Tourists flock to Uganda and the rest of East Africa in order to experience the famous Uganda gorilla safaris in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, which is located in the southern part of Uganda bordering the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is in the vicinity of the Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Over 480 mountain gorillas, half of the world’s population of critically endangered species, call this park home. The park was gazetted in 1991 and proclaimed a UNESCO world heritage center in 1994. More than 345 species of birds, 221 species of butterflies, and 120 species of mammals call this park home. These animals include Red tailed monkeys, velvet monkeys, baboons, Columbus monkeys, and many others.

Bwindi national park is 321 square kilometers in size and is located between 1200 and 2600 meters above sea level in the Kigezi highlands.

The popularity of Bwindi Forest National Park grew exponentially after the introduction of the gorilla trekking experience. The world’s surviving mountain gorillas call the Bwindi forest home. Poaching, loss of habitat, and the spread of illness have all contributed to the plight of these gentle giants. In contrast to the other Ugandan national parks and tourist attractions, mountain gorillas are the single largest source of income for UWA (Uganda Wildlife Authority).

A tropical rainforest, the average annual temperature in the forest is between 7 and 15 degrees Celsius, and the average annual rainfall is between 1,400 and 1,900 millimeters. IN general, the Bwindi forest experiences its heaviest rainfall between the months of March and April, and again between the months of September and November.

Attractions In Bwindi National Park

Mountain gorillas

 Bwindi Forest National Park is most famous for its population of mountain gorillas. Over 450 of the world’s mountain gorillas call this park home, and you may see them all by visiting one of the park’s four designated gorilla trekking sectors.

Buhoma, Ruhija, Nkuringo, and Rushaga are the four gorilla trekking sectors in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Visitors for gorilla habituation exercises are only allowed in the Rushaga area. Permits to visit the mountain gorillas are distributed in a systematic manner across the many gorilla sectors. There are around 19 separate gorilla families spread over the four sectors in Bwindi, and each sector issues a total of 8 trekking permits per day.

However, chimpanzees are thought to live in the park’s woodland even if they are not accustomed to being tracked by tourists. Leave aside the fact that other tiny primate species, such as colobus, mangabeys, and L’Hoest’s monkeys, can be seen in the forest while on a nature walk or while doing gorilla trekking.

Bird species

The park is a great place to go birding in Africa because of the abundance of birds there. More than 350 different bird species call it home, of which 14 are unique to Bwindi Forest and 23 are indigenous to the Albertine Rift. The western green tinker bird, yellow-streaked greenbul, dwarf honey guide, strange weaver, black bee-eater, red-throated alethe, grey gecko-shrike, francolins, Chapin’s flycatcher, and other birds can all be seen in the forest. These can be seen by taking the Mubwindi marsh, bamboo, and Buhoma routes, which are the best birding paths.

Batwa pygmy people

They are the original inhabitants of Bwindi Forest, but they were forced to relocate to the park’s edge once the area was declared a national park. The Batwa are known as forest guardians who subsist by hunting and fruit collection. These individuals have refused to change their ways and continue to engage in archaic practices. When you visit the park, you can meet these folks and learn about their culture while also participating in numerous entertaining local activities.

ACTIVITIES IN BWINDI IMPENETRABLE NATIONAL PARK

GORILLA TREKKING

Tourists can go “gorilla trekking” in Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, where they can observe and photograph the endangered mountain gorilla in its natural habitat.

Trekking for gorillas is an unforgettable adventure. It’s an adventure that reveals Uganda’s hidden gems. One of Uganda’s most popular tourist attractions is the population of mountain gorillas. The adventure and thrills you’ll feel while traveling alongside these massive gentle apes are well worth the effort.

Trekking mountain gorillas in Bwindi Forest can be made at any time of the year. The months of June through September and December through February are the greatest months to see the greatest number of visitors seeking to trek mountain gorillas.

GORILLA HABITUATION

Bwindi impenetrable national park also offers gorilla habituation whereby tourists spend more than usual time with gorillas that’s 4 hours but it’s limited to only four people. The experience gives a person a chance to learn more about gorillas since visitors spend more time with them.

Booking for gorilla permits and gorilla habituation in Bwindi forest can be done at any time of year, however, we strongly advise planning ahead. The price of a single habituation permit, which includes admission costs to the park, is currently set at US$1,500. Permit holders have assured a minimum of four hours of gorilla encounters, as opposed to the typical one hour spent on gorilla treks.

Only a group of four visitors at a time can spend four hours with the gorillas, and that doesn’t include time spent looking for them. Gorilla habituation can be a life-changing experience, but the researchers, guides, and trackers you work with are well-versed in the ethics of interacting with gorillas since gorillas are wild and take look to embrace humans.

COMMUNITY TOURISM (VISITING THE BATWA COMMUNITY)

Bwindi forest has a diversity of fauna and flora with exotic plants, rare endangered animals, and Indigenous people. The Batwa cultural experience was started by Batwa pygmies to teach their traditional heritage to the coming generation and connect to the world.

This Ugandan National Park is known for mountain gorilla trekking, but it’s also a cultural hotspot. After exploring the Park’s natural and cultural beauties, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park boasts the richest cultural exchanges of any Ugandan park which will exceed your satisfaction and expectations.

Gorilla tourism benefits several community tourist efforts. Craft businesses, village tours, traditional dances, cultural walks, farm excursions, birding in the towns, and community-based motels provide lodging. Bwindi attracts numerous tourists for gorilla trekking, thus community tourism allows visitors to become part of the community by sampling the food, watching traditional dances, and staying in local lodges. This offers the Batwa communities the real possibility to earn revenue.

BIRD WATCHING

Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National park is among the best bird-watching hotspot in Uganda which considered to birdwatcher’s paradise with over 340 bird species of which 23 species are endemic to the Albertine Rift valley and four are globally threatened. Short-tailed Warbler, Grauer’s Rush Warbler, African Green Broadbill, Chapin’s Flycatcher, and Shelley’s Crimson-wing among others are considered threatened.

Many birding tours at Bwindi Forest are in the Buhoma area along forest margins and village trails or in the Ruhija part where forest birding and swamp birding are done. Mubwindi wetland is the best place to see Albertine endemics and lifers in Ruhija. For birding tours in Uganda, visitors should check out our 12 days of birding tours in the Albertine valley and 7 days of birding safari.

NATURE WALKS

The genuine adventure is crossing Bwindi’s dense forest on foot. A nature walk in Bwindi reveals the park’s magnificence, including a virgin forest, birds singing in the trees, mountain gorillas, baboons, L’Hoest’s monkey, and a red-tailed monkey. Many people come to Bwindi for gorilla safaris, but forest walks are life-changing. A forest trek reveals Bwindi’s hidden beauties, which most visitors miss.

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.

Hikers should bring adequate water, snacks, and soft foods, and wear hiking boots, gloves, sun hats, long-sleeved shirts, and pants to control the unpredictable weather.

ACCOMMODATION IN BWINDI IMPENETRABLE NATIONAL PARK

The park has got the best accommodation in the entire area with the utmost good customer care and comfortable beds, the lodges are categorized depending on someone’s budget   some of the lodges include; Buhoma community rest camp, Bakiga lodge, chameleon

 Buhoma lodge

It is one of the best lodges in Bwindi forest national park, built protruding in the middle area with lovely appealing chattels that gives a stunning appearance view of the Park Forest, and is situated just along the edge of the park a few meters from the park headquarters. It is located inside a park in the Buhoma neighborhood and is furnished with a parlor, a pleasant indoor and outdoor platform, a bar, and a dining room built into raised wooden architecture for a comfortable park experience.

Buhoma Lodge is made up of 10 tastefully furnished shacks with bathrooms that are fitted and private verandas that offer expansive views of the park. Shacks were constructed on a high area, which provided stunning visibility through the park’s surroundings.

Nkuringo Bwindi Gorilla lodge

Nkuringo Gorilla Lodge, situated in the national park’s southern region, makes gorilla tracking simple. You don’t need to travel very far to go gorilla trekking because it is located right in the middle of the habituated sector (Nkuringo sector), which has roughly 3 gorilla families.

The greatest safari lodge I can suggest for someone looking for a luxurious, comfortable stay in Bwindi National Park is Nkuringo Gorilla Lodge. It has a dedicated, knowledgeable staff that provides visitors with exceptional service. Due to this, the Nkuringo Safari Lodge was deemed the best among its peers and earned the 2016 World Travel Award.

Ruhija Gorilla lodge

Ruhija Gorilla Lodge is in Ruhija. It’s one of Bwindi’s best lodges. This lodge is surrounded by Mother Nature’s beauty and peace, providing comfort to appreciate the surroundings.

It has a magnificent, spacious lounge with an in-house restaurant/dining room serving local and foreign cuisine. A supper bar with many drinks. Ruhija safari lodge includes a gift shop with African handicrafts to entice visitors.

The Gorilla resort camp

It’s a premium safari camp on a woodland ridge near the start of gorilla tracking. The camp is one of the few sites located within the Park Forest, and it offers 10 gorgeous luxury private safari tents on the hill slopes. Each tent includes a huge walled bathroom and a private area with a bathtub for relaxing after gorilla trekking.

The gorilla forest camp has many trees that provide fresh air and bright light in the morning when the sun rises. Tents have electricity and water all day to make your experience comfortable. Free Wi-Fi allows visitors to stay updated outside the trip.

Best time to visit Bwindi national park

The finest months to visit the Bwindi Forest in Uganda for gorilla trekking are June, August, September, October, and December, extending into March, while it is possible to go at any time of year. The best time of the year is during these busy months. They are typically dry months and are regarded as the prime time for gorilla trekking safaris. The highest rainfall occurs in the tropical rainforest of Bwindi, so be prepared for rain at any time of the year

How to get to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

Depending on the visitor’s preference, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park can be reached by either air or road. By road, which is the quickest option, you can travel 520 kilometers on the Kampala-Kabale Highway, taking 8 to 10 hours, and then drive 141 kilometers to Buhoma, where the park headquarters are.

By air, you can travel less than an hour of about 45 minutes from Entebbe Airport to Kisoro Airfield, and then drive a further 141 kilometers using a 4×4 wheel vehicle on the steep road.