Gorilla trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable national park
Gorilla trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable national park : Bwindi Impenetrable national park is Uganda’s finest gorilla trekking destination; the park is outstanding with the population of the half of the world’s remaining mountain gorilla population. The mountain gorillas are highly endangered species and the park is a home of over 468 gorillas. The gorillas are highly endangered due to poaching, diseases, land fragmentation due to over population and among many others. Bwindi impenetrable national park generates high revenues to Uganda Wildlife Authority, and other national parks in the country, various tourists from world come to the destination to do both gorilla trekking and gorilla habituation. Bwindi Forest National Park is located about 478 kilometers from the capital city Kampala.
Bwindi impenetrable national park is situated in the southwestern region, right on the edge of the rift valley, the park is bordered by the Democratic Republic of Congo also called as Congo on the western side, then Kabale town to the southeast side, which is the nearest town to the park. Bwindi covers an area of 331 square kilometers and located in the highest parts of the Kigezi highlands with an altitude of 1190 to 2607 meters above the sea level and 60% of the park has an elevation of over 2000 meters above the sea level. The highest elevation of the park is known as Rwamunyonyi hill at the eastern edge and the lowest part of the park is situated at its northern tip. Bwindi impenetrable national park can be reached into different ways that’s is; the park is approximately 9 to 10 hours’ drive from Entebbe International Airport by road and just 1 hour away by the domestic flights. Using the road transport the journey is abit long by road but definitely worth it after when you experience a close encounter with the gentle giants in their habitants. The park can also be reached from Queen Elizabeth National Park through driving in the Ishasha sector which is about 3 to 4 hours of driving.
This safari destination is known as the most visited Uganda safari parks and am sure on Uganda safari you will have the wonderful safari experience. Bwindi Impenetrable national park has main four gorilla trekking sectors that includes Rushaga, Buhoma, Ruhija and Nkuringo. The park has over 23 gorilla families that inhabit in all the four gorilla sectors, some of these includes Nkuringo gorilla family, Bikingi gorilla family, Bushaho gorilla family, Kahungye gorilla family, Busingye gorilla family, Nshongi gorilla family, Mishaya gorilla family, Bweza gorilla family, Bitukura gorilla family, Kyaguliro gorilla family. Besides the mountain gorillas, Bwindi impenetrable national park has various numbers of the mammals and other primates; some of the mammals that reside in the park includes the forest elephnats, antelopes, African civet, giant forest hog and the primate species includes the black and white colobus monkeys, L’Hoest’s, red tailed monkeys, and among many others without forgetting the bird species.
Gorilla trekking experience in Bwindi impenetrable national park.
Gorilla trekking in Bwindi impenetrable national park starts very early in the morning at the park headquarters, this is where you will be given a briefing about the rules and regulations to follow during gorilla trekking, after the briefing you will be grouped in various groups of 8 members per group. Each group will be led by the experienced park guide and ranger and then start the gorilla trekking in the different hiking trails that includes River Ivi trail, Waterfall trail, Habinyanja trail, Kashasha river trail, Bamboo trail, Muzabajiro trail. Gorilla trekking in Bwindi impenetrable national park takes a period of about 30 minutes to 6 hours regarding to the location of the gorillas. Along the way looking for the mountain gorillas you will be rewarded with the impressive views of the forest, that is animal species, bird species like Tit Hylia, Strange weaver, Grey gecko-shrike, Shelly’s greenbul, handsome francolin, strange weaver and others, plants species and among many others. Once upon you find the gorillas you will be given one hour to interact with the gorillas; this is where you will watch the gorillas making the nests of their next night, watching how they feed, and all others like how they do their family activities, that’s when you participate in taking their pictures and recording their videos while using the less flush or no flush cameras. After the experience you will back to the starting point where you will be rewarded with the gorilla trekking certificates for taking part in gorilla trekking.
Bwindi impenetrable national park offers more gorilla safari experience that is through gorilla habituation this the process where one gets to visit the gorillas for more than the one hour experience with the rangers, scientists, researchers, conservationists, here the gorillas are trained to be used with the human beings. This experience is stunning as it gives the tourists more time to learn about the gorillas and their behaviours. And in the entire country, gorilla habituation only takes place in Rushaga gorilla sector that is located in the south of Bwindi Impenetrable national park.
What is a gorilla permit?
A gorilla permit in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is an essential document that allows any traveler taking part in gorilla trekking in Uganda or even gorilla habituation experience in Uganda, to experience the mountain gorillas in their natural habitat that is Uganda. A gorilla permit price also includes the entrance fees, a ranger fees, as well as caters for your one hour encounter with the mountain gorillas in their natural habitat. The gorilla permit also caters for the security which you are assured of while in the gorilla parks of Uganda.
The gorilla trekking permits costs 800 USD per person per trek for the foreign nonresidents, then 700 USD per person per trek for the foreign residents and 300,000 UGX for the East African Citizens, and the gorilla trekking permits can be booked thr0ugh different ways that is either through the government body in charge of tourism that is Uganda Wildlife Authority or a reputable tour operator like African Vacation Safaris, here we save you the hustle and bustle of the entire process but rather get rather get you to the tracking and return back with the everlasting safari memories.
Best time to do gorilla trekking in Bwindi impenetrable national park.
The best time to visit the mountain gorillas in Bwindi impenetrable national park is during mid-June through October, December through March. These are the dry moths of the year and the high season or the peak seasons for perfect gorilla trekking. Although mountain gorilla trekking can be trekkers all the year long in Uganda that is either the high or the low season.
