Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda is one of the most top safari destination in Uganda. It is in Kisoro district in the south-west of the country. The Park has a total area of 321km2 and was made a national park in 1991 to protect and preserve the endangered mountain gorillas. They were called “critically endangered primates” because they were so close to going extinct in the wild, and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda is still the best safari destination in the world to see the most endangered mountain gorillas. In the year of 1994, Bwindi forest became a world heritage site adhering to the discovery of the first mountain gorilla family named Mubare gorilla family that was accessible for tourism in the year of 1993 soon after being habituated for about 2 years to allow them to get used to humans. The best place to see mountain gorillas is in Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, which is between 1,160 and 2,607 metres above sea level perfect for gorilla lives.
The Park is home to the biggest population of endangered mountain gorillas (over 468 species), which can be seen during gorilla trekking and habituation safaris. Gorilla trekking is done in 4 different sectors of Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. One of these sectors allows both gorilla trekking and gorilla habituation. These 4 sectors of Bwindi impenetrable national park include; Buhoma sector, Rushaga sector, Nkuringo sector and Ruhija sector.
Attractions in Bwindi National park of the Impenetrable Forest.
Mountain Gorillas.
Mountain gorillas offer tourists a concept special and unique, and the best time to see them is when it’s dry season. In Eat Africa, they are the major source of tourist attraction but between the most endangered species of wildlife. A lot of people go to Bwindi Impenetrable forest national park just to see these cool animals. It is home to half of the mountain gorillas that are still alive in the world. There are 23 gorilla family groups that live in Ruhija, Buhoma, Nkuringo and Rushaga sectors of the forest. They can be watched at any time of the year, and only 8 tourists are allowed to visit each gorilla family group per day.
Mountain gorillas live on the forested mountain slopes. On the day of trekking, tourists gather at the park headquarters, where they are briefed on what to do and what not to do when they are trekking. They are then led to their trekking sectors, where they start their trekking adventures. Depending on how the mountain gorillas move around in the jungle, this could take anywhere from 30 minutes to 6 hours. On location, tourists spend an hour interacting and finding more about these intriguing creatures. After this interaction, tourists are taken back to the national park headquarters for their certificates of participation in gorilla trekking.
Bird species.
Bwindi Impenetrable Forest is a fascinating safari destination for the birders; it’s a single spot that should be visited by all birding lovers. Because Bwindi is so diverse, it is home to many different kinds of birds. There are more than 350 bird types there, and 24 of them are only found in the Albertine rift. Tourists can see and learn about many different kinds of birds in the forest, such as Black bee-eater, Cinnamon chested bee-eater, the Black-faced warble, the handsome francolin, the Ruwenzori apalis, African broadbill, fowls, Purple-breasted greenbul, western green tinkerbird, Yellow-streaked greenbul, and many more. When going on a bird watching safari in Bwindi, you’ll need hiking gear and a pair of binoculars to see everything clearly.
While bird watching safari, travelers are able to take in amazing vantage points of the whole forest delighting in outstanding sights of the thick ever green vegetation; the thick dense canopies, different insect types, reptiles and a wide number of beautiful butter flies.
Activities to do in Bwindi Impenetrable forest national park.
Gorilla trekking.
More than half of the world’s mountain gorillas live in the forest, so trekking mountain gorillas is the main safari activity to do in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park. Gorilla trekking in Bwindi starts with a ranger guide giving a briefing at the park headquarters at 8:00 AM and assigning gorilla families to visit. A maximum of eight people can visit each gorilla group or family on any given day, and there are more than 23 groups in the forest right now, but they are all in different places.
After getting a briefing, you go into the jungle with your guide in front of you to clear the way. The trek can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 6 hours, based on how far the gorillas move. Most of the time, park rangers will go into the forest early and start looking for the gorillas from where they were last seen the day before. After you find the gorillas, you will have up to an hour to see them and take pictures, watching them play, feed, groom, recording their videos. When your hour ends, you enjoy your lunch pack as you navigate your way out of the forest and back to the starting point to receive your gorilla trekking certificate to prove your achievement in Gorilla trekking in Bwindi.
Gorilla Habituation Experience.
Gorilla habituation is a more rewarding safari experience that is even better than the usual Gorilla trekking, which is an exciting journey in and of itself. The activity starts with a briefing like the way it’s done in gorilla trekking. Bwindi impenetrable forest national park is the only place in Africa where you can spend 4 hours with a gorilla family in their natural environment. You get to spend time alongside researchers as they get ready a wild gorilla group for human interaction therefore spending more hours watching and discovering more about the mountain gorilla lifestyle!
Bird watching.
Bwindi is a paradise for birdwatchers and people who want to go on a bird watching safari in Uganda. There are 350 species of birds there, including 23 endemics, which is 90% of all Albertine Rift endemics, like Mountain greenbul, Great blue turaco, Elliot’s woodpecker, Black-billed turaco, Short-tailed Warbler, White-browned crombec, Yellow-whiskered greenbul, Blue-headed Sunbird, and among others. Bird watching safari in Bwindi is conducted along significant trails; main trail, Buhoma Waterfall Trail and along bamboo zone and Mubwindi Swamp trail in Ruhija
Hiking / Nature Walks.
Hiking/Nature walks happen in various nature trails in Buhoma for travelers who want to go on guided walks through the “impenetrable forest” The trails go in different directions and lead to a variety of sights, such as rivers, primates, mountain views, peaceful nature, and a lot of interesting birds. Muyanga Waterfall Walk, Rushura Hill Walk, Ivi River Walk, Muzubijiro Loop, and Habinyanja (Railegh) Trail are some of the paths.
Cultural / Community Tours.
Batwa trail and the Batwa experience in Buhoma are the most famous and well-known cultural experiences in Bwindi. However, there are other interesting and rewarding cultural experiences and community tours in Bwindi that will show you the culture of the Bakiga and Batwa communities. They as well offer travelers the opportunity to listen to their history, taking in their traditional dances, songs, participating in their activities like milking, digging, making local beer, food preparations and others.
Best time to visit Bwindi Impenetrable forest national park.
Between June and August and from December to February are the best times to visit Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. These are the driest months, when you have the best chance of sunny skies and clear days, which are great for seeing wildlife and going on a gorilla trekking safari.
How to get to Bwindi Impenetrable forest national park.
The park be accessed either by air or by road.
By road.
From Kampala or Entebbe to Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park: The forest park can be reached by vehicle from Kampala or Entebbe. The journey takes about 9 to 10 hours. This is a long drive but offers an abundance of tourist attractions along the way including the stopover at the equator, viewing beautiful farmlands with grazing cattle, intriguing hills of Kigezi region and local communities encountered on the road.
From Queen Elizabeth national park to Bwindi impenetrable national park Uganda: Other travelers, especially those who want to see both Queen and Bwindi, usually drive from Queen Elizabeth National Park to Bwindi Forest via the Ishasha section of Queen. This road drive takes about 2-3 hours.
From Kigali, Rwanda, to Bwindi Forest, Uganda: Visitors can get to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park by road through either Katuna or Cyanika borders, based on which part of the park they desire to explore. The journey by vehicle takes about four to five hours.
By air.
Fly from Entebbe or Kajjansi to Bwindi: There are charter flights from Entebbe International Airport or Kajjansi Airfield directly to Kisoro Airstrip. From there, you can drive to the designated section of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda.
Where to stay in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest national park.
Bwindi forest offers numerous accommodations to meet the budget of every traveler ranging from budget lodges, midrange lodges and luxury lodge. Some of these lodges are Buhoma lodge, Buhoma community camp, Sanctuary Gorilla Forest Camp, Four gorillas lodge Lake Kitandara Camp, Buhoma haven lodge, silverback lodge, Engagi lodge, Bwindi guest house, Trekkers Tavern cottages, Gift of Nature Lodge, Ruhija Gorilla Resort, Ruhija Community Rest Camp, Nyundo valley hill Bandas, Chameleon Hill Lodge, Gorilla safari lodge, Chameleon Hill Lodge, and many more.