Bwindi Beauty

Bwindi Beauty

Bwindi Beauty is a beautiful adventure route that is located in the south-west of Uganda. Bwindi impenetrable forest is known as the home of “our cousins – the mountain gorillas.  On it, we pass through green mountains, rainforests, vast green plains and dry savannas. People who already rode this route describe experiencing it as if they passed through four different countries. The route takes a total of 9 days and is quite intensive, as we ride between 150 and 200 km per day. This route is arranged so that we can stay on location somewhere on the route for a day. This means that on this chosen day, you can for example, choose to stay at the campsite and rest, or for more of an adventure, you can go gorilla trekking or for a long walk or small hike through the communities along the crater lakes.

In general, you experience two types of climates on this route: tropical savannah climate and sea climate, which means in terms of clothing, one has to be prepared for rain, cold and warm weather or heat. The best time to travel for this route is in February and from May to September.

For some particulars, we ride about 1,400 kilometers in total, of which of around 35% is riding on paved roads and 65% on off-road and gravel paths. For this reason, as off-road riding is slightly different, it helps if you already have some experience on the motorbike. And as you might expect, the off-road tracks can be much more fun than riding on an asphalted highway.

Don’t have off-road experience yet? No problem, because you are not immediately thrown in at the deep end. The route is quite manageable in terms of the difficulty of off-road riding.

The starting price for this route covers your basic ‘camping & biking’ needs. This means that we camp using our own camping equipment at beautiful campsites or in the wilderness. We remain completely self-sufficient, which makes the adventure extra challenging and freeing. At each of the campsites, we are provided with local or international meals, always freshly prepared under clean conditions. Usually, we will have lunch on the way. At bush camping sites, we have so-called camping food packages.

Of course it is possible to adjust the trip according to your preferences. Maybe you want to travel longer, or a little more luxuriously. It is easily doable, for example, to trade-in camping for accommodation in more luxurious safari tents or lodges. Perhaps you would prefer to have a car drive alongside us, so that you can load all your stuff there instead of carrying it on the back of the motorbike? No at problem! Hear it now: you have plenty of options! I would love to hear what your wishes are, so that together we can create a nice and memorable journey together.

The base/stated price includes; third party insurance, accommodation, motorbike rental, camping equipment rental, park entrance fee, guide fee, fuel, three meals per day, and three liters of water per day.

Please note. Apply for a Gorilla permit at least three months in advance, the costs are $600.

Pictures of the route

Bwindi Beauty

Itinerary per day.

1. Kampala ICU guesthouse – lake nabugabo (124 km). This ride is mainly highway and some traffic jams in Kampala. It gives you the opportunity to become familiar with your bike and traffic. The last 30 km of it consists of unpaved riding.
2. Lake Nabugabo – Lake Mburo (118 km). On this day, we ride on 70% paved, and the rest on unpaved roads. To end the day, we camp at the beautiful Leopard Restcamp campsite, next to Lake Mburo National Park.
3. Leopard Restcamp – Lake mburo (100 km). Consisting of mainly off-road riding, we ride to the campsite in the park on this day, and set up our camps before going through the national park. There are many wild animals to see in the park, including hippos, giraffes, zebras, wild pigs, and many different species of birds.
4. Lake Mburo – Lake Bunyonyi (guesthouse) (222 km). We start the day with a nice off-road route to Mbarara, from where it is mainly highway until Kabale. Once reaching the famous Kabale, we still have a bit of off-road riding to a parking lot located at Lake Bunyonyi. From this site, we will take a canoe to the island on the lake where our accommodation (the guesthouse) is located.
5. Lake Bunyonyi – Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Buhoma (85 km). This day is mainly off-road riding on narrow mountain trails, then 10 km highway, and then only gravel roads through the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.
6. Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Buhoma – Dave the Cave (156 km). On this route, we only ride on gravel roads that cross the Queen Elizabeth National Park, where wild elephants or buffalo regularly cross.
7. Dave the Cave – Fort Portal (135 km). You can do a community walk in the morning on this day, together with Dave (the owner of the campsite). Dave is very excited to tell about his environment. Overall on this route, we ride on roughly 60% paved and 40% on unpaved road.
8. Fort Portal – Mubende (hotel) (145 km). This day consists of a nice route mainly on paved road and some beautiful views from the hills.
9. Mubende – Kampala ICU Guesthouse (145 km). Last day towards Kampala. Lots of highway, when we arrive in Kampala we will toast our trip and end with a luxury dinner at a Japanese restaurant with a special beer brewery.

The Bwindi Beauty route