Pearl TrailsUganda UTB TO/1147 Plan a trip
Ground operator, Kampala · licensed since 2009

Eleven days, one country, and the shortest walk you will ever remember.

We run our own vehicles and our own driver-guides from Kampala to Bwindi, Kibale, Queen Elizabeth, Murchison and the Rwenzori. Permits are filed in your name with the Uganda Wildlife Authority at the published price, and every itinerary is written day by day before you pay anything.

Ask about dates See the itineraries
Gorilla permit
USD 800
Trekkers per family
8 max
Guests per vehicle
6 max
Lead time, Jun–Sep
4–6 months
Mist lifting off the forested ridges of the Bwindi Impenetrable escarpment at first light
Bwindi Impenetrable, Kanungu district · 06:40Ruhija sector briefing at 07:30 · trek 2–7 hours
19Gorilla families habituated for tourism across Bwindi and Mgahinga
1,090+Bird species recorded in Uganda, from shoebill to green-breasted pitta
14 yrsAverage time our lead driver-guides have been on these roads
USD 25Added per guest, per trip, to the Bwindi parish community fund
Dense montane forest canopy dropping away into cloud on the Bwindi escarpment
Ruhija sector · the fourth hour

The trackers stop, and then nobody speaks.

You have been climbing since half past seven through nettles and wet vine, and the radio has been saying the same thing for an hour. Then it says something different, the machetes go quiet, and eight metres of undergrowth away a silverback carries on eating as though the whole morning had been arranged for him.

One hour with the family · masks worn · seven metres kept
01

Three journeys we run again and again.

Each one is a real routing with real driving times, not a wish list. Days can be added, swapped or dropped — the permits are the only fixed points.

A mountain gorilla resting in dense forest undergrowth in Bwindi

Bwindi & the Crater Road

8 days · southwest circuit

The classic primate routing, driven rather than flown, so you see the tea belt and the crater fields between the parks. Two nights at Bwindi gives room for a second permit or a rest day if the first trek is a long one.

  • Day 1–2Entebbe to Lake MburoAfternoon game drive among zebra and eland, the only park in the south with both
  • Day 3–5Bwindi ImpenetrableGorilla trek at Ruhija or Rushaga, Batwa forest walk, community afternoon
  • Day 6–7Queen Elizabeth and IshashaKazinga Channel boat, tree-climbing lions in the southern sector
  • Day 8Kibale to EntebbeChimpanzee trek at dawn, Bigodi wetland, evening flight
From USD 2,640per person sharing, four travelling · permits at cost on topFull day-by-day
The Victoria Nile narrowing into the gorge above Murchison Falls

The Nile & Northern Savannah

6 days · Murchison and Jinja

North on the Gulu road to the widest park in the country, then back east to the point where the Nile leaves Lake Victoria. Big skies, big water, and the shortest driving days of anything we run.

  • Day 1–2Kampala to Ziwa and MurchisonRhino tracking on foot, then the delta and the top of the falls
  • Day 3–4Murchison FallsBuligi game drives at dawn, launch upriver to the base of the gorge
  • Day 5–6Jinja and the source of the NileGrade V rafting or a quiet source cruise, then back to Entebbe
From USD 1,980per person sharing, four travelling · park fees includedFull day-by-day
Snow and rock on the upper slopes of the Rwenzori range above the moorland

Rwenzori Central Circuit

9 days · Margherita Peak

The Mountains of the Moon, on the full circuit with a summit attempt at 5,109 metres. Giant lobelia, bog, glacier, and huts at every stage. Fitness matters more than technique, though there is rope and crampon work on the last morning.

  • Day 1–2Kampala to Kasese, kit checkBoots, harness and gaiters inspected by the mountain guide at Nyakalengija
  • Day 3–6Nyabitaba to Bujuku and ElenaFour stages through bamboo, heather and the Bigo bog to the glacier camp
  • Day 7–9Summit and descentMargherita before dawn, then out by Kitandara and Guy Yeoman
From USD 2,450per person · climb fees, porters and hut nights includedFull day-by-day
Open savannah under afternoon cloud in the Ishasha sector, with a track running to the horizon
Between the parks · what a driving day is

The road is half the trip, so we are honest about it.

Ishasha to Kibale is 168 kilometres and takes five hours, because the last forty are murram and the last ten are a market. We publish the distances before you book and we do not schedule a game drive at the end of a transfer day.

  • Kampala to Bwindi, one day512 km
  • Longest scheduled driving day7 hrs
  • Land Cruiser, pop-top, window seat each6 pax
02

Where we actually go, and why each one.

Ten national parks, four of them within a day of each other. These are the ones that end up on almost every itinerary we write.

Steep forested slopes of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park Bwindi Impenetrable 1,160–2,607 m · four sectors

Half the world's mountain gorillas. Ruhija for the shortest drives, Rushaga for the habituation experience, Buhoma for the easiest walking.

Tall forest canopy in Kibale with light coming through Kibale Forest 795 km² · 13 primate species

The best chimpanzee tracking in East Africa, plus red colobus, L'Hoest's monkey and a wetland walk at Bigodi that birders refuse to hurry.

Elephants on the shoreline of the Kazinga Channel at dusk Queen Elizabeth Kazinga Channel · Ishasha

A two-hour boat between two lakes with more hippo than water, and the fig trees in the south where the lions climb.

The Victoria Nile spreading into the delta below Murchison Falls Murchison Falls 3,893 km² · the Nile gorge

The largest park in Uganda, split by the river. Buligi for the plains game at dawn, the launch upstream for the full weight of the falls.

03

Uganda has no bad month, only different mud.

On the equator the rain is a matter of hours, not seasons. What changes is the state of the forest track, the price of a bed and how far ahead the permits go.

Dec – Feb

Short dry

Firm tracks, clear mornings on the crater lakes, and the easiest trekking of the year. Lodges at peak rate and permits gone early.

Book 6 months out
Mar – May

Long rains

Green, empty and cheap. Afternoon downpours, heavy going in Bwindi, and the best month of the year for birds on migration.

Low-season rates
Jun – Sep

Long dry

Our busiest window. Best road conditions, best chance of a short trek, and the only period when permits routinely sell out.

Book 4–6 months out
Oct – Nov

Short rains

Shoulder season and quietly the best value. Rain in short bursts, forests at their loudest, and lodges willing to talk about rates.

Shoulder rates
Crater lakes and terraced hillsides in the western highlands under afternoon light
The crater field between Fort Portal and Kibale · 52 explosion cratersHalf a day's driving, and the reason we do not fly this leg
04

What travellers write afterwards.

Unedited except for length. We ask everyone the same question when they land: what would you tell the next person.

“The itinerary arrived with driving distances on it before we had paid a shilling. Every other operator sent a brochure. That was the whole decision.”

H. Lindqvist · Sweden, 8 days in February

“Our trek was six hours up and four back and I would not have made it without the porter Ronald insisted we hire. Best twenty dollars of the trip.”

D. & M. Okoro · United Kingdom, 11 days in July

“They moved the whole southern leg when the Ishasha crossing flooded and told us the same evening what it would cost. Which was nothing.”

Bergmann family · Germany, 14 days in April
Enquiry

Tell us the month, and we will tell you the truth about it.

Every enquiry is answered by one of three people in the Kampala office, usually within one working day. We will say straight away whether the permits exist for your dates before we write a single line of itinerary.

Office
Plot 14 Bukoto Street, Kamwokya, Kampala
Telephone
+256 414 555 0182
WhatsApp
+256 772 555 0119
Written
trails@pearltrails.co.ug
Hours
Mon–Fri 08:00–18:00 EAT, Sat to 13:00

Your details stay with us. No list, no resale, no follow-up you did not ask for.