Gorilla Trekking via Public Transportation

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cfunkhou
cfunkhou

I am traveling solo to Uganda and have booked a gorilla permit for October 8th. I am only in Uganda for two weeks and I wanted to make the most of it. I have a question about getting to Buhoma from Kampala. I see that there are direct buses from Kampala to Butogota which leave at approximately 6AM. However, I hear that is a little more tricky to get from Butogota to Buhoma.

I would prefer to spend one day traveling from Kampala to Buhoma, as my time is limited. However I do not want to risk missing my Gorilla trek. Do you think I can reliably get to Buhoma from Kampala in one day? Or would it be better that I have a buffer day? Does anyone know a private transportation company which can provide transportation for a reasonable price if not?

One more question - I also want to make a trip to queen elizabeth NP. Is there a way to travel from Bwindi to queen elizabeth via public transportation? I feel like it would be a waste to travel back to kampala to go back to QE. Thanks and I appreciate the help!

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overblood
overblood

Your plan in possible - I did the exact same thing. I got the Gateway bus from Kampala to Butogota and arrived at about 8pm where there was a pickup waiting to transport anyone from the bus straight to the park gates. It wasn't an official park pickup it was just some private transort bringing beers and other supplies to the park HQ, I think I paid about 10,000shillings for the ride - and it was an amazing ride. Flying up a tiny dirtroad through the bush on the back of a pickup at night is pretty exciting! I'm not sure if that pickup waits for the gateway bus every night though so you may be relying on luck... and I'm not sure about accomodation in Butogota.

As for getting to Queen Elizabeth, I hitched a ride with a young couple who were passing through a town called Mbarara from where you can get a matatu to a village called something like Katunguru. From this village you can hire a taxi to bring you to the hostel inside the park gates. I can't remember how much I paid the guy but make sure you have lots of cash as the park entrance fee is 30dollars per 24hrs and the hostel is 30,000shillings per night. There is cheaper accommodation in queen elizabeth, it's called the Student Center, I stayed there for 10,000 a night but it's pretty scary as it's far from the HQ and there is no staff or kitchen or food or ANYTHING! Just some showers and pit latrines outside, but I couldn't use them as I always returned at night and lions roam around outside after 7pm. You hear creepy sounds at night....

Anyways, once you're done with the gorillas you could ask the other tourists there if any of them are passsing through Mbarara on their way to their next destination. If you can't find someone to bum along with you can get the Gateway bus back the next morning, I think that passes through Mbarara. Get off at Mbarara and ask around for a taxi/matatu to Katunguru. Anyways, this info isn't guaranteed, the basic jist is that your plan is possible and has been done by me in December 2009.

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cfunkhou
cfunkhou

Thanks a lot for the reply - it was really helpful. I think I'm going to try take the same route to Queen elizabeth

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