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 · 14 Days · Cross-Border Signature Journey
Our flagship cross-border itinerary — two countries, two mountain gorilla treks, and the single best luxury lodge in each region, connected by light aircraft rather than long road transfers. Genuinely double the gorilla time of any single-country trip, without doubling the travel fatigue.
KIGALI
Private transfer to your Kigali hotel.
VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK
Drive to Musanze/Kinigi and check into Singita Kwitonda Lodge.
VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK
A fully private hour with your Rwanda gorilla family, no other visitors present.
VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK
A morning golden monkey trek, afternoon free at the lodge.
LAKE KIVU
Drive to the Lake Kivu shoreline for a two-night pause between treks.
LAKE KIVU
A free day for a boat trip or the lakeside spa.
KIGALI
Drive back to Kigali ahead of tomorrow’s flight to Uganda.
BWINDI (NKURINGO)
Regional flight to Kihihi or Kisoro airstrip, then transfer to Clouds Mountain Gorilla Lodge above the Nkuringo trailhead.
BWINDI (NKURINGO)
Depart the Nkuringo trailhead for your second gorilla trek — among Bwindi’s most physical, and its most rewarding.
BWINDI (RUSHAGA)
Transfer to the Rushaga sector for up to four hours with a semi-habituated gorilla family alongside researchers.
BWINDI
A community-run forest walk led by Batwa guides, Bwindi’s original forest-dwelling people.
QUEEN ELIZABETH NATIONAL PARK
Drive north to Queen Elizabeth National Park for a game drive and boat cruise.
ENTEBBE
Fly to Entebbe, evening at leisure.
ENTEBBE
Private transfer to Entebbe International Airport.
From approximately $32,500 per person, double occupancy, excluding international flights.
START PLANNING ↗A non-refundable deposit confirms this itinerary and secures three separate gorilla products across two countries — the Exclusive Mountain Gorilla Experience in Rwanda, a standard trek at Bwindi’s Nkuringo sector, and the Gorilla Habituation Experience at Rushaga. Given the complexity involved and the Exclusive and Habituation products’ limited availability, we recommend booking at least nine months to a year ahead, and earlier still for peak season (June–September, December–February) or a specific milestone date.
The balance is due ahead of arrival on a schedule confirmed in your written proposal. We coordinate every permit, both countries’ lodge stays, the light-aircraft connection between them, and every transfer directly — this is genuinely our most complex itinerary to arrange, which is exactly why it’s managed as a single private trip rather than left for you to piece together.
WHO THIS SUITS
This is our flagship itinerary, built for travellers who want to experience mountain gorilla trekking in every form available across both countries — a genuinely private encounter in Rwanda, a classic trek at one of Bwindi’s most dramatic sectors, and extended research-linked access at Rushaga, all within a single fourteen-day trip. It suits groups of four or more sharing the Exclusive Experience cost, and travellers for whom this will likely be a single, once-in-a-lifetime trip covering everything both countries’ gorilla programmes offer.
The overland route between Rwanda and Uganda involves a genuine border crossing and a long road transfer; this itinerary avoids that entirely with a light-aircraft connection, preserving your limited time for the experiences themselves rather than a day lost to transit. It also means arriving at each country’s gorilla-trekking base rested rather than fatigued from a long overland journey immediately beforehand.
What exactly is included in the $32,500 per-person price?
The Exclusive Mountain Gorilla Experience, a standard Bwindi permit, the Gorilla Habituation Experience,
golden monkey trekking, the Batwa Cultural Trail, the Kazinga Channel boat cruise and game drive, thirteen
nights across all locations on an all-inclusive basis, your private guide and vehicle in both countries, the
light-aircraft connection, and all transfers. International flights are not included, and the per-person
figure assumes a group of four to eight sharing the Exclusive Experience fee.
Is fourteen days realistic given three
separate gorilla products?
Yes — the itinerary is deliberately paced with rest days and the Lake Kivu pause built in specifically
to prevent three demanding trekking experiences from overwhelming the trip.
Can we simplify this itinerary if the full
complexity feels like too much?
Yes — we can remove any single element, such as the Habituation Experience or Queen Elizabeth leg, and
rebuild the itinerary around a simpler cross-border structure while keeping the core two-country gorilla
experience.
What if our group is smaller than four for the
Exclusive Experience?
The Exclusive Experience remains $15,000 total regardless of group size up to eight, simply divided across
fewer people — we’ll show the exact per-person cost for your specific group in your written
proposal.
How quickly will we hear back after
enquiring?
We respond to every enquiry within 48 hours with a bespoke written proposal covering the exact details,
pricing, and day-by-day plan for your specific dates and group size.
This fourteen-day structure is a flexible starting template — common adjustments include upgrading further to the Behind the Scene Package, adding Kibale chimpanzee trekking, or removing individual elements to create a shorter, more focused version. Tell us what matters most to your group and we’ll build a final proposal around it.
A NOTE ON PRICING
This figure reflects double occupancy across all five properties named in this itinerary during standard season, with the Exclusive Mountain Gorilla Experience fee assumed shared across a group of four to eight. Solo travellers, smaller groups sharing the Exclusive Experience, peak-season dates, and alternative lodge tiers all shift this figure meaningfully. We always confirm exact, all-inclusive pricing for your specific group and dates in your written proposal before asking for any commitment.
Beyond the Rwanda-to-Uganda flight, this itinerary uses a mix of road transfers within Rwanda’s compact Volcanoes-to-Kivu-to-Kigali triangle and scheduled light-aircraft flights to reach Bwindi’s Nkuringo sector and later Queen Elizabeth National Park, before a final flight back to Entebbe. We coordinate every one of these connections as part of a single itinerary, so you never need to think about logistics beyond being ready at the agreed pickup time each day.
WHY BOOK WITH US
A fourteen-day, two-country, three-gorilla-product trip is genuinely difficult to plan independently — permit systems, availability windows, and lodge inventories all have to align across two separate national authorities. We handle every one of those moving parts directly, confirming each element before asking for any commitment, so what reaches you is a single, fully coordinated itinerary rather than a list of things you still need to arrange yourself.
A FIRST-HAND ACCOUNT
The Exclusive Mountain Gorilla Experience on day three at Volcanoes National Park sets an unusually private tone from the start — your own gorilla family for the day, no sharing the trail with other groups, a pace set entirely around your party. It’s the itinerary’s calmest, most unhurried gorilla encounter, and deliberately placed first to establish what genuine privacy with the gorillas actually feels like before the trip’s other, more standard encounters follow.
Nkuringo’s standard trek at Bwindi, six days later, feels different again — the classic single-hour format, shared with up to seven other visitors, but Nkuringo’s dramatic ridge-top setting and reputation for scenic, sometimes strenuous terrain gives it its own distinct character entirely separate from Volcanoes’ more accessible trails. Then Rushaga’s Habituation Experience, the itinerary’s final and most extended gorilla encounter, closes the sequence with four hours of genuinely research-style observation — feeding, resting, family dynamics unfolding in real time rather than a single suspended hour. Travellers on this itinerary consistently describe the progression as building rather than repeating: private and calm, then classic and scenic, then extended and immersive.
This itinerary involves guides in both Rwanda and Uganda, each licensed by their respective national authority — the Rwanda Development Board and Uganda Wildlife Authority — and each with specific experience in the premium products this trip includes. Your Rwanda guide has led Exclusive Experience treks specifically, and your Uganda guide has experience across both Nkuringo’s standard trekking and Rushaga’s Habituation Experience, given how differently these products are run on the ground.
Each of this itinerary’s three gorilla encounters carries a genuinely different physical demand. The Exclusive Experience can be paced entirely around your party’s fitness, making it the itinerary’s most flexible trekking day. Nkuringo’s standard trek is often considered one of Bwindi’s more strenuous sectors given its ridge-top terrain. The Habituation Experience at Rushaga demands sustained stamina across up to four hours in the forest. We recommend an honest fitness self-assessment when booking so we can advise realistically on pacing across all three.
TRUST AND LICENSING
Every permit on this itinerary — the Exclusive Mountain Gorilla Experience, the standard Bwindi permit, and the Gorilla Habituation Experience — is booked directly through the relevant national authority, never through unofficial resellers. Singita Kwitonda Lodge, Clouds Mountain Gorilla Lodge, Gorilla Leisure Lodge, and Kyambura Gorge Lodge all hold established reputations within their respective regions. We’re glad to share references from previous 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, and given this itinerary’s fourteen-day length and three separate trekking days, a travel health consultation four to six weeks ahead is genuinely worth scheduling. Comprehensive travel insurance covering high-altitude trekking in both countries is essential, and typically required by the lodges themselves as a condition of participation.
Is three gorilla encounters genuinely different, or
repetitive?
Genuinely different — the Exclusive Experience’s privacy, Nkuringo’s classic scenic trek, and Rushaga’s
extended research-style access each offer a distinct experience, which is precisely why this itinerary
combines all three rather than repeating a single format.
How much of the $32,500 reflects the Exclusive
Experience specifically?
The Exclusive Experience alone costs $15,000 total, shared across your group of four to eight — we
break this down exactly, alongside every other line item, in your written proposal.
What happens if our group size for the Exclusive
Experience changes after booking?
We adjust the per-person cost accordingly and confirm the updated figure before any additional payment is
due — the total Exclusive Experience fee itself remains fixed regardless of final group size up to
eight.
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. Given three separate trekking days across two countries, budgeting for guide and porter tips at each — typically $15–25 per guide depending on the specific product, and $10–15 per porter — plus lodge staff tips across five properties, is worth planning for before you arrive.
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 Exclusive Mountain Gorilla Experience guide and our Gorilla Habituation Experience page.
A NOTE FROM OUR GROUND TEAM
Our Rwanda and Uganda ground teams coordinate this itinerary jointly, given how much it depends on both countries’ permit systems aligning smoothly around a single flight connection. We deliberately sequenced the three gorilla products from most private to most extended, rather than any other order, because travellers consistently tell us the progression itself becomes part of the experience — each encounter recontextualising the one before it, rather than three disconnected trekking days.
Each gorilla product on this itinerary rewards a slightly different approach: the Exclusive Experience’s unhurried pace allows time to wait for ideal light and positioning, Nkuringo’s standard hour demands quick, confident shooting from the start, and Rushaga’s four-hour Habituation session gives genuine room to experiment with composition and wait for specific behaviour. A fast, versatile lens suited to low forest light serves all three better than a single specialised setup optimised for just one.
Both Rwanda and Uganda share broadly similar dry seasons — June through September and a shorter window from December through February — bringing firmer trekking conditions across all three gorilla products. All three run year-round regardless of season, and given this itinerary’s length and complexity, we recommend booking peak-season dates considerably further in advance given how much demand concentrates around those windows.
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