8-Day Uganda (Kigali Start): Primates, Open Horizons & Hidden Waters

Your driver-guide meets you at Kigali International Airport or your Kigali hotel in the morning, and after a short briefing you set off north through Rwanda's famous land of a thousand hills, where terraced farms, banana groves and tea gardens cover every ridge.

You cross into Uganda at the Cyanika border near Kisoro, where formalities are usually quick and friendly, then continue through the volcanic highlands of Kigezi with the cones of the Virunga volcanoes on the horizon. The drive from Kigali to the southern sectors of Bwindi takes about four to five hours, plus time at the border.

By mid-afternoon you reach the Rushaga sector on the southern edge of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Settle into your lodge, enjoy the views over the forested hills and turn in early, ready for tomorrow's gorilla trek.

After an early breakfast you head to the Rushaga ranger post for a briefing on gorilla etiquette and safety, before being assigned to one of the habituated gorilla families of the southern sector. With experienced rangers and trackers leading the way, you set off into the steep, tangled rainforest that gives Bwindi its name.

The trek can take anywhere from one to several hours, depending on where the family has moved overnight. When you find them, you spend one unforgettable hour watching the gorillas feed, rest and play: the silverback keeping a calm eye on his group, mothers cradling infants and youngsters tumbling through the undergrowth. Bwindi protects almost half of the world's remaining mountain gorillas, and this hour is a privilege few people ever share.

Return to your lodge for a late lunch and a well-earned rest. In the afternoon you can join an optional community walk through the surrounding villages, or simply relax and watch the mist settle over the forest.

After breakfast you drive north along the edge of Bwindi through tea plantations and small villages, descending gradually to the floor of the Albertine Rift Valley. The journey to the Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park takes around five hours with stops.

Ishasha is the park's remote southern wilderness, and in the afternoon you set out on a game drive in search of the famous tree-climbing lions that rest in the branches of its great fig trees. Herds of topi, Uganda kob and buffaloes graze the open plains, and elephants are often seen along the Ishasha River.

Return to your lodge in the park for dinner and a peaceful night in the bush.

Set off at dawn for a game drive on the Kasenyi Plains, where large herds of Uganda kob gather on their breeding grounds and lions often shadow them. Look out for elephants, buffaloes, warthogs and waterbuck, and keep your eyes on the horizon for the long line of the Rwenzori Mountains rising behind the savannah.

Return to your lodge for lunch and a rest during the heat of the day. In the afternoon you join a boat cruise on the Kazinga Channel, the 32 km waterway linking Lake Edward and Lake George. Hippos crowd the shallows in astonishing numbers, crocodiles bask on the banks, elephants and buffaloes come down to drink, and the birdlife, from pelicans to pied kingfishers, is superb.

Return to your lodge as the sun drops over the Rift Valley for dinner and a quiet evening.

This morning you visit one of Queen Elizabeth's hidden treasures: Kyambura Gorge, a lush, sunken rainforest cut deep into the open savanna. After a briefing from the rangers, you descend into the gorge to track its community of chimpanzees, listening for their pant-hoots echoing through the trees. Sightings are not guaranteed, but the forest is also rich in other primates, birds and hippos in the river below.

In the afternoon you drive the scenic crater road through the Katwe Explosion Craters, a striking landscape of volcanic bowls and crater lakes, with views to the salt pans of Lake Katwe, where salt has been harvested for centuries, and to the Rwenzori Mountains on a clear day.

Return to your lodge for a final evening in the park as the sun sets over the Rift Valley.

Enjoy a final early game drive if you wish, then return for breakfast before heading south through the tea country of Bushenyi and the green hills of Kigezi to Kabale. The drive takes around five hours with stops along the way.

You arrive at Lake Bunyonyi in the afternoon, where terraced hills drop steeply into deep, island-studded water. Settle in and enjoy the views from your lodge.

As evening falls, the lake grows still and the air fills with the calls of the birds that give it its name, 'the place of many little birds'.

Lake Bunyonyi, 'the place of many little birds', is the perfect place to slow down. After a relaxed breakfast you set out by dugout canoe or motorboat among its 29 islands, with terraced hills rising steeply from the water and birdsong drifting across the lake.

Your local guide shares the stories of the Bakiga people as you pass Punishment Island, where unmarried pregnant girls were once abandoned, and Sharp's Island, named after the missionary doctor who ran a leprosy centre here. There is time to stop at a lakeside village, see how the terraced hills are farmed and, if you wish, take a swim, as Bunyonyi is widely regarded as safe for swimming.

The afternoon is yours to enjoy the views from your lodge, read on the deck or take a gentle hike to a hilltop viewpoint as the light softens over the water.

Enjoy a final unhurried morning on the lake, with coffee on the deck as the mist lifts from the islands.

After breakfast you drive to Kabale and cross back into Rwanda at the Katuna (Gatuna) border. The road winds through some of the most beautiful hill country in East Africa, and the journey to Kigali takes around three to four hours, including formalities.

Your driver-guide drops you at Kigali International Airport for your onward flight, or at your hotel in the city, at the end of a memorable journey through southwestern Uganda.