Gorillas are so powerful and humongous that they leave man realizing how small and insignificant he is. Sadly, they are critically endangered; there are less than 900 of them left in the World. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park has more than half of these; the rest live in Rwanda and Congo. The park is an unspoiled dreamland where you can relax surrounded by huge walls of vegetation. It is a garden of amazing indigenous trees inclusive of brown mahoganies that are as old as time and as tall as an eight floor-high sky scraper. Its size is 321 sq. km and its altitude is 1160m – 2607m above sea level.
The place is a vast peaceful sanctuary great for pottering about while taking photos of various wildlife especially monkeys and birds. While relishing all this beauty, you will be treated to fresh breezes and the alluring sight of over 100 flower species each with a strong fairy-tale fragrance. If you have been searching for the most rare flowers, chances are that you will find some here.
Be warned though, this destination’s terrain is largely hilly. Exploring it involves a lot of walking on rough and at times steep ground. Hefty hiking is unavoidable. Luckily, there are lots of clean natural ponds in it where you can take a dip after the hike. For easy management, the Park is split into three wings from which tourists can track gorillas. They are; Buhoma, Nkuringo, and Ruhijja. Each of these has between 1-4 gorilla families, each with 6-25 members.
Ruhijja and Nkuringo wing
These two wings are largely hilly and thus have very steep valleys. In other words, they offer tough climbing challenges and are recommended for those who are physically fit and hard-core adventurers. Among the things that attract tourists to Ruhijja is the picturesque view of Virunga it offers. Seated not so far from the border of Uganda and Congo, Virunga is Africa’s oldest National Park (established in 1925).
Buhoma and Rushaga wings
Buhoma and Rushaga have a rather gentle terrain. Their most unique features are crystal clear rivers and waterfalls that are a delight to swim in.
Things to Do in Bwindi
Mountain Gorilla Habituation Experience
Mountain Gorillas aren’t always so placid to human presence: it takes time and effort to achieve this relaxed, almost casual attitude in a process known as habituation. Bwindi’s exciting new gorilla experience allows you to be part of this process by tracking a group that is only semi-habituated. During habituation, trackers visit wild gorilla groups every day for around three years, gradually getting closer and spending longer in their company. At the semi-habituated stage, the primates are familiar with trackers but not strangers, so this new experience can now help them get used to seeing different people.
In usual encounters, trackers find your gorillas and they take you directly to them. Instead, this four-hour experience starts from where the gorillas were last seen a day before. You walk with the trackers, learning the tell-tale signs that eventually lead to the primates’ nests, such as knuckle prints in the mud, bent and broken vegetation and discarded food. Gorillas build new nests each night then move on looking for food: what they leave behind is vital for checking their health and numbers. At the nests, the team collects samples of hair and dung before continuing their search.
It’s until you find the gorillas that the real challenge begins. The aim of habituation is to follow the group and stay in their vision as they move, finally getting closer to reach that magical 7m cut-off point. But unlike fully habituated groups who mooch around patiently during your permitted hour, these gorillas move fast to feed, striking through dense rainforest, storming up and down slippery slopes and crawling on knuckles through bushes, with you and the tracker team in hot pursuit. It’s like a rainforest boot camp, and it’s not for the unfit or fainthearted.
Much as all gorillas are wild, some are wilder than others and these semi-habituated ones have an air of randomness about them. There is a heightened risk of the silverback charging, but it’s more or less always warning rather than an attack your trackers will have briefed you to stay calm, crouch down and avert your eyes. It’s easier said than done…
While they’re still, you stay still, mimicking their behaviour to make them feel at ease. You crouch down when they do, imitate them picking up grass pretending to eat it, and talk to them in gorilla-language, a series of vocalizations that have specific meanings. To have a gorilla reply to your low throaty rumbling, demonstrating contentment, is completely spine-tingling.
Traditional trekking encounters
Today, Bwindi is home to about 480 gorillas, with 13 fully habituated family groups available for tracking. The day starts early at one of the 4 park Park Headquarters in either Buhoma, Ruhija, Rushaga and Nkuringo where guests are allocated their group and guide before being briefed on essential trekking etiquette that help protect both primates and people.
Gorillas sharing 98% of human DNA, are very susceptible to human infectious diseases (a common cold could kill them) so visitors are asked not to trek if they are sick. Only eight people are allowed to track each gorilla family group, staying for just one single hour in their presence. Rules also state that visitors should never proceed to within 7m of the giant apes, but occasionally the gorillas will cross this threshold and approach you to almost stroking distance. However, always resist the temptation to touch them. Although usually calm, they can easily be startled by flash photography, loud voices or sudden movements.
Strategically some groups are just a short walk from the park headquarter while others can take as long as five hours to find. Bwindi is called the Impenetrable Forest for good reason: a dense jungle spanning 321 sq km, it makes hiking a challenge, with tangled vines and vegetation sprawled across steep muddy terrain. For around US$15, you can hire a porter to carry your bags and help you negotiate the tough, slippery trails (they’re worth every cent).
The reward of seeing the gorillas makes one forget all the efforts and fatigue went through before finally reaching them, being with these incredible gentle giants is a truly an extraordinary feeling and a moving experience that you will gain on a gorilla safari in Uganda. Amazing to watch, your permitted hour flies by as they carry on their daily activities of eating, sleeping, preening and playing, usually paying little attention to strange onlookers. Youngsters chase each other, swing in tree branches, and laugh and squeal just like children. Mums dote on babies, suckling and cradling them, and big daddy silver back watches over them all.
How to get Bwindi
There are over 50 tour companies that offer trips to Bwindi. For good recommendations, visit Association of Uganda Tour Operators, an umbrella organization for service providers of Uganda’s tourism sector. Getting there:
Bwindi lies in the southwestern Uganda, about 530km from Kampala. The park can be reached by road from several directions including.
Kampala – Ntungamo – Rukungiri – Kihihi – Buhoma The quickest and most direct route from Kampala. It follows the 390km roads to Rukungiri followed by 82km on murram roads to Buhoma.
Kampala – Kabale – Kanungu – Buhoma Follow the 414Km tarmac highway to Kabale and takes 5-6hours. The next section follows winding murram roads for 120km passes through Kanungu and Kanyantorogo and takes 4-5hours. A 4WD vehicle is required.
Kampala – Kabale – Ruhija – Buhoma The Kabale-Ruhija-Buhoma segment on this route is 95km on a murram road and takes 3-4hours. The Ruhija section is in poor condition and should only be attempted with a 4WD vehicle.
Queen Elizabeth National Park- Kihihi – Buhoma Bwindi is 160km from Mweya and 64km from Ishasha.This route passes the southerly Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park, with chances of a stopover game drive to search for the famous tree-climbing lions.
Kampala – Kabale – Nkuringo Nkuringo is 105km from Kabale. The drive takes 4hours on a mountainous murram road. Most visitors overnight in Kisoro (80km from Kabale) before proceeding to Nkuringo. The road from Kisoro is a winding 35km that takes 1-2 hours. A 4WD vehicle is recommended for both approaches to Nkuringo.
By Air Travellers can fly from Entebbe or Kajjansi airfield to the modern tarmac airstrip at Kisoro. Visitors to Buhoma can charter plans to the grass Kayonza airstrip.
Conservation
Gorillas share 97% DNA with humans. Simply put, they are as vulnerable to human infections as humans are to theirs. Unfortunately, there are so many times when locals living around Bwindi National Park interface with gorillas, especially when the latter wander off the forests into the community gardens. This prompted the birth of Conservation through Public Health, an NGO focused on promoting biodiversity conservation by enabling people, gorillas and livestock to coexist through improving their health and livelihoods. This is being achieved through a multidisciplinary approach that focuses on preventing and controlling disease transmission between closely genetically related species such as people and gorillas, and cattle and buffalo, and promoting a better quality of life that reduces local communities’ dependence on fragile habitats to meet their basic needs.
Travel Advisory
Good hiking boots are a must have. If you will be gorilla tracking in the wet months like April, it is advisable to wear waterproof boots, as the floor of the forest is wet.
Best Accommodation
Buhoma has an endless list of accommodation facilities, unlike the other wings. This is partly because it was the first to be developed for tourism and research. Generally, while budget accommodation in Bwindi Park costs 50,000 UGX, high end accommodation costs roughly $300. Rates tend to drop slightly in low peak months like February to June.
Around Bwindi and Trail accommodation:
Buhoma:
Bwindi’s busiest tourism site is Buhoma on the northern edge of the forest. It is the trailhead to track four gorilla groups; Mubare, Habinyanja, Rushegura and Katwe. Activities at this part of the park include Buhoma community walk and cultural performances with a visit to a typical homestead, traditional healer, a banana beer brewery and local dance groups also perform traditional dance and music. Though gorilla trekking is the main attraction, arrange of other walks provide more relaxed opportunities to spot birds and monkeys while exploring one of Uganda’s loveliest rain forests.
Buhoma accommodation:
Mahogany Springs, Volcanoes Bwindi Lodge, Gorilla Forest Camp, The Gorilla Resort, Buhoma Lodge, Silverback Lodge, Engagi Tented Camp, and Lake Kitandara Bwindi Camp offer excellent luxury accommodation option at Buhoma sector.
Moderate accommodation can be got from The Silverback Gorilla Camp and Eco Marvels Gorilla Resort.
While budget and camping accommodation can be got from Bwindi Guest House, Buhoma Community Rest Camp, Bwindi View Canteen and Nature Access Lodge.
Nkuringo:
This sector is located at the southern edge of the forest just 10km from Buhoma distance is covered by the Impenetrable forests and the lovely walk between the two sites takes at least four hours. Nkuringo was opened for tourism in 2004 and the trailhead lies on the isolated Nteko Ridge which enjoys grandstand views across Bwindi forest to the North and towards the Virunga Volcanoes in the south.
This sector of the park is extremely beautiful area with good potential for hiking, provides grandstand views across the Kashasha river valley to the Bwindi forest which cloaks its northern slopes. To the south and west, superb panoramas include the western rift valley and the entire length of the Virunga volcanic range.
Gorilla tracking is the primary activity at Nkuringo. Visitors should be fit as the park boundary lies in a steep valley 600m below the road. This provides good exercise before and after tracking gorillas. Other activities include hiking Nteko ridge, Nkuringo community walk with a visit to a traditional healer, rural homestead, blacksmith and brewers.
Nkuringo accommodation:
A range of accommodation caters for both up-market and budget visitors. Clouds Gorilla Lodge offers luxury accommodation while Nkuringo gorilla campground and Gorilla Inn Paradise moderate and budget accommodation respectively to visitors tracking Nkuringo gorilla group.
Rushaga:
Shongi trailhead, in the southeast of the park opened for gorilla tourism in 2009. Three groups including Shongi, Mishaya and Kahungye can be tracked from this point. The trail descends into the depths of the forest directly to the south of the park. This area offers village walks, bird watching and a spectacular waterfall.
Rushaga accommodation:
Visitors tracking Rushaga gorilla groups can be accommodated at Gorilla Safari Lodge, Wagtail Eco Safari Park or Shongi Campsite.
Ruhija:
Ruhija is one of the most beautiful places with fabulous southerly views over forested ridge to the Virunga Volcanoes. Ruhija home to the Bitukura, Oruzoojo and Kyaguriro gorilla groups, is Uganda’s highest gorilla tracking trailhead sited at 2345m hill in eastern Bwindi. This ridge top route offers vistas into deep valleys containing undisturbed rainforest. Watch out for Duiker, primates and both forest and grassland bird species. Birders should take the three-hour descending to visit the Mubwindi swamp. Visitors may also hike a six-hour bamboo trail through the bamboo zone to Rwamunyoni peak at 2607m to find Afro-montane vegetation and panoramic views towards Lake Bunyonyi and Mafuga forest.
Ruhija accommodation:
Ruhija Gorilla Lodge and Gorilla Friends Resort Camp offer luxury accommodation in this part of the park, while Trekkers Tavern cottages and The International Trust for Forest Conservation moderate and budget accommodation respectively.
Nyundo:
This community is located a short drive north of Buhoma on the DR Congo border. A visit to this community offers wonderful guided hikes along the hill-tops and rivers to discover waterfalls, glorious views, and the traditional lifestyle and folklore of the Kigezi people.
Nyundo accommodation:
Visitors to this area can be accommodated in Nyundo Valley Hill Bandas.
Compare the best?
Usual tracking costs US$700 per permit at Impenetrable forest of Bwindi (now US$1500 in Rwanda’s Volcanoes Park), offers you an effective guarantee that you’ll see gorillas up close and personal in a relaxed, even docile, mood for one unforgettable hour.
Mountain Gorilla Habituation Experience costs USD $1500, and lasts four hours, however the longer you spend in their presence depends on how long it takes you to find them. You may not get very close to the gorillas and being in pursuit can be physically challenging and exhausting. You might equally spend some time simply watching them sleep, but you learn so much more about these awesome animals in this edgier and more immersive encounter.