15 Day Exploring Rwanda-Uganda Gorrila Safari Guided Motorcycle Tour

Overview

Uganda is also known as ‘The Pearl of Africa’. This is a challenging motorcycle journey through a wonderfully diverse country. You see the most beautiful parts of both Rwanda and Uganda. However close neighbors they are, you will see the difference. Rwanda is a mountain-packed country where you ride challenging off-road tracks. In Uganda, you take time to visit the gorillas and chimpanzees and ride through national parks and beautiful scenic roads.This is a fantastic experience that will linger in your memory for a long time to come.

Highlights

• Starts and ends in Kigali, Rwanda
• Make your way west to Kibuye, a town situated at Lake Kivu
• Follow the notorious Congo-Nile trail
• Make a detour around Lake Muhule and follow a path of lava rock into the mountains
• Take a long, unpaved road through Queen Elisabeth National Park
• Ride through the rural countryside of southern Uganda
• Pass through villages and banana fields as you curve your way to Lake Mburu
• 14 nights accommodation

Itinerary

1. Day 1: Flight departure - arrival Kigali

   You will be picked up at the airport. Kigali is a big city with friendly inhabitants. The city is scattered over several hills. It is developing rapidly, with shopping malls and office buildings. It is a safe city, and many claim it to be the tidiest urban area in Africa. You are not allowed to bring in plastic bags, and it is unmentionable to through rubbish on the streets. You stay in a nice hotel with a swimming pool and bar.

2. Day 2: Kigali - Kibuye (Lake Kivu)

   You start riding through the city streets that curve alongside the many hills. Getting out of the city is a challenge with big trucks climbing those same hills. But you quickly leave the tarmac and follow your journey through the countryside. You will stop for a simple lunch and then continue your way west to Kibuye, a town at Lake Kivu. This fresh lake is believed to be one to five million years old and has a depth of 485 meters. Straddling the border between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kivu is one of a string of lakes lining the East African Rift Valley where the African

3. Day 3: Kibuye - Ruhengeri

   All day long you follow the coastline of Lake Kivu again. This is a mountainous area and therefore often gives great views. You will spend a while following the notorious Congo-Nile trail while the support car follows another route. Ruhengeri is a tour destination for the day. Every now and then the road is very bad. At the top of the lake, you turn off the trail and ride alongside the many volcanoes of the Volcanoes National Park. This gives way for spectacular scenery.

4. Day  4: Ruhengeri - Lake Ruhija

   You ride on a winding road between two lakes and then arrive at the border with Uganda. In Uganda, you ride to the town of Kisoro. Depending the time, it takes to cross the border, you will make a detour around Lake Muhule and follow a path of lava rock into the mountains. Then you continue on a beautiful tarmac road that curves, bends, descends and climbs along small villages, banana fields and lush green vegetation. The last kilometres will be on a gravel road riding on the edge of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, home of an immense diversity of species but most famous for its Mount

5. Day 5: Lake Rhuija - stay Gorilla tracking

   You will spend the entire day visiting the Gorillas. They will have arranged the necessary permits in advance. Only eight people per day are allowed to visit the three gorilla families. You can stay with the family for a maximum of one hour. A family sleeps in a different place every night. In the early morning so-called 'trackers' are sent to locate the family. The group of eight visitors, led by a guide and a few rangers, will then be guided through the dense forest to the family via GPS coordinates. How long you have to walk to get to the gorillas is therefore entirely dependent on where th

6. Day 6: Lake Mutanda - Dave the Cave

   Today you ride into the real highlands. The unpaved roads take you across the mountain range to the hilly landscape along Lake Edward. Here begins the Queen Elisabeth National Park. A long, unpaved road runs through this park. You follow this route and almost certainly see wildlife on the way. Uganda is still the only country in Africa where you can ride through some nature parks with a motorbike.You stay at one of the many crater lakes at a local family run Ecolodge and campsite. The owner can share stories about the community and several initiatives they work on to empower the people.

7. Day 7: Dave the Cave - Lake Nkuruba

   In the morning there is an option to go Chimpanzee trekking. You are close to a population of Chimpanzees not often visited by tourists. From a greater distance, you can already hear the huge population of chimpanzees who are foraging high in the trees. When you get closer they will first show you that they are the rulers of the forest by making a lot of noise and shouting. Alternatively, you can take a crater walk. You are close to the Kazinga channel, which divides Lake Edward from Lake George. They can organize a 2-hour boat ride along the shores of Queen Elizabeth Park to see fishermen, ma

8. Day 8: Lake Nkuruba - Lake Mburo

   Today you have an exciting riding day through the rural countryside of southern Uganda. Beautiful mountain ranges shrouded in mist reveal themselves and are interspersed with tea plantations. Groups of women in colorful clothes walk through the fields with big loads on their heads. You pass through villages and banana fields as you curve your way to Lake Mburu. Lake Mburo is a small national park surrounding the lake of the same name. This is the only park where you can officially enter with your motorbikes as there are no wild cats and elephants. Here you will spot small groups of zebras, buf

9. Day 9: Lake Mburo - Lake Bunyonyi

   You start the day with a nice off-road route towards Mbarara. After a short tarmac road, you will continue on a long gravel stretch towards the Tanzania border. After lunch, you take the highway towards Kabale. You will climb to above 2,000 meters! Next, it is a short off-road ride to your accommodation where you can enjoy a cold drink overlooking the lake.

10. Day 10: Lake Bunyonyi - Nyagatare

    You start the morning with an opportunity to either sleep in, take a canoe ride, or enjoy a village walk. Then you start the engines again and head to the border. After the border, you quickly leave the highway and ride into the tea plantations region. This adventurous route brings you to Nyagatare, a small provincial town.

11. Day 11: Nyagatare - Akagera National Park

    You head your way to the south where you ride through warm and low-lying plains. You can enjoy empty stretches of new highways with digital speed cameras checking your speed. You will still definitely enjoy some gravel roads along the Akagera National Park, a long stretch of protected area from north to south that borders Tanzania. The park includes savannah, woodland, and swamp habitats and a dozen of lakes. After practically eliminating poaching in just five years, lions and black rhinos were reintroduced between 2015 and 2018, and white rhinos were introduced in 2021 in a conservation move

12. Day 12: Akagera National Park

    Today there is the option to do a game ride to explore the richness of the national park, both in nature and in wildlife. There is also the option to do a half-day trip in the area on the motorbike. You can also opt to just relax with a book.

13. Day 13: Akagera - Nyanza

    Today you take an adventurous ride along the Burundi border. It is mostly gravel that you will see today, so it is good to have had a rest day beforehand. It will also become more hilly again, and the vegetation will change. Also, the population density changes: Rwanda is very populated - it is as dense as the Netherlands - but you now head into an area where you will not see people every kilometre! You stay in a simple town near an African Art Museum.

14. Day 14: Nyanza - Kigali

    Today you head back to Kigali. Depending on the time left today you can ride on the provincial border to Muhanga on the main road and continue the highway into Kigali. However, you could also follow unpaved roads to reach Kigali. You are back in your hotel where you started. In the afternoon you can visit the genocide museum and the hotel Milles Colinnes (hotel Rwanda from the film of the same name). Alternatively, you can enjoy the hotel sauna / massage facilities.

15. Day 15: Kigali - home

    Today is departure day.

Ride Details

Terrain

40% off-road

Bike

rental bike (Kibo 250 or equivalent)

Mileage

2,000 kilometers / 1,243 miles

Daily rides

100 - 240 kilometers / 62 - 149 miles

Riding gear

Mandatory items include a helmet, motorcycle jacket with protection, gloves, a good strong pair of (motorcycle) trousers with protection or separate knee armor, and sturdy high (mountain) boots

Meals

breakfasts

Accommodation

With a few exceptions, you will spend the night in comfortable mid-range hotels during this trip.