Are you a traveller who wants to leave a positive impact? We are your people!
The Gorilla Highlands Experts team prides itself on creating unusual experiences lasting from a couple of hours to a full day and multi-day treks. Whether you are interested in the biggest attractions or off-the-beaten-path jewels of Rwanda, Uganda and DR Congo, we are there for you. Best known for our partnership with Batwa “Pygmies”, we should be your partners if you care about responsible travel (we won two Responsible Tourism Awards at WTM 2022).
No, we are not your standard tour operator with a fleet of LandCruisers and an animal focus. We want to highlight our region’s richness beyond primate tracking and we continuously train our staff, local partners, other companies’ guides and freelancers. Our experts bring in deep knowledge from: accessible travel, culinary tours, cycling adventures, educational trips, family tours, volunteer tourism, and more.
Need a starting point? Have a look at the overview pages summarising our growing list of day experiences or seven multi-day treks. If you fancy putting together a bigger trip covering Rwanda, Uganda and DR Congo, we also have some sample road tours.
All our day experiences, multi-day treks and road tours are private by default; we will not add other travellers to what we have agreed with you. Some guests, though, choose to open theirs up for company or to reduce costs. Here’s a regularly updated list of such opportunities:
Upcoming Trips to Join
Join Edmond & Belle on Their Grand Gorilla Highlands Adventure
2–4 spots availableEdmond grew up in Africa as an Iraqi Jew, built a career in computer logistics, and has since traded spreadsheets for curiosity. Belle is a German-born multimedia artist whose life revolves around travel, people, and landscapes. Together since 1990, they bring three decades of shared adventures to this trip.
Entebbe → Kampala → Kidepo Valley → Murchison Falls → Queen Elizabeth → Lake Bunyonyi → gorilla tracking in Mgahinga → Congo Nile Trail → Nyungwe Forest → Kigali
Not available for the full 20 days? You are welcome to join for a section — tell us what works for you.
No scheduled group trips right now — contact us to organise your own.
Ready to talk? Let us schedule a call with you, hear you out and get to work!
Our Stories From Tours & Treks:
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Good Kind of Crazy: Volunteering and Hiking in Uganda and Rwanda
This has been an American year for the Gorilla Highlands team. The fourth US specialist volunteer of 2017, Benjamin Blayne Dawson from Florida, is flying home at this very moment, after volunteering in Uganda and Rwanda for two months. Benji B. has spent 90% of his time at Lake Bunyonyi, however, he has also visited…
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Rwanda Is an Interesting Experiment
Francis Tapon is a globetrotter, best-selling author, videographer and speaker. In December 2016 – January 2017 Francis and his wife Rejoice travelled through the Gorilla Highlands of Rwanda and Uganda, on a quest to visit all countries of Africa. Where does your love for Africa come from? Africa for me was just a piece of the puzzle and…
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Love in the Wild Gets Wild
Last weekend the Gorilla Highlands team was joined by guests from all over the world—from Kigali to Kampala, from the US to all the way to the Netherlands—to celebrate Valentine’s Day at Tom’s Homestay. We gave Tom the break he deserved to savour the night and his nomination for best homestay in Uganda with his…
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1 Week of Hiking + Savannah – Jealousy = 29 Shots
Why would somebody opt for hiking through Africa? What is wrong with a good old motorised safari through Rwanda and Uganda? How can a walking safari be an improvement on that? It’s obvious: you get truly close to the nature and people of an area famous for its striking beauty and warm hospitality. The 29…
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Our Grandest Trek in 28 Photos
As an introduction to the upcoming Gorilla Highlands Bootcamp we’ve pulled something attractive from our archives. This is how our global team hiked in June two years ago — through the Ugandan part of the Gorilla Highlands from Edirisa on Lake Bunyonyi to Mgahinga Gorilla National Park. The 20 trek participants came from Africa, America…
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Would You Trust a Traditional Healer?
Meg Whelan’s (she’s pictured in the centre) familiarisation trip was coming to an end. In just a couple of days she had flown all over Uganda, experienced three national parks—Kidepo Valley, Queen Elizabeth and Bwindi Impenetrable—and seen a lot that would help her at Connoisseur Travel. There was something nasty growing on her neck and…
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Selfish Traveller’s One Secret to Spill
I am a selfish traveller. I do not like to share. When I find something special, and better yet undisturbed, the last thing I want to do is tell everyone about it. Because as you can say about most hidden found treasures –Humans ruin everything! I bookmarked (online) the Edirisa and the Gorilla Highlands pages…
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Follow the Example of the Good People from Seattle
In April we asked future trekkers to send us their photos and fulfill the wish expressed by the host family at Lake Kayumbu. This is the first submission, already laser-printed on an A4 sheet, waiting to be delivered to Gerald and Jackline. Kirk and Shawn are bringing their daughters Casey and Cameron to Kenya, Rwanda…
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Gorilla Trek Ends with … Of Course!
Like so many hikers before them, East African Playgrounds volunteers felt they wanted to stay at Mutanda Island Lodge on Gahiza Island for another day… Yet their program was tight. On Sunday, following four days of trekking that would warm them up at Lake Bunyonyi then lead them from Bunyonyi to Lakes Kayumbu and Mutanda and finally to the edge…