7-Day Uganda (Kigali Start): Primates, Giants, Lakes & Timeless Culture

Your driver-guide collects you from Kigali International Airport or your hotel in the morning and you drive north through Rwanda's green, terraced hills towards the Virunga volcanoes, which rise ever higher on the horizon as you approach the border.

After crossing into Uganda at Cyanika, you pass through the busy market town of Kisoro and continue about 20 km north to Lake Mutanda, arriving in the early afternoon after about four to five hours on the road plus border formalities.

Spend the rest of the day settling in. On a clear evening the cones of Muhavura, Gahinga and Sabinyo are reflected in the lake, and kingfishers, ibises and fish eagles patrol the shoreline.

After an early breakfast you drive to the Ntebeko gate of Mgahinga Gorilla National Park for a briefing with the rangers. Uganda's smallest national park protects the slopes of three dormant volcanoes, and its habituated gorilla family roams through montane forest and bamboo beneath the peaks.

With rangers and trackers leading, you climb through farmland and into the forest to find the gorillas. Once you reach them, you have one hour to watch the silverback, mothers and youngsters feed and play, an encounter made all the more dramatic by the volcanic backdrop.

Return to Lake Mutanda for a late lunch. In the afternoon you can take an optional dugout canoe trip among the lake's small forested islands, or simply relax and take in the views.

Return to Mgahinga in the morning to track the endangered golden monkey, a lively, bright-coated primate found in Uganda only in this park. The walk through the bamboo zone is gentle compared with gorilla trekking, and you spend an hour watching troops leap and feed in the stems.

In the afternoon you join the Batwa Trail, led by members of the Batwa community, the original hunter-gatherer people of these forests. They show you how they hunted, gathered honey and medicinal plants, and lived in the forest for generations, sharing songs and stories on the way to a sacred cave on the slopes of the volcanoes.

Return to Lake Mutanda for a quiet evening by the fire, reflecting on a day of wildlife and culture.

After breakfast you drive north through the highlands of Kigezi, skirting the edge of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and passing tea estates and small farming villages before descending to the floor of the Albertine Rift Valley. The journey takes around five to six hours with stops.

You enter Queen Elizabeth National Park through the remote Ishasha sector and set out on a game drive in search of its famous tree-climbing lions, which often rest in the branches of large fig trees. Topi, Uganda kob, buffaloes and elephants are also common here.

Continue to your lodge in the park, arriving in time for dinner under a wide Rift Valley sky.

Set off at dawn for a game drive on the Kasenyi Plains, where large herds of Uganda kob gather on their breeding grounds and lions often shadow them. Look out for elephants, buffaloes, warthogs and waterbuck, and keep your eyes on the horizon for the long line of the Rwenzori Mountains rising behind the savannah.

Return to your lodge for lunch and a rest during the heat of the day. In the afternoon you join a boat cruise on the Kazinga Channel, the 32 km waterway linking Lake Edward and Lake George. Hippos crowd the shallows in astonishing numbers, crocodiles bask on the banks, elephants and buffaloes come down to drink, and the birdlife, from pelicans to pied kingfishers, is superb.

Return to your lodge as the sun drops over the Rift Valley for dinner and a quiet evening.

After breakfast you leave the savanna and drive south via the tea country of Bushenyi and the highland town of Kabale, a journey of around five hours with stops along the way.

You arrive at Lake Bunyonyi in the afternoon and set out with a local guide by canoe or boat among its islands. The stories of the Bakiga people come alive at Punishment Island and Sharp's Island, and a stop at a lakeside village shows how families farm the steep terraced hills that rise from the water.

Enjoy a relaxed final evening at your lodge, with the sounds of the lake's many little birds as the sun sets.

Rise early for a final look across the lake as the morning mist lifts from the islands, with time for a short walk or paddle before breakfast.

After breakfast you drive to Kabale and cross back into Rwanda at the Katuna (Gatuna) border. The road winds through some of the most beautiful hill country in East Africa, and the journey to Kigali takes around three to four hours, including formalities.

Your driver-guide drops you at Kigali International Airport for your onward flight, or at your hotel in the city, at the end of a memorable journey through southwestern Uganda.