Bwindi impenetrable national park is situated in the southwestern region of Uganda and is dominated by montane forest covering an area of 321sq.km. it is the largest park holding a big number of mountain gorillas in the world over 600 endangered gorillas with 18 habituated gorilla families trekked in different sectors of the park such as Buhoma, Ruhija, Nkuringo, and Rushaga sectors. These host different gorilla families such as the Rushegura gorilla family Nkuringo gorilla family, Mubare gorilla family Mishaya gorilla family, Bitukura gorilla family, Nshongi gorilla family, Oruzogo gorilla family, Habinyanja gorilla family, Nyakagezi group, and many others
Bwindi impenetrable national park is known for its diversity of wildlife ranging from animals, bird species, primate species, plant life, amphibians, and reptiles which attracts tourists from different countries annually. It’s a known destination for mountain gorillas in Uganda and a few in Mgahinga national park in the Kisoro district. the park has a variety of good-looking accommodation facilities offering tranquility moments to tourists that come for adventure. Below are some of the luxury lodges that provide extraordinary accommodation facilities to park tourists
Buhoma Lodge
It is located just near the edge of the park a few meters from the park headquarters, one of the best lodges facilities-built protruding in the central area with beautiful attractive chattels that gives a striking appearance view of the park forest.it is situated within the park in the Buhoma area designed with a parlor, comfortable indoor and outdoor platform, a bar, dining room built-in wooden raised architecture that gives a comfortable enjoyment while in the park.
Buhoma lodge consists of 10 shacks well designed with fitted bathrooms, and a private veranda providing a wide view of the park. Shacks were built on a raised surface creating beautiful visibility through the park’s surrounding resources. The rooms are well-sized ranging from twin beds to single beds and a family cabin with 2 bedrooms plus a cottage suitable for honeymoon.
It has a main building well thatched with the lawns and encircled with wooded poles that are combined with dining and a restaurant area together with the bar that serves all kinds of beverages such as cocktail juice wines spirits and bears plus a variety of appetizing dishes prepared by professional chefs both local and continental meals.
While accessing rooms of this lodge they are raised high with stairs connecting to each other and each room is provided with free wi-fi, an open veranda self-contained with bathtubs and flush toilets
Lodge facilities were built on a raised surface in a treehouse design, which provides a panoramic view of different creatures like monkeys, different bird species, and majestic chimpanzees that come closer to room verandas during night hours.
Buhoma lodge also provides natural walks through different park trails to various animals and birds and vegetation cover adventure. cultural encounters with different communities such as the Batwa and Bakiga tribes are such an amazing adventure, get to know their history back then before occupying park territories, their way of surviving, and many other things that attract visitors.
Gorilla Forest Camp
It’s a luxury safari camp situated on a flat ridge within the forest a few meters away from the starting point of gorilla tracking in the forest. The camp is one of the few sites that are located within the park forest, it provides 10 beautiful luxury private safari tents well designed in an outstanding design on the hill slopes well established and furnished with tree boards portraying the real African print, each tent has a spacious walled bathroom and private area with a bathtub for relaxing after hectic trekking of gorillas.
Gorilla forest camp is occupied by a variety of trees that provide natural fresh air and give a bright light in the morning when the sun rises due to few spaced tents within the camp. Tents are distributed with electricity all over their fences and water supply all day to give you a comfortable stay for your adventure. it provides free wi-fi internet access to visitors to always keep updated outside the adventure.
It contains a beautiful well-built lounge with a dining space and a bar that is well-stocked with adequate drinks all the time and a tailor-made campfire where visitors always gather in the evening to enjoy exchanging experiences of the day’s trekking. The camp provides extraordinary service delivery to their visitor through experienced staff that is always ready to give you the best services whenever you want, in terms of meals they have all kinds of dishes both local and international cuisines that gives essence taste in the mouth, they serve a traditional meal of Kalo serves with smoked beef in G-nuts that taste delicious.
Its technical location gives visitors the opportunity to access primates (mountain gorillas and monkeys) that visit the camp during the day this provides an extra experience with them for free away from the forest track. it’s also a wonderful view for bird watching for those interested in birds. Sanctuary Gorilla camp also provides different amenities to visitors including a wellness Spa for cool sweet massage treats after a long day in the park, and beauty therapy for body rehydration which makes it the best camp for your stay.
Clouds Mountain Gorilla Lodge: Clouds mountain gorilla lodge is situated in the nkuringo sector within the national park, it contains 8 enormous cottages designed in rock stones. Clouds gorilla lodge contribute a magnificent view that spreads over Virunga and volcanoes in Rwanda as well as DR Congo where mountain Nyiragongo volcano is clearly seen in a distance. The chairs on the verandas and in the dining area are well sheltered with cotton/fiber providing a comfortable relaxation Each cottage accommodates a sizeable en-suite bathroom, showers, and a private lounge.
Nkuringo Gorilla Lodge: The Nkuringo gorilla lodge Located within the national park in the southern area provides easy access to gorilla tracking. It is located in the heart of habituated sector (Nkuringo sector) which comprises about 3 gorilla families which makes the activity easier to start hence you don’t need to travel a far distance to trek gorillas.
Nkuringo gorilla lodge is the best safari lodge I can recommend for someone interested in a luxury comfort stay in Bwindi national park, it has a committed and experienced team that showers visitors with extraordinary service delivery. This made nkuringo safari lodge the best and recognized among others and won the WTA’s (World Travel Award) in 2016.
It was constructed on Nteko ridge, at the fringe of the forest. There are 10 lovely cottages that were constructed with the elegance of flowers and trees, filled with large rooms embellished with lights, and offering a lovely view of the mountain ranges. For families or parties vacationing together, It has its own cabin. It has two bars and a large dining room where guests may sample a variety of foods that are all expertly made by chefs and served by waiters and waitresses with knowledge of their craft.
Nkuringo cottages are self-contained with free wi-fi internet, en-suite bathrooms, modern flushing toilets, and enormous beds that allow a comfortable rest while enjoying the serene beauty of the forest wilderness and other attractions.
The lodge provides extra activities to children below 15 years who are not permitted for gorilla tracking to keep them busy while waiting for elders to come back. It also offers cultural walks to different communities of Bakiga and Batwa that occupied the park territory, hiking through the forest and canoeing on lake Mutanda spending time on one of its islands
The lodge provides a beautiful well-designed garden to relax after a long gorilla tracking encounter during the day. It also provides different massage parlors such as Swedish massage to visitors to set back their moods and relax their bodies
Buhoma community rest camp
The camp was built in 1993 close to the park as a joint venture between the Uganda wildlife authorities and the Buhoma community. It features 6 nicely furnished, independent cottages, 2 large, non-independent dormitories, and a number of camping areas. Each self-contained room has a large bed space, bathroom, and toilet. It is located in the northern Buhoma section of Bwindi National Park, close to the low-cost safari hotels constructed there. visitors that come to this park to go for gorilla trekking are reasonably priced but high-quality services.
It has well-laid camping sites that offer beautiful forest and community views to tourists while enjoying the cool breeze. Its decorated beautiful facilities were designed in African style suitable for both gorilla trekkers and backpackers
Ruhija Gorilla Safari Lodge: It is situated within the Ruhija sector. It’s one of the best-class lodges in Bwindi impenetrable national park. This lodge is surrounded by beautiful and magnificent mother nature with thrilling serenity views of different park resources that provides comfort to enjoy the calmness of the environment.
Ruhija provides luxury services to visitors through their welcoming staff regardless of their status. Safari rooms are well designed and spacious with comfortable beds fully furnished with self-contained facilities that include a bathtub, modern toilets, and a large veranda that provides a comfortable view of forests.
It has a beautiful and spacious lounge with an inbuilt restaurant/dining area that prepares tasty meals both locally and internationally. A supper bar fully occupied with different sorts of beverages. Ruhija safari lodge has a gift shop within its premises that exhibit different African handmade crafts to attract visitors interested in memory remembrance.
The lodge has a small library with a number of books portraying travel adventure series to make visitors relax their minds. The lodge’s scenic view provides access to various animals, monkeys gorillas, insects, and birds having different sound melodies that are interesting to hear.
Attractions associated with the lodges in Bwindi national park.
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is home to more than half of the mountain gorilla population in Africa approximately over 400 individuals and this is the only park where mountain gorillas and chimpanzees co-exist together, however, there are other attractions including animals about 120 species (more than any park in Uganda except Queen Elizabeth), birds (estimated about 360 species), about 300 species of butterflies( including 2 endangered species of swallowtails), trees about 200 species, plants and many species of reptiles and amphibians including frogs.
The park area is regarded as the most biologically diverse forest in Africa with the richest fauna community in east Africa. The flawless rainforests of the park known as the largest natural forest in East Africa, act as a home to butterflies, reptiles, and mammals. The rugged terrain of Bwindi Impenetrable forest national park is stiff which makes gorilla tracking in this place strenuous work and visitors should be prepared for long hours therefore good physical condition is required.
Gorilla trekking
This is the popular attraction in Bwindi national park that attracts tourists worldwide, it occupies almost half of the mountain gorilla population in Africa approximately 400 individuals are found in this forest. It is the best park to track gorillas in all three countries; Rwanda and DR Congo. One should obtain a gorilla permit before proceeding for gorillas in the park, in Uganda each gorilla permit costs 700USD.
Gorilla tracking is carried out early in the morning hours, and it usually takes between 2-6 hours in the forest searching for gorillas, you may be lucky to trace them within or less than an hour depending on their location. It’s always done through guided walk trails to the dense tropical forest searching for giant gorillas in their nests
Gorilla habituation; this is done mostly in the Rushaga area in Bwindi that involves walking through the protected forest collecting data and studying the mountain gorillas and their families at large with researchers, they need to spend some time once encountered interacting with them and learning different things about them like their behaviors but this allows only with a gorilla permit.
Cultural walk: This activity will introduce to you many different things that do occur in the community, visitors will revive the practices and lives of Batwa people who were evacuated from the park before occupying the park borders, and they will share and demonstrate how they lived, cooked, hunted and their knowledge of plants that they used for medicine. They depended mostly on this park forest and used to co-exist with the wild animals in the park.
Bird watching:
The impenetrable forest act as birders nests every birder should not miss due to its big number of bird species, there are about 14 birds recorded nowhere else in the parks such as the African green broadbill which is only found in the Ruhija section, and some parts of Congo. Other birds that can be traced include; the blue-headed sunbird, short-tailed warbler, Rwenzori nightjar, and others, this activity becomes interesting when you carry binoculars. Travelers interesting in birding should visit our 12-days birding itinerary in the Albertine regions to explore more endemic and other local birds inhabit in Uganda.
Nature walks: There are well-guided nature walks with different trails in the park that visitors take to enjoy and explore different natures like a forest, the amazing waterfalls that can be accessed through the Muyanga river trail, lake mutanda in the southern part of the park are beautiful and thirsty-quenching that every visitor should visit to wind off after a tiresome day of gorilla trekking animals and plants in the park through Buhoma-nkuringo trail that makes your tour more memorable. Book our 3 days trip to Bwindi impenetrable national park to enjoy the indigenous Batwa tribe found on the outskirts of the park to experience their thrilling culture.
