Nkuringo Gorilla Lodge stands on Nteko Ridge at roughly 2,160 metres, in the southern Nkuringo sector of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. Four habituated gorilla families live in this sector, and the trekking briefing point is about 300 metres from the door. Most days begin with a short walk rather than a long drive into the dawn.
Anyone hoping for gentle walks will find this a difficult base
The Nkuringo sector rewards effort. Treks here drop steeply into the forest and climb back out, and the terrain is among the more demanding in Bwindi. Anyone hoping for gentle walks will find this a difficult base. What it offers instead is a quieter corner of the forest, less settlement, fewer vehicles on the approach roads, and a return to the ridge that feels close rather than another hour on the road.
The lodge began in 2007 as a community campsite, co-established by Lydia Eva Mpanga, a Ugandan woman, and the late Robert Brierley. Brierley died in 2014, and Mpanga has led the lodge and its expansion since. His name lives on through the Robert Brierley Community Center, which trains local people in hospitality, tailoring and guiding. It is Ugandan-owned and family-operated, part of the wider Nkuringo Eco Collection.
The main lounge gathers guests around the fire after a day’s trek
Comfort here is honest rather than showy. The cottages are built of volcanic stone and timber, each with a private veranda and a fireplace for the cool evenings at altitude. The main lounge gathers guests around the fire after a day’s trek. The hosting is practical and warm: boots cleaned on return, a fire lit in the room, food drawn partly from the lodge’s own garden.
The advantage of basing a gorilla trip in Nkuringo comes down to rhythm. In the busier northern parts of the forest, trekking days often start with a long pre-dawn drive over rough roads. Here, the briefing point is a short walk from the cottages, which means more sleep before the trek and an easier return after it. After hours of climbing through the forest, that proximity matters more than almost anything else the lodge offers.
The ridge does much of the work. It looks out across the Kashasha River Valley into the forest canopy, and on clear mornings the Virunga Volcanoes rise along the horizon toward Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mist lifts off the trees at first light. At 2,160 metres the climate is cool, the evenings cold enough to want the fire, and sleep comes easily in the quiet.
The lodge is Ugandan-owned and carbon-neutral, and the majority of its staff are hired locally
There is more here than the headline animal. Bwindi is home to black-and-white colobus and L’Hoest’s monkeys, to chimpanzees, and to over 350 bird species. The lodge’s sister operation runs guided nature walks along the forest edge and the surrounding highlands. The Buniga Forest walk introduces the knowledge and history of the Batwa community. The Rushaga sector, a drive away, offers standard gorilla trekking and the longer habituation experience, which allows four hours with a semi-habituated family.
Families are accommodated in two-bedroom villas, though the experience leans adult, given the terrain and the Uganda Wildlife Authority’s minimum gorilla trekking age of fifteen. The lodge is Ugandan-owned and carbon-neutral, and the majority of its staff are hired locally. Dining is unfussy and rooted in Ugandan cooking, served in a timber-beamed lounge with wide views, where freshly baked bread is a fixture. The lodge has won multiple World Travel Awards for Uganda’s Leading Safari Lodge.
01
accommodation
The lodge offers a small mix of rooms. The Deluxe Garden Cottages run to around 45 square metres in volcanic stone, the Luxury Forest Suites sit along the forest edge with floor-to-ceiling windows and bathtubs facing the trees, and the two-bedroom Family Villas suit those travelling together. Each has a private veranda, an en-suite bathroom and a fireplace.
02
activities
Gorilla trekking in the Nkuringo sector is the core activity, with the briefing point a short walk away. The nearby Rushaga sector adds standard trekking and the four-hour gorilla habituation experience. Guided nature walks, birdwatching, and the Buniga Forest walk with the Batwa community round out the days. All trekking and hiking follows national park rules.
03
conservation
The lodge supports the Gorilla Junction Foundation, funding community education and skills training, and the Robert Brierley Community Center, which trains local people in hospitality, tailoring, and guiding. Further work includes the Bwindi Drop Project for clean water access, Gorilla Conservation Coffee supporting local farmers, and the Nkuringo Women's Sewing Co-operative.
Get in touch and let’s start the conversation. An initial consultation helps us understand what you’re looking for, whether that’s specific experiences, luxury touches, or marking a special occasion, and from there we’ll guide you through what’s possible so you can decide if we’re the right fit.
The quickest way in is to fly. A light aircraft from Entebbe lands at Kisoro airstrip, and from there it is a scenic drive of roughly one and a half to two hours up to Nteko Ridge in the Nkuringo sector and Nkuringo Gorilla Lodge. Kihihi airstrip is the other option depending on how your route runs. We arrange the flight and the transfer as part of your booking. We can also arrange a private charter, typically a Cessna Caravan or Pilatus PC-12, timed to your international arrival into Entebbe.
By road it is a long day from Entebbe, in the region of nine hours, so most travellers fly at least one leg to keep a trekking day fresh.
Yes, in the sense that the whole of Uganda is a year-round malaria area, so Bwindi is not somewhere we would ever call malaria-free. The lodge sits high, at roughly 2,160 metres, where the cool air means fewer mosquitoes than the lowland parks and a lower risk overall, but the risk does not fall to zero and antimalarial cover remains the sensible course.
Malaria guidance shifts from year to year, so we always suggest confirming the current advice with a travel clinic or your doctor before you travel, and taking the usual care against bites after dark: repellent, long sleeves in the evening and the mosquito net over the bed.
Yes. Every visitor who treks needs a gorilla permit, and it is the one thing to secure early. The Uganda Wildlife Authority issues a fixed number each day for a single hour with a habituated family, and in the busy months they sell out well ahead, so we book yours in advance as part of arranging your stay.
At the time of writing a gorilla permit is 800 US dollars per person for foreign non-residents, a figure we confirm at the time of booking as the Authority reviews it periodically. The minimum age to trek is 15. The Nkuringo sector is among the steepest and most demanding in Bwindi, with long ascents and descents, so it rewards fit, committed walkers. The forest is steep and often muddy, so a reasonable level of fitness helps, and we recommend a porter to carry your daypack and lend a hand on the climbs, which we arrange at the trailhead. A four-hour habituation experience, spent with a family still being settled to people, is offered in the Rushaga sector at a higher price, around 1,500 US dollars, if you want longer in their company.
It has two-bedroom Family Villas and welcomes families, but the trekking here is a genuine consideration. Gorilla trekking is limited to guests aged 15 and over, and the Nkuringo sector is one of the harder treks in Bwindi, with steep descents and climbs.
Younger children stay at the lodge, where there are gentle nature walks and Batwa community visits nearby. Tell us the ages of everyone travelling and we will plan a stay that gives the adults their trek and keeps the family well occupied.
Pack for a wet mountain forest and a hard walk. The essentials are a waterproof jacket and over-trousers, sturdy walking boots already broken in with good ankle support, and a pair of garden gloves for gripping wet vegetation and pushing past nettles on the climb. Long sleeves and long trousers you can tuck into your socks, gaiters, insect repellent and a small daypack with plenty of water complete the kit. Neutral colours are best.
It is cool at altitude, so bring a warm layer for the early start and the evenings at Nkuringo Gorilla Lodge, where the fire is usually lit. We recommend hiring a porter to carry your daypack and lend a hand on the steeper ground, and we arrange one for you at the trailhead.
Uganda's mobile networks, MTN and Airtel, cover the towns and the main roads, but the signal thins out across the Nkuringo ridge and can fade to nothing at the lodge and once you leave the main roads. Nkuringo Gorilla Lodge offers wifi in the main areas, best treated as enough for messages and email rather than video calls or streaming.
If staying reachable matters on your trip, tell us and we will confirm the current setup before you travel, and plan around the quieter stretches. Many guests find the drop in signal one of the better parts of being out here.
rated five stars by our clients
our approach
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.
