Bwindi Impenetrable national park

BWINDI IMPENATRABLE FOREST NATIONAL PARK –“The Ultimate gorilla experience”

Bwindi Impenetrable national park: Bwindi Impenetrable national park is one of the most visited national park in Uganda situated far in the south western part of the country and a home to the largest population of endangered mountain gorillas with over 21 habituated gorilla families thus offers the most permits for tourists that wish to spend an hour with our closest cousins the mountain gorillas in their natural habitats in the forest of Bwindi impenetrable national park. This park was gazette in the year 1991 together with 2 other parks of Mgahinga gorilla national park and Semliki national park which by then were the habitats of the Batwa pygmies. At the time of being gazette, all the Batwa people were forcefully evacuated from the forests in order to protect the endangered primates that were at a point of total extinction in the wild.

Bwindi impenetrable national park is shared amongst 3 districts of Kanungu district, Rubanda district and Kisoro district covering about 321 Square Kilometers of land at an elevation of 1160 to 2607M high above the sea level.  Bwindi impenetrable national park. this park as well obtained a World heritage site tittle after the introduction of gorilla trekking activity when the first gorilla family Mubare was opened up for trekking in the year 1994.

Bwindi impenetrable national park is divided into 4 different sectors each sector thrilling with habituated gorilla families that are trekked on a daily basis by maximum number of 8 person per gorilla family. These 4 gorilla trekking sectors include Buhoma sector, Nkuringo sector, Rushaga sector and Ruhija sector.

Buhoma sector is the first sector to be opened up for gorilla trekking in Bwindi and also the top visited of all the 4 sectors. Buhoma sector thrills in the northern part of Bwindi impenetrable national park making it the best sector to visit on your way from Queen Elizabeth national park. Buhoma sector is in the North is the nearest sector to Ruhija sector which is yet another gorilla trekking sector in Bwindi situated in the eastern side of Bwindi impenetrable national park. Trekkers in this sector enjoy a scenic view of Mount Rwamunyonyi.

Another sector to explore in Bwindi Impenetrable national park is Rushaga sector lying in the southern part of the park together with Nkuringo sector. Rushaga sector is easily accessed by tourists from Kigali Rwanda and is one of the best sector to visit for those who wish to enjoy gorilla habituation experience. In fact, Rushaga sector is the only sector in Uganda where gorilla habituation experience is conducted.

What to do in Bwindi impenetrable national park Uganda

Go Gorilla trekking: Gorilla trekking is the top tourist activity enjoyed in Bwindi impenetrable national park and in Uganda at large thus most of the traveler usually add a trek to see mountain gorillas on their itineraries. With all the 4 sectors in Bwindi impenetrable national park, tourists are blessed with a variety of choices to choose which gorilla family one wishes to trek and which sector as long as there is availability of both the gorilla trekking permits and the accommodation at that given period of time. Gorilla trekking in Bwindi is such a breath taking activity that one needs to enjoy at least once in a life time.

The permit for gorilla trekking in Bwindi impenetrable national park costs $700 for the foreign nonresident tourists which is lower for foreign residents at $600 and UGX.250, 000 for East African Community member states. These are 2021-2022 rates and each permit includes only 1 hour of closely viewing the gorillas in their natural habitats, ranger fees, entrance fees and it excludes porter fees and accommodation plus tips and gratuity and all other expenses on your safari. Each gorilla trekking permit is valid for 24 hours and is nonrefundable in case one misses the trek. All trekkers must be aged 15 and above below which one is considered minor and unable to withstand the long trek in search of endangered mountain gorillas.

While on your Uganda gorilla trekking adventure in Bwindi impenetrable national park, all trekkers are supposed to follow all park and gorilla trekking rules and regulations as briefed by the experienced rangers. All the gorilla trekking permits are obtained direct from the Uganda wildlife authority and here at Focus East Africa Tours/ Achieve Global Safaris and Explore Rwanda tours, we help all our clients in booking these permits making their safari a hustle free one.

Apart from enjoying this breath taking gorilla trekking safari in Bwindi, there are yet other destinations that conduct gorilla trekking and these include Mgahinga gorilla national park which as well thrill in Uganda the pearl of Africa and harbors only one gorilla family known as Nyakagezi. One may as well opt to trek gorillas in Volcanoes national park in Rwanda at a cost of $1500 per gorilla permit as well as in Virunga national park in Democratic Republic of Congo at $400 per gorilla permit.

Go for Gorilla habituation experience: This is yet another breath taking tourist activity enjoyed in Bwindi impenetrable national park in Rushaga sector. Gorilla Habituation Experience is not different from Gorilla trekking only that this allows more time with Gorillas than Gorilla trekking that allows just 1 hour. Bwindi’s gorilla habituation experience permit costs $1500 per person and it enables tourists to spend maximum of 4 hours with Gorillas after chasing them for several hours in their natural habitats in the impenetrable forest of Bwindi.

Go for Walking Safaris: The park thrills with lots of walking trails that take you to various attractions within the forest. These trails run from a few minutes walks to several hours. Along the walk, tourists are rewarded with scenic views of different attractions including waterfalls, several animals, birds and the entire vegetation of the park among others.

Go Birding: Being a forested area, Bwindi impenetrable national park is one of the important birding area with over 350 different bird species that are seen during bird watching via different forest trails. Look out for some rare bird species like Great Turaco and many other birds including migratory species, water birds, forest birds and many more. A pair of binoculars and hiring a birder are the key for a successful birding safari in Bwindi impenetrable national park. The best birding spots in Bwindi is along Mubwindi swamp for an opportunity to spot several water birds and along the bamboo trail.

Go for Batwa experience: This is usually enjoyed in the evening after gorilla trekking. Batwa experience is one of the cultural tour where the tourists spend time with the local batwa people that once lived in the forest before it was gazette into a National park. Tourist enjoy the breath taking performances of music, dance and drama and storytelling from these Batwa as they express their previous life style when they used to reside in the jungle with mountain gorillas.

Getting there,

Bwindi impenetrable national park lies in the far south western part of Uganda thus getting there can either be from Kampala/ Entebbe or from Kigali Rwanda or even from other parks that thrill in western part of Uganda. From Kampala/ Entebbe it takes about 8-9 hours’ drive which is considered a full day drive.