Wild Route Trips

Uganda

Lake Bunyonyi

The deepest lake in Uganda, and the safest water in it.

See the journeys

Why Bunyonyi

The one lake in the region
you can actually swim in.

Bunyonyi is around 900 metres deep, holds twenty nine islands, and has no bilharzia, no crocodiles and no hippo. It sits an hour from Bwindi at 1,962 metres, which is why there are no mosquitoes either.

Most African lakes come with a list: bilharzia, crocodile, hippo, or all three. Bunyonyi has none of them. It is too deep and too cold at 1,962 metres for the snail that carries bilharzia, and there is nothing large living in it.

So people swim, which they have not been able to do anywhere else on the trip, and they go out in a dugout between the islands, and they sit still for the first time in ten days. It is an hour from Bwindi on a road that climbs through terraced hillside the whole way.

The day after a gorilla trek is the right day for this. You will have walked hard, possibly for six hours, and the alternative is getting straight back in a vehicle. One night here turns the end of a trip into something other than a transfer.

Need to know
Known forOtters, grey crowned crane, 200 bird species
Best monthsYear round
Quietest monthsApril, May, November
Time neededOne or two nights
Getting there1 hour from Bwindi, 2 from the Rwanda border
Altitude1,962 metres
Plan a trip here
Where to go

The places worth the drive

Twenty nine of them

The islands

Reached by dugout or motorboat, each with its own history and most with a story attached.

A morning out among them is the standard way to spend a full day here.

No bilharzia, no crocodiles

Swimming

Cold, clean and deep, straight off a jetty.

The only lake on a standard Uganda route where this is a good idea.

Walking the shoreline

The terraces

Hillsides farmed in terraces down to the water, with paths between the villages.

Flat enough after Bwindi, and the best of it is in the first hour after sunrise.

When to go

The year in Lake Bunyonyi

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 Bunyonyi

01
Put it the day after the trek, not before. Before, it is a night in a nice place. After, it is the thing that lets you enjoy the last week.
02
At 1,962 metres it is genuinely cold at night. People pack for equatorial Africa and are caught out. Bring a layer.
03
The water is safe and the swimming is the point. If anyone in the party has been told to avoid African fresh water, this is the exception, and your guide will explain why.
04
An hour from Bwindi and two from the Rwanda border, so it slots into the drive back to Kigali without adding a day.
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.
Prefer to write to us directly?
hello@wildroutetours.com
A trip designer replies within one working day.
Plan this trip
No payment now, and no obligation. A trip designer replies within one working day.