Highlights
- Spend a day trekking to and observing gorillas in their natural habitat
- Take a coffee tour on a Ugandan farm
- Visit an authentic village for canoeing and crafts demonstrations
- Hike to the world's largest lava lake and camp on the rim of a volcanic crater
- Set foot in three African countries: Uganda, Rwanda, and the Congo
Brief Itinerary
| Day | Highlights | Overnight |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Arrive in Uganda | Lake Victoria |
| Day 2 | Queen Elizabeth National Park & Coffee Tour | Queen Elizabeth National Park |
| Day 3 | Kasoga Community Experience | Queen Elizabeth National Park |
| Day 4 | Bwindi Impenetrable National Park | Bwindi Impenetrable National Park |
| Day 5 | Gorilla Trekking | Bwindi Impenetrable National Park |
| Day 6 | The Rwanda Border | Gishenyi |
| Day 7 | Goma (Congo) & Nyiragongo Hike | Nyiragongo |
| Day 8 | Descend the Volcano, Transfer to Kigali (Rwanda), Depart |
Detailed Itinerary
Day 1: Arrive in Uganda
Welcome to Uganda, home to the snow-dusted Rwenzori Mountains, voluminous Lake Victoria, and an incredible diversity of wildlife! When you arrive at Entebbe International Airport, follow your guide to your first guesthouse—with its excellent lake views—and settle in for a much-needed post-flight rest.
Day 2: Queen Elizabeth National Park & Coffee Tour
After breakfast, board your transport and make your way deeper into the wild to Queen Elizabeth National Park. Leave your things at the lodge and spend your day exploring one of the region's tastiest products: coffee. Start with a walk past heavy coffee branches dotted with green, yellow, and red berries and, sometimes, blooming white flowers. Pick only the red berries—the green ones aren't ready—and leave a few behind for seed stock for next year's harvest.
Once you've had your fill of the fields, follow the farmer to where coffee is laid out on sacks to dry in the sun, turning from red to cream as it dries. Peel a few husks off the seeds and then move on to the next step in the process: roasting. Here you'll roast the beans with a clay stove and aluminum plate, watching as the beans turn from gray to a golden brown, filling the air with their distinctive aroma. Finally, make your way into the homestead to grind and taste the coffee whose evolution you've just witnessed. After the coffee tour, stop at the dazzling crater lakes the region is known for, take a spooky detour into a local cave system, and then head back to the lodge for a good night's rest.
Day 3: Kasoga Community Experience
On your third day in Uganda, take some time to experience life as a local would via the Kasoga Community Experience. The KCE is a community initiative on Lake George Ramsar in Hamukungu Fishing Village on the edge of the park, where you'll find authentic, never-staged experiences of community life and work. The goal of the program is to strengthen the local economy (mostly fishing-based) while also enhancing the knowledge and experiences of visitors.
The day's authentic local activities include canoeing on Lake George Ramsar, learning about the local hippo population, taking a pretty walk across Irangara Island, and watching a traditional canoe-making demonstration. You'll also see a traditional fish preservation stove, visit the vacation palace of the former king of Tooro, hike through historical swamplands, escort cattle through the bush, and make local yogurt and ghee.
Chat with a local specialist who can help organize your trip.
Day 4: Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
Wave farewell to Queen Elizabeth National Park as you board your transport and make your way to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park—a UNESCO-recognized, biodiverse slice of the country famous for its tree-climbing lions and its 400 mountain gorillas. Visit a community project called Change a Life, where local women make baskets and honey. Stop at a local orphanage for a presentation put on by the children. And keep your camera at the ready as you wind through a park teeming with wildlife.
Day 5: Gorilla Trekking
Rise early on day five and get ready for some gorilla trekking through the forest. After registering at the Uganda Wildlife Authority ranger station, head into the park in search of gorillas. These primate families are "habituated," meaning that while they live in their natural habitat, they are visited by rangers for several hours each day and are used to being near humans.
Once you've located a family, leave your things behind you and approach the gentle giants with only your camera. A well-trained guide will talk you through the family's behavior as they feed, play, interact, or simply sleep. Spend an hour with the gorillas and then head back to base. Treks typically last anywhere from four to six hours, depending on how well your gorilla family is hiding that day.
Day 6: The Rwandan Border
Board your transport vehicle and choose a window seat for a day spent driving to the Rwanda Cyanika border and onward to Gisenyi, a town of beach resorts surrounded by hills covered in tea and coffee plantations. Spend the rest of your evening enjoying a much-deserved rest.
Day 7: Goma (Congo) & Nyiragongo Hike
The third country of your trip awaits! Grab your things and hit the road, making your way into the Congo to your next stop at Goma. Here, you'll join an experienced guide for a hike to Nyiragongo—one of the most active and violent volcanoes on the continent and home to the world's largest and most fluid lava lake. The four to five-hour hike will take you through the lush rainforest and climax with an ominous, fascinating view of the lava lake from the crater rim. Overnight in a tent at the top of the volcano.
Day 8: Descend the Volcano, Transfer to Kigali (Rwanda), Depart
After breakfast, start your descent through the rainforest and grab a transfer back over the border to Gisenyi, where you will head to Kigali and then home.
More Great Uganda Itineraries
Looking for more inspiration for your trip to Uganda? Check out these other Uganda itineraries, with outdoor adventures, cultural trips, and best-of tours to hit the highlights.
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