Uganda Honeymoon Safari
One hard morning trekking gorillas in Bwindi, then a week on Lake Bunyonyi and the crater lakes with nothing scheduled. Most honeymoon safaris get the order wrong and send people home more tired than they arrived.
A starting point, not a packagebuilt around your dates, your pace and how much you want to move
fromUSD 4,200per personfrom, per person, two sharing, permit included
Trek Bwindi on the second morning,
then three nights on Lake Bunyonyi.
A gorilla trek is wonderful and it is genuinely hard: two to six hours of steep, wet forest at 1,500 metres. Put it at the end of a honeymoon and you fly home sore. Put it near the beginning and the rest of the trip becomes the reward.
So this one front-loads the forest and then slows down deliberately. The crater lake country around Fort Portal is sixty volcanic lakes, tea estates to the horizon and very few people. Lake Bunyonyi is the only lake on the route with no bilharzia and no crocodiles, which means you can swim in it, and it is where couples finally stop checking the time.
We do not do rose petals on the bed as a line item. What we do is put the two of you in a vehicle with one guide, pick lodges where dinner is not at a shared table, and leave days with nothing in them.
Highlights
The journey
Kigali, the border, and the forest edge
We meet you at Kigali International and drive north-west through the terraced hills, crossing into Uganda at Cyanika in the early afternoon. The last stretch runs along the edge of Bwindi with the Virungas behind you.
You arrive with time to settle in before the briefing in the morning. Dinner is early, because the alarm is not.
4h 30m, plus the border
LuxuryForest-edge lodge, fireplace in the room
PremiumComfortable lodge near the trailhead
The hour in Bwindi
Briefing at seven, then into the forest with a group of eight. It can take forty minutes to find them or it can take six hours. The ground is steep and usually wet, and in places there is no path until the guide cuts one.
Then an hour, seven metres from a family that has known people for a decade. Back at the lodge by mid-afternoon. The rest of the day is a fire, a bath and no plans at all.
Trek 2 to 6 hours, on foot
LuxuryForest-edge lodge, fireplace in the room
PremiumComfortable lodge near the trailhead
Three nights on Lake Bunyonyi
A short drive down to the lake, and then nothing scheduled for three days. Bunyonyi is terraced to the waterline, full of islands, and the only lake on this route you can swim in without thinking about it.
There is a canoe if you want one, and a walk up to the ridge for the view over the whole lake. There is also the option of doing none of that. This is the part of the trip people describe when they get home.
1h 30m from Bwindi
LuxuryIsland lodge reached by boat
PremiumLakeshore lodge with a private terrace
North to the crater lakes
The drive north to Fort Portal runs along the rift with the Rwenzori ahead of you, and the country changes from lake to tea somewhere around Kasese. The crater lake region holds sixty volcanic lakes in a few square miles, and the roads between them are red dirt through tea estates.
Two nights here, with one walk between craters if you want it and a tea estate visit if you do not. Several lodges in this area have a massage room looking over a crater, which is the closest thing to a spa on this route and better than most of them.
6h from Bunyonyi
LuxuryLodge on a crater rim
PremiumLodge in the tea country
The road to Entebbe
The drive east to Entebbe takes most of the day, through Mubende and down into the lake basin. We stop where you want to stop.
If your flight is late we can take the equator on the way, which is a tourist stop and everyone does it anyway. If you would rather fly this leg, there is a light aircraft from Kasese that turns it into an hour.
5h, or 1h flying
Departure, or a night by the lake if your flight is early
Permits are released per day, and the best months go first.
Give us an approximate date and we check availability against it. No payment, no obligation.
What your trip includes
Gorilla permit, USD 800 per person
Full board throughout
Private 4x4 and driver-guide, the same one all trip
All park fees and government taxes
Canoe on Lake Bunyonyi
Airport collection and return
Border assistance at Cyanika
What it does not cover
International flights
Uganda and Rwanda visas
Porter on the trek, about USD 20
Spa treatments and massages
Alcohol and personal items
Tips for your guide
Not quite the trip you had in mind? Every departure is private, so the length and the lodges are yours to change. Tell us what you want.
Rwanda
Kigali is the cleanest, best-connected arrival point in the region and the reason this itinerary works: you land there in the morning and sleep beside the forest that night. Rwanda also has its own gorillas in the Virungas, Nyungwe’s chimpanzees along the canopy walk, and Akagera, the only big-five park in the country.
Uganda
Half of the world’s mountain gorillas live in Bwindi, and the permit to sit with them costs less than anywhere else they exist. Beyond the forest the country runs from the snow on the Rwenzori to the tree-climbing lions of Ishasha and the point where the Nile leaves Lake Victoria.
What we tell every couple
What to bring
- Waterproof jacket and thick gloves for the trek
- Ankle boots with real grip
- Swimming things for Bunyonyi
- Something warm for the evenings, it is cold at altitude
- Insect repellent
- A good book for the lake days
- Camera, with the flash turned off
Before you ask
Is a safari a good honeymoon?
If it is built right. The mistake is moving every day and arriving home exhausted. This route puts the one hard morning near the start and then deliberately slows down, with three nights in the same bed at Bunyonyi and nothing scheduled.
Is there anywhere to swim?
Lake Bunyonyi, which is the only lake on this route with no bilharzia and no crocodiles. Most of the crater lakes near Fort Portal are swimmable too. Lake Victoria and the Nile are not, and we will say so.
What happens if I need to cancel?
Nothing is paid when you enquire. The permit is bought from the Uganda Wildlife Authority in your name once you confirm, and UWA does not refund permits once issued. Your deposit amount and balance date are put in writing before you pay anything.
Can you arrange something for the occasion?
Yes, and quietly. Tell us what you would like and we will have the lodge do it without an announcement in the dining room. We do not charge for it as a line item.
Is there a spa?
Not in the resort sense. Several lodges in the crater lake country have a treatment room looking over the water, and we will tell you which ones are genuinely good rather than which ones advertise it.
How soon will you reply?
Within one working day, with a route, a price with nothing hidden in it and an honest view on whether the days you have suit the trip you want.
Tell us roughly when
hello@wildroutetours.com
A trip designer replies within one working day.