My gorilla hike in Uganda
 

Thanks to all who helped me with this trip.

July 2019
We flew from Nairobi to Kigali Rwanda because it was closer than flying to Entebbe and doing the long drive on the bumpy road again. We were only here for the gorillas so this seemed to make the most sense.

Last time I did Uganda and Rwanda, but since the latter has doubled the permit price to $1500 we went for Uganda.
I arranged all through Gorilla Trek Africa who were very patient with my many questions and double and triple checking that we in fact did have a permit for Buhoma. I was here two years ago and booked with a different company who was supposed to book Buhoma and didn’t so we had a 2 hour drive early morning before our hike which I was not pleased with.
Once again I booked a year in advance.

We stayed again at the Haven Lodge which is community run and just such a beautiful setting and quite new. The staff are great as well and it is very comfortable.

Our hike was with 9 tourists (usually only 8) and two trainees as well as the usual entourage of ranger, porters and trackers

This hike was very difficult for me because I have some health issues that were worse than I thought they were going to be. The last two hikes two years ago were not this difficult.
The weather held for us however, no rain until we were finished. We found them in one and a half hours. I had asked for the closest group so we got Rushegura. It was up a steep climb to the very top and then down on the other side a bit.
We were so lucky to find them in a clearing where we all had a great view. Three young ones, one silverback, a couple of black backs and some females. It was the best sighting of the three I have done.
I wore New Balance gortex runners with a good grip but if you have room I think ankle boots are best and you don’t need gortex really. My feet were really hot in them.

My grand daughter also wore runners but everyone else had hiking boots. We were travelling for three weeks with carry on so couldn’t justify boots for one day hike.
It was so exciting to be mere feet from these amazing animals. I wish I could do it again and again, but alas this was my last one. The best for last.

Here is a link to my blog with photos and more detail if interested.

https://debbeanddougstravels.travellerspoint.com/101/

Thank you so much for sharing. Several (too many!) years ago I trekked in Rwanda and I count seeing the gorillas among the top experiences of my life. You have one lucky granddaughter. And you are lucky too, as are all of us who have had the great fortune to travel to East Africa. So happy that you had a good trip to Uganda and Kenya!