Customized dates: 11th April, 2026 to 14th April, 2026
Tour Driver guide: Samuel Mukalazi
Trip Report piled by: Samuel Mukalazi
Photos taken by Samuel, Stig and Dog
Company: Active African Vacations
Renowned as the land of a thousand hills due to its rolling green hills and lush valleys, Rwanda is a beautiful country nested south of the Equator within the region of East Africa, bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is one of the most inspiring travel destinations in Africa, famous for its breathtaking landscapes, wildlife encounters, and the vibrant culture and for these reasons several travelers visit this destination throughout the year with the major purpose of these visits being a once in a life time encounter with the mountain gorillas.
While Rwanda only can make a memorable safari experience, a combined trip to Uganda and Rwanda will give a taste of the uniqueness in these two destinations from the landscapes, to the people, to the cultures, the food and so much more giving you an out of this world safari experience.
This 4-days Uganda and Rwanda safari was a memorable safari experience that took us from the clean hustling and bustling streets of Kigali across the Cyanika border to the silent forest of Bwindi impenetrable national park where the only sounds we would hear are the sounds of nature. The safari started in Kigali since the guests had already arrived the day before and then followed a combined visit to Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable national park where we had the gorilla trekking experience and then Volcanoes national park for the Bisoke hike and golden monkey trekking.
This trip offered a blend of incredible primates’ experiences especially with the gentle yet
highly endangered mountain gorillas, and meaningful insights into both Uganda and Rwanda both of which are top renowned gorilla trekking destinations in Africa.
Day 1: Pick up and transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable national park
Today was the first day of the trip so I had to pickup the clients. Well set, I left my place of accommodation to go at 8:30am to go and meet the clients at Radisson Blu hotel Kigali where they had spent the night. I arrived there just on time and met the clients in the lobby all geared up for the trip and ready to go. Before we set off, I briefed them about the adventure that lay ahead of us, we compared itineraries then proceeded on our journey through Kigali slowly leaving the noise behind us as we crossed over to Uganda as it was initially planned in the program. The drive to Bwindi Impenetrable national park’s Rushaga sector took us between 5 to 6 hours so we had some breaks during the drive to take photos of the landscape, the locals picking tea, and the kids playing and waving at us. During the transfer, we had a stopover for a hot meal in Kibale before finally proceeding to Rushaga particularly to Rushaga gorilla camp located at the edge of Bwindi Impenetrable national park where we were to stay that night. At the lodge, we were welcomed with a glass of water melon juice and after a short rest in the lobby, Dag and Stig were ready to check in to have their refreshment after the long day before settling down for dinner.
Day 2: Gorilla trek and transfer to Volcanoes national park
We woke up at exactly 6:00am Uganda time, got ready for the day and settled down for a breakfast at the lodge. Since we were to drive back to Rwanda after the trek, we checked out of the lodge with all our luggage. Well, dressed in our hiking clothes, we picked up a packed lunch and headed to the park headquarters for the gorilla trek briefing. It was a 30 minutes drive from the lodge to the park headquarters. At the park headquarters, we met other tourists who were to do the gorilla trekking as well that very day. As my clients settled down for the gorilla trek briefing, I headed straight to the UWA office to finish the all the necessary paper work required to ensure that my clients are ready for the gorilla trek. After finishing with the paperwork, I went ahead to choose a gorilla suitable gorilla family for my clients so that they can have a memorable gorilla encounter experience.
After the briefing, Dag and Stig were all ready to penetrate the jungles of Bwindi Forest in search of these gentle giants in their natural habitat. The hike to the mountain gorillas was not long given I had chosen for them a short trek since one of my clients, Stig was feeling pain in his right foot.
They trekked the Kahungye gorilla family and we able to see up to 14 gorillas, two of which were silverbacks.
I did not go for the gorilla trek with the guests however after they returned from the forest, they described the whole experience as amazing, exactly the words Stig used.
Since we had our packed lunch with us, we first had our lunch before eventually setting off driving towards the Cyanika border to cross over to Rwanda’s Volcanoes national park for yet a continuation of our adventure. We arrived at the border at 4:00pm, went through customs and immigration which took us about 30 minutes then continued to Le Bambou gorilla lodge where my clients were to be staying for the next two days. Once at the lodge, the clients enjoyed an evening of relaxation, refreshment, dinner and overnight rest ahead of the next day’s Bisoke hike.
Day 3: Â Bisoke hike experience
Just like the day before, we woke up early morning for a breakfast at the lodge then picked a packed lunch and drove to the park headquarters stopping en route to immerse ourselves in the stunning views of 3 of the eight volcanoes of the Virunga massif.
When we reached the park headquarters, we picked up some cups of coffee to keep us warm as we waited for the guide to take us through the Bisoke hike briefing. We were later joined by one other client from Germany who was hiking Bisoke that very day as well then finally the ranger guide who gave us a briefing about this hike. After the briefing, we returned to our vehicle and set off for the starting point of the hike where we met the porters. Stig hired a porter for this hike to provide him with some extra support since the pain in his leg had not yet subsided.
The mount Bisoke hike took the usual 7-8 hours and while at the peak of the mountain, the hikers enjoyed the magnificent views of the surrounding and the crater lake at the top of this mountain. Dag was the first to return from the hike since he was quite fit and together, we waited for Stig who returned about an hour later. We then board our car and drove back to the lodge.
As we discussed how the Bisoke hike was, Dag mentioned that during the hike he came across 2 golden monkeys- a rare species of monkeys endemic to the Virunga conservation area, making the overall experience more memorable. At the lodge, we had our dinner and retired for our rest since it had been a long day in preparation for the golden monkey hike the next day.
Day 4: Golden monkey trekking and departure
We woke up to a breakfast at the lodge. After breakfast, we once again drove to the park headquarters for yet another briefing though this time round it was for golden monkey trekking. Once at the park headquarters, we met other travelers who were to engage in the golden monkey trek that same day. As we waited for the briefing to start, we were lucky to run into Fransico, one of the renowned ranger guides in Volcanoes national park. Dag was extremely happy to meet him in person and wanted to keep this memory with him so he requested to take a picture with him and as usual, I was behind the camera.
 We then settled down for a briefing on golden monkey trekking and after the briefing, the visitors proceeded for the golden monkey trek via the potato fields belonging to the local communities. The golden monkey hike was an easy hike and both Stig and Dag enjoyed it without much effort. My clients mentioned that they were able to see almost 60 golden monkeys in the open which made it easier for them to take enough pictures.
After the golden monkey experience, we got into our car and drove to the Ellen DeGeneres museum of Diane Fossey so that my clients could get more insight about the gorilla behavior and learn about Diane Fossey’s life and conservation story. We spent 1-hour at this museum then got back into our car and started our return drive to Kigali. We had a stopover for lunch before continuing to Kigali. When we reached Kigali, we also made a quick stop at the hotel mile de Collines and another one was the Belgium Museum because these my clients where Ex solider of the UN so they had interesting in paying respect to the 10 Belgium UN soldiers who were killed from here during the Rwanda genocide of 1994.
After that quick tour I drove heading to Kigali international Airport where I dropped off Dag and Stig to take their flight back home in Norway.