Wild Route Trips

Uganda

Fort Portal and the Crater Lakes

Volcanic lakes, tea to the horizon, and the Rwenzori behind.

See the journeys

Why Fort Portal

The day after the trek
is the one people get wrong.

The Ndali-Kasenda field holds around sixty volcanic crater lakes in the hills south of Fort Portal, with tea estates between them and the Rwenzori standing behind. It is the one part of a Uganda itinerary where the point is that nothing is scheduled.

Most Uganda itineraries run hard: long drives, early starts, a forest every other morning. By the second week people are tired in a way they did not plan for, and they spend the flight home saying they wish they had stopped somewhere.

This is where you stop. The crater lakes sit at around 1,500 metres, so the nights are cool and there are no mosquitoes to speak of. There is no bilharzia in most of the lakes and no hippo or crocodile in any of them, so you can swim. The walking between craters is flat, through tea and banana, past people going about a Tuesday.

It is thirty minutes from Kibale, which means it costs you no driving at all to build in. Two nights here in the middle of a fortnight changes the shape of the whole trip, and it is the single most common thing travellers tell us afterwards they are glad we argued for.

Need to know
Known forBlack-and-white colobus, 300 birds, no large predators
Best monthsYear round
Quietest monthsApril, May, November
Time neededTwo nights, and people wish they had taken three
Getting there4 hours from Kampala, 30 minutes from Kibale
AltitudeAround 1,500 metres
Plan a trip here
Where to go

The places worth the drive

Colobus overhead

Lake Nkuruba

A small, steep-sided crater ringed by forest, with black-and-white colobus in the canopy above the water.

Community-run, swimmable, and about as quiet as Uganda gets.

The one on the banknote

Lake Nyinambuga

The view that was printed on the 20,000 shilling note. Steep green walls, flat blue water.

Fifteen minutes from the main road and most people have it to themselves.

Between the craters

The tea estates

Kijura and the estates around it, with the Rwenzori behind them when the cloud lifts.

Walked rather than driven. An hour of this is worth three in a vehicle.

Stalactites and a waterfall

Amabere caves

A short walk to caves and a small falls on the edge of town, with a local legend attached that your guide will tell better than this page can.

An easy half morning.

When to go

The year in Fort Portal and the Crater Lakes

June to September

The long dry season

Firm trails, short grass and predictable roads. The busiest stretch of the year and the easiest walking.

Gorilla permits for these months sell out first, so they are booked before flights rather than after.

October and November

The short rains

Rain arrives in the afternoon and rarely lasts the day. Green country, few vehicles.

November carries the USD 600 gorilla permit. If your dates move, this is the best value in the calendar.

December to February

The second dry season

Hot and clear. Busy over Christmas and the new year, then quiet through January and February.

February is the driest month in the south and the strongest window for the Rwenzori.

March to May

The long rains

The wettest stretch. Harder underfoot, some northern tracks go difficult, a few lodges close.

April and May carry the USD 600 permit, birding peaks, and you will have the forest very nearly to yourself.

Before you go

What we tell everyone about the crater lakes

01
This is the rest day, and it should be two nights not one. One night is a bed between drives. Two is the part of the trip people come home talking about.
02
Most of these lakes are safe to swim in. No crocodile, no hippo, and no bilharzia in the crater lakes, which is not true of Lake Victoria. Your guide will say which ones.
03
It is thirty minutes from Kibale, so adding it costs almost no driving. Nobody should do Kibale without it.
04
There is very little to book here, which is the point. Walking, swimming, tea, and an early night at 1,500 metres.
Plan a trip

Tell us roughly when

Every departure is private and built around your dates, so there is no schedule to fit into. Give us an approximate day and we check lodges and permits against it.
You get back a quote with nothing hidden in it, an honest view on whether the length suits you, and an itinerary you can change. No deposit until you are sure.
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