Rushaga Gorilla Lodge Review – Uganda Gorilla Trek

We stayed at the Rushaga Gorilla Lodge in Uganda, just outside of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park for two nights to do our gorilla trek. In this post, I’ll give you an honest review about what it’s like to stay at the Rushaga Gorilla Lodge in Uganda while on a safari.

Like nearly all safari lodges in East Africa, your tour operator will be booking your lodging, so you likely won’t have much of a choice on where you stay. What do you have a choice on is your ‘comfort/budget level.’ We went mid-range budget on our safari, so if you’re choosing that level, you might end up at the Rushaga Gorilla Lodge.

Another factor on where to stay in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is what gorilla group you’ve been assigned. When you book a gorilla trekking safari, your tour operator will take care of your gorilla trekking permit. When they get the permits, you are assigned a gorilla family. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is quite large and there are several sections of the park where you could possibly be assigned – we were in the Rushaga area. You likely won’t know this information when you book a safari. I don’t know if any one section is better than the other, but we easily saw our gorilla family on our trek!

Rushaga Gorilla Lodge – Location

This lodge is located just a few minutes away from the Rushaga entrance gate to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. This was much appreciated, as throughout our safaris, we’ve had incredibly long days in the car, so it was nice to have a 5 minute drive to the gorilla trek meeting point.

Rushaga Gorilla Lodge – Cost

I have absolutely no idea! And you won’t either; again, your tour operator will book your lodging based on your budget. If you’re going the ultra luxury route, you will not be staying here!

Rushaga Gorilla Lodge – Rooms

The bungalows were very spacious and pretty decent, overall — they are nestled in the woods and feel like treehouses — they’re pretty cool. Throughout our three weeks in East Africa, we had our ups and downs with lodging; some places were amazing, while others — well, we couldn’t wait to leave. Rushaga Gorilla Lodge was more at the top of the list. This was the last place we stayed on our East Africa trip before going home so it was nice to end on a high note.

We had a room with two queen beds. The mattresses were firm (as with most places we stayed on our trip) but we still got a good night sleep. We had plenty of hot water, we had electricity throughout our stay (except for one night when there was a lightening storm that cut the power for about an hour). The room had a large deck to enjoy the beautiful views.

However, this lodge is located on the mountainside, so there’s a network of steep stairs to the various bungalows. If you or someone in your party has issues with stairs, you might want to avoid staying here.

Amenities at the Rushaga Gorilla Lodge

Surprisingly, there were quite a few amenities here. There was a small gym, a large pool (but it was drained for the season during our stay in March), a bar, lots of outdoor space to relax and enjoy a meal or a beverage. Wifi is available in the restaurant/main lodge.

The food was, like most places we stayed on safari, mediocre. The best thing we had was bruschetta and it was amazing. The rest of the meals we had just weren’t very good. Breakfast was practically inedible and the coffee was horrific.

Our Experience Staying at the Rushaga Gorilla Lodge

We arrived in the late afternoon after an absolutely grueling day on the road. We had about an 8 hour drive from the Caves Lodge in Queen Elizabeth National Park to here. Think muddy washed out roads high up in the mountains — fishtailing nearly off the side of a cliff…in the rain…it was pure hell. My sister was crying, I was scared for my life. We thought we were going to die. In all my travels, it was one of the scariest experiences I’ve ever had. Rushaga is a very isolated area of Uganda and it’s a bitch getting here to say the least.

We made it though, and when we finally arrived after that beast of a drive, the Rushaga Gorilla Lodge looked promising.

But again — like the other places we stayed in Uganda and Tanzania, no one was here. It was just us and that freaked us the hell out.

The view from this place is amazing – Uganda is absolutely beautiful. The lodge overlooks the forest and you can see the fog roll in and out through the trees – it’s gorgeous!

When we went to dinner our first night here, we were pleasantly surprised to see that another guest was here — it was a couple from the UK. We were extremely relieved to see them — we just hated being the only guests at these lodges. (They were so friendly too — and ended up being on our gorilla trek the next morning).

On our walk back to our room, it was raining and we saw the largest worm I’ve ever seen:

The next morning, because we were so close to the meeting point, we had plenty of time to enjoy our breakfast before heading off on our gorilla trek.

Related: How to chose a tour operator for your African safari

After the gorilla trek, my sister and I just went back to the lodge to relax. We hung out on the patio, drank a bunch of Fantas (no Coke Zero at this place, unfortunately), and just chilled. It was nice to just relax after three weeks of being constantly on the go, tossed around in safari vehicles. It was nice to just enjoy the scenery here and relax — definitely happy that the Rushaga Gorilla Lodge was the place where we ended our trip.

Final Thoughts – Rushaga Gorilla Lodge – Pros and Cons

I enjoyed my stay at the Rushaga Gorilla Lodge – while not the nicest place we stayed on our trip, everything was decent. The views are amazing here but it was a bit unnerving that there was one other couple here during our stay. I like a place that’s a bit more lively. But we did travel in late March, which is the start of low season, so maybe it’s more spirited during the busier times.

Pros – Rushaga Gorilla Lodge Uganda:
Lovely views
Huge bungalows that feel like tree houses!
Staff washes your shoes after your trek. I don’t know what they did but they made my old running shoes look brand new.
Located only 5 minutes away from the gorilla trek meeting point

Cons
Food could be better
No coke zero
Mattresses were a bit too firm