Questions about getting there

Two per person, if the budget allows it. A trek is unpredictable — the family may be forty minutes away or four hours, in cloud or in sunshine, active or asleep — and one permit is one roll of the dice.

Two treks on consecutive days roughly doubles the permit line and transforms the odds of the morning you are picturing. It beats any lodge upgrade, and it is not close.

Generally not refundable once issued, and transfer rules are restrictive. That applies even if you are turned away on the morning for being unwell, which does happen — the health rules exist to protect a small population from human disease.

Comprehensive travel insurance matters more here than on an ordinary safari, and we would build at least one spare day into the itinerary.

Because Bwindi is trekked from four sectors that are far apart on slow mountain roads, and your permit is issued for one of them.

A lodge in the wrong sector means a pre-dawn departure on difficult roads or a change of lodge mid-trip. It is why the permit has to be confirmed before the accommodation is chosen.

Yes, in both countries, and it is not negotiable — commonly fifteen. Worth confirming for your dates if somebody in the party is close to the line.

A birthday falling on the wrong side of the trek date is a genuinely unhappy discovery at the briefing, and it is entirely preventable.

Treks go ahead in rain. It is a rainforest at altitude and a wet morning is a normal morning, which is why waterproofs, gaiters and a lodge with somewhere to dry things matter.

It is also the second argument for two treks: weather changes what you see and what you can photograph, and a second morning is a second chance at clear conditions.

Rwanda pairs unusually well with Kenya — a two-hour scheduled jet, tarmac at the other end, and a savanna half that repeats nothing of the forest half.

Uganda carries its own second half: chimpanzees at Kibale, tree-climbing lions, the Nile. That is why a Uganda trip is naturally longer and better value per day.

A Rwanda and Uganda safari is usually quoted fully inclusive: accommodation, all meals, park and conservancy fees, your guide and vehicle, and transport between parks. Most camps include soft drinks, house wine, beer and laundry.

Not included: international flights, visas or travel authorisation, travel insurance, tips, premium drinks, and extras like balloon flights and spa treatments.

For July to October — the migration months in the Masai Mara — six to twelve months is normal, and the best small camps sell out first. Christmas and New Year book up just as early.

For the shoulder months, three to four months is usually comfortable. Inside eight weeks we can still put a very good trip together, but you are choosing from what is left rather than from everything.

This site is a planning guide. When you send an enquiry it goes to Nomad Africa, our partner travel agency in Kenya, who prepare your itinerary and quote and handle the booking, the payments and you on the ground.

You deal with one team from the first email to the airport transfer home.

No. Sending your dates, getting an itinerary and getting a costed quote is free and carries no obligation. Money only changes hands when you decide to hold space at a camp.

The safari areas themselves are well run, and camps take guest safety seriously. The practical risks are ordinary travel risks: road transfers, sun, stomach upsets and not listening to your guide around animals.

Check your own government’s current travel advice for Rwanda and Uganda before you book and again before you fly, and take out insurance that covers medical evacuation. We will not tell you an area is fine if the advice says otherwise.