What popular tours are done in Bwindi? Bwindi is an impenetrable forest located in the southwestern part of Uganda in Kisoro district. The park was gazetted in 1993 to protect the different attractions that were living in the forest. Bwindi impenetrable forest is popular for being a habitat of endangered mountain gorillas which are rare to find in the world. More than half of the remaining mountain gorillas are said to be living in this park and most of them have been habituated for tourist visits.
Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park is famous for harboring mountain gorillas and the most done tours are about these primates that are said to have more than 98% DNA they share with human beings. Gorilla trekking and gorilla habituation are the most done activities in this park and may be bird watching since the park has over 350 bird species so far recorded.
Popular tours in Bwindi
Gorilla trekking tours
The highest number of tourists to Bwindi impenetrable forest national park carry out gorilla trekking. Gorilla trekking is the cheapest way of meeting endangered mountain gorillas in their natural habitats and this comes with 1 hour around the apes. There are more than 20 mountain gorilla families in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park open for trekking.
Gorilla trekking tours require tourists to have gorilla trekking permits which are documents issued by Uganda Wildlife Authority to allow tourists to visit mountain gorillas in the wild for one hour. Each mountain gorilla family is visited by a maximum of 8 people per day and these are escorted in the jungle by the armed ranger guides.
The gorilla trekking exercise in Bwindi starts early in the morning at the sector headquarters where trekkers are first briefed about the rules and regulations of the activities. Groups not exceeding 8 people are made and armed ranger guides are assigned to lead the trekkers in the jungle.
Inside the jungle, armed ranger guides are able to show the trekkers the different trekking trails to use and allocate the mountain gorillas. During the search, different attractions of the park are spotted for example the mammals, primates, birds, water sources, and vegetation to mention but a few. After hours of searching, the mountain gorillas are spotted.
When a mountain gorilla group is located, trekkers are given 1 hour to be around the members which allows them to learn about their habits, take photos, and record videos. Trekkers will be able to learn about their habits, see the mountain gorillas carry out day to day activities like playing, hunting, nesting, breast feeding, or mating among others. After having a good time with the mountain gorillas, tourists trek out of the jungle to get transferred to the lodge or the next destination.
Gorilla habituation tours
Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park is the only place to visit for gorilla habituation in the world. This is an activity that allows trekkers to be with semi-habituated mountain gorillas for a maximum of 4 hours while making the members get used to the human presence around them. Gorilla habituation safaris are always carried out by luxury travelers in the Rushaga Sector of Bwindi.
For tourists to carry out gorilla habituation in Bwindi impenetrable forest national park, they must purchase gorilla habituation permits which are documents that allow tourists to go into the jungle and spend 4 hours with the semi-habituated mountain gorillas. A maximum of 4 tourists is allowed to go gorilla habituation in Bwindi and they are led by armed ranger guides.
Gorilla habituation is carried out by a team of doctors, researchers, trekkers, and rangers who show the best trails to use and locate the mountain gorilla family. The search for a semi-habituated mountain gorilla family goes through a number of trails where trekkers get an opportunity to see some of the attractions, especially wildlife in the park.
Once a semi-habituated mountain gorilla family is located, trekkers are given 4 hours to be with the members. Trekkers are allowed to be part of the different activities that make the mountain gorillas get used to the human presence around them. Tourists are also able to capture images and videos of the gorillas for future memories.
Bird watching
Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park is one of the tourist destinations that attracts birds in the country. The national park is a habitat of over 350 bird species most of which can be spotted when one goes around the park searching with well-trained birder guides. Bwindi bird watching is mostly carried out in Buhoma and Ruhija sectors where birders visit areas like Bwindi Neck and Mubwindi Swamp.
On a bird watching safari in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, the best borders are able to see more than half of the bird species if they have enough time in the park. Birders need a pair of binoculars, a camera, a light backpack, a sound recorder, a book, a pen, a rain jacket, long-sleeved clothes, waterproof shoes, and much more.
Birds that can be spotted in Bwindi include Grauer’s swamp warbler, white starred robin, western green tinker bird, shelley’s crimsonwing, handsome francolin, ross’s turaco, dwarf honeyguide, neumann’s warbler, black bee-eater, yellow-eyed black flycatcher, bar-tailed trogon, little green sunbird, red chested fufftail, chapin’s flycatcher, grey cuucko shrike, Rwenzori apalis, strip breasted tit, grey chested kakamega.
African emerald cuckoo, sooty falcon, western citril, grauer’s broadbill, carruthers’s cisticola, regal sunbird, great blue turaco, equatorial akalat, purple breasted sunbird, velvet mantled drongo, joyful greenbul, African black dark, red-tailed bristlebill, fine banded woodpecker, Albertine boubou, banded prinia, tambourine dove, red chested flufftail, sharpe’s starling, and blue-headed sunbird to mention but a few.
Best ti-me to visit Bwindi
The driest months of the year are the best to visit Bwindi impenetrable forest national park. June to September and December to February are the best times to visit Bwindi because there is good weather in the park. There is little rainfall and plenty of sunshine within the park which keeps the trekking trails passable and vegetation short for clear views of attractions.
Tourists can still visit Bwindi during the dry season of March to May and October to November for the park is always open. This period favors budget travelers who find discounted accommodation facilities and tour packages. Travelers should know that there is always too much rainfall within the park leads to muddy and slippery trekking trails, and vegetation is tall with unclear views of some attractions.