Itinerary

1. Day 1: Kampala

   • Meet your tour guide and starts by walking up the valley floor through the tall forest trees of the forest Zone. This is a steady climb with multitudes of birds and a chance of seeing blue monkeys scampering off through the forest. At times visitors may see troupes of 15 to 20 black and white Colobus monkeys as they swing through the treetops. There are rare sightings of the L’Hoest monkey, which are part of the Bukonzo cultural emblems and are protected by virtue of the King or Omusinga, or you may hear a wild chimpanzee in the distance. There is a wide variety of plant species, from forest trees to bamboo thickets, as you enter the Bamboo Zone, a steep climb with many high steps. In the wet season, the bamboo zone is rather muddy and slippery, making the going slow but not so bad if you are fit. However, the atmosphere and the forest are fantastic as you climb to Kalalama Camp at 3,147 meters in the Heather Zone with many tall Heather trees and a good chance to see the ‘Rwenzori Turaco, which is bright crimson wings.

2. Day 2: Mutinda Camp - Namusangi Valley - Bugata Camp

   • After an early breakfast, you set off as today you will bypass Mutinda Camp and continue up to Bugata Camp at 4,100 metres. The trail meanders up and over several small knolls along a ridge top, then drops down the side of the valley before climbing again and, in doing so, crosses several small streams and passes close to moss covered waterfalls. 
   • Climb steadily alongside a beautiful mossy river that tumbles over the rocks under the Giant Heather trees whose trunks are covered in green moss with older man’s beards hanging from the branches.
   • Climb up the deep valley, which has many plants and flowers. This valley is unique, with many Giant Heather trees creating a beautiful atmosphere often shrouded in mist. The trail here is boggy, particularly in the wet season, but with a bit of skill, you can step from tussock to tussock to make the going easier. We have put several boardwalks across the worst of the bogs and continue building more to make it a little bit easier. You cross the Mutinda valley through the tussock grass and everlasting flowers interspersed with many Giant Lobelias before climbing a steep section up to the Namusangi Valley (3,840 meters), which ends abruptly with sheer waterfalls and fantastic views of Mutinda Peaks.
   • Enjoy the Namusangi Valley, which is wide with ups and downs and crosses several bogs as the trail climbs steadily to Bugata Camp at 4,062 meters. Bugata Camp is situated way up Bamwanjara Pass high above Bugata Lake, with views across Lake Kopello to Weismann’s Peak, which is often covered with snow, then down the valley views of Lake Africa and Lake Tanganyika and the many small peaks towards Mutinda Camp. The area is covered with tussock grass, everlasting flowers and Giant lobelia. Bugata Camp will be the spot for the night with good facilities, solar lights, good toilets and bathrooms where the guides may prepare some warm water in a basin for you to wash. Bugata also has a helicopter pad in case of any need for rescue by helicopter but be warned that a helicopter in Uganda costs around $10,000 per hour of flying time, which is way more than in other countries. Hence, you need insurance in case of a rescue.

3. Day 3 Bugata Camp - Hunwick's Camp

   • Get to the top of this magnificent Mount Rwenzori. You will leave Bugata Camp, and you pass up a ridge, then drop down slightly before ascending to Bamwanjarra Pass at 4,450 meters, where we have a hut should the weather turn nasty. From the pass on a clear day, you get excellent views of the three prominent peaks. 
   • Enjoy the trail, which passes down the valley and around the edge of some bogs, thick evergreen vegetation, and moss. giant groundsel and lobelia. Here is possibly the best place in all the Rwenzori to observe the Malachite Sunbird as it feeds on the many lobelia flowers and is a known breeding site. Farther on, there are some steep sections before a steady climb up and over a ridge to Hunwick's Camp, which is situated on the top of a deep valley and has good views of Mt Stanley, Mt Baker and Weismann's Peak

4. Day 4: Hunwick's camp - Margherita Peak

   • Pass down from Hunwick's and across the valley floor to Lake Kitandara which is very stunning with deep water and beautiful vegetation. 
   • Climb up Scott Elliott's pass then up the ridge to Margherita Camp 4,485 metres which is situated between some huge rocks and offers some shelter from the strong winds. This is the very spot where the Duke of Abruzzi camped when making his climb to Margherita Peak in 1906.

5. Day 5: Mt. Stanley

   • Wake up at 2 am and catch an early breakfast before heading off to climb Mt Stanley at 2.30 am. This is necessary as the weather has changed a lot and often even during the dryer season the mountain is closed in with heavy clouds and snow falls from 1 pm to 4 pm and this happens within a short period of 10 to 15 minutes as the clouds rise from the extensive Congo rainforests. This is a very hectic day and the highlight of this whole trek.
   • Explore the use of your hiking boots, fit on your crampons from time to time, make good use of your ice axe, plus your headlamp and glasses when it shines such that the glittering glacier does not affect your eyes.
   • Climb up to the peak of this mountain. So this climb takes the advice from where the guides suggest passing. After ascending the peak at 5,109 metres, you then pass directly down to Hunwick's Camp at 3.874 metres

6. Day 6: Hunwick's camp - Queen Elisabeth National Park

   • We start the day from Hunwick’s Camp by climbing up a ridge towards McConnell’s Prong, where you get the best views of all three peaks and Scott Elliott’s Pass before reaching Oliver’s Pass at 4,505 metres. The distance from Hunwick’s Camp to the top of Olivers Pass is 3km. The trail then cuts across below Weismann’s Peak to the confluence of the Nyamwamba River, which flows down through Kilembe and Kasese to Lake George in Queen Elisabeth National Park. 
   • After crossing the confluence, the trail meanders down the valley to Kiharo Camp, situated in a deep valley with high cliffs and dense vegetation. 
   • On the way down the valley, after each bog, climb over a ridge of stones and earth that seems out of place but was pushed there by slow-moving glaciers, which eventually stopped moving, melted and left a pile of rocks and debris in front of where the glacier once stood.

7. Day 7: Kihar Camp

   • Enjoy the trail down the Nyamwamba Valley, mostly downhill and stunning with beautiful views, a moss-covered river, cascading waterfalls, deep valleys, and forests that are possibly the best in the Rwenzori Mountains. This part of the trail took us six years to find a way through and an easy route for tourists to use. A few kilometres from Kiharo Camp, the path turns off to the right to pass along the river. 
   • Catch a glimpse of a Duiker quietly feeding in small clearings as you pass along the river in the precise areas. If you wish, you may prefer to walk down the river itself, hopping across the rocks as you pass down. A few kilometres down the river, it becomes very steep with multitudes of waterfalls, so we have to move away from the river and follow a narrow ridge to bypass steep sections. 
   • At the bottom, meet the river, where there is a vast rock shelter and a place to rest for a while. 
   • Climb up a gentle slope before turning back down to the river to avoid another set of impassable waterfalls. The forest along this section is magnificent and full of life with many birds, primates, dikers and hyrax. A great experience and ending to a fantastic trek.