RWANDA/UGANDA

OVERVIEW

• When: 15 December – 19 December, 2023
• Where (accommodations): Rwanda: Hotel Des Mille Collines, Kigali Marriott Hotel; Uganda: Ichumbi Gorilla Lodge
• Transportation: Boston to Kigali, Rwanda flight on Lufthansa/Brussels Airlines (BOS-FRA-BRU-KGL). Kigali to Uganda and back- 5-7hr ground transportation, booked through Morgan at 1000 Shades of Green Tour and Safari WhatsApp +256 788 761007
• Sights/attractions: Rwanda: Kigali Genocide Memorial; Uganda: Gorilla treck in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Batwa Pygmy Village tour
• Food/drinks: Hotel Des Mille Collines Restaurant by the pool, Cucina Restaurant in Kigali Marriott hotel

How we got here

A dream Africa trip with an adventure we didn’t even know existed. Well, we didn’t know until February 2023. That’s when the idea for this was born. But lets go even further back. For Christmas 2022, we went to South America and while visiting one of the Galapagos islands we waited for a boat. A couple from Kenya was told the same boat schedule, and the four of us waited, until we decided to walk instead, because apparently this boat was not coming for another hour. We had a pretty long walk and a lot to talk about. The conversation was so good that we got lunch together and then dinner later same day. We talked about travels, and future trips, and how we most likely will travel to Egypt for Christmas of 2023. ‘Man plans and God laughs’ as they say.

A few months later, February 2023, we were working remotely from Miami Beach, Florida, and kept in touch with our friends. Luck would have it, Allen had a conference in Miami and we were able to get together for lunch! I have no idea what prompted the talk about gorillas, but that is where we heard about the possibility to trek and spend time with them in the wild. There are only 3 countries you can do that- Rwanda, Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo. This lunch is where we completely abandoned our idea of going to Egypt for Christmas and decided to go to Africa- Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Zanzibar!

In October the war in Gaza/Israel (fairly close to Egypt) started, bringing a lot of uncertainty to the area. By now, we would’ve already booked flights/hotels, and would most likely be panicking and potentially cancelling this trip. But we didn’t need to, because we are going to Africa instead! And all because a boat did not come on time a year ago 🙂 . A perfect example of how everything happens for a reason…

So gorillas. As I mentioned earlier, there are three countries where mountain gorillas exist in the wild. They are endangered primate species with a population of just over one thousand. We did not even consider going to Democratic Republic of Congo for safety reasons. That left Rwanda and Uganda, so I did my research.

Rwanda’s trek is the closest/easiest from the capital Kigali. However, the price for the trekking permits is also the highest- $1500 USD per person! That is for one hour with gorillas, no hotel accommodations or transportation etc. Which left Uganda- safe, a bit harder to reach, but the permits per person are $700 USD. The best way to get to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest is to fly to Kigali, Rwanda and then drive 5-7hrs. That is still closer than flying to Uganda’s capital Kampala. This also let us visit both countries, and the more countries we can squeeze into one trip, the better, right : ) ?

Once we determined where we want to do the trek, next was getting it all set up through a local tour operator. I have to thank our friends in Kenya- Nava and Allen for the recommendations. They gave us contacts for a few trusted providers, we obtained the quotes and decided to go with 1000 Shades of Green Tour and Safari. All communications with Morgan were done via WhatsApp- he was super responsive and answered all the many questions that I had. I provided him with our flight info, and he set up the rest of the Rwanda/Uganda itinerary. This included pick up from the airport in Kigali, first night hotel, following day transportation to the Genocide Memorial and the long drive to Uganda. One night logging in Uganda, permits for trekking, visit to Pygmy village and the drive back to Kigali was part of the package.

We booked last night’s hotel in Rwanda ourselves, because we wanted to try another place and then got a taxi to the airport. It was one of the easiest logistics that we had to coordinate and everything went smooth and with no delays. Our driver was Eric- quiet, polite guy, maybe we would’ve liked him to be a bit more talkative on the long drives, but besides that he was great. We always felt safe with his driving and he was never late for any agreed times.

I should also mention the visa process. Since we were going to Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya, Morgan suggested that we apply for East African tourist visa, which covers all three countries. I am very grateful for this suggestion, because it saved us money and the time it takes to fill out the applications. The key is to apply through the country that you will arrive first. For us it was Rwanda, so I filled out the East African tourist visa application on this site here. It’s a very straightforward process and we got an acceptance letter in a couple of days (if not the next day). When we landed in Kigali, it saved us time (and the long line), visa sticker was placed into our passports very fast, because we already had the pre-approval. You can get visa on arrival, but prepare to spend more time at customs in that case.

KIGALI, RWANDA

Hotel des Milles Collines

Initial recommendation from Morgan was another hotel in Kigali, but we asked to switch to this one, since it’s one of the most famous (if not the most famous) hotels in Rwanda. 1,268 people took refuge inside this building during the Rwandan genocide of 1994. The story of the hotel and its manager at that time, Paul Rusesabagina, was later used as the basis of Terry George’s film Hotel Rwanda in 2004.

After three long flights we landed to Kigali in the evening and having a driver waiting was very convenient. We were tired and did not want to deal with the taxis, though you could easily find one at the airport if needed. We withdrew some cash out of ATM- bring a bigger wallet-1 USD is around 1200 Rwandan Francs. Dollar and credit cards are widely accepted, but it’s always good to have some cash for tipping, buying small souvenirs or snacks. We always like to see how the local money looks like/bring some for those that collect it.

Despite being fairly late, we had dinner at the hotel restaurant by the pool (their Panorama restaurant with the nice view was occupied by a private party) and the food was wonderful! We did not know what to expect, but for the whole trip we had excellent food experiences.

Hotel had nice art, though the room seemed a bit dated. It was a good experience, we got to see the historic hotel, but if you want more modern – check out Kigali Marriott. That’s where we stayed on our last night and only wished we had more time there!

Kigali Marriott Hotel

Jumping to two nights later, since I figured I’ll cover Rwanda hotels that we stayed at first. After we came back from Uganda, our driver brought us to Kigali Marriott, and we were definitely impressed. Very close to the previous hotel, still same good area, but a lot more modern, huge room, several restaurants on premises and excellent breakfast.

It was nicely decorated for the holidays, we even had a balcony- like I said before, only if we had another night here!

Sunrise overlooking Kigali was spectacular on our last morning in Rwanda.

Kigali Genocide Memorial

Nobody should leave Kigali without visiting this Memorial – it is incredibly sad, but also very well organized and super informative. Pictures are not allowed inside and even though nobody followed us around we respected that.

There are some very graphic images and videos, I would probably not bring small kids there, but it was very much worth to visit. We did not know a lot about the Rwandan genocide and it was eye opening to say the least. Over 2 million people- kids, women, elders- all killed in some cruel and most awful ways possible. Super sad and it seems like humans continue to do the same in different parts of the world, not many lessons learned unfortunately…Definitely make a point to go when in Kigali.

The drive

After the visit to the Genocide Memorial we started our drive to Uganda. Even though long, it was not boring. It also allowed us to see more of both countries, especially passing through the villages and getting a glimpse into the daily life of the locals.

We left Kigali on a Sunday, so it was fairly light traffic, though we saw some pretty crowded streets. When we came back Monday evening, it was a lot more busy and reminded a bit of India with the chaos on the roads.

Overall though, we were very impressed with Rwanda. Especially how incredibly clean it is! Apparently it’s one of the cleanest countries in the world! There was no trash anywhere on the side of the road, but it was A LOT of people walking. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that many people walking as in Rwanda and Uganda. It seemed like they were in the middle of nowhere- no visible towns around, but they were still going somewhere. Many with heavy parcels on their heads.

It for sure is a very different world and maybe because it was so fascinating to observe the local life, the drive did not seem so long, at least not until we reached the border.

Another observation- how colorful especially the women’s dresses. No boring outfits here!

UGANDA

African massage

We reached the border, where the driver let us out of the car and we had to go to a small office with 2 queues. One was to get a stamp that we are leaving Rwanda. Then into a new queue to enter Uganda. I don’t know what pull our driver had, but after we finished with the first line, he spoke to someone and we got called to the front of the second line. I don’t think anyone from that line were sending us good vibes, but we saved a good amount of time and were allowed to enter Uganda very easily. We already had East African visa in our passports, so it was just a formality and the only question was how long we are staying and were.

Uganda requires everyone to have a Yellow Fever vaccine certificate, which we got before this trip, however nobody asked for it at the border. It is a high risk country, so we glad we got the shots anyway.

The drive continued, but the sights changed a bit. There were still a lot of people walking on the side of the road. But we could see a bit of trash (still VERY little). The nature changed too- there were mountains and valleys and it really was beautiful!

We stopped to have lunch at one of the cafes, food was delicious but it took over an hour! And there was only one more table besides us. We took out cash from the ATM and the exchange rate was even crazier than in Rwanda. 1 USD= around 3800 Ugandan Shillings. Tens of thousands banknotes worth very little. Very pretty money though!

All roads were smooth and comfortable, until about 40km before the final destination. Then the paved road ended and the massive potholes and puddles began! It took us over 2 hours to go the distance that normally would be about 30 min.

We swerved and shook and that’s what our driver called “An African massage” : ) . Despite the not so comfortable last part of the journey, we safely reached our lodge, where we’ll spend only one night.

Ichumbi Gorilla Lodge

Location of this lodge is unbeatable for Uganda gorilla trekking experience. Only 10 min walk to the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park gate, this place was cozy, comfortable and provided excellent food and service!

We had our own little bungalow house with a porch, and dinner was a multi course delicious meal! All of this was part of the package we booked with Morgan and pre-paid in advance, so we did not even have to take our credit card out. The only minor complaint that I have about the sleep there is the tin roof. I am a super light sleeper and there was water dripping from the trees above most of the night. And when I started hearing it, I could not un-hear it 🙂 . Even with the earplugs I felt like I didn’t sleep much, though Sean had no problem with this at all. Just in case you need super quiet, bring good earplugs for this type of roof situation : ) .

Time to trek!

We went to bed pretty much right after dinner, because we knew that an early morning awaits. We got up at 6.30 am, had breakfast at 7am and were on the way to the meeting point by 7.30am. There are several gorilla families spread out throughout the forest and each morning the rangers track them down, so they know where to guide the groups. There are no more than 8-10 people per group and the same gorilla family is not visited by more than one group of people per day. They are in the wild, though habituated – accustomed to people and therefore not violent. Of course incidents can happen and there was a briefing about it- what to do and NOT to do if gorilla gets agitated or starts charging. Basically, in short- stay calm, do not run (you won’t outrun them), make yourself small, lower the gaze. There were 3 armed rangers with our group and we never felt unsafe.

Before the start of the trek we watched a dance performance from a local village, “wishing us luck on the trek”. It was pretty funny to see the guys in the Lakers jerseys dancing to an African beat.

The trek we were told could be from 1-7 hours long until we find the gorillas. Then we’ll have one hour to stay near them, take pictures and videos and just enjoy. As mentioned earlier, groups are small and gorillas are in different parts of the forest. Those that have walking difficulties get to go to the location that is the closest. Or those who’s driver clearly has connections and tells the rangers that we have another 5 hour drive back to Kigali to make, somehow make the slow/disabled people group. One person in our trek was a grandpa that we thought might not make it- he was that out of shape. The guides basically dragged him up and down the hill. It was not a super strenuous hike, but a bit of an exercise nonetheless.

If we did not have a long drive ahead of us, I would’ve preferred a longer hike, because we spent a LOT of time sitting in the car already, but in this scenario it made sense that we go, see gorillas and drive back. Hiking for 5-7 hours would’ve made it impossible to get back to Rwanda the same day for sure.

We had gorgeous weather, but it’s unpredictable, so it’s advised to dress in layers. It is chilly in the morning, and it might rain any time so waterproof jacket is advisable. Long pants with socks covering the ankles is a must, unless you want to be scratched by the branches, plants or bit by fire ants. We were also told that we need to wear the masks when we are spending the time close to gorillas. We do share 98% of the DNA and human diseases are easily transferrable to these endangered animals. It was OK to take the mask off for photos, but otherwise everyone respected the requirement.

After about 30 mins of trekking we reached a group of mountain gorillas. A silverback male, multiple mothers with little babies, several teenagers- all just chillin’ and eating leaves, kids climbing the trees- living their best life!

There were a lot of little flies swarming around all of them, but they did not go after people luckily. Gorillas were in a relaxed mood, we were super close to them, could have touched at one point when some were walking by. They did not mind us looking at them, taking photos and videos. It really was a dream come true experience!

Batwa Pygmy village

The visit to the village was part of the package and since we were able to find the gorillas so fast, we had enough time to spend a few hours learning about the life of the Batwa Pygmies. Originally, Batwa were forest-dwelling hunter-gatherers, but since the government took the land, they are basically living in extreme poverty.

The village kids work in the fields during the school break, siblings as young as 7yrs old take care of the little ones, the houses are shacks and the primary school is with dirt floor…The kids that want to have higher education and can afford it, have to walk around 10km each way to school every day. Tell that to some of the American kids.

We asked the guide if they are starving, he said that it was a problem during covid, but now they are OK. I do want to believe it. We walked around, watched the dance performance (that’s part of how they collect some cash), even an almost 100yr old grandma danced. We watched the women make woven plates/baskets and ended up getting one. They are not super cheap as you might think for a poor village. I think we paid around $10 USD, but at least we know it was not made in China.

Reading more about these indigenous people brought additional sad facts. They are subject to discrimination, very few have access to healthcare, 40% of the children do not survive past age of 5 and life expectancy is very short.

It was an eye opening experience. Just another reminder of how little people actually need, and how very fortunate we are living in our comfortable, clean, well stocked homes.

CONCLUSION

We really liked both Rwanda and Uganda. Granted we did not have a lot of time in either countries, but we made the most of the few days we had. We never felt unsafe, we loved the food and of course we are most grateful for the probably once in a lifetime gorilla trekking experience. What a magical start to the Africa trip and this is only 3 nights so far! Time to go to Kenya next- safaris, a hot air ballon ride and more- stay tuned!