Two countries, two gorilla families, one trip: a mountain gorilla trek at Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park, a border crossing at Cyanika, and a second, different gorilla trek at Uganda's Bwindi Impenetrable Forest (Rushaga sector). Rwanda's Volcanoes sits just across the border from Uganda's gorilla-trekking parks, which makes this genuine two-country primate trip logistically realistic in a way few other cross-border combinations are.
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Enquire About This SafariThis is our Classic Double Gorilla Safari: a real, bottom-up costed itinerary combining a Rwanda gorilla trek at Volcanoes National Park with a Uganda gorilla trek at Bwindi's Rushaga sector, crossing the Cyanika land border between the two. Each trek visits a different habituated gorilla family, so you genuinely see two distinct groups rather than repeating the same experience twice. If you'd rather stay within a single country, see our Rwanda-only itineraries, or our Uganda-based Classic Gorilla Trekking Safari.
Landing at Kigali International Airport, you're met by your driver-guide and transferred to your Kigali lodge or hotel for the night — a genuine chance to rest after international travel before heading to Volcanoes National Park tomorrow. If your flight schedule allows, a short city orientation or a visit to the Kigali Genocide Memorial can be added on arrival afternoon.
A scenic roughly 2.5-hour drive north from Kigali through Rwanda's terraced "thousand hills" countryside to Musanze, the gateway town for Volcanoes National Park. You check into your lodge in the early afternoon with the rest of the day free to rest ahead of tomorrow's first gorilla trek.
An early breakfast precedes your briefing at Kinigi park headquarters, where you're assigned a specific habituated gorilla family. The trek itself runs anywhere from thirty minutes to several hours each way, followed by one full hour observing the family once found. You return to your lodge with a personal trekking certificate and the rest of the day free.
A land border crossing at Cyanika into Uganda, followed by a transfer to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest's Rushaga sector. Border formalities and road conditions mean this genuinely is a full travel day — we build it in deliberately rather than pairing it with an activity, so you arrive at Bwindi rested ahead of tomorrow's second gorilla trek.
Your second gorilla trek, tracking a different habituated family in Bwindi's dense, genuinely impenetrable forest — a noticeably different terrain and canopy from Volcanoes' more open volcanic slopes. Rushaga is also known for its silverback density, giving this trek its own distinct character rather than feeling like a repeat of Day 3.
With both permits fulfilled, today shifts from wildlife to the human story of the region: a Batwa cultural walk offers insight into the forest's original indigenous inhabitants and their displacement when Bwindi became a protected national park — a reminder that the region's conservation success is inseparable from the communities around it. Alternatively, a slower leisure day at your lodge is available if you'd rather let the past two trekking days settle in.
A relaxed final morning before your transfer onward for your international departure. Because this itinerary begins in Rwanda and ends in Uganda, most travelers book an open-jaw flight — arriving into Kigali and departing from Entebbe, or the reverse — rather than a round-trip into a single airport. Confirm this with your specialist when booking your international flights.
One night in Kigali, two nights near Volcanoes National Park, and three nights near Bwindi's Rushaga sector. Depending on your chosen tier, your specialist will confirm real, currently available properties:
Kigali overnight accommodation and its exact rate are confirmed with your specialist at time of booking. See our full lodge collection for details on all of our destinations.
This itinerary includes two separate sessions of Mountain Gorilla Trekking, one in each country, plus an optional Batwa cultural walk. Browse our full experiences collection for everything that can be added to this trip.
| Tier | Per Person Sharing, Low Season | Per Person Sharing, Peak Season |
|---|---|---|
| Value (Virunga + Buhoma Lodge + Kigali) | $7,047 | $7,565 |
| Ultra-Luxury (Bisate + Clouds Mountain Gorilla Lodge + Kigali) | $11,999 | $12,517 |
Low season runs November–May, peak season June–October. This route currently publishes two tiers rather than three; ask your specialist about a Classic Comfort version of this exact route. A single-supplement adjustment applies for solo travelers.
We never ask for or store your full card number, CVV, or expiration date. See our Make a Payment page for current, secure ways to pay.
Yes, Rwanda and Uganda each have their own separate visa policy. See our Visa Requirements guide for Uganda and our other destinations, and confirm current Rwandan entry requirements directly with Rwanda's immigration authority or your specialist, since Rwanda isn't covered in that guide.
Most travelers on this itinerary book an open-jaw flight, arriving into Kigali and departing from Entebbe (or the reverse), rather than a round-trip into a single airport. See our Flight Logistics Between Safari Countries guide for how we think about this generally.
Yes, relative to other cross-border options in the region — it's a well-used, standard land crossing, and your driver-guide handles the formalities. It is still a genuine border crossing, so we build a full travel day around it (Day 4) rather than pairing it with an activity.
Yes. Your Volcanoes trek and your Rushaga trek visit two different habituated gorilla families in two different countries and forest types, so the two treks are genuinely distinct experiences, not a repeat of the same one.
We can build a leaner 5-day version pairing Volcanoes with Uganda's nearby Mgahinga Gorilla National Park instead of Bwindi, though we haven't published it as a fixed-price itinerary due to Mgahinga's single gorilla group and its history of cross-border movement. Ask your specialist for current availability.
Yes, as a custom extension — tell your specialist and we'll rebuild the day-by-day plan and price around it. Our published 7-Day Complete Rwanda Primates itinerary shows how a Nyungwe extension is structured within Rwanda alone.
Before you book, our Is East Africa Safe for Travelers? and Malaria, Yellow Fever and Vaccinations guides are worth five minutes each.
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