Southwest of Uganda, a mysterious and lush green forest drapes across the rift valley – Bwindi Impenetrable National Park also a UNESCO World Heritage site is home to half of the world’s population of the remaining mountain gorillas. The famous Bwindi National Park was gazetted in 1991 mainly for the protection and conservation of the gorillas that were becoming extinct at the time. Today, several visitors travel to the remote Bwindi Impenetrable National Park to track the mountain gorillas in their natural habitat.
The Rich Biodiversity of Bwindi
The 333km2, medium altitude habitat mostly ever-green forest and montane tangled vines and undergrowth vegetation make the park impenetrable giving a home to both inexplicable and incredible at least 20 species of mammals here in one of the richest ecosystems in Africa besides the 11 species of primates including a healthy chimpanzee population and a substantial number of L’hoest’s, red-tailed monkey and blue monkey as well as black and white colobus monkey and the olive baboon among others.
Other residents of the park include the forest elephant, quite aggressive compared to the savannah counterparts, buffaloes, antelope species, and the seldom seen leopards, many species of bats and rodents at least 346 species of birds including rare forest birds like the Albertine rift endemics.
The African green broadbill together with the Grauer’s Rush Warbler are key species in this part of the world, the white-tailed blue flycatcher is common among the high-altitude dwellers, the mostly heard seen necked parrot, white-bellied robin chat, and the Frazer’s eagle Owl together with the nocturnal Rwenzori Nightjar are key species most hardcore birders look out for when they make visits to the Ruhija area which is more on a higher elevation than the other parts of the park.
The park also boosts of 14 species of snakes, 27 species of frogs and toads, 6 chameleon species, 14 lizards, skinks, and geckos and at least 202 species of butterflies are residents in the forest of Bwindi’s biggest claim to fame is the fact that it is a sanctuary to approximately half of the world’s population of mountain gorillas.
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park harbors a population of over 500 gorillas that live in about 25 families.
Because these gorillas are highly endangered in a bid to protect them only 8 people are allowed per day to visit a group. This allows minimal disturbance to the life of the mountain gorillas. However apart from gorilla treks, there are a lot more activities that can be done in this gigantic misty forest. There are networks of well-developed trails for nature walks especially for plant and bird lovers, mountain biking, cultural encounters, and bird watching as Bwindi has been one of the leading birding sites in the whole of Africa.
Getting to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
The park can be accessed by air through the Entebbe International Airport and Kajjansi airstrip from Kampala to the Kisoro, Kihihi or Kayonza airstrips as well as by road from several directions which includes: Through Queen Elizabeth National Park Mweya- Kihihi then Buhoma, Kampala-Kabale-Kanungu-Buhoma, Kampala- Ntungamo- Rukungiri- Kihihi- Buhoma.
The Kabale- Ruhija- Buhoma Kampala-Kabale-Nkuringo, flights that end in Rwanda can have approximately 5 hours of driving Via the Kabale Katuna Border to Ruhija starting point.
If you make a choice to visit Africa and you decide on safari to Uganda and Rwanda, do not hesitate to include gorilla trekking on your itinerary, time and resources allowing, try both experiences in Uganda and Rwanda as they are both completely different, include other primates like the Golden monkeys which are also endangered and only in the Virunga Conservation Area, a well-trained and information guide should be a pre-requisite for this safari as they create everlasting memories, do not under look their role in spicing up your holiday!
Photo de Gabriel Schumacher sur Unsplash
