One day gorilla trekking in Uganda via Kigali, Rwanda

One day gorilla trekking in Uganda via Kigali, Rwanda: The one-day gorilla trekking safari to Mgahinga Gorilla National Park starts from Ruhengeri town (also known as Musanze) in Rwanda. Located in Kisoro district in southwestern Uganda, Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is Uganda’s smallest national park. Mgahinga lies on the opposite side of Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park.

Itinerary for one day gorilla trek at Mgahinga Gorilla National Park

A Bamboo Ecotours representative will meet you at the hotel in Ruhengeri /Musanze town very early in the morning and drive to Mgahinga Gorilla National Park. You will have to leave Ruhengeri latest by 4:00 am Rwanda time to allow enough time to cross the Uganda-Rwanda border at Kyanika. It would be best to arrive at Mgahinga Gorilla National Park Ntebeko gate by 7:30 am Uganda time. Note that Uganda is one hour ahead of Rwanda’s time zone. Please plan accordingly!

Upon arrival at Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, you will get a short briefing from the park rangers on what to expect during the gorilla trek. You will then start the tour and enter the forest to encounter the mountain gorillas. You will spend one hour with the gorillas and afterward head to the basecamp. You will immediately drive back from the trailhead to Ruhengeri town for overnight.

Gorilla trekking at Mgahinga Gorilla National Park

Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, Uganda’s smallest national park, is the second home to one mountain gorillas group. The majority of the Uganda gorilla population is found in Bwindi forest national park. There is one habituated gorilla family, called the Nyakagezi group, that is open for tourism. Given that only one group, only eight persons can trek the gorillas in Mgahinga on a given day.

Bamboo Ecotours organizes gorilla trekking safaris to Mgahinga Gorilla National Park. Unlike Bwindi national park, which is usually fully booked, Mgahinga tends to behave slots for gorilla permits all the year-round. For clients traveling to Uganda via Rwanda, Mgahinga gorilla national park is closer to the Uganda/Rwanda border than Bwindi. However, the trekking experiences in both Bwindi and Mgahinga are not any different.