Bwindi Forest National Park famous for gorilla trekking tours and safaris. Bwindi Uganda park is found in southwestern Uganda on the edge of the western arm of the Great East African Rift Valley, about 530 km from Uganda. BOOK NOW
Mountain Gorillas Bwindi
Gorilla in Bwindi
Bwindi Forest National Park, also offer gorilla habituation safaris and is a UNESCO World Heritage site occupying 331 sq km. Bwindi Forest National Park is famous for its rare species which include mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei). Bwindi Forest National Park Is a diverse natural forest area with a continuum of habitats ranging from 1190 meters to 2560 meters above sea level. The park lies within the Kigezi Highlands that were formed through up-warping of the western rift valley (“Albertine Rift” see below). The landscape is extremely rugged, with steep ridges and narrow valleys, and a general incline from the high deeply dissected south and southeast to the lower north and northwest. The only level areas within the park are the Mubwindi swamp (approximately 1 sq km) and Ngoto swamp (approximately 0.1sqkm).
Bwindi Forest National Park
Bwindi Forest National Park was managed as a productive forest reserve from 1932. In 1991, the forest gained National park status with the official name of ‘Bwindi Impenetrable National Park’. It is managed by the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) as part of the – Conservation Area (BMCA). BMCA comprises Bwindi Forests and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park (the Ugandan portion of the Virunga Mountains). BMCA is part of the Greater Virunga Landscape, which includes south western Uganda, eastern Democratic of Congo (DRC) and north western Rwanda.
How to access Bwindi Forests
Bwindi can be accessed either;
By air from Entebbe Airport by road from Kampala.
From Entebbe, there are scheduled flights to Kihihi which is close to the northern sector of Bwindi and also flights to Kisoro which is close to the Southern sector of Bwindi. Flights to Kisoro only leave in the morning while Kihihi has both morning and afternoon departures from Entebbe. You can also do charter flights from Kajjansi Airstrip to either Kisoro or Kihihi near Bwindi.
By road, there are alternatives routes that include;
Kampala-Kabale-Kanungu-Buhoma which follows a tarmac highway until Kabale for about 414 km spending about 6-8 hrs and then connect on a murram road through Kanungu and Kanyantorogo for about 120 km to Buhoma. For the latter route, it is highly recommended to have a 4WD vehicle and this journey can take about 4-5 hrs.
Kampala-Kabale-Ruhija-Buhoma which follows the same route as the above first option except the Kabale-Ruhija-Buhoma section is about 95 km on a murram road and can take about 3-4 hrs also highly recommended to have a 4WD vehicle.
Kampala-Kabale-Nkuringo also follows the same as the above routes to Kabale and an additional 105km about 4-5 hrs drive on a mountainous murram road to Nkuringo from Kabale. Some people prefer spending a night in Kisoro which is about 80 km from Kabale and in the morning proceed to Nkuringo for gorilla tracking.
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