Bwindi is located in western Uganda; it is one of the best destinations in Uganda which is ever enjoyed by visitors every day. Bwindi is one of the major reasons why visitors do cross border trips. Some clients do enjoy visiting game parks in Kenya or Tanzania and come to Uganda’s Bwindi national park to enjoy one of the most memorable activity gorilla tracking. Some visitors decide to do their entire trips from Uganda only since the country also have wildlife parks, primate parks, culture, mountains and many more.
Bwindi is a home to almost half of the remaining mountain Gorillas in the wild. The park is big and wide covering 4 sectors and each with gorilla families. They include Buhoma, Rushaga, Nkuringo and Ruhija. Here below let’s look at what makes Bwindi unique from other destinations.
1. Bwindi National Park is among the only two parks where these majestic creatures can be seen (mountain Gorillas). This makes it unique and receive many visitors every day.
2. The park has many gorilla families, unlike the mgahinga national park which has only one gorilla family called Nyakagezi, Bwindi has 4 sectors each with many gorillas open to visitors.
3.In Bwindi National Park, besides gorilla tracking which takes 1 hour after finding the gorillas, visitors can do gorilla habituation allowing 4 hours with these close relatives of humans. Though the price is higher compared to tracking, but it worth it.
4. Bwindi National Park is strategically located. It is near other destinations like Queen Elizabeth National Park, lake Bunyonyi, kibale National Park, it is easy to connect to other places of interest.
5. In Bwindi, it’s not only Gorillas tracking and habituation which be done here, other activities here include, Nature walks, birding and many more.
-You are not supposed to touch the animal keep at least 7 meters away from the gorilla.
Does and don’ts for Mountain Gorillas
-Visitors with communicable diseases are not supposed to go for gorilla tracking,
-Time spent while tracking mountain gorillas depend on their movement, but after finding them, visitors are supposed to spend 1 hour with the gorillas.
-Keep silent while tracking mountain gorillas
-You are not supposed to eat, smoke etc. around mountain gorillas.
-Flash photography is not allowed
-Do not litter in the forest
-Do not pick anything from the forest
-The minimum age for gorilla tracking is 15 years, anybody under that age cannot be allowed to track mountain gorillas.
The best time to visit Bwindi National Park
The best time to visit Bwindi is in dry season months, it is called peak season and many visitors prefer to visit during this time. Booking in advance is necessary as permits are served on first come first serve. Here are some of the reasons why dry season is the best to visit Bwindi.
– In the dry Season, the weather is clear and mountain Gorillas can be seen properly and photography is favored.
– In dry season, the trails are possible, they are not so slippery. Hence making tracking fun and enjoyable.
Although dry season is best, even other months the park is open, sometimes rain can be unpredictable that’s why it is advisable to have the rainy jacket, 4×4 car is recommended
How to connect to Bwindi National Park.
– It can be by road. This is where visitors are driven in 4×4 cars and they reach the destination
– By air transport. This is where visitors take flights near Bwindi where they find safari land cruisers waiting for them to be driven to their accommodation.
