Bwindi impenetrable National Park is located in the south western region of Uganda in Kanungu District which is a distance of 530 kilometers and takes 8:20 hours from Entebbe International Airport and about 8 hours from Kampala the capital city by road. The park is on edge of Rift Valley in southwest part and ii covers 331 kilometers squared of its low land forest. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is bordered by the Democratic Republic Congo near the Virunga National Park.
The park is a home to half gorilla mountains and wildlife encounter in the East Africa with over 400 species of plant, 120 species of mammals, 202 species of butterflies, 100 species of ferns, 27 species of amphibians, 163 species of tree like Brazzeia longipedicellata, 346 species of birds, 10 primates like chimpanzees, black monkeys, colobus monkeys and many more other species.
The park is the oldest and happens to be a world heritage site for mountain gorilla and chimpanzees and is a sanctuary for gorilla trekking which is a tourist attraction in East Africa, with over 10 gorilla group families that can be booked by 8 tourists per group per day. There are 4 gorilla trekking trails on these trails one can view quite a number of birds of over 400 species, different primates species like colobus monkeys, black monkeys, chimpanzees and many more. There are four sectors in Bwindi where gorillas can be trekked and these include Buhoma, Ruhija, Nkuringo, Rushanga and all are under the protection of Uganda Wildlife Authority.
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park has various attractions like waterfalls, swamps, rivers that flow to the north, west and south that include River Ntegyere, River ishasha and has tropical climate that ranges from a minimum of 7 to 15 C to maximum of 20 to 27 C.
The park was renamed as a crown forest in 1932, by that time it had two blocks the north and the south block which was designed as Kasatora Crown Forest. The area was composed of 207 kilometers squared and it was under the control of Uganda government forest reserve.
The park later on was established in 1991 and turned to be Bwindi Impenetrable National Park that covers an area of 330.8 kilometers, with a number of mountain gorillas. During the reservation of the forest there was large impact on the Batwa people who were chased out of the park.
The park is a game reserve and forest reserve which is home to inhabitant with over 340 individual mountain gorillas known as the Bwindi population which make up half of mountain gorillas in the world.
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park as a tourist attraction has got a number of activities that a traveler can decide to engage in and below we take you through some of these:
Guided Nature Walk: During these guided nature walks tourists walk through the forest trails and get a chance to feel the freshness of the forest. They get a chance to view different bird species, mammals and primates like the black monkeys, blue monkeys, colobus monkeys and many more.
Gorilla Trekking: Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is sanctuary of mountain gorillas of over 10 gorilla families that are ready to be visited by tourists. Gorilla trekking safaris is one of the best selling activities in the world and in Uganda itself. Once the travelers come in contact with the gorillas, they spend one hour in the vicinity and later leave and a permit for gorilla trekking costs $ 600.
Gorilla habituation: The park is one of the best places that offers gorilla habituation experiences in the world and the researchers say gorilla habituation is such an interesting activity to do. Gorilla habituation lasts for four hours and the cost for the permit is $1500.
Bird watching: The park is home for over 346 species of birds that can be a tourist attraction and these include honey guide, dusky crimson, yellow eye black fly catcher, bar tailed trogon and many more other species. Tourist that love bird watching tend to take interest in Bwindi for its birding safaris.
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park can be accessed from Kampala with in 8 and a half hours by road and alternatively tourists can fly from Entebbe AirPort to the modern tarmac airstrip in Kisoro town. The route from Entebbe to Bwindi is very long and most times travelers decide to land in Kigali Rwanda and later travel to bwindi since its shorter.
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park also offers different accommodation facilities with the best hotels and lodges where tourists can spend their night such as Gorilla Safari Lodge, Sanctuary Gorilla Forest Camp, Tracker Safari Lodge, Bakiga Lodge and many others depending on your budget.
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park can be visited in dry seasons from the month of September, march, January, June, February and December and is visited less during the wet seasons because of the slippery trails in the forest. Though, during the wet seasons few travelers take advantage because permits are always available.