Gorilla Trekking Bwindi Forest National Park 1 Day Rwanda Safari

Our 1-day gorilla trekking safari to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park from Kigali, Rwanda, is an intense, early-morning adventure (starting around 0300 Hours – 0400 Hours) designed for travelers with limited time. It involves a 4-hour drive to Uganda, a 1-hour encounter with mountain gorillas, and a return to Kigali by evening.

This hiking tour takes you through the steep, thick Bwindi forest to locate a habituated mountain gorilla family, spending one hour watching them in their natural habitat.

This trip is ideal for those who want to experience the thrill of seeing the endangered mountain gorillas in Uganda without a long, multi-day safari.

1-Day Bwindi Trip from Rwanda details

✓ Start/End: Pickup and drop-off in Kigali, Rwanda
✓ Activity: 1 hour with gorillas + 2-6 hours of hiking/trekking
✓ Duration: Roughly 16-18 hours (0400 Hours departure to late evening return)
✓ Permit Cost: $800 USD (Uganda permits are cheaper than Rwanda’s $1,500)
✓ Logistics: Requires a 4×4 vehicle, a professional guide, and advance booking for the permit
✓Requirements: A valid passport, Rwandan visa, and Uganda visa or East Africa Tourist Visa

1-Day Bwindi Trip from Rwanda Itinerary

0300 Hour – 0400 Hours: Pick up from your Kigali hotel/airport.
0400 Hours – 0800 Hours: Drive to the Cyanika or Katuna border and cross into Uganda.
0800 Hours- 0830 Hours: Briefing at the Bwindi park headquarters (Rushaga or Nkuringo sectors).
0900 Hours – 1300 Hours: Trekking to find the gorillas.
1300 Hours – 1400 Hours: Lunch.
1400 Hours – 1900 Hours: Return drive to Kigali

Important information

Packing: Pack a waterproof jacket, water, and snacks.
Porters: Hiring a porter is recommended to assist with the hike.
Gear: Wear waterproof, sturdy hiking boots, long pants, and long-sleeved shirts
Stamina: The trek can be strenuous; ensure you have a reasonable fitness level
Alternative: If you want a less rushed 1-day experience, consider a 1-day trek in Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park

Gorilla Trekking Bwindi Forest National Park 1 Day Rwanda Safari begins and ends in Kigali, Rwanda. The tour could also start from Kabale, Kihihi, or Kisoro. This is a budget-friendly tour for guests in Rwanda with limited time to trek the gorillas.

You visit Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Southwestern Uganda for the ultimate mountain gorilla trekking. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is home to a minimum of 400 gorillas out of the 880 that are known to be left in the world. 

Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park and DR Congo’s Virunga National Park jointly share the home to the remaining 480 mountain gorillas.

Our 1-day gorilla tour in Uganda’s Bwindi Forest National Park, departing from Kigali, Rwanda, offers a cheaper alternative to the 1-day gorilla trekking tour to Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park, simply because gorilla permits are cheaper in Uganda than in Rwanda.

To add on to this, the drive from Kigali in Rwanda to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda is a short four to five hours. The journey is approximately 177 km, almost 3 times shorter than the distance from Entebbe, Uganda, to Bwindi.

Besides the main activity, Mountain Gorilla Trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, other activities include birdwatching with over 350 species, hiking, a forest walk to the waterfall trail, and mountain biking.

Other attractions include seeing the native Ugandan Ankole long-horned cows,  culture encounters – meet warm & friendly local people, and enjoying the spectacular views of the Virunga Volcanoes, etc.

Gorilla Trekking Bwindi Forest National Park 1 Day Rwanda Safari Prices Include

✓ Park Entrance Fees
✓ Relevant government taxes
✓ Bottle of water while on safari
✓ Transport in a 4×4 safari vehicle
✓ Services of a professional English-speaking Driver/ Guide
✓ 600 US Dollars Gorilla Permit for Bwindi per person per trek
✓ Round-trip transportation from Kigali to Uganda Bwindi Forest National Park

Notes

* Tour can be customized
* Tour Can Depart any day
* Age Limit: 15 years and above
* Solo travelers can join this tour
* This tour starts and ends in Kigali/ Rwanda
* You’ll visit Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, and the main activity is gorilla tracking

Gorilla Trekking  Day Rwanda Safari Prices Exclude

* Drinks
* Tips or gratuity
* Travelers Insurance
* Communication charges
* Minimum of 1 person required
* Sightseeing not included in the package; optional activities
* Uganda and Rwanda Visa fees, international airfares, and airport taxes; meals
* Personal expenses such as transfers to/ from the airport (supplement airport transfer cost applies for tours starting from the airport)

0300 Hours: Depart with breakfast boxes from your hotel in Kigali and transfer you to Uganda Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. The journey travels from Kigali to Cyanika border to Kisoro and on to southern Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park in Rushaga.

Alternatively you will drive to Katuna border to Kabale takes about 3 hours (border processes can take maximum 30 minutes). Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park is another 2 hours driver from Cyanika border or Katuna border and on to Ruhija in the northern sector of Bwindi national park.

All this depends on the availability of gorilla permits in either sector of the park.

0800 Hours: On arrival at your respective tracking sector (Bwindi National Park has four ‘4’ main trailheads where gorilla trekking is always conducted and they include Buhoma, Ruhija, Nkuringo and Rushaga).

You will join the rest of the visitors for the early morning briefing by one of the professional park officials. Each sector has its own habituated gorilla families and each group also offers unique experiences.

You will be briefed on how to behave while you are with the rare mountain gorillas in the habitats and all the rules must be observed at all times as explained to you by the park official.

After briefing, you will be assigned to one habituated gorilla group to track in a group of only (eight) visitors and you will be accompanied by a guide. About 14 gorilla families are available in Bwindi for both gorilla trekking and habituation experience.

Up on getting your respective gorilla troop, you will have only an hour of face to face encounter with these rare wild creatures, take as many photos as you can, explore their general behavior and body gestures.

Your guide will interpret to you the meaning of some of the gestures. A trek to see a group of these fascination primates, requires you to take with you  adequate drinking water and energy giving snacks/ packed lunch.

You will hike into the tropical forest following specific trails in search of the allocated gorilla family. The trekking time range from 30 minutes to several hours but the interaction with gorillas last for an hour.

After, you will have lunch and then drive back to Kigali which marks the end of your one day gorilla safari.

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