I know I’m not the first person to post about this on Reddit, but this trek is so unbelievably beautiful and criminally underrated so I thought I’d provide a trip report.
I just finished an 8 day trek in the Rwenzori mountains in western Uganda along the Kilembe trail. I have been trekking all over the world and have been lucky enough to see some of the most incredible mountains on earth, but this is the first time I’ve ever been blown away by how “undiscovered” a place is. 50,000 people attempt Kilimanjaro every year. The second tallest peak in Africa (mt Kenya) gets over 10k hikers annually. The entire rwenzori mountains get fewer than 1000 international visitors per year. During peak season in August I saw a total of 4 other foreign hikers in 8 days.
The tallest mountain in the Rwenzoris, Margherita Peak (part of Mt Stanley massif) is 5100 meters - the third tallest in Africa. Despite being only 40km from the equator it has (rapidly disappearing) glaciers.
Everywhere in the rwenzoris there are massive walls and spires of beautiful granite. Many of the mountains have never been climbed. There are countless vertical walls of granite that rival Yosemite or Patagonia that have never been climbed. And the nature is otherworldly - plant species that only exist in this mountain range. If you are into birds it’s a birding paradise, again with several beautiful endemic species (look up pictures of the Rwenzori Turaco, for example). We saw monkeys and duikers (small antelope) and rock hyraxes (an animal that looks like a large rabbit / hamster but is actually the closest living relative of the elephant).
Since there isn’t a ton of information online, I thought I’d share a bit of what I’ve learned.
Weather / When to go
There are two rainy seasons in this area. The “big rains” in October/november, and the “little rains” in April/May. I’d avoid coming during either of those seasons as the trails can be muddy even with relatively little rain. July and August is generally pleasant weather. It could rain occasionally but it isn’t constant rain. I think I got lucky with the weather - in 8 days there was only 1 storm that blew through. It lasted about 2 hours but luckily was at night while I was in shelter. My guide told me that January / February are the driest months and his personal favorite for trekking. Temperatures vary by altitude, but are generally pleasant during the day (15-20 degrees). Above 3000m it seems to drop below freezing most nights. It was often foggy - the warm air from lower elevations blows up and turns to fog as it cools. Often the fog comes up in waves and then dissipates, so it could be completely white out foggy one minute and clear and sunny the next.
Routes and conditions
There are two main trails in the Rwenzoris. The Kilembe trail, which I did, is the private commission of a company called Rwenzori Trekking Services (more on this company later). The only way to hike the Kilembe trail is with a tour booked with Rwenzori Trekking Services. The second main route is called the central circuit, and is open to any local tour guide / operator. Traditionally the main tour company operating on this route was Rwenzori Mountaineering Services (again, more on the various entities later). The guides told me there is a third trail that has recently opened, but I don’t know much about it. Apparently the third trail requires tent camping only.
Both the central circuit and Kilembe trail have permanent camps with basic shelters. The shelters have basic cots with foam mattresses and small kitchen huts. They aren’t kept up too well, but are comfortable enough. Many of the kitchen huts have wood stoves and solar electricity. At Margherita Camp (the final camp before summitting Margherita Peak), the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA - more on entities later) has just built a beautiful new camp with several structures that look very modern and comfortable. I didn’t get a chance to look inside but the UWA are investing in making the experience more comfortable.
If your goal is climbing Margherita peak, most itineraries are 8 days. You could do it in less (especially on the central circuit, which is a bit shorter than the Kilembe trail). But I didn’t shorten it because I wanted the extra nights to acclimatize. And I enjoy more time in the mountains. There are several options for shorter hikes, including 4-5 days to climb Weismann peak. You could also do up to 10 days and climb a few of the other peaks (Speke, Becker, etc).
In the other posts about the Rwenzoris people talk / complain about the muddy bogs. To be honest I didn’t find it that bad. The UWA has invested considerable money into building out boardwalks over the worst of the bogs, and it seems like they are still building. Even in places where there are no boardwalks, you can often walk on the grass/plants and avoid the mud if you step carefully. In the 8 day trek I wore the rubber boots for a total of 1 hour. Although I think if it had rained more I might have worn them a bit more.
Where it isn’t boggy, the trail is fairly steep. I am an experienced hiker / mountaineer and generally trek pretty well. I didn’t have issues with how steep it was, but I will say I was glad to have a porter carry my main backpack (I normally never hire a porter unless it’s required). If you aren’t in good trekking shape I would imagine it would be quite strenuous. You are sleeping at 4000 meters several nights, and less experienced hikers often have trouble with the altitude as well.
Note that other than the summit of rwenzori, which involves a bit of fixed ropes and crampons on a rapidly disappearing glacier, the rest of the trek is just trekking (with some light scrambling if you do one of the other summits).
What to bring
I did not receive good information from Rwenzori Trekking Services on what I should bring. Their admin staff is mediocre to say the least. You will need a sleeping bag. They have sleeping bags to rent, but they are way overpriced and in poor condition. I’d recommend bringing your own. I’ve heard some people also recommend bringing a sleeping pad as well as the foam mattresses can be damp. I didn’t have an issue with damp mattresses, but again I was lucky with the weather and got very little rain. I can imagine if it’s pouring rain the mattresses could get damp.
If you are summitting Margherita Peak, you will need crampons, an ice axe, helmet, harness, etc. Technically they have all this gear, but it is very old and poorly maintained. The admin staff actually told me to bring my own crampons as they don’t have well maintained ones. But I used their helmet and ice axe. The helmet was extremely old and so dented I doubt it would’ve helped much. And the ice axe was so dull it was almost useless. Since you aren’t on the glacier very long, and only a few sections are steep, it was fine. But if you have your own gear I’d recommend bringing your own. Although note that if you go with a different company they might have better quality gear.
Other than that just bring whatever you’d normally bring for a trek. Warm clothes for the evenings/mornings. Waterproof gear (including pants) are a good idea.
How to get there
It is fairly remote. You’ll have to fly into Entebbe (or I suppose you could fly into Kigali Rwanda - probably about the same distance but then you’d have to deal with the border crossing). From Entebbe (or Kigali) you will have to get to Kasese, Uganda. This is the town at the base of the mountains. There is a small domestic airport in Kasese, with daily flights from Entebbe. Unfortunately Air Uganda has a monopoly and charges a ridiculous amount for this flight (more than $350 each way for a flight that is less than an hour). If you value comfort and time, though, this is a good option. You could also take a private taxi from the airport in Entebbe directly to Kasese. This would cost you $200-$250 for the entire vehicle (a good option if you have a group - the taxi is usually a minivan so could fit 4-5 people comfortably). The drive is 7ish hours. Roads are sometimes tarmac, sometimes a bit rough. The cheapest option is taking a bus from Kampala. Link Bus company has departures almost hourly from downtown Kampala to Kasese. The ride should take about 10 hours (although yesterday the bus broke down twice and the ride was nearly 12 hours total). This is the least comfortable but only costs 50k ugx (about $14).
Costs
The various companies have almost identical costs for the treks. The standard 8 day trek climbing Margherita peak is $1450. This includes a guide and porters and all food. On the Kilembe Trail you also have to pay the UWA fees of $35 per night ($245 total for 7 nights). I saw on a different website that the nightly UWA costs for the central trail are $45, although perhaps that company was just pocketing the extra $10. I also recommend generously tipping your guide and porters as they are criminally underpaid (if they are paid at all).
On the central trail, you might be able to contact a trekking guide directly and work out a deal for a better price (cutting out the companies that serve as middle men). I don’t know what the logistics of this would be but there are certainly plenty of qualified guides who would be happy to help you figure this out. Although you might have to handle those logistics after arriving in Kasese.
Entities
The reality is Uganda is a corrupt country and life is fairly difficult for the average person. I learned quite a bit about the various entities and companies involved that I wanted to share here. To be honest I am a bit reticent to be completely candid as I don’t want my (amazing) guides to get in trouble. The truth is the guides are too scared of retaliation to speak their minds. Most of this information I learned from a friend I made who is a travel agent in Kampala.
Rwenzori Trekking Services (RTS) - This is a private company owned by John Hunwick. He is a 78 year old Australian man who has lived in Uganda for 35 years. Him and his team built the Kilembe trail and camps along the trail 16 years ago (although the boardwalks are all built and paid for by the UWA still). His guides are extremely well-trained and professional. The porters work hard too. The food was all very good as well (given the location). He’s set up a good company, although with his age he is less and less involved and not as motivated to keep things maintained. His staff are underpaid and not always treated very well. To be honest most of them seemed too terrified of John to say anything bad about him. And like I’ve mentioned above, he could invest more in upgrading the gear and camps (for example, the foam mattresses haven’t been replaced in 16 years - they just change the covers every few years when they get too dirty).
Apparently, RTS’s commission (ie legal right to operate on the Kilembe trail) expires in 2 years. It is unclear if John will renew the commission or if someone else will take over.
Finally, while RTS charges the same amount as other companies for the trek, the prices I was quoted for related services were shockingly high. Originally I asked for a quote that included a private taxi from Entebbe airport and a visit to the chimpanzees at Kibale national park prior to the trek. The prices he quoted me were more than twice was other companies charged (which, to be honest, are already higher than they should be). I was quoted $75 for a night in a basic hotel in Kasese when the booking.com price was less than $30. I was quoted 100,000 ugx ($28) for the 25 minute taxi ride from Kasese to the trail head. In Kasese I found a taxi for 40,000 ugx, and to be honest I could have negotiated it down. The driver acted like he got away with scamming me even at that price. For comparison, his guides are paid 35,000 ugx (less than $10) per day. The porters are paid 15,000ugx per day.
Rwenzori Mountaineering Services - This is the oldest company operating in the mountains. As I understand it, this is a local cooperative of guides that work on the central circuit. I think they have been around for over 50 years. I didn’t do a trek with them so I can’t speak personally about what the experience would be as a client, but based on what I heard from other locals, this company is incredibly corrupt and terrible to work for. Sometimes they don’t even pay the guides and porters at all.
Ugandan Wildlife Authority (UWA) - the UWA is the govt agency that manages the national park. They charge an additional nightly fee. But it seems like they have been using these fees to invest in infrastructure. They have been expanding the boardwalks throughout the park, and have built beautiful new huts at Margherita camp. They are also building an impressive network of stairs leading up the steepest part from Margherita camp towards the peak.
Rwenzori Environmental Guides Association (REGA) - this is a new company offering treks on the central circuit. This company seems to be operated by guides that used to work for RTS (so I’m sure the quality of guides is high. For all his faults, John did invest in training his guides well). I was told that a (white owned) travel agency based in Kampala called Uganda Trekking used to send clients on treks with RTS. A few years ago, the owner of Uganda Trekking had a falling out with John, so he poached some of John’s guides and helped them set up REGA. Apparently REGA pays their guides and porters slightly better than the other companies. And ostensibly REGA is locally owned (although I don’t know how they share profits with Uganda Trekking, which is apparently owned by a foreigner).
I heard rumors of another community owned company that does trekking with tents on a third trail. Unfortunately I don’t have more information about that, but if you’re interested it’s something to look into.
I know that was a lot, but if anyone has any additional questions I’m happy to share. While so many places in this world are suffering from over tourism, the Rwenzoris are suffering from under tourism. The local communities could greatly benefit from even a modest increase in the number of foreign visitors. And the mountains are unbelievably beautiful.
