6 Days Rwenzori Central Circuit Trek starts at the Entebbe International airport where you meet our driver guide who takes you to the South Western Part of Uganda at the stunning Mountain Rwenzori National Park where you hike the majestic Mountain Rwenzori.
Trip Overview of the 6 Days Rwenzori Central Circuit Trek
Day 1: Nyakalengija (1,615m) to Nyabitaba Camp (2,651m)
Day 2: Nyabitaba to John Matte Camp (3,505m)
Day 3: John Matte to Bujuku Camp (3,962m)
Day 4: Bujuku to Kitandara Camp (4,023–4,430m)
Day 5: Kitandara to Guy Yeoman Camp (3,261m) via Freshfield Pass
Day 6: Guy Yeoman to Nyakalengija (1,615m) via Nyabitaba
Detailed Itinerary of the 6 Days Rwenzori Central Circuit Trek
Day 1: Nyakalengija to Nyabitaba Camp
You start at the Rwenzori Mountains National Park gate at Nyakalengija just outside Kasese for a distance of 10 kms on a hike of 3 to 4 hours for a elevation of 1,036m. You shall meet a UWA ranger who takes you through short briefing and gear check then later, you shall meet the guide and porter team and collect gum boots (mandatory — the trail floods with mud higher up).
The first stretch winds through cultivated Bakonjo farmland and banana groves before dropping into dense montane forest along the Mubuku River. On hike, you watch the black-and-white colobus monkeys and turaco calls overhead. You’ll cross a few landslide sections before a steady climb through fern and podocarpus forest to Nyabitaba Hut, the first overnight stop.
Day 2: Nyabitaba to John Matte Camp
The trail drops from Nyabitaba down to the Kurt Schafer Bridge for a distance of 9 kms hiking for 5 to 6 hours following a dramatic wooden suspension crossing over the confluence of the Mubuku and Bujuku rivers. From there it’s a climb through bamboo forest into heather zone, then onto the notorious Bigo Bog — a boardwalk of wooden planks over black mud that can be waist-deep off the boards (this is where the gum boots earn their keep). Vegetation shifts noticeably here: giant heather draped in old man’s beard lichen. Camp is at John Matte, with your first real views of the peaks ahead.
Day 3: John Matte to Bujuku Camp
A shorter but increasingly surreal day for a distance of 7 kms in a period of 4 to 5 hours passing through the Bigo and Bujuku bogs into the Afro-alpine zone, where giant lobelias and groundsels (some centuries old) dominate the landscape. You’ll skirt Lake Bujuku, with Mt. Speke, Mt. Baker, and Mt. Stanley all visible depending on cloud cover. This is prime altitude-adjustment territory — the terrain gets rockier and colder.
Day 4: Bujuku to Kitandara Camp
The high point of the trip. Many itineraries include a side option here to push partway toward Scott Elliot Pass for closer views of Mt. Stanley’s glaciers (full summit requires additional days and technical gear). You follow the hike for a distance of 5 kms in a period of 4 to 5 hours via the main trail climbs steeply to Kitandara Camp, set beside two small alpine lakes directly beneath Mt. Baker’s rock walls — widely considered the most scenic camp on the circuit.
Day 5: Kitandara to Guy Yeoman Camp via Freshfield Pass
The hardest day. A steep morning climb to Freshfield Pass (4,282m) rewards you with views west into DR Congo. This hike takes you a distance of 10 kms in a period of 6 to 7 hours as you descend past Bujongolo rock shelter — the historic 1906 base camp of the Duke of Abruzzi’s expedition, the first to summit the range. Long, tiring, spectacular.
Day 6: Guy Yeoman to Nyakalengija via Nyabitaba
The longest day by distance. Descend the Kichuchu cliffs, back through bamboo and forest, past Nyabitaba for a final rest stop, then down to the trailhead. The hike takes a distance of 19 kms in a period of 7 to 8 hours. You’ll arrive at Nyakalengija in the afternoon, exhausted, for the drive back to Kasese and a hot shower.