How many days is the 9 Days Rwenzori Margherita Peak Trek?

The 9 Days Rwenzori Margherita Peak Trek is 9 days and 8 nights, operating year-round from Uganda.

How much does the 9 Days Rwenzori Margherita Peak Trek cost?

The 9 Days Rwenzori Margherita Peak Trek is priced on request depending on your group size, dates, and accommodation preferences. Contact Orika Africa Tours for a free tailor-made quote: hi@orikaafrica.com or +256 707 916 185.

What is included in the 9 Days Rwenzori Margherita Peak Trek?

The 9 Days Rwenzori Margherita Peak Trek in Uganda includes all accommodation, meals, park fees, private safari vehicle with an experienced guide-driver, and 24/7 support from Orika Africa Tours. Uganda's UTB-licensed Tour Operator & DMC. We welcome solo travellers, couples, families, and larger groups.

Is the 9 Days Rwenzori Margherita Peak Trek suitable for first-time safari visitors?

Yes. Orika Africa Tours designs every itinerary from scratch around your group's fitness, interests, and budget. The 9 Days Rwenzori Margherita Peak Trek is available as a private safari, no shared vehicles, no fixed groups, ever.

What is the best time to go on the 9 Days Rwenzori Margherita Peak Trek in Uganda?

The 9 Days Rwenzori Margherita Peak Trek in Uganda runs year-round. The dry seasons (June to August and December to February) offer the best conditions for game drives and trekking. Contact Orika Africa Tours for month-by-month advice.

9 Days Rwenzori Margherita Peak Trek

9 days is the great Rwenzori expedition, a climb to Margherita Peak, at 5,109 metres the highest point of the Rwenzori and the third highest summit in Africa. The Central Circuit carries you from farmland and montane forest through bamboo and the surreal afro-alpine moorland of giant lobelia and groundsel, across bogs and glaciers, to the snow and ice of the Mountains of the Moon.

It is a demanding, deeply rewarding trek for fit and well-prepared walkers, with the summit day calling for some basic glacier travel alongside expert mountain guides. Read more in the Uganda destination guide, and pack with our safari packing list.

Prefer a shorter, non-technical introduction? The 5 Days Rwenzori Mahoma Loop Trek samples the lower zones and Lake Mahoma. To combine the mountains with wildlife, see the 11 Days Classic Uganda Wildlife Safari.

Trip Highlights

Summit Margherita Peak at 5,109m, the roof of the Rwenzori
Glaciers, bogs and the afro-alpine world of the Mountains of the Moon
The Central Circuit through every Rwenzori vegetation zone
Views of Mount Stanley, Mount Speke and Mount Baker
The historic Bujongolo base camp of the 1906 Abruzzi expedition
Expert mountain guides, porters and full camp support

Day-by-Day Itinerary

Your driver-guide collects you from Entebbe or Kampala for the drive west to the Rwenzori Mountains. On arrival you check in at the foot of the range, with the rest of the day at leisure to rest and prepare for the climb ahead.

After arranging guides, a chef and porters, you set out from the park gate on the first leg, a climb of around 1,200 metres over seven kilometres. The trail rises through farmland and dense bush, over cliffs and across the Mahoma River, with colobus monkeys, chameleons and the Rwenzori turaco along the way, to Nyabitaba Camp.

Dropping to the Kurt Shafer bridge near the confluence of the Mubuku and Bujuku rivers, the trail eases through bamboo before a tougher stretch over moss-covered rock. From the Nyamileju shelter the peaks of Stanley and Speke come into view as you enter the zone of giant heather, lobelia and groundsel, reaching John Matte Camp by evening.

You cross the Bujuku River into the Bigo Bog, hopping from tussock to tussock through a world of giant lobelias, then follow the river up past Lake Bujuku with Mount Baker to the south and Mount Stanley to the west. Bujuku Camp sits in a narrow valley in the shadow of the peaks, below Stuhlmann Pass.

Climbing west of the lake and up the magical groundsel gully, you ascend towards Scott Elliot Pass, where a metal ladder eases a steep section. The right-hand trail leads up over large boulders to Elena Hut, perched high among the rock at the foot of the Stanley glacier, where summit climbers spend a cold night.

A pre-dawn start carries you onto the Stanley glacier for the summit bid. The climb to Margherita, at 5,109 metres the highest point of the Rwenzori, takes five to seven hours across glaciers, rock and exposed ground, and is reserved for fit and well-prepared climbers. After the summit you descend through Scott Elliot Pass, with views over Lake Bujuku and the surrounding peaks, to the Kitandara Lakes.

The trail climbs steeply to Freshfield Pass at 4,280 metres, with views west into the Congo and north to Mount Stanley, then takes the long route down past the historic Bujongolo rock shelter, base camp for the Duke of Abruzzi's 1906 expedition, to Guy Yeoman Camp.

A long descent down the cliffs of Kichuchu and through the bamboo zone brings you to Nyabitaba and on down to Nyakalengija and a hot shower. With the mountains behind you, the evening is yours to rest at the lodge.

After breakfast you transfer with a packed lunch to Kasese airstrip for the scheduled flight to Entebbe and your onward connection.