The park is located in South Western Uganda, on the edge of the western rift valley, shared by Rukungiri, Kabale and Kisoro Districts bordered by DRC in the west. Bwindi is accessed using various routes all converging near Butogota both by road and domestic flights. The park covers an area of 331 square kilometers of jungle forests comprising both montane and lowland forest accessible only on foot. It is basically found in the highest parts of Kigezi highlands with an altitude of 1,190 to 2,607 meters above sea level having an annual average temperature Range of 7-20 degrees Celcius with its coldest period being June and July and experiencing its heaviest rains during March-April and September – November, Other months are usually moderate.
Bwindi forest national park is a home for approximately 400 endangered mountain gorillas and Uganda harbors about half the total population of mountain gorillas the world has. The park is also gifted with a variety of other species where by it estimated to have over 30 elephants and 120 species of mammals such as 7 diurnal primates. with 360 species of birds and 200 butterfly species. The Afro-montane rain forest has a dense under store of ferns, vines, and shrubs, and over 324 tree species recorded there, of which 10 don’t appear elsewhere in Uganda making Bwindi a must visit park to any enthusiastic tourist.
The park has more than 14 habituated mountain gorilla groups that are open for tourists in four different sectors of Buhoma, Ruhija, Rushaga and the Nkuringo all under the management of Uganda Wildlife Authority and each sector has different families, Mubare family in Buhoma being the first one to be known for habituation among them all.
The Nkuringo sector which lies closely to the Buhoma sector is about 10km from Buhoma although this distance is covered by the Impenetrable Forest and a walk through the forest takes about 4 hours. Nkuringo and Bushaho are the families in this sector. The Ruhija sector which is famous for its abundant birdlife on top of the gorillas is considered to be the most remote sector of all the four. Gorilla families in this sector include; Oruzogo, Bitukura and Kyaguriro. The Rushaga sector boasts the highest number of gorilla families which include; Mishaya, Nshongi, Kahungye, Busingye and Bweza. Then the Buhoma sector includes Mubare, Habinyanja, and Rushengura families.
Having 400 Mountain Gorillas, Gorilla trekking tours & safaris form the major tourist activity/attraction in Bwindi. On daily basis, at least two Gorilla groups are usually available for tourists to visit.
The gorilla trekking experience
There is no African safari tour is complete without seeing the mountain gorillas. The Gorilla tracking activity starts with briefing tourists about the “dos and don’ts “while tracking at 8:00 am local time. Gorillas are supposed to be met for 1-2 hours once they have been tracked. The Gorilla Tracking activity in Bwindi is tedious therefore tourists are usually urged to be physically fit and carry jungle boots and rain jackets along with them because the forest is always wet.
Batwa community.
The Batwa- pygmy community were originally forest-dwellers and hunter-gatherers based in the Great Lakes region, where they were widely accepted as the original inhabitants of the forest. As their traditional forest lands and territories fell under the control of conservation agencies, the Batwa became squatters living at the edges of society. The establishment of the Bwindi National Park for Mountain Gorillas in 1991 enabled the authorities to evict the Batwa definitely from the forest. The Batwa in Uganda today experience systematic and pervasive discrimination from the government and other sectors of society, and their rights as indigenous peoples are neither recognized nor respected. Their households are scattered in various settlements in villages located adjacent to the forest where they own very little unproductive agricultural land and literally hunt in the forest in search for survival. Despite alterations in their places of stay, the Batwa still have strong heritage and the Uganda Wildlife Authority has given them permission to always enter in the park for cultural and spiritual practices. Guided heritage walks are organized by the Batwa themselves to their ancient sites allowing visitors on safaris in Uganda to have a full experience of their culture.
The birding experience
Bwindi is not only a mountain gorilla home but also has the best birding safari tour destination. it’s a sanctuary to over 348 bird species that are impossible or hard to see in any many other part East African regions. Among others, special on its list are; the honey guide, the Wing, White-tailed Blue Monarch Short-tailed Warbler, kivi ground thrush, Wilcock’s, Rusty-faced woodland Gruel’s Rush Warbler, Yellow-eyed black Fly-catcher, Warbler, Bar-tailed Trogon and Dusky Crimson an enthusiastic bird watcher can be able to identify as many as 100 species.
Village community walks
These walks offer tourists eye catching views like those of a typical Ugandan rural homestead setting in this region especially the Buhoma village walk. Tourists get to visit the local traditional healers, the banana beer brewing demonstration site, captivating traditional cultural performance in the evenings which are usually performed by Women groups who provide the opportunity to experience the traditional dressing fashions as well. This walk that takes over three hours, is an activity that is managed by the local community thus money received is invested back into the community to improve on their general welfare usually. Visitors may as well walk to the Bamboo zone which is a unique area in Bwindi impenetrable national park.
Accommodation
There is a variety of accommodation places to stay in basing on which gorilla group is to be tracked and accommodation ranges from budget to luxury lodges.