If you’re looking for an independent (and customizable) trip to Rwanda or Uganda, look no further than 4×4 Car Hire Uganda. I chose 4×4 Car Hire Uganda, as the price was the best I’ve got and the reviews were good. Communication with Maike before and during the rental was fast and efficient.

I have rented a Land Cruiser with rooftop tent  for 3 weeks and was very happy with my choice. As it was rainy season during my stay, I was happy to have a 4×4 wheel drive.

Moses is the most responsive owner/manager you could ever hope to work with. We tailored a few tours together starting in Rwanda (Akagera and Volcanoes National Parks) then crossed Uganda driving towards Kidepo through other parks.

While we never met Moses in person, he communicated via what’s up and by phone. The most telling piece about Moses is the fact that his guides love working for him. This speaks volumes about a boss. 4×4 Car Hire Uganda rocks.

Our trip started off in Volcanoes National Park, a Rwandan sector of the 8000km² Virunga massif. The greater conservation area encompasses six active and three extinct volcanoes, straddling the borders of Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The mountain gorillas move freely between the countries, with the greatest number of habituated groups residing in Volcanoes National Park, making Rwanda arguably the best place in Africa to go gorilla trekking.

We did a Mountain gorilla trekking in this park. With the 2017 gorilla census revealing a total mountain gorilla population of just over 1063 of these engaging primates in all of Africa, gorilla trekking is truly one of the thrilling life experiences in Rwanda and Uganda. Rwandan gorilla permits aren’t cheap at $1500 per trekker, and your permit allows just one hour in the company of these cousins.

Watching the gorilla family interact, eat, play, tease, doze and groom each other is just a priceless moment. Sitting quietly among a family of these gentle giants is a bucket list experience for any serious wildlife enthusiast: it is an extraordinary hour that you will remember forever. We stayed at mountain gorilla view lodge.

We also visited Golden Monkeys, these fascinating primates are quite used to tourists and, as such, one can approach them within a meter or so before they move away. The golden monkey is found in the Virunga volcanic mountains of Central Africa, including four national parks: Mgahinga, in south-west Uganda; Volcanoes, in north-west Rwanda.

This primate is restricted to highland forest, especially near bamboo. They live in social groups of up to 30 individuals, their diet consisting mainly of bamboo, leaves and fruit, and insects. Due to the gradual destruction of their habitat and recent wars in their limited habitat, the golden monkey is listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List.

We did also visit the Iby’Iwacu Cultural Village, Kinigi. The village is fascinating, with a variety of cultural experiences where the visitor can learn about traditional agricultural working practices and participate in food preparation and processes such as: millet grinding using stones: carrying potatoes and water on their heads and preparing a local dish. Every evening the village members gather around a campfire and begin a session of storytelling and dancing.

The staff at the cultural village, the guides and porters who navigate tourists to the golden monkey sites and the trackers who take tourists to the trek the gorilla families, are almost exclusively ex-poachers and their family members who have been trained to use their former skills more productively in the development of tourism in the area and conservation that this fund.

Crossing borders from Rwanda to Uganda with our 4×4 Land Cruiser. Moses had already cleared all the border papers. Finally, we crossed the border into Uganda, staying in Kisoro in preparation for gorilla trekking in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Kisoro. Despite being Uganda’s only other haven for the endangered mountain gorilla, Mgahinga is far less visited than its illustrious neighbor in Bwindi.

Although the park is small, it can be an awesome spot for trekking to see primates. Mgahinga is home to just one habituated gorilla group and they regularly cross the border into Volcanoes National Park in neighboring Rwanda, thereby preventing tourists from viewing them.

The trek to find a gorilla family, can take from 2 – 6 hours depending on the movement of the group of gorillas you are trekking.  There is a briefing beforehand explaining the parameters within which you are permitted to interact with the gorilla group. These beautiful creatures, whilst wild, are habituated and treated us with total indifference. The ‘baby’, however did show interest, approaching us on a number of occasions and attempting to steal a small shiny camera!!

Within 10 minutes of our arrival – we were crouched in against trees silently taking photos the silver back father arrived, checked us out and then proceeded to sit further up the slope and demolish branches from the small tree he had chosen to feed from.

Watching the small family, we saw reflections of humanity. The interaction between the individuals was intense, often tender and intensely moving. The silver back was magnificent, weighing approx. 250 kg, with a dark intelligent frown. Branches gave in to him without resistance.

Forty-five minutes later, the group became bored with us and wandered off to find further areas of vegetation on which they might graze. The trackers then took us to see two other (solitary) silver backs, which were part of the same family. We found all three trips: monkeys, cultural village and gorilla trek comparable with any other wild life experience, having previously been on safaris, dolphin watching, diving on the barrier reef etc., but the gorilla trek was undoubtedly the most rewarding and satisfying.

I recommend 4×4 Car Hire Uganda to everyone interesting in this type of exploring this beautiful land.