Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is one of the most popular destinations for gorilla trekking in Africa. Located in the southern part of Uganda, this ancient tropical rain forest is a famous destinations for tourists who are looking to a mountain gorilla safari in Africa. It is the most popular destination and the main reason why tourists travel to Uganda, an East African country. The park lies next to the Virunga National park in Democratic Republic of Congo.
The world famous Bwindi Park was gazetted as a national park in 1991 and it was declared UNESCO world heritage center in 1994. The park is a habitat for over 480 mountain gorillas which is almost the half of world’s population of endangered species. Because of its remarkable biodiversity the park is also a home to over 345 species of birds for birders, 221 of butterflies for butter flies enthusiasts 120 mammals , among the mammals include Red tailed monkeys ,velvet monkeys ,baboons, Columbus monkeys ,golden cuts among others.
Activities in Bwindi Impenetrable National park
Gorilla trekking
Gorilla trekking in Bwindi impenetrable national park is an experience where a group of tourists get to hike or trek through the thick forests of Bwindi to capture gorillas how they look and see how the environment where gorillas stay.
The park currently has four sectors where gorilla trekking is done namely Buhoma, Ruhija, Rushaga and Nkuringo. Buhoma and Rushaga are the most visited sectors and the best time to do gorilla trekking in Uganda is June -September however the trekking can be done throughout the year.
Birding
Though Bwindi impenetrable national park is best known for gorilla trekking, the park is also among the best destinations for birding watching in East Africa. The birding spot is a home to over 320 species some of the birds include western thinker bird, African wood owl, regal sun bird, African green board bill, wood peck among others .while birding , butterfly enthusiast are able to nap butter flies because the the forests harbors them too.
Gorilla Habituation
Bwindi impenetrable national park also offers gorilla habituation whereby tourists spend more than usual time with gorillas that’s 5 hours but it’s limited to only four people. The experience gives a person a chance to learn more about gorillas since he or she spends more time with them. Gorilla habituation is mostly done at Rushaga sector which is located south of the park. The uniqueness of habituation is that gorillas here are trained how to live with human beings.
Community tourism (visiting Batwa community)
Bwindi forest has a diversity fauna and flora with exotic plants, rare endangered animals and indigenous people, the Batwa community lived in harmony with the forest surviving on hunting small animals and wild fruits. The batwa cultural experience was started by batwa pygmies to teach their traditional heritage to the coming generation and connect to the world.
Other common activities, while in Bwindi National Park include; cycling and hiking.
Accommodation in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
The park has got the best accommodation with utmost good customer care and comfortable beds, the lodges are categorized depending on the someone’s budget
Some of the budget lodges include;
- Buhoma Community Rest Camp,
- Gift of Nature Lodge
- Karungi Camp
Mid-Range lodges
- Buhoma lodge
- Chameleon hill lodge
- Nkurungo bwindi Gorilla lodge
Luxury lodges
- Ruhija Gorilla lodge
- The Gorilla resort camp
How to get to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
Bwindi impenetrable National Park can be access by either road or air depending on visitors wish by road transport which is the easiest you can reach the park through Kampala – kabale highway which takes about 8 -10 hours a distance of 520 km then drive a distance of 141km off Kampala- Kabale route to Buhoma where the park headquarters are located and by Air transport you take flight from Entebbe Airport to Kisoro Airfield which is less than an hour and then drive to park headquarters.
