Overview of the 9 Days Rwenzori Hiking Safari Uganda Tour / 9 Days Uganda Hiking Safari Rwenzori Mountaineering Safari
This 9 days Uganda hiking safari is aimed at giving you the best of Ruwenzori as you scale up to the topmost point of Uganda Margherita which stands at 5109m above sea level. Rwenzori takes you through the 6 huts that are used as rest points along the way up the mountain of the moon.
Mt Rwenzori National Park Uganda which is found in the East African region on the African continent just slightly above the equator line on the geographical co-ordinates 00o 22’N 29o57’E. Mt. Rwenzori National Park lies 398 km or 6-hour drive away from Kampala city the capital of Uganda in the southwestern district of Kasese. Mt. Rwenzori National Park is boarded by Democratic Republic of Congo in west as it lies on the boundary between Uganda and D.R. Congo, Bundibugyo district in the north, Kanungu district in the south and Kabarole in the northeast, the savannah plains of Queen Elizabeth national park and eastern escarpments of the western arm of the great East African rift valley in the east.
Highlights of the 9 Days Rwenzori Hiking Safari Uganda Tour / 9 Days Uganda Hiking Safari Rwenzori Mountaineering Safari
Day 1 of the 9 Days Rwenzori Hiking Safari Uganda Tour: Transfer from Kampala to Kasese
Day 2 of the 9 Days Rwenzori Hiking Safari Uganda Tour: Start hiking from Nyakalengijja- Nyabitaba hut
Day 3 of the 9 Days Rwenzori Hiking Safari Uganda Tour: Continue the ascent from Nyabitaba Hut to John Matte hut
Day 4 of the 9 Days Rwenzori Hiking Safari Uganda Tour: Proceed from John Matte to Bujuku hut
Day 5 of the 9 Days Rwenzori Hiking Safari Uganda Tour: Extend the hike from Bujuku to Elena hut
Day 6 of the 9 Days Rwenzori Hiking Safari Uganda Tour: From Elena’s Hut Hike to Kitandara hut
Day 7 of the 9 Days Rwenzori Hiking Safari Uganda Tour: From Kitandara to guy yeoman hut
Day 8 of the 9 Days Rwenzori Hiking Safari Uganda Tour: From guy yeoman to Kitandara
Day 9 of the 9 Days Rwenzori Hiking Safari Uganda Tour: Return trip to Kampala
Detailed itinerary of the 9 Days Rwenzori Hiking Safari Uganda Tour / 9 Days Uganda Hiking Safari Rwenzori Mountaineering Safari
Day 1 of the 9 Days Rwenzori Hiking Safari Uganda Tour: Wake up early in the morning of your Uganda tour to Mountain Rwenzori National Park and have an early morning breakfast to give you energy for the magnificent day ahead of you on this 9 days Uganda hiking tour to Mountain Rwenzori. Our guide will pick you up from your hotel in either Entebbe or Kampala and begin your safari in Uganda to Rwenzori Mountain in Kasese which lasts about 6-7 hours Uganda tours journey to fort portal town. Mindless of its length, this Uganda safari tour road adventure comes with captivating road sightings as you get to see the lush green scenery that blankets Uganda’s landscape. Feel the gentle breeze blowing over your skin as well as the fresh air rushing through your nostrils to give you a perfect aroma of Uganda on this 9 days Uganda safari tour to the Ruwenzori Mountains. Have a short break in Fort portal for lunch before you finally proceed to Kasese which is located at the base of mountain Ruwenzori. Check-in into your hotel and you can have a take a relaxing evening walk around Kasese town as you wait for dinner and an overnight stay.
Day 2 of the 9 Days Ruwenzori Hiking Safari Uganda Tour: Day 2 with an early morning breakfast then transfer to the field offices of Rwenzori mountaineering services for a briefing about how the entire hike will be conducted, the route which you are going to use is made known to you and the resting places along the route are also clearly mentioned as well as all the dos and don’ts. After the briefing, you proceed to Nyakalengijja and now the climb starts off officially, from here you move through the communities of the Bakonzo people and you will be able to observe their way of life as you will see them go about their daily chores. You will now reach the Rwenzori national park gate where you will be received and registered before you continue with your hike. Day one will also take you through the thick afro montane forests of mt. Rwenzori as you will now be between 2000-3000m above sea level. While here, please enjoy the view of various bird species habituating in these forests like Rwenzori turaco, handsome francolin, cinnamon chested bee-eater, strange weaver and long-eared owl and animal species like L’Hoest monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys, duikers and occasionally seen forest elephants. Day 2 takes you through a stretch of 8km to Nyabitaba hut. Dinner will be served here and you will have an overnight stay here as well as you refresh for the next day.
Day 3 of the 9 Days Ruwenzori Hiking Safari Uganda Tour: Day 3 kicks off with breakfast being served at Nyabitaba after which gear up and start scaling up again. You will move to the Kurt Shafer bright located on the confluence of Mubuku and Bujuku rivers. After the Kurt Shafer bright, you will proceed through a vegetation zone with a mixture of afro montane forests, bamboo forests and rocks covered by the wet and slippery moss. While in this zone, you will still be able to sight or hear the twittering of various forest bird species and other animal species that habituate within the area. You will now arrive at Nyamulejju rock shelter which used to serve as a night camping site for early climbers but today, it will be your spot for a lunch break. While here please look out for the breathtaking view of Mount Stanley and Speke especially when there is clear weather. After your lunch break, you will continue scaling up through the alpine forests to the John Matte hut where you will have your dinner from and also spend your 2nd night here. For those who are tough hearted and thrill-seekers, the John Matte hut is located very near lake Bujuku so you can decide to take a cold shower or swim in it and it’s so refreshing and reinvigorating especially after the day’s climb. At john matte hut you can have a glimpse of glory in the form of the Margherita glacier in between Mount Stanley and Margherita peak on clear visibility. This marks the end of day two. Day 3 takes you through a stretch of about 11km.
Day 4 of the 9 Days Rwenzori Hiking Safari Uganda Tour: Day4 begins with having breakfast. After the breakfast, the journey to the top continues and it will now take you through the bigo bog area. The bigo bog is a swampy area in the mountain valleys which contains the giant lobelias, being a swampy area it was the hardest part of the trek up for early climbers as mobility was very limited but this is all now in the past as walking boards over the bigo bog were constructed to make it easy for climbers to cross the area. This also came with a chance for climbers to take time and appreciate the beauty of the forever flowering groundsels and also the giant lobelias. After a steep hike further, you will be welcomed to lake Bujuku that will give you a splendid view of Mount Baker, Speke and Stanley all at the same time on clear visibility. You will continue to the Bujuku hut where dinner will be served and have an overnight stay. Day 4 takes you through a stretch of 5km.
Day 5 of the 9 Days Rwenzori Hiking Safari Uganda Tour: Day 5 starts off with having breakfast at Bujuku hut as you proceed through the upper bigo bog and then further continue through the steep slopes of lake Bujuku on its western end leading you to Scot Elliot pass which is 4372meters above sea level. As you continue on your way up, you will pass through more upper swamps then a beautiful ground gully, you will go over the steep side of this ground gully with the help of a metal ladder. You will now come to a junction with two passes, the pass on the left, takes you through scot Elliot pass and it goes down to Lake Kitandara. The trail pass on the right leads you to Elena hut via a steep ridge on the large boulders of Mount Stanley. When you decide to go to Elena hut, you will meet it on the rocky part of Mount Stanley, while here, you will feel the cold breeze of mountain Rwenzori as you are now at the highest mount of the Ruwenzori mountain and this also gives you a front-row seat to have a direct view of Mount Baker and Speke which are beside Mount Stanley on clear visibility. Dinner will be served and have a night stay here bringing your fifth day of adventure to a close. Day five takes you through a stretch of 5-7 hours of hiking
Day 6 of the 9 Days Rwenzori Hiking Safari Uganda Tour: Day 6 begins with having a very early breakfast at around 02:00hrs then prepping for the day’s hike and this involves putting on your warmest waterproof jackets, head socks, warm hand gloves, harnesses, head lumps and packing your sunglasses in your backpack. You will hike to the top following the Stanley plateau and also through Stanley’s steep slopes which will require you to climb with the help of climbing ropes. You will now arrive on the Margherita glacier and when you arrive here, the guide will teach how to use crampons and an ice axe to aid your mobility through the ice. You will move through the glacier to the Margherita peak on the summit of Mount Stanley which is the highest point of Rwenzori mountain at 5109m above sea level. While at the summit, you will have a sweeping view of the entire Rwenzori surrounding on clear visibility lake Ireen and mount Speke are also visible from here. Have a short break and photo moments to memorize your victory over the Rwenzoris forever then you will start descending back to Elena hut for a lunch break, this is now followed by another descend later in the afternoon to Kitandara via the scot Elliot pass and this descent gives you one of the most beautiful scenic views of the Rwenzori mountains. When you finally arrive at Kitandara hut, dinner will be prepared and served and you will have an overnight stay here bringing yet another fully packed day of adventure and happiness to a dramatic end. This day takes you through a stretch that leads you from 4563m to the peak at 5109m and then descends back you to 3979m.
Day 7 of the 9 Days Rwenzori Hiking Safari Uganda Tour: Day 7 begins with a satisfying breakfast then proceed through the mount baker base though you are required to take caution as the trail is somehow slippery but navigable, the trail continues through the steep headwall that makes a continuation of the mount baker base on the southern side of mt Rwenzori coming to a fresh field pass. From here, the descent continues through a muddy patch leading you to the Bujangolo rock shelter base camp. This camp at Bujangolo played host to Duke Ambruzzi on his historic Rwenzori expedition in 1906. Finally, you will arrive at Guy Yeoman hut which is located on the banks of river Mubuku. Dinner will be served and an overnight stay will be done here closing yet another of this great expedition. Day 7 leads you on yet another stretch of about 5-7 hours of hiking bringing from 3979m above sea level to 3505m above sea level.
Day 8 of the 9 Days Rwenzori Hiking Safari Uganda Tour: After breakfast being served, you embark on yet another descend through the bamboo forest on a slippery and muddy path that requires to take extra caution as you navigate the vertical muddy or steep rock path to Nyabitaba. On arrival to Nyabitaba hut, you will have a lunch break after which you will continue to your final mountain Rwenzori descend to Nyakalengijja where your journey to the peak began from. This descend takes you a minimum of 8-10 hours to finally bringing the entire quest to an end with a transfer to your hotel for dinner and an overnight stay.
Day 9: After this tiring but rather really dramatic and epic adventure to the top, wake up in the morning at around 09:00 am and enjoy a nice breakfast that gets you will reenergize you after this tiring but equally amazing mountain hiking experience. check out of the hotel then embark on your Uganda wildlife safari journey back to Kampala during which you will pass through Queen Elizabeth national park and this gives you an opportunity to see several of the wild mammals that call this spectacular tropical savanna paradise their home.
In case your flight back home in evening of the following day, feel free to explore more of Uganda’s scenic beauty by making a 1 day Jinja tour in Uganda or Jinja source of the Nile tour which gives you an opportunity to see various attractions in Jinja source of the Nile which include the source of the Nile, Itanda falls, birds, Lake Victoria. Engage in various safari activities in Jinja source of the Nile which include bungee jumping tour in Jinja source of the Nile, white water rafting in Jinja source of the Nile, horse riding in Jinja source of the Nile, quad biking in Jinja source of the Nile and kayaking in Jinja source of the Nile. From jinja drive straight to the airport to catch your flight back home.
- Here are some packages for you to select from for a Uganda safari
- 1 day Jinja source of the Nile tour Jinja tour day trip
- 1 day Kampala city tour trip Uganda
- Sipi falls day trip
- Ngamba island chimpanzee day tour
- 1-day Mambamba swamp birding excursion
- 1 day short Uganda safari to Lake Mburo
- 3 days Uganda safari to Lake Mburo
- 2 days chimpanzee trekking safari in Uganda
- 3 days chimpanzee trekking in Uganda, Kibale National Park
- 9 Days Rwenzori Mountain Climbing Safari
- 10 days Rwenzori Mountain Climbing Safari
- 2 days Murchison Falls safari in Uganda
- 3 days Murchison Falls national park Uganda safari
- 2 days Queen Elizabeth national park
- 3 days Queen Elizabeth safari Uganda
- 2 Days Gorilla Safari in Bwindi
- 3 Days Uganda Gorilla Trekking Safari to Bwindi
- 3 days Uganda Safari to Kidepo National Park
- 4 Days Safari in Uganda to Kidepo Valley National Park
- 2 Days Uganda Gorilla Tour Mgahinga Gorilla Park
- 3 days Uganda Gorilla Tour to Mgahinga Gorilla National Park