5 days, 4 nights · Bwindi Impenetrable Forest · Trip code LGS-UG 1005
This itinerary offers gorilla tracking alongside a chance to take part in conservation work: the Pack for a Purpose initiative, which rewards children for collecting plastic bottles with clothing or school supplies, tree planting, and Walk with the Gorillas, a sustainable practice that takes you along the gorilla tracks on foot. There is also plenty of community contact, from a coffee tour at a local home and village walks to cycling through the villages, Batwa cultural entertainment, and storytelling at the fireplace.
You are met at the airport by your guide and transferred to your hotel.
Two Friends Beach Hotel or Hotel No.5 Boutique Hotel · Bed and breakfast
After breakfast you set off for Bwindi, passing hills with panoramic views and the equator, arriving in the evening. Roughly 300km, nine to ten hours.
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is best known for its mountain gorillas and its birds. It holds 23 of the 24 Albertine Rift endemics, including the African green broadbill and bar-tailed trogon.
Lake Mulehe Gorilla Lodge, Mahogany Springs Lodge or Gorilla Forest Camp · Full board
After breakfast you drive to the departure point for a full briefing and to meet your trek guide. The guides will already have located each gorilla group and know the closest departure point.
The hike goes through thick rainforest, with your guide and porter clearing a path and helping you over steep ground. Trek times vary considerably depending on where the gorillas have moved to, but most guests spend an hour with them.
Lake Mulehe Gorilla Lodge, Mahogany Springs Lodge or Gorilla Forest Camp · Full board
The day is yours, with a range of optional activities:
Walk with the gorillas, a guided walk through the forest with a chance of encountering the gorillas, and a low-carbon way to learn about the forest, its wildlife, and the trees and herbs used locally as medicine.
Community walk taking in the local beer brewery, a traditional healer, craft workshops and local schools.
Cooking lesson, joining the chef to prepare dinner from organic produce bought from the community and picked in the lodge garden.
Coffee experience at a local homestead, following the crop from nursery to harvest, then drying, winnowing and roasting on local stoves until you make your own cup.
Canoe trip on Lake Mutanda or Lake Mulehe followed by a village walk.
Hiking in the Virungas or golden monkey tracking in Mgahinga.
Pack for a Purpose, supporting the campaign that gives school children clothes or supplies in exchange for every ten bottles collected. Guests are welcome to bring new or used items.
Batwa cultural entertainment at the lodge fireplace, with music, dance and stories of their old ways of life.
Cycling, hiring a bike from the lodge to explore the villages through hills and valleys.
Lake Mulehe Gorilla Lodge, Mahogany Springs Lodge or Gorilla Forest Camp · Full board
After breakfast you drive back to Entebbe, arriving in the evening for your flight home.
Send us your dates and party size and a guide will come back with availability, permits, and a fixed quote.