Guide to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

Coming face to face with mountain gorillas in their natural habitat is one of the most powerful and humbling wildlife encounters in the world, and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is the best place in the world to see these primates.

Home to half of the remaining population of mountain gorilla in the world, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site declared due to its remoteness, natural beauty and enthralling biodiversity.

Gorilla Trekking in Bwindi

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is the best place in the world to see mountain gorillas with gorilla treks departing from one of the four trailheads; Buhoma, Nkuringo, Rushaga and Ruhija. As a visitor on a gorilla trekking safari in Bwindi Forest, join a group of a maximum of eight other visitors for a guided trek into the forest in search of one of the 21 habituated gorilla families.

Led by experience, specialized Uganda Wildlife Authority guides and armed rangers, you will be introduced to the ecology of Bwindi Forest and the changing landscape as you trek the gorillas. Your guides are in constant communication of the team of trackers who will have been following the gorillas since daybreak. The trackers direct your guide to where to take you to find the gorillas.

The trek is strenuous so you should expect to walk through a challenging terrain of steep ridges and valleys, following animal paths through tangled undergrowth for about three – five hours or more to find the gorillas.

Once contact has been made, you have up to one hour in which to observe the gorilla family from a distance of 7 meters. However, you should also be prepared for relaxed female gorillas or inquisitive young to close this gap considerably. The trackers will remain in charge of the contact, telling you what to do in order to remain safe and enjoy the experience to the full.

Each day, the number of gorilla permits issued is limited and so the peak season months of June to September and January and February sell out well in advance. Gorilla permits are non-refundable, but if you do not see a gorilla on your trek, the Uganda Wildlife Authority will refund 50% of the permit cost. However, this rarely happens.

Gorilla Habituation Experience

What is the difference between gorilla tracking in Uganda and Rwanda is a question often asked by visitors. The answer is that over the last few years, Uganda has provided an incredible opportunity to join a gorilla habituation team and spend up to four hours in the company of one gorilla family.

Gorilla habituation experience costs $ 1,500 per person, and is done in groups of only six people. It is an intense and unforgettable experience, perfect for individuals with a passion for gorillas or the urge to capture the perfect photographic record of the experience.

As humans, we might find it incredibly difficult to maintain concentration for more than an hour, so four hours is long to remain quiet and observant in a small area of the forest which makes the habituation experience not right for everyone. However, for some, it can be an ultimate travel highlight.

Gorilla Trekking Trailheads in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park 

Habituated gorilla families in Bwindi can be accessed from four trail heads; Buhoma, Ruhija, Rushaga and Nkuringo. Each trail head has its own characteristics, families and levels of difficulty.

The trailheads serve as launch points for treks to the fully habituated gorilla family groups. The standard treks depart in the morning and include up to one hour observing the gorillas from a distance of about seven meters.

The treks can be quite challenging and you need to be prepared to trek for up to 6 hours, although most sightings take place within 2-3 hours

Buhoma Sector

Gorilla trekking in Buhoma Sector began in 1993, the sector has the greatest number of accommodation options and is the home of the park’s headquarters. If you are coming into Bwindi from the north, the chances are you will be staying at Buhoma.

The topology around Buhoma provides some of the more accessible gorilla treks, especially as the Rushegura family is known to be found relatively close to the village (occasionally thrilling visitors to Gorilla Forest Camp).

Also, Buhoma is home to inspiring non-governmental organisations like Ride 4 a Woman, the Batwa Development Programme, plus local craftsmen, providing interesting and often inspiration experiences outside the forest.

Ruhija Sector

Situated 45 kilometers from Buhoma, Ruhija Sector is one of the most beautiful gorilla tracking areas in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.

At 2,340 metres, Ruhija is also one of the most challenging. Opened for gorilla tracking in 2008, the local roads have now been improved to the extent that visitors often stay in Buhoma, enjoying the greater range of accommodation options, and then track in Ruhija where only three gorilla families are available.

Buhoma and Ruhija are the only trailheads in north of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.

Nkuringo Sector

Nkuringo Sector was opened for gorilla trekking in 2004, found in the remote south of Bwindi. The trailhead is at an altitude of 2,100 metres on the Nteko Ridge, 600 meters above the Kashasha River Valley where the Nkuringo gorilla group like to roam.

This makes for a steep descent at the beginning of a trek and a very challenging return hike.

With no doubt Nkuringo is the most difficult tracking sector in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. But it is beautiful with stunning panoramic views of the Virunga Volcanic Range.

Rushaga Sector

Rushaga Sector is the first of the trailheads in the South of the park. There are five gorilla families open for gorilla trekking in Rushaga, making 40 permits available daily. Additionally, six permits are available for the gorilla habituation trek.

The terrain in this sector is more open, providing stunning views of the mountains, rather than enveloping trekkers in forest, making it easier going than Ruhija.

While there are several accommodation options in Rushaga Sector, the sector is accessible to trekkers staying in Nkuringo, around Lake Mutanda, or even Kisoro.

When to visit Bwindi Forest

You can visit gorillas year-round, but always be prepared for rain. Due to Uganda’s equatorial location and an increasingly variable climate, the weather in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park can be unpredictable, and you should be prepared for rain when visiting Bwindi Forest.

However, the heaviest rainfall in Bwindi occurs from mid-March to the end of May and then again at the end of September to November are more often characterized by hours of soft drizzle.

Though gorillas can be tracked at any time of year, it can become harder when the trails are muddy and water is running down your neck, soaking you through. So the best time to track mountain gorillas in Bwindi is the drier months of June to mid-September and December, January and February.

Bwindi Forest Beyond the Gorillas

Mountain gorillas are the highlight of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, but they are not the only attraction to see in this verdant park.

The physical variation, biodiversity, natural beauty and fascinating cultures found in and around Bwindi Impenetrable make it a great destination to visit. While the average stay is only two or three nights and the prime reason to visit is to track the endangered mountain gorillas. There is so much to do, and a longer stay is worthwhile.

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park offers incredible forest walks, the wildlife is staggering in its breadth and ranges far beyond just the gorillas, and spending time with the people of Bwindi, learning their history and relationship with the forest is captivating.

Guided Forest Walks through the Bwindi Forest

Guided treks are available in Bwindi Forest from each trailheads and one of the most popular is the transect trail from Buhoma to Nkuringo (or vice versa) where you walk from one side of the forest to the other.

The treks take between 3 or 5 hours, depending on the route you take, although slower walkers may end up taking much of a day. There is no rush, you move slowly through the forest, taking in the sights and sounds, observing the changes, stopping just to enjoy the sense of peace.

Also, it is sensible to keep an eye open for familiar tracks, steaming piles of dung and a black shape in the foliage. After all this is a gorilla territory.

Wildlife in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is more than mountain gorillas thriving in the thick bushes. The park’s altitudinal span, antiquity, remoteness and flora have contributed to creating one of the most biodiverse forests in Africa.

Bwindi is home to over 120 mammal species, more than to any other national park in Uganda with the exception of Queen Elizabeth National Park. There are more than 160 tree and 100 fern species.

Of the mammals in Bwindi Forest, the mountain gorilla is the most famous. However, there are over 10 primate species including chimpanzees (though unhabituated), olive baboons, black and white colobus monkeys, L’Hoest’s monkeys, red tailed monkey and blue monkeys. There are over 300 forest elephants in the south-east of the forests and six antelope species, bushbucks and five duiker species.

Additionally, Bwindi Forest is home to about 350 species of birds including 23 species that are endemic to the Albertine Rift and at least 14 species are recorded nowhere else in Uganda. The forest is also to home to at least 200 species, plus an incredible range of reptiles and amphibians.