Upon your arrival in Uganda, the company guide or driver will gladly receive you and transfer you to the reserved lodge in Entebbe, where you can have a restful evening and night.

Meal Plan: Dinner

After breakfast, you will travel to Kasese town, located in the western part of Uganda. The route to Kasese passes through several towns, forests, and plantations. The journey will enable you to enjoy several fascinating sights. You will make a few stopovers at various points to observe the scenic beauty of Uganda’s countryside.

Upon arrival, you will enjoy a relaxing evening at your booked accommodation.

The drive time from Entebbe to Kasese is about 8 hours.

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

In the early morning, you drive to the park’s gate for a briefing exercise before the hiking expedition begins. After the briefing, you commence the eight-day hike to the Margherita peak at 1,450 meters by trekking through the valley floor, which features tall trees from the Montane Forest Zone. The trek through this zone offers high chances of sighting several species of birds and primates, such as blue monkeys and black and white colobus monkeys, as they swing through the tree canopies. Trekkers also enjoy sighting many plant species, including bamboo, forest trees, thickets, lowland shrubs, fungi, and flowers.

You’ll end today’s hike at Sine Hut (2,596 meters), where you’ll spend the night. The hike involves a steady ascent, gaining 1,146 meters in altitude.

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

At 8:30 am, you will resume the trekking expedition by first trekking through the steep Bamboo-Mimulopsis zone. During the wet season, the hike through the Bamboo Zone is quite challenging since it becomes extremely muddy and slippery.

After walking through the Bamboo-Mimulopsis zone, you ascend through the stunning Heather-Rapanea zone for 1.8 km, gaining 551 meters of altitude to Kalalama camp, where you will have a few minutes of resting before proceeding to Mutinda camp. The route winds through ridgetops, small knolls, crossing streams, waterfalls, and unique valleys dotted with several big heather trees that create a misty atmosphere.

At Mutinda camp, you may also opt to hike to the Mutinda Lookout at 3,925 meters to enjoy stunning views of Kasese town, Lake George, and the ranges of Mount Rwenzori. Hikers intending to ascend the Margherita Peak must hike to Mutinda Lookout, as the high altitude significantly lowers the risk of illness.

Your overnight stay will be at Mutinda Camp, 3,582 meters above sea level.

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Today’s hike is to Bugata Camp, located at 4,100 meters, and the route is muddy, especially in the rainy season. At first, you walk across the Mutinda Valley, passing tussock grass and permanent flowers dotted with several massive lobelias, before hiking a steep part to the Namusangi Valley at 3,840 meters. The Namusangi Valley has numerous highs and lows, including a steady hike to Bugata Camp.

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Day Four of the Rwenzori hike involves setting off from Bugata camp to Hunwick camp by trekking through the Bamwanjarra trail, which provides an excellent view of the three major peaks, especially on a clear day. There is a built-in cabin at 4,450 meters along the Bamwanjarra trail that often serves as a shelter in case the weather conditions worsen. The trail continues to descend into the valley, passing through and along the edges of several bogs and dense stands of lobelia, groundsel, and other flora. With several lobelia blossoms, this is the best spot in the Rwenzori to see the Malachite Sunbird. The final stretch to Hunwick’s Camp includes some steep sections, where you’ll need to make a steady ascent along a ridge.

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Today, we depart Hunwick camp and trek to Margherita camp, at 4,485 meters. The route winds over and down the valley floor of Lake Kitendara, which boasts deep water, lush vegetation, and magnificent scenery. From the Lake Kitendara valley, we ascend the Scott Elliott path to Margherita Camp, nestled between massive boulders that offer protection from the fierce winds.

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Today marks the pinnacle of your Mount Rwenzori trek as you ascend to the Margherita Peak at 5,109 meters. Due to unpredictable weather caused by global warming, an early start is crucial: the climb begins at 2:30 AM to ensure a safe summit arrival by 10:00 AM. This strict cutoff time accounts for rapidly changing conditions, as heavy clouds roll in from the vast Congo forests, often bringing snowfall between 1:00 PM and 4:00 PM.

After reaching the summit, hikers descend directly to Hunwick’s Camp (3,874 meters) for a well-deserved relaxation and overnight stay.

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

We begin today’s trek from Hunwick’s camp to Kiharo camp by ascending a ridge towards McConnell’s prong, from which you can have excellent views of Scott Elliott’s pass and all three peaks, namely, Margherita, Mt. Speke, and Mt. Baker. The route continues further, passing beneath Weismann's Peak to the confluence of the Nyamwamba River, which flows through Kilembe, Kasese, and Queen Elizabeth National Park to Lake George. At Oliver's Pass, enthusiastic hikers can hike to Weismann's Peak (4,620 meters). After crossing the confluence, the trail to Kiharo camp meanders along the valley, passing over a ridge of stones deposited by consistent, slow-moving glaciers.

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

The trek from Kiharo camp back to the base camp marks the end of our eight days of hiking Rwenzori Mountain. You will rise early to trek to the base camp and continue to your next destination. The trail descends to the Nyamwamba Valley, where you will enjoy breathtaking views of the tumbling waterfalls, moss-covered rocks, deep valleys, and forests. It’s worth noting that trekking from Kiharo camp to the gate might take about 5 to 8 hours, covering a distance of 18.8 km.

Once you arrive at the gate, your guide will be waiting to take you to Queen Elizabeth National Park, where you can unwind at your lodge.

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

You will begin your exploration of Queen Elizabeth National Park today with a morning game drive over the Kasenyi Plains. The wide range of animal and avian species found in the northern region of Queen Elizabeth National Park is remarkable. During the game-viewing expedition, you will see a variety of species, such as antelopes (waterbucks, Uganda kobs, and bushbucks), elephants, buffaloes, lions, and warthogs, among others.

Right after your successful exploration of Queen Elizabeth National Park, you will proceed to Bwindi for the main highlight of the safari-gorilla tracking. Bwindi Forest boasts tremendous biodiversity and is home to half of the world’s remaining mountain gorillas. While traveling, you will enjoy breathtaking views of the distinctive landscape and the undulating terraced hills.

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

After an early morning breakfast, you will take a short drive to the briefing center in time for the 8:00 am start of the briefing. Experienced park rangers conduct the briefing exercise to provide guidelines and rules to the tracking participants. After the briefing exercise, you and the other 7 participants will track a specific habituated gorilla family. You will embark on a thrilling trekking expedition through steep and heavily forested slopes until you eventually find the gorillas within the dense forest. After locating the gorillas, you will have a limited time of one hour to spend close to them, during which time you can take photos and observe their daily lives.

After the gorilla trekking experience, you will return to the lodge for relaxation and an overnight stay. You will be staying at Gorilla Valley Lodge or any other suitable accommodation.

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

You will begin your road trip of 9-10 hours to Entebbe airport following an early breakfast. The journey is lengthy, but the amazing landscape along the route will captivate you and make the travel less tiring and more enjoyable. You will have a stopover at the Equator monument in Kayabwe to take photos and enjoy the breathtaking experiments that demonstrate how the gravitational pull at the Equator varies from that at other latitudes. The experiments show how water swirls in opposite directions on either side of the equator line.

NOTE:

The Rwenzori Mountains provide various hiking options tailored to different fitness levels, allowing trekkers to choose according to their abilities. For those who can't climb to the Margherita peak, other peaks are available. 

Kindly inform us so we can customize your Rwenzori Hiking to suit your preferences and fitness level.

Meal Plan: Breakfast & Lunch