Gorillas & Primates
Six days engineered around one hour — the one at ten metres from a silverback, which guests consistently call the hour of their traveling lives.
The journey, day by day
- Day 1
Arrive Entebbe
Met on arrival; a garden lodge on Lake Victoria’s shore to shed the flight.
Lakeside lodge, Entebbe
- Day 2
Fly west to Kibale
A light-aircraft hop replaces seven road hours. Afternoon at leisure in the crater-lakes country around the forest edge.
Forest lodge, Kibale
- Day 3
Chimpanzees, then south
Dawn tracking in Kibale — the crashing, hooting, ground-shaking opposite of tomorrow’s calm. Afternoon drive south through Queen Elizabeth NP’s savanna (elephants likely) toward Bwindi’s wall of green.
Bwindi forest lodge
- Day 4
The gorillas
Briefing at dawn, then one to five hours’ trek behind trackers who have followed the family since first light. Then the hour: a silverback’s absolute indifference, juveniles tumbling past your boots, a mother nursing three metres away. Nothing prepares you; nothing needs to.
Bwindi forest lodge
- Day 5
Community morning, cross to Kigali
A Batwa-led forest walk or the community hospital your permit part-funds — context that deepens yesterday. Afternoon: the smooth 4–5h road across the border to Kigali, saving the long backtrack to Entebbe.
Kigali boutique hotel
- Day 6
Kigali, properly, then home
The genocide memorial — an essential, quietly devastating hour — then lunch in Africa’s cleanest capital and your evening flight.
What it costs — honestly
| Tier | From, per person | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| Classic | $3,900 | Comfortable lodges, road transfer west instead of the flight |
| Luxury | $5,400 | Flights both ways, premium forest lodges minutes from trailheads |
| Rwanda variant | +$700 | Trek Volcanoes NP instead ($1,500 permit) — shorter drives, gentler slopes |
Includes both primate permits, all transfers and internal flight (Luxury), full board, English-speaking driver-guide. Excluded: international flights, visas (East Africa visa covers Uganda+Rwanda+Kenya), porters on trek day (~$20, hire one), gratuities.
Handled for you
- Permit strategy and booking months ahead — the immovable piece done first
- Fitness-matched gorilla-family assignment on the morning, arranged quietly with the rangers
- The Uganda-in, Rwanda-out routing that saves a full travel day