Trekking Endangered Gorillas & Golden Monkeys

Arrive at Kigali International Airport, and we'll transfer you to your booked hotel in Rwanda's Capital for a night's stay.

If you arrive before daybreak, you can check out the city's vibrant scene, walk the streets, and visit the malls or cultural centers. Most tourists visit the Kigali Genocide Memorial center to relive the tragic story of the Rwandese survivors who lived through the gruesome genocide of the 90s.

Otherwise, you can check in to your room, enjoy an afternoon swim, or chat with other travelers at the hotel. The following day the trekking endangered gorillas and golden monkey safari journey kicks off with a cross-border drive into the Virunga mountains.

Main Destination: Kigali Capital

Accommodation: Heaven Boutique Hotel
Mid-range to luxury hotel & retreat in Kigali

Meals & Drinks: Only breakfast is included
Drinks not included

After breakfast, meet your private driver and hit the highway onto the smoothly surfaced route through the beautiful Rwandan countryside. The 3-hour picturesque drive takes you through cattle ranches, tea plantations, and cultivated slopes on rolling hills all the way to the border with Uganda.

Border crossing is quite simple and may take about 45 minutes to process; then, we'll get on the smooth road to Kisoro, passing through another jaunt of gorgeous landscapes with the Virunga Mountains backdrop. Check into your lodge and prepare for your first encounter with the endangered golden monkeys roaming the bamboo forest zones of Mgahinga National Park.

Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is a small protected park on the slopes of three Virunga Volcano mountains, Mount Gahinga, Sabinyo, and Muhavura. The park is part of the Virunga ecosystem that spans the Virungas in Uganda, Rwanda, and DCR and protects many wildlife species, including the endangered mountain gorillas, golden monkeys, bush pigs, forest elephants, duikers, bushbucks, buffalos, and several rare species. Main activities in the park include, of course, tracking gorillas, and golden monkeys, hiking the Virunga summits, and nature walks. But for you, it'll be just trekking the endangered golden monkeys. However, it will be just pure luck if we bump into the gorillas.

Main Destination: Kisoro, Uganda

Accommodation: Travellers Lodge
Mid-range lodge in Kisoro, a few miles from Mgahinga National Park.

Meals & Drinks: Full Board (Breakfast, lunch & Dinner)
Drinking water included

Your first encounter with the endangered primates will be with the golden monkeys of the Mgahinga's bamboo zone. You'll be up early to join the morning guided trekking excursion into the rainforest park that starts at about 07:00.

Golden monkeys live only in moist montane forests, mostly in bamboo forests of the Virungas at an altitude range of 2,100-3,550 meters and nowhere else in the world. The IUCN lists golden monkeys as endangered and threatened by the harvesting of trees and bamboo, clearance for agriculture, charcoal production, and grazing of livestock.

The golden monkey’s face is hairy, and its cheeks are adorned with ombre bristles that look like a bushy beard. Around the mouth and nose, whiskers are white—like a little goatee. Its nostrils face downward. Its eyes are vigilant—almost owl-like—and a deep brown. The monkey’s “golden” name comes from the reddish-gold fur on its back, which is in striking contrast to the black coloration of its feet, legs, and tail. Females are a bit lighter in color than males.

Two rangers and a tracker will lead you up the trail into the rainforest. You can't know how long it will take you to find the little monkeys, but it could be 30 minutes to about 2 hours, and then you'll chill with the cheeky primates for about an hour, observing and photographing them. It's not a very strenuous trek, but it will keep you on your toes most of the time. You'll have your lunch somewhere in the bush before you head back to headquarters.

Main Destination: Mgahinga Gorilla National Park

Accommodation: Travellers Lodge, Kisoro
Mid-range lodge in Kisoro Town, a few miles outside Mgahinga.

Meals & Drinks: Full Board (Breakfast, lunch & dinner)
Drinking water included

Break camp early to avoid the scorching mid-day head and get on a one-hour community trail to Lake Mutanda. The off-the-beaten-track walking adventure is guided by a local walking safari guide who will lead you through remote villages, communities, and cultivated gardens on mountain slopes and show you some gorgeous mountainous landscape views that will leave you breathless. It's also a time to connect with the people and the land, watching families in the gardens, children chanting hellos, and life seemingly disconnected from civilization.

At the end of the trail, at the shores of the volcano lake, you'll hop into a traditional dug-out canoe and row the calm waters with the help of a local fisherman. For two hours, relax to the sounds of the fisherman's row, whistling, and the enchanting mountainous views across the lake.

You'll dock off at a lake resort positioned to maximize the landscapes across the lake and the entire Virunga mountains' chain. You'll have lunch here, check into your private cottage, and we'll leave you for the rest of the evening to maximize your personal time.

Main Destination: Lake Mutanda

Accommodation: Mutanda Lake Resort

Meals & Drinks: Full Board (Breakfast, lunch & dinner)
Drinking water included (other drinks on you)

Wake up early to catch the sunrise casting its gleaming rays over the rugged landscape. Today you can take another walk uphill to capture the incredible misty sights across the lake and the Virungas. Your driver will be a call away to help you catch your breath, but you can walk for another two hours and drive the rest of the trail to your other forest cabin at the edge of the gorilla park.

You'll check into another cottage hanging above the gorillas forest, on a ridge, with breathtaking views of yet again the Virungas, the rugged rift valley, and beyond into the DRC. Here you will spend three nights, join the morning gorilla trekking excursion into the jungle, see the gorillas, and explore the local scene.

Main Destination: Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

Accommodation: Nkuringo Bwindi Gorilla Lodge
Luxury lodge on the southern edge of Bwindi Forest

Meals & Drinks: Full Board (Breakfast, lunch & dinner)
Drinks are included (soft drinks and house wines)

Early morning after breakfast, you'll transfer to the trailhead in time for the gorilla tracking briefing. It's a 10-meter walk. Briefing starts at 7:30 am, and for 30 minutes, you'll know the guiding procedure, the gorilla group to track and be assigned two armed rangers (for security), a lead tracker guide alongside seven other trackers.

The jungle has dump floors and thick shrubs, which will definitely require you to have waterproof hiking boots, a rain jacket, a waterproof backpack (it could rain anytime), trousers, long-sleeved and garden gloves. The tracking is at your pace and can take 30m to 6 hours before you find the gorillas, be prepared for this.

You will spend an hour with the gorillas once you locate them, but you must observe a 10 meters distance from them and keep your mask on. Your time in the forest cannot be pre-determined as every day differs from the previous.

Main Destination: Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

Accommodation: Nkuringo Bwindi Gorilla Lodge
Luxury lodge on the southern edge of Bwindi Forest

Meals & Drinks: Breakfast (Lunch & dinner not included)
Drinking water in included.

Participate in some lodge activities like visiting the Batwa villages, walking through communities, and having heartful conversations with the locals. The 2-hour Buniga Forest Walk with the re-enacted Batwa Forest Cultures. The Batwa lived in the forest as nomadic hunter-gatherers for millennia, perfectly balanced with flora and fauna. They earn a living from this little pocket forest by re-enacting their historical cultures for visiting tourists.

Other activities include a 10k hike through the communities and terraced hills, the 2-3-hour canoeing experience on Lake Mutanda.

The end of the day would be excellent for a sundowner experience at the top of the world with stunning 360-degree views across southwestern Uganda’s rugged landscape.

Main Destination: Buniga Pocket Forest

Accommodation: Nkuringo Bwindi Gorilla Lodge
Luxury lodge on the southern edge of Bwindi Forest

Meals & Drinks: Breakfast (Lunch & dinner not included)
Drinking water (Other drinks not included

You'll leave the forest lodge early to capture the sunrise as you drive through the valleys and hills of Kigezi to the Rwandan border. Your next destination is Kigali, arriving in time for your international flight back home.

Unless you want to spend another night in Kigali, we haven't included a booked night in Kigali on this day. However, we can always arrange for you one.

Main Destination: Kigali International Airport (Rwanda)

Accommodation: No accommodation (End of tour)

Meals & Drinks: Breakfast (Lunch & dinner not included)
Drinks not included