CORE EXPERIENCES
Standard Permit — $1,500 Exclusive Experience — $15,000 Behind the Scene Package Uganda Habituation Experience Photography & Film PermitsPOPULAR PARKS
Volcanoes National Park Nyungwe National Park Akagera National Park Bwindi Impenetrable National Park Mgahinga Gorilla National ParkRwanda & Uganda · 11 Days · Fly-In Express
For travellers who want both countries’ gorilla treks without 14 days away — an all fly-in itinerary that trims road transfers to a minimum, built for executives and time-constrained travellers.
KIGALI
Private transfer to your Kigali hotel.
VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK
Transfer to Musanze/Kinigi and check into Bisate Lodge.
VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK
Your Rwanda gorilla trek at Volcanoes National Park.
KIGALI
Drive back to Kigali ahead of tomorrow’s flight.
BWINDI (BUHOMA)
Regional flight direct to Bwindi’s Buhoma sector, checking into Sanctuary Gorilla Forest Camp inside the park.
BWINDI (BUHOMA)
Your Uganda gorilla trek, departing directly from your in-park camp.
BWINDI (BUHOMA)
A guided walk through Buhoma village, visiting local artisans and a traditional dance performance.
QUEEN ELIZABETH NATIONAL PARK
Drive to Queen Elizabeth National Park for an afternoon game drive.
QUEEN ELIZABETH NATIONAL PARK
A morning game drive followed by the Kazinga Channel boat cruise.
ENTEBBE
Regional flight to Entebbe, evening at leisure.
ENTEBBE
Private transfer to Entebbe International Airport.
From approximately $21,800 per person, double occupancy, excluding international flights.
START PLANNING ↗A non-refundable deposit covering both gorilla permits confirms your dates and secures them with the Rwanda Development Board and Uganda Wildlife Authority. Because this itinerary depends entirely on tight regional flight connections rather than road-transfer flexibility, we recommend booking at least six months ahead, particularly for peak season (June–September, December–February) when flight seats and permits are both harder to secure on short notice. The balance is due ahead of arrival on a schedule confirmed in your written proposal.
Once confirmed, we book both permits and every regional flight directly, coordinating the connections so no single missed link disrupts the rest of the trip.
WHO THIS SUITS
This itinerary suits executives and time-constrained travellers who want both Rwanda’s and Uganda’s gorilla trekking experiences but genuinely can’t take two weeks away from work. Every sector is flown rather than driven and no stop exceeds a single night at transit points, trimming this to the shortest realistic timeframe in which two separate countries’ gorilla permits can both be used without feeling rushed.
The overland route between Rwanda and Uganda, and between Bwindi and Queen Elizabeth within Uganda, both involve multi-hour road transfers that simply don’t fit an eleven-day window built around two gorilla treks. Flying every one of these sectors converts what would otherwise be full travel days into short connections, freeing the time for the experiences themselves rather than time in a vehicle.
What exactly is included in the $21,800 per-person price?
Standard gorilla permits in both Rwanda and Uganda, the Kazinga Channel boat cruise and game drives, ten
nights across Kigali, Bisate Lodge, Sanctuary Gorilla Forest Camp, Kyambura Gorge Lodge, and Entebbe on an
all-inclusive basis, your private guide and vehicle at each destination, all internal flights, and all
transfers. International flights are not included.
Is eleven days really enough for two countries
and two gorilla treks?
Yes, specifically because every long-distance sector is flown rather than driven — the itinerary is
tightly built, but not rushed, provided flight connections run on schedule, which is why we book them with
realistic buffer time between legs.
What happens if a regional flight is
delayed?
We build modest buffer time into each connection specifically to absorb minor delays; in the rare case of a
more significant disruption, we work in real time with our ground team to adjust the following day’s
plan rather than losing an entire gorilla trek to a missed connection.
Can we upgrade either gorilla trek to a premium
product?
Yes — we can substitute Rwanda’s standard permit for the
Exclusive Mountain Gorilla Experience, or
Uganda’s for the Gorilla Habituation Experience,
adjusting pricing and the daily schedule accordingly.
How quickly will we hear back after
enquiring?
We respond to every enquiry within 48 hours with a bespoke written proposal covering the exact flight
routing, pricing, and day-by-day plan for your specific dates and group size.
This eleven-day structure is a flexible starting template — common adjustments include adding a Lake Kivu night if your schedule allows one more day, upgrading either gorilla permit to a premium product, or removing the Queen Elizabeth leg entirely to shorten the trip further. Tell us what matters most to you and we’ll build a final proposal around it.
A NOTE ON PRICING
This figure reflects double occupancy at the lodges named in this itinerary during standard season. Solo travellers, larger groups, peak-season dates, and alternative lodge tiers all shift this figure. We always confirm exact, all-inclusive pricing in your written proposal before asking for any commitment.
An itinerary this tightly built around flight connections leaves very little room for scheduling error — two permits, five internal flights, and four lodge changes all have to align within eleven days. We plan every connection with realistic buffer time and manage all bookings directly as a single coordinated itinerary, so a time-constrained trip never feels like a rushed one.
This itinerary begins with an international arrival into Kigali International Airport and ends with departure from Entebbe International Airport, so most travellers book an open-jaw international ticket into one city and out of the other rather than a round-trip into a single airport. We coordinate this specifically when booking your regional flights, and can advise on international routing options that connect well with both ends of the trip.
A NOTE FOR EXECUTIVES
Every lodge on this itinerary offers reliable Wi-Fi in common areas, so time-constrained travellers can stay reachable during transfer days and evenings without needing to disconnect from work entirely. We simply ask that phones and devices stay off during the gorilla treks themselves — both a Rwanda Development Board and Uganda Wildlife Authority requirement, and one that protects the one truly unrepeatable hour of the whole trip.
Travellers weighing this against our fourteen-day double gorilla trek should know the core trade-off clearly: this eleven-day version delivers the same two-country gorilla-trekking achievement using standard permits and a leaner set of activities, while the fourteen-day version adds the Exclusive Mountain Gorilla Experience, the Gorilla Habituation Experience, and considerably more time at each stop. Choose this itinerary when time is the binding constraint; choose the longer version when depth of experience matters more than trip length.
Both Rwanda and Uganda sit in the same time zone as Central Europe, meaning most long-haul arrivals from Europe involve minimal jet lag, while arrivals from North America typically call for one genuinely restful night in Kigali before the trekking days begin — day one of this itinerary is deliberately built as exactly that. We can adjust your international arrival date slightly earlier if you’d prefer a full extra day to recover before the first gorilla trek, particularly useful for travellers coming from further afield or squeezing this trip around a demanding work schedule.
A FIRST-HAND ACCOUNT
The rhythm of this itinerary is genuinely different from a road-based circuit — short regional flights replace long transfer days entirely, so mornings that would otherwise be spent watching scenery pass from a vehicle window instead start with breakfast at one lodge and end with sundowners at the next. Bisate Lodge’s gorilla trek at Volcanoes National Park opens the trip’s trekking with Rwanda’s more accessible terrain, while Sanctuary Gorilla Forest Camp’s in-park location at Buhoma means Uganda’s trek begins literally steps from your room rather than a further drive that morning.
Executives specifically tell us the itinerary’s real value isn’t just the time saved, but the reduced cognitive load — no long drives to plan around, no fatigue accumulating from hours on rough roads, just a series of short, predictable flight connections between genuinely restful stops. Queen Elizabeth’s Kazinga Channel cruise near the trip’s end is deliberately the itinerary’s most relaxed activity, closing the trip on a low-effort, high-reward note before the flight home.
This itinerary involves guides in both Rwanda and Uganda, each licensed by their respective national authority and each experienced specifically with fly-in circuits where tight scheduling and flight coordination matter as much as trekking expertise. Your guides are accustomed to managing time-constrained travellers and adjusting plans in real time if a connection runs late.
Both gorilla treks on this itinerary use standard permits at generally accessible sectors — Volcanoes National Park and Buhoma — making this a reasonable itinerary for travellers with moderate fitness who don’t have the time to build in extra rest days around more demanding sectors. We can still request an easier gorilla family assignment at either location for less experienced trekkers.
TRUST AND LICENSING
Both gorilla permits on this itinerary are booked directly through the Rwanda Development Board and Uganda Wildlife Authority respectively, never through unofficial resellers. Bisate Lodge, Sanctuary Gorilla Forest Camp, and Kyambura Gorge Lodge all hold established reputations in their regions. We’re glad to share references from previous executive travellers on this exact itinerary and to walk through our insurance coverage and safety protocols before any deposit is due.
Both Rwanda and Uganda require proof of yellow fever vaccination for travellers arriving from at-risk countries. Given this itinerary’s tight eleven-day schedule, a travel health consultation four to six weeks ahead is worth scheduling to confirm fitness for two separate trekking days on limited recovery time between them. Comprehensive travel insurance covering high-altitude trekking in both countries is essential.
How tight is the margin if a flight is delayed?
We build realistic buffer time into every connection specifically to absorb minor delays, though we’re
transparent that this itinerary has less slack than a longer, road-based circuit — a significant
disruption could require real-time adjustment to the following day.
Is this itinerary genuinely relaxing, or just
fast?
Both — the pace is efficient, but each individual day is unhurried once you’re at a destination; it’s
specifically the transit time between destinations that’s compressed, not the experiences themselves.
Can we work remotely during transfer days?
Every lodge offers reliable Wi-Fi in common areas, and short flight connections leave reasonable windows for
checking in, though we recommend treating gorilla trekking days themselves as fully offline.
Both the Rwandan franc and Ugandan shilling are relevant on this trip, though US dollars printed 2009 or later are widely accepted at lodges and for tipping in both countries. Budgeting for guide and porter tips at each trek — typically $15–20 per guide and $10–15 per porter — plus lodge staff tips across four properties, is worth planning for before you arrive, since ATMs are limited outside major towns in both countries.
Permit rules and pricing cited on this page reflect current published policy from both the Rwanda Development Board and Uganda Wildlife Authority. For broader context, see our Rwanda Standard Gorilla Permit guide and our Uganda Standard Gorilla Permit page.
A NOTE FROM OUR GROUND TEAM
Our teams in both countries coordinate this itinerary’s flight connections directly with regional carriers, rather than treating flights as an afterthought booked separately from the ground arrangements. We built this specifically for travellers whose limiting factor is time, not budget or curiosity — every design decision, from lodge selection to activity sequencing, optimises for delivering both countries’ gorilla trekking experiences within the tightest realistic window.
Both Rwanda and Uganda share broadly similar dry seasons — June through September and a shorter window from December through February — bringing firmer trekking conditions and generally more reliable flying weather for the regional connections this itinerary depends on. Both treks run year-round regardless of season.
A NOTE ON GROUP SIZE
This itinerary works equally well for a solo executive, a couple, or a small group of colleagues, since your guide and vehicle remain private throughout regardless of group size. For small business or leadership retreats specifically, we can also build in dedicated downtime at each lodge for informal group discussion, without turning the trip into a formal offsite — tell us your group’s specific goals when enquiring.
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