Gorilla Trekking in Uganda from Nairobi
Gorilla Trekking in Uganda from Nairobi is an amazing experience for the travelers that get to start their journey from Kenya’s Nairobi. Kenya is known for its wildlife diversity but unfortunately, Kenya doesn’t have mountain gorillas, so when travellers come to Kenya, they would like to top up their wildlife safari experience with gorilla trekking, but the biggest question is how they can connect from whichever park they are in, in Kenya to Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
Well, that’s not impossible since Kenya borders Uganda to the East and the transport network to and from Kenya is well developed so a traveller can always cross from Kenya to Uganda either by road or by air.
Also, Uganda and Kenya are part of the East African Community so the traveller can acquire an East African Visa at 100 USD that allows them to cross back and forth in both countries for three months with no extra cost.
Below we highlight some of the options a tourist or traveler can opt for to achieve their combined safari of wildlife in Kenya and gorilla trekking in Uganda from Nairobi.
Flying
Flying is the easiest and most non-strenuous option if you are doing gorilla trekking in Uganda from Nairobi, however, this option is quite costly so as you plan you put that into consideration.
You will fly from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi to Uganda’s Entebbe international airport. This means you have to be in Nairobi for you to get the flight to Uganda.
From Uganda’s Entebbe International airport you will fly to Bwindi National Park for your gorilla trekking experience.
You should note that the day you fly to Uganda and Bwindi is not the day you trek for the gorillas, because of the flight times, travel duration and gorilla trekking schedules; gorilla trekking in Uganda from Nairobi in Bwindi Impenetrable national park starts at 7:30 am and though you leave Nairobi at 6 am, you will get to Bwindi National park after 7 am.
So you’re advised to plan accordingly; meaning the day you fly to Bwindi National Park, you will settle into your accommodation and prep for the next day’s trekking experience. Depending on the time you get to Bwindi National Park, you can also engage in other activities like community walks, nature walks, batwa experiences among others.
The next day you will be able to go for you trekking experience at 7 am that will last for about 6 to 7 hours and after you are done you can opt to fly back to Entebbe and then Nairobi that very day or stay the night in Bwindi and fly back the next day depending on your preference.
Aircraft that fly to Uganda from Nairobi are Kenya airways which have scheduled flights to Uganda 5 days a week, Uganda airlines; has scheduled flights to and from Nairobi 3 days a week and Rwandair.
Flights to Bwindi National park are operated by Aerolink Uganda and it has scheduled flights to north and southern parts of Bwindi National park in Kihihi and Kisoro respectively.
Flights from Nairobi to Uganda take a duration of one hour and 10 mins and flights from Entebbe to Bwindi take a duration of one hour.
Flying and driving.
The other option will be flying and driving; here you will fly from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi to Uganda’s Entebbe international airport. From Uganda’s Entebbe International airport, you will drive to Bwindi National park, which is an 8-9 hour drive, meaning you will reach Bwindi National Park in the evening, check into your accommodation and rest for the night.
You will then go mountain gorilla trekking the next day at 7 am which will take up to 6 or 7 hours and you will go back to your accommodation for your overnight rest. You cannot drive back to Entebbe that very day because of the duration of the travel; you need to embark on it the next day. After your trekking experience though, you can always go for a community walk, nature walk or batwa experience, or rest at your accommodation whatever you prefer.
You will head to Entebbe the next day after your gorilla trekking experience, still, the journey will take you about 8 to 9 hours meaning you will reach Entebbe in the evening, you can decide to fly to Nairobi immediately or stay overnight in Entebbe and fly to Nairobi the next day, depends on your preference.
This option is less costly compared to flying only.
Driving
This option is the longest and most tiring but the cheapest of all three options. This option involves a lot of road travel so it’s mainly done by road trip lovers and persons without back issues or any other complications that may be worsened by long travels.
For driving, you will drive from whichever location you are in Kenya, to the Kenya – Uganda border in Busia, where you will cross to Uganda and then proceed to Uganda’s capital kampala, the entire journey takes about 13 to 14 hours. When you get to Kampala you will spend a night in the city and the next day you will be up early to embark on an 8 to 9 hour journey to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
The day you arrive in Bwindi National Park, you will check into your accommodation, rest for the night and the next day you will be up early to head out for your trekking experience in the forest.
After your trekking experience, you will go back to your accommodation for your overnight rest. You cannot drive back to Kampala that very day because of the duration of the journey. However you can spice up your evening after your trekking experience, you can always go for a community walk, nature walk or batwa experience, whatever you prefer.
You will then be up early the next day and embark on your journey to Kampala, you will still arrive in Kampala in the evening, spend a night in Kampala. The next day you will then head out of Kampala for a 13 to 14 hour journey to Nairobi or any part in Kenya.
With all those options you cannot fail to have your gorilla trekking experience in Uganda on your safari in Kenya or Nairobi.
Gorilla trekking is famously done in Uganda, Rwanda and DRC because these are the three countries with natural habitats where mountain gorillas live naturally plus these countries have all had some of the mountain gorillas living in the different habitats habituated for gorilla trekking activities.
Of all the three countries Uganda is the fairest for a gorilla trekking safari because of its fair priced gorilla permits that cost 600 USD currently but will cost 100 USD more in July 2020; this price is cheaper than the 1500 USD that is charged for Rwanda gorilla permits.
DRC’s permits are even much cheaper costing 400 USD per permit, however, with all the instability in most regions of the countries and the Ebola outbreak, a traveler’s safety is never guaranteed.
This makes Uganda the fairest country of the three countries to have your gorilla trekking in Uganda From Nairobi.
