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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An Artist in Search of Ugandan Aletheia
“Aletheia” means “truth” in Greek or to be more precise: that which does not escape notice, does not hide, is not forgotten; that which remains evident, the opposite of oblivion, of forgetting; that which resists the wear of time, which cannot be erased from memory. I experienced all of this with every sense present while…
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Her Extended Congo Nile Trail: The Hardest Day, Saved for Last
Five hiking days on the Congo Nile Trail? With a bus ride to Kigali at the end? We had an intriguing alternative for Rachel, a British teacher from Tanzania … A strong hiker, would she be able to do the nearly 30 kilometres between Kinunu (the middle of the northern section of the Trail) and…
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Mid-Life Crisis Love Letter to Uganda & Africa
End of last year I quit my job and went travelling; the mid-life crisis* kicked in. I did similar travel before but this time it was different. This time it was time for Africa! I always wanted to go, but had never been. The continent was always quietly sitting on the map below the Mediterranean,…
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A Collection of Moments Becomes a Story About Friendship
The Gorilla Highlands Experts video team has put together a little production about two weeks spent on Ugandan roads in 2025, with the highlight being the Illumineers’ Friendship Camp. Hard to believe they were able to pull together such a complete story from an amateur’s disparate shots and recordings! It brings back great memories and…
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Papa & Mama Abby’s First Guests
How rewarding! A week ago our office team spent a full day on Uganda’s notoriously terrible roads of Kisoro, preparing the ground for three Slovenian ladies about to embark on a three-day hike. Today we hosted them for lunch in Musanze, Rwanda, hearing their impressions. It all went swimmingly! But let’s start with the most…
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Walking the Congo Nile Trail: A Day-by-Day Hiking Video Resource
César Niyonkuru has seen a great deal during his decades as a hiking guide on Rwanda’s Congo Nile Trail. When he was introduced to Rinda Scheltens, he worried early on that the long route might prove demanding for her. Their first day began at a gentle pace, and his doubts quietly grew. He wondered whether…
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Counting Down from Mt Karembe: They Hiked in 2025, They Canoed in 2026
“Zdravo, kako si?” guide Owen surprised a group of Slovenians at the end of December with this greeting. He freelances for us thanks to a volunteer from Slovenia who found him as a kid — giving him what he jokingly calls his “Slovenian roots”. Moreover, he has been working with Seba, the team leader, for…
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Lift the “Pygmies” Up, Don’t Knock Them Down!
Look who’s back at Edirisa on Lake Bunyonyi! The Wheeling2help volunteer crew have returned. Two of their teams helped us whip up the Batwa Feast last year, bravely stepping in as our taste-testers so the first lot of 2025 could savour the real deal yesterday … Fancy giving it a go yourself? You’ll get to…
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Chillin’ on the Trail, Thanks to Mansuet
A good trekking guide can elevate your hiking experience no matter where you are. Here’s an example involving a group of British students on the Congo Nile Trail (CNT) … Amri, Amy, Georgie, Kitty, Matthew and Ryan were guided by Mansuet Umugwaneza — simply because Ryan thought it was important to have an expert at…