The most convenient way to access mountain gorillas- compare driving and flying to Bwindi.
Most of the travelers visiting Uganda prefer to use road transport while visiting the gorilla destinations in Uganda as well as Rwanda. The roads in Rwanda and Uganda that lead to the gorilla trekking areas are fairly good though this mode of travel is slower because of the nature of the roads leading to the different gorilla destinations in Uganda or Rwanda.
These roads are made of marram, therefore should you choose this mode of travel, you should be prepared for a bumpy ride. You are advised to use a 4×4 vehicle while traveling to any gorilla trekking national park in East Africa. To access any gorilla trekking destinations, you can use either a private car or any tour operators who will help to organize the overall transport for your gorilla tour, with the beautiful views along the countryside but you can also fly to any natural habitat in Rwanda and Uganda.
Accessing to Bwindi forest is an estimated 9-1 0 hours’ drive from the capital city of Uganda, Kampala or Entebbe International Airport. While visiting the Bwindi forest, you will enjoy unforgettable experiences because the journey will offer you beautiful views, African life in all the trading centers, en-route stopovers at the Equator line for photography.
You can use flights from Entebbe International Airport to Kihihi or Kisorso and a means of ground transport to your reserved hotel or park. The flight takes about 1-2 hours to the Bwindi forest. Flights to the Bwindi forest are arranged by Aerolink Uganda. You can get in touch with Africa Adventure Vacations to help and check the availability of space for your flights to the famous natural habitat for mountain gorillas.
This journey will give you beautiful views of the Islands of Lake Victoria, the swamp vegetation, valley, trading centers, and others.
Tourists with short time or do not want to take long hours on road drives, you can fly to the main international airport of Rwanda which is known as Kigali, and take a short road drive for just 2 hours to either Volcanoes national park in Rwanda or to Bwindi impenetrable forest national park of Uganda for about 4-5 hours driving from Kigali international airport of Rwanda. This trip will give you an opportunity with clear views of 8 Volcanoes, the Virunga ranges, and Mgahinga national park.
Know more about Mountain Gorilla Tracking in Bwindi.
Bwindi impenetrable forest national park is the popular natural habitat in Uganda with a high concentration of mountain gorillas. It holds almost half of the few remaining endangered mountain gorillas on the earth. Bwindi impenetrable forest national park is among the best place for birders with over 360 recorded bird species sighted along the trails, the vegetation, and swamps of Bwindi forest. While doing bird watching in the Bwindi forest, you will enjoy the view of the Albertine endemics, aquatic birds, and others. The park is also blessed with other primates such as baboons, monkeys, and wildlife animals like forest elephants, buffaloes, giant forest hogs, and others.
Bwindi impenetrable national park is blessed with over 19 habituated gorilla families which are already for tourism and it is carried out in four sectors of the park and these include Rushaga and Nkuringo sectors in the south, Buhoma sector in the North, Ruhija sector in the East.
What to do in Bwindi after seeing mountain gorillas.
Nature walks are an amazing experience in the Bwindi forest. It is carried out through natural features like waterfalls, rivers, streams, scenic hills, and valleys. This activity gives you a great chance to see the forest mammals, butterflies, reptiles, bats, and several monkey species and also enjoy the sounds of birds singing in the trees.
After visiting the mountain gorillas of the Bwindi forest, you can visit the Batwa communities on the boundaries of the park. This forest was home to the Batwa people before it turned into a national park to protect mountain gorillas and for gorilla tourism. Visiting the Batwa, you will get an opportunity to know more about their traditional forest life, culture, and norms. This activity is led by the Batwa people hiking deep into the forest while explaining to you their initial forest practices such as collecting honey, hunting, picking medicinal herbs. Then, they will entertain you in the evening with dances, songs, and storytelling.
Bird watching
This park is among the best spot for birding in Uganda, with over 350 bird species to the park. Some of the species you can see while at Bwindi forest are Collared April, Chapin’s Flycatcher, Dusky Twin Spot, short-tailed warbler, Western Green Tinkerbird, Grauer’s Rush Warbler, Chestnut-throated Apalis, Kivu Ground-Thrush, Africa Green Broadbill, Africa wood owl, Black-breasted Barbet, Handsome Francolin, strange weaver, and among others. Birders do not forget to carry a binocular for spotting every bird and our guide is experienced with everything about Bwindi forest so he will help you to explain and identify the names of birds.
Lodges at Bwindi impenetrable forest national park.
There are a lot of hotels and lodges in and outside Bwindi impenetrable forest national park where trekkers can spend a night and complete their dream of visiting mountain gorillas of Bwindi forest, which ranges from luxury to budget. It is important to note that booking with a tour operator instead of yourself is good because they help you to choose the right accommodation which is comfortable and fits your plans.
Some of these accommodation facilities are Agandi Eco lodge, Broadbill forest camp, Rushaga gorilla camp, Nkuringo Bwindi gorilla lodge, Buhoma community campsite, Gorilla forest camp, Volcanoes safari Bwindi lodge, and others. All the above-mentioned lodges offer high-quality services through the friendly staff, nice and clean rooms, restaurant with delicious meals which are all ready to serve, a bar stocked with all types of drinks and among others.
After visiting Bwindi forest, spare some time and go to Lake Mburo national park, where you will enjoy wildlife viewing, or visit Queen Elizabeth national park to see the tree-climbing lions, forest elephants, antelopes plus other animals. Lake Mburo national park also gives you a chance to see the Rothschild giraffe which is seen in only Kidepo national park and Murchison falls national park.
