BWINDI IMPENETRABLE NATIONAL PARK
Location
The Park is located in the far south-west on the border of Uganda, DRC (Congo) and Rwanda. It occupies an of 331sq km and hosts half of the world’s mountain gorillas making it the best destination for gorilla tracking in Uganda. Bwindi Impenetrable National park has got other animal species apart from gorillas and these include elephants, chimpanzees, monkeys and various small antelope, as well as 23 recorded bird species restricted to the Albertine Rift. The thick forest of Bwindi covers various hills ranging in height between 1000-2000 metres.
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is home to approximately half of the world's mountain gorillas. The national park has 90 mammal species, including 11 primates, including the black-and-white colobus, with its lovely flowing white tail.
AREAS Around the park
Nkuringo
This is found on the southern edge of Bwindi forest 10km from Buhoma to Bwindi. Nkuringo is Bwindi’s second gorilla trekking area. The distance between Bwindi and Buhoma is covered by the lovely walks between the two sites and Impenetrable forest and it takes about 4 hours. Nkuringo lies on the isolated Ridge of Nteko providing a clear view of northern part of Bwindi forest and Virunga volcanoes in the south.
The primary activity of Nkuringo is gorilla trekking. Fitness for visitors is required in order to trek in the steep valley which is about 600m in the boundary of the park below the road.
The community walks conducted by villagers to the traditional healers, blacksmith, brewers and rural homestead are also other activities at Nkuringo.
Buhoma
The busiest tourism site of the park is Buhoma located on the northern edge of the forest. It is a base of trekking the three different groups of gorillas providing a wide range of accommodation ranging from up market to budget accommodation.
Apart from gorilla trekking in Buhoma being the major attraction, there are also forest walks which provide comprehensive opportunities to see monkeys and birds.
In Buhoma are also cultural performances by local people and community walks. While on the community walks, tourists get a chance of interacting with local people as well as the challenging village life which is a great experience to the visitors. Visited sites in Buhoma are the banana brewery, and traditional healers. Events like traditional dances and music are a carried out for community development projects.
About Bwindi Park
The park itself is a success to the ongoing ecotourism that defines every essence of the continent and has therefore been designated as a World Heritage Site. The mountain gorillas have become a national emblem thus regarding them to be the country’s most important natural resource. For Rwanda, the gorillas have become a source of great national pride. The pocket of huge primordial forest in the Virunga Mountain range is one of the most biologically diverse areas on earth. The forest floor is damp and laden with leaf mould, matted vegetation and fallen vines, which serve to trip you up as you clamber up and down the slippery slopes in search of a glimpse of the elusive gorillas.
Ruhija
Ruhija is next to Nkuringo and visitors have to go through the park head quarters and the best cars to use when going through this area are the 4WD. From here visitors get to the undisturbed rain forest with the help of the ridge-top rout through the deep valleys. In the forest there are number of primates, duikers as well as grassland bird species. Birders at Ruhija take at least 3-4 hours hike to visit Mubwindi swamp.
Visitors interested in seeing the Afromontane vegetation and panoramic views may climb through the bamboo zone towards Mafuga forest and Lake Bunyonyi.
ACCESSIBILITY.
Kampala-Kabale-Kanungu-Buhoma. This route follows a tarmac high way up to Kabale and takes about 5-6 hours covering 414km. The next route from Buhoma is murram about 120km, which takes 4-5 hours through Kanungu and Kanyantoro requiring a 4WD vehicle.
Kampala-Ntugamo- Rukungiri- Kihihi-Buhoma.This is the quickest and most accessible route to the park as compared to other routes. The road is tarmac from Kampala up to Rukungiri (390km) and the other roads 82 km from Rukungiri to Buhoma are murram.
Kampala-Kabale-Nkuringo. The drive takes 4 hours on a murram road from Kabale to Nkuringo covering a distance of 105km. The other alternative is to have an over night in Kisoro which is 80km from Kabale before getting to Nkuringo and from Kisoro to Nkuringo it takes 1 to 1.5 hours.
From Kasese/ Fort Portal
Travellers from the northern destination such as Kasese, Fort Portal or Queen Elizabeth National park can use two routes to Buhoma. The more interesting route is Katunguru, Ishasha and Kihihi, which takes three to five hours. The alternative route is the one following the surfaced Mbarara road as far a south of Ishasha, where a right turn on to the unsurfaced old road to Kabale leads for 33km to Kagamba at the junction with the newly surfaced Ntungamo – Rukungiri road.
Accommodation
Accommodation ranges from up market to budget.
Upmarket and mid range accommodation is got at.
- Gorilla resort
- Gorilla forest camp
- Buhoma homestead
- Lake kitandara
- Mantana Tented camp
- Volcanoes Bwindi camp
Budget accommodation is found in the following places.
- Bwindi view bandas and camp sites
- Buhoma community Campground