Kisoro is located in western Uganda, Kisoro area is the Kisoro area is the top tourist destination in Uganda, as you are getting to Kisoro you will be welcomed by rolling hills with amazing green sceneries, many tourists and other visitors visit Kisoro purposely for the mountain gorilla trekking in Bwindi impenetrable forest national park and golden monkey trekking in Mgahinga gorilla national park, I can assure that Kisoro has a lot more that should be discovered after or before gorilla trekking.
Kisoro can be easily accessed by both air and road, from Entebbe Airport or from Kampala the capital city of Uganda to Kisoro take about 9 to 10 hours drive, driving to Kisoro from Kampala is more fun, this drive takes you through different villages and towns with a stopover at Uganda Equator for a cup of coffee or tea and some informative talk and photographic opportunity and some experiment, you have another main stopover in Mbarara for lunch, thereafter drive through the rolling green hills, farms, banana plantations and many other attractions along the way. If you don’t want to spend 10 hours on the road traveling to Kisoro, you can as well fly from Entebbe Airport or from Kajjasi Airstrip to Kisoro Airstrip, during tourism peak season there are daily scheduled domestic flights going to Kisoro, for more information about flying to Kisoro contact us we will guide you accordingly.
It’s now very popular for tourist to fly into Kigali Airport in Rwanda and cross to Uganda for affordable gorilla trekking in Bwindi forest national par and in Mgahinga gorilla national park, because of gorilla permits price differences many tourists prefer flying to Kigali and drive to Bwindi or Mgahinga which is just 3 to 4 hours away from Kigali, trekking Uganda gorilla from Kigali is more near than starting from Entebbe or Kampala which take you 10 hours’ drive to reach Bwindi or Mgahinga while from Kigali Rwanda takes only 3 to 4 hours via Cyanika border or via Katuna border, this has enabled to offer a short gorilla tracking safari from Kigali, for example, we can now offer 2 days Uganda gorilla safari starting from Kigali Rwanda, for other details you can contact us.
It’s on the record that Bwindi impenetrable forest national park is home to more than half of the total population of mountain gorillas in the whole world while Mgahinga gorilla national park is the first place in the world where you see both golden monkeys and mountain gorillas, that why Mgahinga was nicknamed as a place “where gold meets silver”, gorillas and golden monkeys are the main tourist attractions in Kisoro area. Currently, Uganda’s gorilla permit for either Bwindi or Mgahinga costs only $700 per person for foreign non-residents, $600 for foreign residents, and for Ugandans and East African residents, it costs UGX250, 000 Uganda shillings per person which is about $75. For those who are interested in trekking gorillas in Rwanda, the Rwanda gorilla permit cost $1500 per person making it the most expensive which is one of the main reasons we always recommend to all our clients to book their gorilla safaris in Uganda instead of Rwanda because you will be saving $800 on each permit which can be used to extend you tour to other Uganda national parks. Gorilla permits for both countries can be booked through Kisoro tours Uganda Ltd your number one trusted gorilla safari company or directly from the Uganda Wildlife Authority head office and from the Rwanda Development Board head offices in Kigali.
Apart from gorillas, Mgahinga gorilla national park has the highest number of endangered golden monkeys in the whole world; currently, Mgahinga is a home to over 600 golden monkeys making it the best place to see golden monkeys in the world. A golden monkey trekking permit costs $100, there is also a golden monkey habituation experience that can only be done in Uganda. For more information contact us.
The four lakes above are all located in the Kisoro area in southwestern Uganda, from Kisoro town to any of the lakes is 10 to 20 kilometers and from Kampala capital city to Kisoro town is approximately 450 kilometers by road.
The environment on Lake Mutanda, Mulehe, Kayumbu, and Chahafi is surrounded by different villages/communities, lakeside forests, and wetlands, from any of these lakes you can easily go for gorilla trekking and Bwindi forest national park and to Mgahinga gorilla national park, while on this lakes there are many bird species in the wetland around the lakes.
All travelers visiting Lake Mutanda, Kayumbu, Mulehe, and Chahafi, I must say that a boat cruise of the calm waters of the Lakes is a must-do for every, those lakes are one of the most beautiful lakes in Africa with different islands each of which is unique in its way and worth exploring, a cruise these lakes offers you a fresh feeling of the natural undisturbed natural beauty and also these lakes are no crowds like other beaches on the Lake Victoria and bigger lakes in Uganda.
Churchill Viewpoint is one of the best viewing points located on the top hills of Kanaaba which is just 10 Kilometers from Kisoro town, Churchill’s viewing point offers you specular views of Kisoro, Rwanda, some parts of DR-Congo, a good view of Lake Mutanda, Lake Mulehe, good view of Echuya forest, twin lakes of Kayumba and Chahafi and a very nice view of Lake Gihondo, Lake Bulera in Rwanda. You will also have an amazing of three volcanoes in Mgahinga gorilla national park, volcanoes national park in Rwanda, and some parts of Virunga national park in Congo. This is the viewing point where Church hill Winston stood when he declared Uganda as the “Pearl of Africa”.
Echuya forest is located along the highway on Kabale Kisoro road, Echuya forest is home to over 105 bird species 12 of which are endemic to this region, different monkeys, over 53 butterflies, and many other mammals species in Echuya forest, Echuya forest is famous and well known to be one the main settlement/home to Batwa people (pygmies) in 1990’s just before they were evicted from Echuya forest and taken to other safe places within Kisoro, Echuya forest can be easily visited after or before the gorilla, golden monkey trekking safari.
We told the Kisoro area is more adventurous than any other area in Uganda, among the tourist attractions in the Kisoro area is the hike of three extinct dormant volcanoes namely, mount Muhabura 4,127 meters, mount Gahinga 3,474 meters, and mount Sabyinyo 3,669 meters all the three volcanoes are located in Mgahinga gorilla national parks. There is also another interesting guided walk of Sabyinyo gorge walk which is a more relaxing hiking adventure in the Kisoro area. For all those who love hiking safari, the above volcanoes can be easily hiked to the summit and back within one day, contact Kisoro tours Uganda and discover the hidden treasure of this area.
Another exciting tourist attraction in the Kisoro area is these numerous natural caves namely Ruhenju cave, Mwambike cave, and Ngarama cave among many others. All these caves were used by Batwa (Pygmies) homes and hideouts. A visit to those caves is a guided activity by local trained Batwa (pygmies) guides who will take you through different caves with all explanations of what used to happen there before the Batwa people were evicted from there. From the caves you will be able to visit the new settlements of the Batwa people, Batwa people (pygmies are normally about 4 feet tall and that’s why they are named Batwa (pygmies) because of their height. it is believed that Pygmies (Batwa) people migrated from the indifferent forest in DR-Congo including from the Ituri forest, here in Uganda Pygmies (Batwa) people first settled in Bwindi forest national park, Mgahinga national park and in Echuya forest but in 1991 Bwindi forest was declined as a national park and after pygmies were evicted from all conservation area which was very difficult because Batwa were used live in caves and also hunting small animals for food.
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