Close portrait of a mountain gorilla looking directly at camera, Rwanda
Modern white lodge buildings lit at dusk with landscaping, Hemingways Retreat Kigali, Kigali, Rwanda
Terracotta-roofed lodge nestled in misty mountain valley, Virunga Lodge, Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda
Modern hotel building with cream facade and red logo, Kigali Marriott Hotel, Kigali, Rwanda
Thatched-roof lodge nestled among trees with mountains beyond, Mount Gahinga Lodge, Mgahinga National Park, Uganda
Illuminated pool area with lounge chairs and dining table at dusk, Hemingways Retreat Kigali, Kigali, Rwanda
Spacious bedroom with four-poster bed and fireplace, Mount Gahinga Lodge, Mgahinga National Park, Uganda
Volcanic mountains rise above forested hillsides and settlement, Virunga Lodge, Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda
Outdoor dining terrace with umbrellas overlooking gardens, Kigali Marriott Hotel, Kigali, Rwanda
Courtyard with illuminated colonial-style buildings and tropical plants, Hemingways Retreat Kigali, Kigali, Rwanda
Guest observing gorilla in lush forest vegetation, Mount Gahinga Lodge, Mgahinga National Park, Uganda
Spacious bedroom with four-poster canopy bed and fireplace, Virunga Lodge, Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda
Modern hotel exterior illuminated at dusk with entrance, Kigali Marriott Hotel, Kigali, Rwanda

inspiration

rwanda & uganda: both sides of the virungas

Private Safari
From $11,295 pp
2 guests
7 nights

trip highlights

  • Track the Nyakagezi family, the single habituated gorilla group in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park.
  • Watch for golden monkeys moving through the bamboo below the three Virunga volcanoes.
  • Stay in hand-built stone-and-thatch bandas looking out at Sabinyo, Gahinga and Muhavura.
  • Take in the long view from a Rwandan ridge set between Lakes Bulera and Ruhondo.
Scroll for the full itinerary
Open-plan lounge with central fireplace and wooden beams, Mount Gahinga Lodge, Mgahinga National Park, Uganda

Rwanda and Uganda by the Volcano Chain

This route runs from Rwanda into south-west Uganda and back, following the Virunga volcano chain. It opens in Kigali, Rwanda’s capital, a clean, hill-spread city of memorials, markets and arts. It then crosses to Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, the smaller and quieter of Uganda’s two gorilla parks, before returning to a Rwandan ridge above the twin lakes of Bulera and Ruhondo, and closing with a last night back in Kigali.

You travel by road between the parks, a drive of about four hours from Kigali including the border crossing, with the two central stays built around gorilla and golden monkey tracking. The lodges range from a boutique city hotel to hand-built stone-and-thatch bandas at the forest edge and a ridge-top eco-lodge, with the Kigali properties bookending the trip on arrival and departure.

plan your safari

Daily Itinerary Breakdown

Arrival in Kigali

You begin in Kigali, Rwanda's capital, spread across a series of ridges and valleys and widely regarded as the cleanest city in Africa. The night here eases you off a long-haul flight before the drive toward the gorilla parks. Set on a quiet street in the leafy Kiyovu neighbourhood, Hemingways Retreat Kigali is a twenty-room boutique hotel of stone, teak and handcrafted Rwandan design, with a solar-heated saltwater pool and farm-to-table dining at its two restaurants.

Gorilla Tracking in Mgahinga

Crossing into south-west Uganda, you reach Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, the smaller and quieter of the country's two gorilla parks. From here you track the Nyakagezi family, the single habituated gorilla group, along with the golden monkeys that move through the bamboo, with far fewer trackers than Bwindi and a forest that feels unhurried. A short walk from the park gate, Mount Gahinga Lodge holds eight circular bandas hand-built from local volcanic stone under papyrus-thatch roofs, each with a fireplace and a private veranda angled toward Sabinyo, Gahinga and Muhavura.

The Ridge Above the Twin Lakes

Back in northern Rwanda, you settle on a ridge that looks west to the Virunga volcanoes and the Musanze valley and east across the twin lakes of Bulera and Ruhondo, within reach of Volcanoes National Park and its mountain gorillas. Days here run to walking the trails through the grounds, watching birds in the gardens and taking in the long view. Opened in 2004, Virunga Lodge has ten hand-built wood-and-stone bandas spaced along the ridge, each with a private terrace, alongside terraced gardens and a volcanic-stone spa and sauna.

Last Night in Kigali

A final night returns you to downtown Kigali, close to the financial district and a short drive from the Genocide Memorial in Gisozi, the resting place of more than 250,000 victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. The one full day here suits the memorial, the markets and the Inema Arts Center. On KN 3 Avenue in Nyarugenge, the Kigali Marriott Hotel has large, quiet rooms with floor-to-ceiling glass, a heated pool, and coffee and baskets drawn from Rwandan women's cooperatives.

frequently asked questions

Your odds are good, with the honest caveat that nobody can guarantee a sighting.

We put success on Uganda's gorilla treks at better than 95 per cent, and the reason is the trackers, who set out at first light for the nests the family slept in and send the rangers walking you up to the right place.

What is different at Mgahinga is that there is no second family to fall back on. Nyakagezi is the park's one habituated group, which is why the whole park issues only eight permits a day, and it is still a transboundary group, one that can range over the borders into Rwanda and Congo.

If a trek fails, the Authority's rules allow it to be rescheduled, and three nights at Mount Gahinga Lodge leave a spare morning for that. Once you reach the gorillas you have one hour with them.

The two parks share one chain of volcanoes, so the ground is much the same: bamboo, steep slopes, mud after rain and thin air.

In Mgahinga you set off at 8am from the Ntebeko visitor centre, at about 2,230 metres, and in Uganda tracking typically lasts three to five hours. With a single family there is no choosing a nearer group, so treat it as a proper mountain walk.

Over the border, Rwanda has twelve habituated families and allocates them at the 7am briefing at Kinigi with fitness in mind; treks there run from half an hour to four hours and more, at between about 2,500 and 4,000 metres.

Porters wait at both trailheads, and we would book one for every walker: they shoulder the bag and give you a hand on the worst of the mud. The minimum age is 15 in both countries. Anyone uneasy about the height should raise it with their own doctor first.

It is a livelier and lighter morning.

Golden monkeys live only in the bamboo forests of the Virunga volcanoes, and unlike gorillas they rarely sit still. We liken the experience to watching chimpanzees, because you may have to move quickly through the forest to keep up with the troop.

At Mgahinga the habituated troop numbers 80 to 100 animals and is tracked on the slopes of Mount Gahinga. Reaching its territory means a climb of an hour to an hour and a half through secondary forest, so it is harder work here than on the Rwandan side, where we rate the monkeys as the easier to reach and well used to cameras.

Mgahinga also offers a longer habituation visit, spent with the researchers who follow the monkeys through the day. It is not part of the sample days, so ask us about adding it.

By road, through the Cyanika border post, about 22 kilometres from Mount Gahinga Lodge.

We put the drive from Kigali at about four hours, including the time it takes to clear immigration, and the later leg from Mount Gahinga to Virunga Lodge at about two. The last 14 kilometres from Kisoro up to the park are rough and can take up to an hour on their own.

Because you enter Rwanda, cross into Uganda and then return to Rwanda, the visa to ask about is the East Africa Tourist Visa. Rwanda's immigration service and the UK Foreign Office both describe it as a joint visa for Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya that allows several entries while you stay inside those three countries.

As this trip starts in Kigali, it is applied for through Rwanda. Entry rules differ by passport and do change, so we send you the current requirements when you book.

June, July and August are the months that come out best on our own pages for every stop, when the trails on both sides of the volcanoes are at their firmest and the peaks are most often clear.

January, February and September come next, rated well for both gorilla parks with Kigali a little more showery.

The gorillas and golden monkeys live here all year, so the wetter months change the comfort of the walk and not your chances. December is good on the Ugandan side and more mixed in Rwanda. October is an in-between month of muddier trails.

March, April, May and November are the ones we rate lowest for Mgahinga, with heavy rain, mist and the hardest going.

They have real advantages all the same: permits are easier to find at short notice, which matters in a park with eight a day, lodges may discount, and flat, overcast light is kind to a dark-coated animal. Pack waterproofs whenever you go.

Yes. The route shown is a starting point, and we plan each trip around the people taking it.

From Virunga Lodge you are within reach of Volcanoes National Park, where Rwanda has twelve habituated families and 96 permits a day against Mgahinga's eight. If you want to track on the Rwandan side as well, that trek needs its own permit, so tell us early.

At Mgahinga, strong walkers can climb Mount Sabinyo, whose 3,669 metre summit stands in Uganda, Rwanda and Congo at once, with ladders on the steepest sections. The Batwa Trail, led by Batwa guides through the forest that was once their home, runs as a half or a full day.

If the drive back to Kigali does not appeal, a helicopter links the volcanoes with the city in about half an hour.

What cannot be moved is the Mgahinga permit date: with one family and eight places a day, we secure that first.

Ed Charles photographing wildlife

Ed Charles, BBC Producer

Fitzroy are true specialists in accessing the wilderness. They know where to go and importantly, when to go there. Highly recommended.

Ed Charles

Bafta & Emmy award winning film producer of BBC’s Planet Earth 2 and A Perfect Planet

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Every journey starts with a conversation. We take the time to understand your vision before we start planning.

Whether by phone or in person, we work with you directly to shape something that is considered, personal, and expertly delivered.

Every journey starts with a conversation. We favour a direct, personal approach: understanding your vision before anything else.

Whether by phone or in person, we work with you directly to shape a journey that is both thoughtfully considered and expertly delivered.

Get in touch to start planning yours.

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