Our guide/driver will collect you from your hotel and transfer you to the Rwenzori Mountains National Park gate at Nyakalengija. Your hike activity starts from the park gate and continues to Nyabitaba Camp, a distance of 7km taking 5-6 hours and with an ascent of 1200 meters.
Initially the trail goes through small villages and fields and progresses through high elephant grasses and dense bush. You will climb over cliffs and bluffs crossing the Mahoma River before ascending steeply into Nyabitaba Camp. Certain animals can be spotted such as the Black and White Colobus monkey, the Three -horned Chameleon and the incredible Rwenzori Turaco birds.
You will enjoy dinner and an overnight rest at the Nyabitaba camp.
From Nyabitaba you descend to your right and follow the trail that drops down through the forest for a half an hour to the Kurt Shafer bridge, just before the confluence of the Mubuku and Bujuku rivers.
The walk is then easy going for a couple of hours, passing through the bamboo forest and then becomes more difficult with a similarity to spelunking while traversing through a long and exhausting stretch of slippery moss-covered rocks. From the Nyamileju rock shelter, Mount Stanley and Mount Speke can be seen before passing into the zone of giant heather, lobelia and groundsel. Finally we reach John Matte Camp after passing through the tiring bog. While here there are high chances of catching good views of Mount Stanley and the Margherita Glacier.
Dinner and overnight at the John Matte Camp.
From John Matte Camp the trail drops down to cross the Bujuku River and enters Lower Bigo Bog, the home of giant lobelias. Jumping from tussock to tussock, the bog is finally crossed but rarely without the feet sampling some of the freezing ooze, before continuing on to the Upper Bigo Bog following the Bujuku River that sometimes runs underground from Lake Bujuku, with views of Mount Baker to the South and Mount Stanley to the west. Bujuku Camp is well located well located in the shadows of Mount Baker and Mount Speke and is set in a narrow valley below Stuhlmann’s Pass.
Dinner and an overnight rest at Bujuku Camp.
Wake up early in the morning for breakfast and thereafter the trail ascends steeply through the afro alpine zones up to Stulman’s Pass at 4150m where, depending on the weather conditions, you can get a clear view of the Bujuku valley, Mount Stanley, Mount Baker and homesteads of people in the Democratic Republic of Congo. After a short rest at Stuhlmann’s Pass take the path continues up to Mount Speke Victoria Emanuelle peak at 4890m above sea level. After a wonderful time on the top on the summit we will return back to Bujuku Camp for dinner and an overnight rest.
You will leave Bujuku Camp early in the morning as this tends to be the longest walk of the trek, all the way from Bujuku Camp down to Nyakalengija. The trail takes you down to the shores of Bujuku Lake and down to the Upper Bigo Bog through the heather or rupenia zone. Take a short stop over at John Matte Camp for a trail packed lunch and then continue on the path down to Nyabitaba Camp for a hot lunch before continuing the descent down to Nyakalengija for transfer to your next destination. In total this is a 14km walk and is anticipated to take approximately 12 hours while descending 2150m in height.
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