gahinga Lodge
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch (Packed), Dinner

Day 6: Golden Monkey Trekking

You'll be up by 7:00 am to make it to the briefing point by 7:30 am. Ntebeko visitor center, which is also the Mgahinga National Park's headquarters, is a 10-minute walk from Gahinga Lodge. Your driver can transfer you, or you can start the adventure with a short walk.

After the briefing, the golden monkey excursion will start at about 8:00 am with a lead tracker guide and two gun-bearing rangers. You'll trek up the slopes in a two-hour window to the bamboo forest zone, where golden monkeys hang out. When you meet them, you'll spend about an hour watching their antics and social behaviors.

Golden monkeys are cheeky and playful and will jump up the trees or curiously come close to you than expected. Enjoy the moment, but follow instructions from your lead guide.

You'll stay at: Gahinga Lodge
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch (Packed), Dinner

Day 7: Fly Kisoro to Entebbe

The seventh day is your last on the mountain gorillas and golden monkey trekking safari in the beautiful rural landscape. Fortunately, you will fly over this gorgeous hilly region for at least an hour to savor the memories.

You'll take an hour domestic flight from Kisoro Airport (30 minutes away) to Entebbe International Airport.

Please book your flight back home for later that day, or check into our boutique Papyrus Guesthouse for another quiet night in Entebbe. You could do some shopping for souvenirs to take back home and fly back home the following day.

Accommodation (Optional): Papyrus Guesthouse
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch (packed)

Local experts

Lydia

Cathy

Our safari specialists work with customers to prepare a journey that will deliver the best subjective experience. We understand that most guests will be travelling to unfamiliar places and dealing with mind-boggling logistics that require skilful guidance from local experts. These local safari specialists will help you plan this gorilla safari in your own way!

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EXCELLENT

110 reviews on

Christine P

2023-08-16

Exploring the Pearl of Africa From the moment our driver, Patric Yiga, picked us up in Entebbe to begin our journey, we felt reassured that our travels would be safe. There were long hours spent driving and my many questions about Uganda were kindly answered. I still can’t believe how he could spot a leopard in a dense cactus! We were so lucky to see such wild creatures and the experience was unforgettable! The different lodges where we stayed, Isunga lodge, Kasenyi safari camp, and Nkuringo gorilla lodge were luxurious and offer truly wonderful meals and comforts of home. I have a much better understanding of lovely Uganda. I recommend the local foods, like matoke, that will give you energy on your journey! The people are genuine, the scenery and wildlife are a treasure for the world!

kmc913

2023-08-15

Trip of a lifetime! My mom and I just got back from an 8 day trip to Uganda organized by Nkuringo Safaris and it was incredible! When planning our trip we knew we wanted to use a Ugandan based company; I had reached out to 5 or 6 different companies all of whom returned a cookie cutter itinerary--except Nkuringo. Catherine replied and asked pointed questions about what our goals were and then she curated a perfect itinerary for us. She was incredibly patient and answered my many many questions and emails promptly (which is hard to do given the time difference!) Nkuringo goes out of their way to make sure your trip is exactly what you want. We had a bit of a strange request--we wanted to book a round of golf in Entebbe before starting our trip. I had no luck getting in touch with the golf club, Catherine struggled as well and she ended up sending someone physically to the club to make arrangements for us (thanks Matthew)! The trip Catherine created was perfect, we saw everything we wanted to see and the lodges she booked were spectacular, one nicer than the next. The star of our trip was 100% our driver (and now friend), Patrick Yiga. We were so lucky to have had this experience with him! He was with us the entire 8 days we were in Uganda. He ensured our schedule ran smoothly, was the epitome of professional (vehicle cleaned out every night, cold water waiting for us in the morning, knew all the best washroom spots, always on time), and we felt incredibly safe in his care. He answered all our of million questions about life in Uganda and was open to sharing with us. He is also very passionate about nature, wildlife, and the environment and was a wealth of knowledge on game drives. It was hard to say goodbye at the end of the week! I HIGHLY recommend planning your trip to Uganda with Nkuringo. Thank you so much to the entire team, especially Catherine and Patrick Yiga for creating the trip of a lifetime and one we will never forget!

LBW1985

2023-08-15

Thank you Remmy! I have just returned from an 8 day trip to Uganda for my husband’s 40th birthday and it was amazing! Nkuringo Safaris were superb. Our driver and guide, Remmy, was excellent. He was so passionate and knowledgeable about all of the wildlife and about the culture in Uganda, we learnt so much from him. Remmy made sure that all of our experiences were the best they could be including the chimpanzee habituation experience, the gorilla trek and all of the game drives. The manager, Cathy, also took the time to come and see us at the start and end of our trip to make sure we had everything we needed and to listen to our feedback which was very appreciated. Nkuringo Safaris also provided us with a gift of reusable water bottles, hats and a map at the start of the trip which were very well used and the bottles ensured we weren’t wasting plastic bottles which was very important. The lodges we stayed in (Papaya Lake Lodge, Katara Lodge, Buhoma Lodge and Kigambira Safari Lodge) were all superb with incredibly friendly and helpful staff who couldn’t do enough for us. I can’t recommend Rainbow Tours (the agent we booked through) and Nkuringo Safaris highly enough. Thank you Remmy for giving us a once in a lifetime experience and for sharing all of your knowledge!

KPHazelnut

2023-07-30

An incredible experience in a beautiful country We enjoyed an amazing 14 day safari adventure in Uganda, and the team from Nkuringo Safaris were instrumental in making it such a fantastic experience Unfortunately, when we arrived at Entebbe airport, we discovered that the airline had left two of our bags in Doha. (Fortunately, we had anticipated this possibility and had packed sufficient clothing etc for the first few days of our trip.) We were met at the airport by Cathy and her colleague from Nkuringo Safaris. They were instantly understanding and assured us that they would help us with being reunited with our luggage as soon as possible. On the way to our overnight accommodation, they took us to a local pharmacy to stock up on toiletries, suntan lotion, etc., as at that stage we did not know when we would see our missing luggage. This reassurance and assistance was greatly appreciated and we felt straight away that we were being looked after by a very professional team We spent our first night in the Boma Hotel in Entebbe. The following morning Cathy and her colleague collected us and took us back to Entebbe airport for our internal flight to Kisoro airport. At the airport Cathy helped us to liaise with the correct people to obtain the necessary reference numbers etc. to trace our luggage Thanks to the excellent work by the team at Nkuringo Safaris, we were re-united with our missing luggage a few days later - not an easy task to achieve, as we were moving from lodge to lodge during our trip Upon arrival at Kisoro airport we were met by our driver-guide Remmy Kityo who would be taking care of us for the remainder of our trip We feel incredibly lucky to have had Remmy as our driver-guide (and now a good friend!). He is professional, polite, friendly and efficient with an incredible encyclopaedia-like knowledge of the animals, birds, plants, trees and geography of Uganda. Remmy would always check in to see if we were OK and if we needed anything. It seems that nothing is too much trouble for Remmy! We travelled in a Toyota Landcruiser which had plenty of space for our luggage and had chilled drinking water and snacks available whenever we wanted. Remmy expertly handled the land cruiser over the very variable Ugandan road system (from flat tarmac roads to very bumpy trails where you receive an “African massage” as you bump along!) Remmy was a very safe and very competent driver As well as having a great sense of humour, Remmy is also very kind. When one of our friends felt travel sick, he could not have been kinder and more attentive. Due to his extensive experience, Remmy has developed excellent working relationships with the various rangers, lodge management and staff etc that we encountered and uses this to provide a first-rate service to his clients. We were joined on a couple of occasions by the brilliant Richard, whose rich knowledge and experience contributed greatly to our trip, particularly on the Ivy Trail We were fortunate enough to spend three nights at the Nkuringo Bwindi Gorilla Lodge, and to meet Lydia, the CEO and founder of Nkuringo Safaris. Her passion for providing excellent customer experience and the company’s support of local communities is exemplary With Remmy’s help we enjoyed a thrilling fourteen days in Uganda, experiencing a rich blend of activities including (amongst others) trekking with gorillas (twice), chimpanzee trekking, rhino trekking, game drives, a traditional dugout canoe trip, three river trips and a trip into the Mbamba Wetlands where we were very fortunate to see the legendary Shoebill Stork. We had a very packed itinerary, and thanks to Remmy’s excellent organisation, we were always in the right place at the right time. He was always bang on time, always with a beaming smile, even at 5.30 in the morning! Uganda is a beautiful country and if you want to enjoy it to its fullest, I would strongly recommend that you let Nkuringo Safaris and, if you are lucky enough, Remmy Kityo take care of you during your trip Huge thanks to you all for so many wonderful memories

Richard C

2023-07-27

Amazing Uganda with Remmy We spent 14 days travelling around Uganda organised by Nkuringo Safaris and our guide and driver Remmy. From the moment we arrived we were looked after so well, Remmy was patient, kind and considerate and ensured our busy schedule ran like clockwork. His experience and knowledge shone through and made our game drives and excursions incredibly special. Gorilla tracking (we did both the 1 hour and 4 hour habituation) was amazing as was the Chimp tracking in the Budongo Forest. At all times we felt safe, the trackers, guides and porters were engaging and professional and made our interactions with these special animals a wonderful and joyous experience. We would recommend that you make sure you have e appropriate clothing (gaiters, boots, walking pole and gardening gloves) as well as use a Porter as the tracking can be hard work and it’s at altitude. The lodges we stayed in were of the highest standard and each time the service was exemplary and genuine. The boat trip down the Kazinga Channel was incredible as was the two trips down the Nile to see the Delta and Murchison Falls. The Ivy Trail and walks with Richard were also fascinating and provided the chance for us to see the incredible array of birds, butterflies and animals that inhabit these incredible forests. We would like to pass on our sincere thanks to Lydia and Cathy and the whole team at Nkuringo Safaris and to Remmy for making our trip so special. The memories will stay with us for ever.

Lori C

2023-07-22

Awesome! This was the trip of a lifetime! Nkuringo Safari's and everyone who works with them were amazing. We had three incredible trekking days - one for the chimps, one for the golden monkeys and one for the gorillas. All while staying at beautiful lodges with great food. When we weren't doing primate treks, we did guided community walks, and learned a lot about Uganda, it's people, and culture. Our guides were so lovely we didn't want to say goodbye to them. I booked the whole trip online, and they were professional and flexible, and great communicators. Really highly recommend them.

Nathalie M

2023-07-18

Wonderful Holiday We have just come back from an 11 day safari holiday in Uganda expertly organised by Nkuringo Walking Safaris. We had a fabulous guide, Julius, who looked after us at every step - the whole schedule was carefully thought out and went beyond our expectations. Our highlights were the driving game safaris where we saw the big five and the gorilla trekking which was very special and emotional. The people we met were warm and friendly throughout. Uganda was very beautiful, incredibly green and lush. The lodges were charming - particularly Nkuringo Gorilla Lodge and Assassha wildlife retreat which felt remote and a as though we had travelled back in time. The service was throughout, wonderful.

amanda w

2023-07-16

A hike to always remember! As a family of 4 we absolutely loved our hike and guided canoe with our hiking guide, Richard. We hiked from the junction below Nkuringo Lodge to Lake Mutanda and then enjoyed a canoe trip on the lake from there. Richard was very knowledgeable and it was one of our very favourite experiences of our trip. We would definitely recommend you take the time to do this as you get to experience the most fabulous scenery and rural life in Uganda in foot.

Katarzyna W

2023-07-15

Amazing experience It was amezing expirence the nature was beautiful people there were very friendly and they cared about us a lot so we felt safe especially with Patric he was excellent host

Leigh O

2023-07-09

Amazing Adventure holiday We were met at the airport by Milton our tour guide. Our holiday was made extra special by Milton. Every detail of this holiday package was so well thought through. We thoroughly enjoyed our holiday and the knowledge Milton has on Uganda, culture, wildlife, languages is better than Wikipedia and google. Thank you Milton for never getting tired of all the questions and always sharing your knowledge. Milton you were a star and gave us 10 star service, thank you.

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