Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is one of the most visited and sought after Uganda national parks. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is part of the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, a rain forest that is literally impenetrable due to its thickness. The National Park is found just along the south western part of Uganda covering the part of the districts of Kisoro and Kanungu and is just along the border of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Bwindi Impenetrable forest covers about 321 square kilometres and is composed of mostly montane and lowland forests. The Park was established in 1991, and designated a UNESCO world heritage site in 1994 for its biodiversity and hosting the mountain gorillas.

The Park hosts a variety of wildlife species, with the mountain gorillas being the most sought after by many travellers who get to visit the park. Bwindi Impenetrable forest hosts 120 species of mammals, 348 bird species, 220 butterfly species, and 27 species of frogs, a number of chameleons, geckos and lots of other species. Bwindi Impenetrable forest also hosts a number of plant species, with many of them dating back to over 20000 years ago.

It is however the endangered mountain gorillas that Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is most known for to many travellers. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is one of the 4 mountain gorilla destinations in the world, with the other three being the Virunga Conservation Area which comprises of Virunga National park of the Congo, Volcanoes National Park of Rwanda and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park of Uganda. It is in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park alone that over half the world population of mountain gorillas are found, with the rest of the population being shared by the other three mountain gorilla destinations. Bwindi Impenetrable forest had a gorilla baby boom in the year 2020, at a time when the world was battling the Coronavirus disease and its effects. With the gorilla baby boom then, it is expected that the population of mountain gorillas in Bwindi will increase from the current known statistics of about 464 gorilla individuals.

Bwindi Impenetrable forest has about 19 habituated gorilla families that travellers can encounter while on a gorilla trekking adventure. These gorilla families in Bwindi Impenetrable national Park that travellers get to visit are first habituated, to have them accommodate human interaction. There are four gorilla sectors in Bwindi that these gorillas, alongside other gorillas that are not habituated can be found, namely Buhoma sector which is located in the northern part of the park and the most asked for by travellers, Nkuringo sector, Rushaga sector and Ruhija sector.

Activities in Bwindi Impenetrable forest

Gorilla trekking

Gorilla trekking is the most done activity in Bwindi by travellers who visit on a gorilla safari. Gorilla trekking involves people hiking through the rainforest in search of the mountain gorillas. During the gorilla trekking activity, travellers are advised to look out for other wild life in the park including bird species, plants and so much more. Travellers are allowed only one hour with the gorillas once encountered. To be allowed to take part in the gorilla trekking activity, one ought to purchase a gorilla trekking permit at $700 for foreign non-residents, $600 for foreign residents and ugx250000 for East African citizens. Booking in advance is advised.

Gorilla habituation experience

Gorilla habituation is a process that involves gorilla experts and trainers visiting the wild mountain gorillas to habituate or have them trained to accommodate human interaction. Gorilla habituation experience therefore has travellers accompanying these experts to the almost-habituated gorillas, and spending more than just the one hour with the gorillas. Travellers get to learn of the characters of the wild mountain gorillas upfront, their stress activators, and so much more. Gorilla habituation experience can only be done in Rushaga gorilla sector, and costs USD1500 per person per experience.

Bird watching

Bird watching in Bwindi is possible due to the presence of about 320 species of birds in the park. Some of the bird species you shall encounter include the African Wood Owl, Grauer’s Rush Warbler, Regal Sunbird, Handsome Francolin, Collared Appalis, African Green Broadbill, Bar-tailed Trogon, Black-breasted Barbet, Standard-Winged Nightjar, among so many others. Bird watching can be done all day, in the company of an experienced bird guide. Be sure to carry your pair of binoculars.

Biking safaris

Biking safaris in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park give travellers an opportunity to explore the park, and its surroundings at a larger scale that a gorilla trekking activity or hiking/nature walk activity may not provide. While biking in Bwindi Impenetrable forest, travellers also get to enjoy great views of the park, spot a number of wildlife including primates, birds and so much more.

Best time to visit Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park can be visited all throughout the year. It is however during the dry season that it is best recommended to visit Bwindi Impenetrable forest given that the vegetation is not so over grown and the roads are much easier to use. The wet season has the roads quite impassable, and gorilla trekking during this time is rather hard given that the paths are rather to muddy. Given that Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is a rainforest, the rains are expected at any time of the day, even during the dry season. It is for this reason that travellers can visit Bwindi Impenetrable forest all throughout the year.

How to get to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park can be reached by both road and air, and from either Uganda or even Rwanda. From Kampala, Bwindi Impenetrable forest is about 8-9 hours by road, via Masaka-Mbarara-Kabale- Kisoro-Kanungu route. Bwindi is 3-4 hours from Queen Elizabeth National Park. By air, travellers, can get to fly from Entebbe or Kajjansi to any of the airstrips available, through charter flights available. Aerolink Uganda operates scheduled flights to Bwindi Impenetrable forest in any airstrip including Kihihi. Bwindi Impenetrable forest can also be accessed from Kigali Rwanda, with travellers flying into Rwanda and then being transferred to Bwindi Impenetrable forest by road, on a 4 hour’s journey, dependent on the sector you are to trek in.

Accommodation in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

Bwindi Impenetrable forest has a number of accommodation facilities that travellers of all sorts can choose from. This accommodation in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park options do vary and cater for luxury travellers, mid-range as well as budget travellers. Some of the accommodation options are inside the park, while some are just outside the park. Silverback lodge, Buhoma Gorilla Lodge, Rushaga Gorilla Camp, Engagi Lodge, among so many others are some of the accommodation in Bwindi that one could choose from. It is advised that travellers have their accommodation booked only after confirming the gorilla sector from where they shall be doing their gorilla trekking adventure from, to avoid driving long distances to the starting point of the gorilla trek.

Bwindi Impenetrable forest is a great Uganda national park to visit, alone or in combination with other parks say Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda, or if on an Africa safari, crowning your time in Africa with a Uganda gorilla safari is one great way. Reach out to your tour operator of choice and have one of your best safari holidays planned out for you.