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/ Uganda / 2 Weeks in Rwanda, the DRC, and Uganda with Rock My Adventure

2 Weeks in Rwanda, the DRC, and Uganda with Rock My Adventure

August 3, 2017 by Silvia 23 Comments

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If you follow me on social media then you know that I just spent the past couple of weeks in Rwanda, the Congo, and Uganda, and it was amazing!

I just spent two weeks exploring Rwanda, the Congo (DRC), and Uganda - and here are all the details!

As in, I totally cried on my flight home and had to pretend that the tears were over my book. Though I don’t think the British couple decked out in expensive looking khaki next to me believed it, maybe because I was already hiccuping by the time I thought to pull out my book. They were unimpressed. I mean, I was unimpressed with myself too – shouldn’t I be better at leaving places by now? I can always return!

But the thing about this trip was, it wasn’t just three African countries I had fallen in love with. I was also heartbroken over leaving my six new favorite travel buddies.

rock my adventure tour drc rwanda uganda africa

You see, my first trip to sub-Saharan Africa included another first: my first time traveling on a tour!

Anyone who knows me and my travel style might be raising their eyebrows right about now, which is exactly what I did when Helen emailed me a few months ago inviting me on one of her Rock My Adventure tours. But luckily I had the sense to put those eyebrows back down where they belong and join her for what became one of my favorite trips yet. Seriously though, I wasn’t even getting carried away when yelling best trip everrrrr off the side of our boat on the sunset cruise down the Nile my last night in Uganda.

But before I get into recapping my trip and sharing all the photos (guys, so many photos), I thought I’d begin by telling you what the deal with this tour was, and why I loved it so much.

Rock My Adventure was started by Helen of Helen in Wonderlust, whom if you’ve ever read any blog posts about Africa you probably already know, as she’s kind of the Africa expert in the travel blogging world. These are small group tours – not more than 8 people – and a bit different than the big name tour companies operating in Africa. Helen first went to Africa in 2009 and if you read about her Africa adventures on her blog you can get a good idea of what her tours are like.

Basically being part of a Rock My Adventure tour felt just like backpacking with a bunch of good friends, except that we had made our Africa expert friend do all the planning for us. This was definitely on the fancier end of backpacking – we mostly shared rooms with one other person, or dorms just with the group members – and our ages ranged from mid-twenties to late-thirties.

We also all seemed to fall into two categories: either backpackers wanting to start off their Africa adventure with an organized trip to get into the African swing of things before setting off solo, or people with full time jobs wanting to make the most of their holiday time. Okay, I realize I don’t really fit into either of those categories, but ugh, do bloggers ever fit in?

What I really loved was that we were all totally on the same page when it came to travel, and I think a big reason for that was that we had all read about Helen’s travels on her blog, so we knew exactly what we were signing up for.

I took Helen’s Uganda, Rwanda, and DRC tour, and Helen described us as her “hardy” group, as none of us minded going into the Congo. In fact I think most of us actually signed up because this tour went to the Congo, so I guess that already meant we’d have something in common when it came to travel choices.

nyiragongo volcano drc congo at night

and we made it to the Congo!

Plus, Helen made sure that we had time in our schedule to go off and explore independently, if we wanted, so it didn’t feel like we were just being led around the entire time.

Another thing worth mentioning about Helen’s tours is that she’s set up her tour company properly so everything is totally above board. It’s becoming more and more popular for travel bloggers to offer tours, but a lot of them aren’t actually setting up tour companies and instead just have participants sign waivers, which seems a little sketchy to me, so I felt a lot better about signing up with a legally established tour company.

Helen is one of those people who will make any situation really fun. This girl could make a tour through my mildewy basement seem like a blast, so having her introduce me to sub-Saharan Africa was pretty much the best thing ever.

Okay, so what did we do?

I’ll definitely be sharing more details about my favorite parts of this trip in future posts (volcanoes! gorillas!), but this was our basic itinerary:

Kigali, Rwanda

We started off in Kigali, where we explored the city, drank some of that famous Rwandan coffee, and visited the Genocide Memorial. We also had one of the best dinners at Heaven, which is a lovely boutique hotel and restaurant in town that also has a gallery featuring the works of local artists.

genocide memorial museum kigali

market kigali rwanda

market kigali rwanda

Climbing Mt. Nyiragongo in the Congo

I’ve written more about climbing Mt Nyiragongo here, and it was probably the highlight of the trip for me (though also included several of the trip’s lowlights too – SPOILER: that hike is hard). But it was all worth it because the top of Mt Nyiragongo was one of the most breathtaking places I have been in my life.

nyiragongo volcano drc congo hike

nyiragongo volcano drc congo at night

nyiragongo volcano drc congo at night

Lake Bunyoni, Uganda

After hiking Nyirangongo we made our way to Lake Bunyoni in Uganda to recuperate for a couple of nights before our next intense hike.

We stayed at Byoona Amagara on Itambira Island, which was such a lovely retreat. There were lots of other travelers there too, so it would be a good place to meet people if you were on your own.

lake bunyoni uganda

lake bunyoni uganda

Gorilla Trekking in Bwindi National Park

And then we hiked back into the jungle to hang out with some gorillas! I’ve written about my experience gorilla trekking in Uganda here.

gorilla trekking uganda

Safari in Queen Elizabeth National Park

After Bwindi we headed into Queen Elizabeth National Park to catch some glimpses of lions, elephants, and all sorts of other animals.

safari queen elizabeth national park uganda

safari queen elizabeth national park uganda

Chimpanzee Tracking in Kibale National Park

This was an optional activity on the tour and one that Helen and I both skipped because we were in desperate need of getting some work done – it’s really hard to take a proper holiday when you’re self-employed.

Though my overflowing inbox might just have been an excuse, as ever since a certain traumatic incident I’ve been pretty scared of monkeys. Okay, I know chimps aren’t monkeys, and I did love hanging out with the mountain gorillas, but chimps seem a little less laid back than gorillas. Remember when that chimp ripped that woman’s face off?

But if you’re interested in chimpanzee tracking, I did get all the details from the girls in the group who did it!

You can either go for a full day or half day, and after hearing everyone’s experiences I’d definitely go with the full day program.

The half day groups apparently spent most of their time staring at black dots high up in the trees, and then when one of the chimps did come down, all the different half day groups in the jungle ran after it with their cameras. And while a chimp being chased by 40 paparazzi might sound like material for a good joke, I think in reality it was a little disturbing.

The full day group, on the other hand, was able to spend some quality time with the chimps away from the other groups and their experience sounded downright amazing.

While in Kibale we stayed at Kibale Forest Camp, which was my favorite accommodation of the entire trip. We shared twin tents in the sweetest little bungalows, and it was by far the fanciest “camp” I’ve ever stayed at – they even woke us up with tea and made our beds in the morning!

kibale national park uganda

Hairy Lemon Island

After a few more 5 am wakeup calls than I’m used to, it was really nice to then head to Hairy Lemon Island for some serious relaxation. The island doesn’t have electricity or much of anything to do besides relax along the Nile, and that’s exactly what we did.

hairy lemon island uganda

Nile River Explorers in Bujagali, Jinja

We ended our trip in probably the most backpackery place we stayed – Nile River Explorers. Travelers come here for white water rafting and other adventure activities, but it was also just a great place to meet other backpackers and sob our farewell tears into the Nile.

And then I went home!

Though that really doesn’t deserve an exclamation point. Ugh sometimes returning home can just be so hard. I haven’t fallen so immediately for a region of the world since Central Asia the Caucasus Siberia (okay fine, I guess I’m always giving my heart away to new places). But I guess that’s a good thing, because it means I can’t wait to go back – and I can’t wait to share more about this trip!

 

 

Okay so tell me, what other countries in Africa do I need to visit?

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Filed Under: blog, DR Congo, Rwanda, Uganda

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Comments

  1. Milou says

    August 3, 2017 at 2:35 pm

    I’ve been so excited to read about this. I’ve followed Helen’s adventure into going self employed and it’s so inspiring. Taking one of her tours is definitely on my bucketlist! It looks absolutely spectacular.

    Reply
    • Silvia says

      August 3, 2017 at 8:32 pm

      Seriously, so inspiring! And you would love her tours, they’re so fun!

      Reply
  2. Emily says

    August 3, 2017 at 5:52 pm

    This entire experience sounds amazing!

    Reply
    • Silvia says

      August 3, 2017 at 8:31 pm

      Oh my goodness it so was!

      Reply
  3. Ashley says

    August 3, 2017 at 6:25 pm

    I’m slightly obsessed with visiting this region of the world right now! And in terms of group trips, this one sounds really fantastic.

    Reply
    • Silvia says

      August 3, 2017 at 8:31 pm

      Me too, I want to see more and more and more! And Helen’s trip really was the perfect intro.

      Reply
  4. jordan @ dancing for donuts says

    August 3, 2017 at 6:39 pm

    all of your photos are so beautiful!!! i’m hoping i can get to africa today – it sounds incredible! thanks for sharing 🙂

    Reply
    • Silvia says

      August 3, 2017 at 8:30 pm

      I hope you do too – the small part I saw was just so amazing!

      Reply
  5. Germanus says

    August 3, 2017 at 9:38 pm

    Sound amazing story big up to all of you guys…. next time you have to go Ngorongoro creater and Serengeti National park in Tanzania

    Reply
  6. Justine says

    August 4, 2017 at 4:18 am

    I’m kind of speechless after reading this and seeing your photos. This whole trip looks and sounds incredible. I’m totally sold! Now if I could just tear myself away from Asia…

    Reply
  7. Dominique says

    August 4, 2017 at 11:36 am

    Your photos are crazy! DRC was never on my radar, but it looks amazing!

    Reply
  8. Nynke says

    August 4, 2017 at 3:44 pm

    This trip looks and sounds great – can’t wait to read more!

    (currently in Japan, and Kyoto, at least, does not disappoint! I’ll really have to go back here sometime and stay longer than two nights…)

    Reply
  9. Marianne - Glimt av verden says

    August 5, 2017 at 4:32 pm

    This trip sounds sooooo amazing! I have visited 11 African countries, and I love that part of the world. Rwanda and Uganda are both on my bucket list, but I haven’t really thought about visiting DRC. My favorite African countries are Namibia (especially the red desert and Etosha National Park), Madagascar and Tanzania. And I loved the Okavango Delta in Botswana. And Cape Town + the surrounding area. And Sierra Leone. And, well, this list could be long 😀 In January I’m going to Ghana, Togo and Benin. Hopefully I’ll love those countries too 🙂

    Can’t wait to read more about your African adventure!

    Reply
  10. Kate - Travel for Difference says

    August 7, 2017 at 4:24 am

    Oh my god what an experience!! This is so high on my bucket list it’s not even funny – Uganda and Rwanda are so fascinating to me. Seeing Gorillas in the wild must have been so so amazing XXX

    Reply
  11. Danielle says

    August 8, 2017 at 11:23 am

    This looks like an incredible adventure! | http://ourpassportpages.com/

    Reply
  12. Vanessa says

    August 11, 2017 at 7:53 pm

    Still can’t get over these volcano pictures, so insane!! I totally understand feeling sad about leaving a place and let’s be honest, who wouldn’t feel sorry about having to leave a place like THIS??!! I want to visit Africa for sure now!

    Reply
  13. Camila @ Adventitious Violet says

    August 16, 2017 at 8:37 pm

    Oh that’s amazing! It does look like it was an unforgettable trip! That photos of the gorillas looking at each other was so beautiful! I had an amazing time in South Africa!

    Reply
  14. Kiralik balayi villasi says

    August 21, 2017 at 2:09 pm

    Awesome photos with perfect article. Thanks for sharing. When I think about Africa, national parks, animals in their habitats comes to my mind. Backpackers and this holiday type atttacts me. I find it easy and relax. I’m dreaming of this holiday.

    Reply
  15. Marisa says

    August 24, 2017 at 7:51 am

    Sierra leone is my fav country for vacation in Africa. I adore that tropical paradise. You must go!

    Reply
    • Silvia says

      August 31, 2017 at 11:10 am

      Ohh yes! My Africa list is getting longer and longer, haha.

      Reply
  16. Anita says

    June 18, 2018 at 2:21 pm

    Sounds like so much fun, I’ve been to those countries but DRC, but I must correct that soonest possible. Thanks for sharing these beautiful pictures.

    Reply
  17. Augustin says

    April 9, 2019 at 10:02 pm

    Hey Silvia

    Thanks for writing ✍️ such as insightful and concise information about this great lakes region of Africa.
    I can surely see how this has been an inspiration to many!
    I will definitely follow your African trips!

    Reply
  18. Stean says

    July 22, 2020 at 3:58 pm

    When you are about to travel to Africa and you read this article you feel like packing your bags and get on the plane that moment and travel. thank you for the detailed article.

    Reply

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Once a full-time nomad, I'm now trying to find a balance between continuing to explore off the beaten path places around the world while also building a home in Norway. Want to know more? Head to my About page!

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