Your trek begins at Bukima Patrol Post. As you climb through tangled vines, moss-draped trees, and fern-covered clearings, the air cools and fills with the scent of damp earth. Suddenly, you may hear chest-beating, or see a massive silverback parting the undergrowth. You’ll spend an awe-filled hour watching family members groom each other, mothers cradling infants, and playful juveniles tumbling through the foliage.

In the afternoon, you’ll visit a nearby community project, learning how conservation is intertwined with local livelihoods – from beekeeping to handcrafts – ensuring the gorillas’ survival benefits their human neighbours too.

This is no ordinary hike – it’s a journey into the heart of evolutionary history. Mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) share over 98% of our DNA and are found only in this tri-border region of DRC, Rwanda, and Uganda. Once on the brink of extinction, their numbers have slowly risen thanks to rigorous conservation, anti-poaching patrols, and tourism revenue.

Your hike starts at Kibati Ranger Post. As you ascend, the forest thins to alpine meadows and volcanic rock fields, each step taking you through millions of years of geological history. By late afternoon, you reach the crater’s rim, where a sight beyond imagination awaits – a vast molten lake, its surface churning and cracking as fiery magma bubbles up from the Earth’s mantle.

Night at the summit is surreal. The air is crisp, the stars blaze overhead, and below you the lava pulses like the heartbeat of the planet.

Nyiragongo is one of the world’s most active volcanoes, famous for its enormous lava lake that glows day and night. At 3,470 metres, it dominates the skyline above Goma. Historically, Nyiragongo’s eruptions have shaped life here – its 2002 eruption sent rivers of lava into Goma, destroying a third of the city.

At dawn, Nyiragongo’s lava lake shimmers under the first light – an unforgettable sight. After descending, you’ll re-enter Rwanda and drive to Gisenyi on Lake Kivu. This vast freshwater lake, formed by tectonic rifting, is part of the Great Rift Valley system and has been a trading route for centuries.

Gisenyi’s colonial-era buildings, sandy beaches, and palm-lined promenade offer a peaceful contrast to the wild volcano. You might stroll the lakeside, watch fishermen’s wooden canoes returning, or simply enjoy the warm breeze off the water.

Your final morning in Rwanda offers sweeping views of Lake Kivu and the Virunga volcano chain. You’ll return to Kigali for an afternoon flight to Entebbe, Uganda – the gateway to the "Pearl of Africa", a name given by Winston Churchill for its natural beauty and abundance of wildlife.

Upon arrival, the gentle shores of Lake Victoria greet you – the largest tropical lake in the world, and source of the White Nile.

Today’s journey south takes you across Uganda’s fertile heartlands, where rolling hills are dotted with tea plantations and roadside markets bustle with life. At the Equator, you’ll stand astride both hemispheres – a perfect photo opportunity and a chance to see the famous water swirl demonstration.

By afternoon, you’ll reach Bwindi Impenetrable National Park – a UNESCO World Heritage Site whose name is no exaggeration. Its tangled rainforest, misty ridges, and ancient trees are a living relic of the forests that once covered much of Africa. Bwindi is home to half of the world’s remaining mountain gorillas, as well as over 350 bird species, many found nowhere else on Earth.

The gorilla trekking here is a spiritual experience – you’ll hike under the filtered light of a dense canopy, the air filled with bird calls and the occasional rustle of primates above. Once you meet your gorilla family, time slows. The silverback may watch you with deep, intelligent eyes, while youngsters swing through vines like acrobats.

In the afternoon, you’ll meet the Batwa – the forest’s original inhabitants. For centuries, they lived as hunter-gatherers, moving through the forest with unmatched knowledge of its plants, animals, and healing herbs. Displaced when the park was gazetted, they now share their stories, dances, and traditional skills, keeping their cultural identity alive.

The drive to Queen Elizabeth National Park passes through the Ishasha sector, a unique savanna where lions have developed the rare habit of resting in fig and acacia trees. Scientists believe they climb to escape insects, catch breezes, or watch prey from above.

This part of the park is also home to elephants, topi antelope, and large flocks of crowned cranes – Uganda’s national bird. Evening in the bush brings a golden sunset and the distant calls of hippos from the Ishasha River.

At dawn, you’ll explore Kasenyi Plains, where prides of lions stalk kob antelope and herds of elephants graze in the mist. The area’s history is also fascinating – the park is named after Queen Elizabeth II’s 1954 visit, when it was rebranded to promote conservation and tourism.

In the afternoon, the Kazinga Channel boat cruise offers one of Africa’s most concentrated displays of wildlife. This natural waterway linking Lakes George and Edward teems with hippos, crocodiles, buffalo, and a dazzling variety of waterbirds, including fish eagles and pelicans.

Kyambura Gorge is often called the "Valley of the Apes" – a lush chasm carved through the savanna by the Kyambura River. Here, a small but habituated chimpanzee population lives in a hidden world of fig trees, tangled lianas, and echoing bird calls.

After tracking chimps, you’ll travel to Kibale Forest – one of the best places in the world for primate encounters, with 13 recorded species including red colobus, black-and-white colobus, and grey-cheeked mangabey.

Unlike a standard chimp trek, the habituation experience allows you to spend an entire day with researchers, following chimps as they feed, vocalise, and interact. This immersive time reveals the complexity of their social structures, tool use, and emotional bonds.

In the late afternoon, you’ll explore Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary – a community-run reserve known for its monkeys, papyrus swamps, and rich birdlife, including the spectacular great blue turaco.

Your route north passes through Hoima before arriving at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, where white rhinos roam free within a protected reserve. Rhinos once roamed Uganda’s plains, but poaching wiped them out by the 1980s. Ziwa’s breeding program is restoring them to the wild – your on-foot tracking brings you close enough to appreciate their immense power and surprising gentleness.

You’ll continue to Murchison Falls NP – Uganda’s largest and oldest park, first gazetted in 1952.

The Delta Circuit is a classic African safari landscape – wide open grasslands dotted with Borassus palms, home to giraffes, oribi, buffalo, and predators such as lions and leopards.

In the afternoon, you’ll cruise the Nile upstream to the base of Murchison Falls, where the world’s longest river squeezes through a gap just 7 metres wide, exploding into a thunderous spray. The explorer Samuel Baker named it in 1864, calling it “the most powerful rush of water in the world.”

A short hike takes you to the top of Murchison Falls, where the Nile’s force and beauty are at their peak. You can feel the ground tremble underfoot and the mist cool your face.

From here, you’ll drive back to Entebbe for your onward flight, carrying memories of Africa’s mountains, rivers, wildlife, and people.