Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is a famous safari destination in Uganda and is located in Kisoro district in the south-west of the country. The park covers an area of 321km2 and was gazette a national park in 1991 to protect and conserve the endangered mountain gorillas. Mountain gorillas were labelled “critically endangered primates” because of their risk of extinction in the wild, and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda is still the world’s top safari destination to spot the most endangered mountain gorillas. In 1994 Bwindi Forest was recognized as a world heritage site following the discovery of the first mountain gorilla family named Mubare gorilla family that was made available for tourism in 1993 immediately after being habituated for about 2 years to get them used to humans. The most ideal place to watch mountain gorillas is Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, which is at an altitude of between 1,160 and 2,607 meters above sea level making it conducive for gorilla lives.

The park is the main home of the largest number of endangered mountain gorillas (over 468 species), which can be interacted with during gorilla trekking and habituation safaris. There are 4 different sectors where gorilla trekking in Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park can be undertaken. One of these sectors allows for both gorilla trekking and gorilla habituation. The four sectors of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park include; Buhoma sector, Rushaga sector, Nkuringo sector and Ruhija sector.

What to see and do in Bwindi National Park of the Impenetrable Forest.

Mountain Gorillas.

Mountain gorillas provide a special and unique encounter to the tourists, the best season to see them is the dry season. In East Africa, they are the major source of tourist attraction but at the same time among the most endangered species of wildlife. Many visitors enter Bwindi Impenetrable Forest national park just to have a glimpse of these amazing creatures. The park hosts half of the world’s remaining mountain gorillas. There are 23 gorilla family groups that live in Ruhija, Buhoma, Nkuringo and Rushaga sectors of the forest. They can be viewed at any time of the year, and only 8 tourists are allowed to visit each gorilla family group per day.
Mountain gorillas dwell in the forested mountain slopes.

The day of the trekking tourists assemble at the park headquarters where they are given a briefing on what to do and what to avoid during trekking. They are then taken to their different trekking sectors where they embark on their trekking adventures. Depending on how the mountain gorillas move and in which direction in the jungle, this could be 30 minutes to 6hours activity on the spot, tourists spend an hour sharing and learning more about these fascinating animals. After this, tourists are escorted back to the national park headquarters where they are given gorilla trekking participation certificates.

Bird species.

Bwindi Impenetrable Forest is one of the amazing safari destinations for the birders; it’s a spot in the world that all birding enthusiasts should visit once in their lifetime. Due to the great diversity of Bwindi, it is home to various bird species. There are more than 350 bird species there and among them 24 of the species are only found in the Albertine ​‍​‌‍​‍‌rift. Tourists​‍​‌‍​‍‌ have the opportunity to watch and learn about a wide range of bird species that live in the forest, such as Black bee-eater, Cinnamon-chested bee-eater, Black-faced warbler, the beautiful francolin, Ruwenzori apalis, African broadbill, Purple-breasted greenbul, western green tinkerbird, Yellow-streaked greenbul, and many more. When going birdwatching in Bwindi, you should be equipped with walking or hiking gear and a good pair of binoculars to help you see things distinctly.

If on a bird-watching safari, visitors are covered an exclusive opportunity to catch beautiful panoramas of the entire forest while immensely enjoying thrilling views of the rich unending green vegetation; the thick dense canopies, various insect species, reptiles, and an abundant number of gorgeous butterflies.

Activities to do in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest national park.
Gorilla trekking.

More than fifty percent of the total mountain gorillas in the world are found here in the forest and hence a mountain gorilla trek becomes the main safari activity to do in Bwindi Impenetrable
Forest National Park. After a briefing with a ranger guide at the park headquarters at 8:00 AM, your gorilla trekking in Bwindi starts. The ranger will also assign a gorilla family that the group will visit. Each gorilla group or family can have up to 8 people visiting on any day.
So far, there are over 23 groups in the forest but they are all at various locations. Following the briefing, you enter the forest with the guide leading you to clear the path. Depending on the distance to the gorillas, the trek could last from 30 minutes to 6 hours.
Usually, the rangers will have accessed the forest before you and started finding the gorillas from the spot where they were seen the previous day. You will then have up to an hour to be with the gorillas, take pictures of them and video record their different behaviors such as playing, feeding, and grooming. The time is up; you pack your lunch and enjoy it while making your way out of the forest and back to the starting point. You will then be given your gorilla trekking certificate as a souvenir of your achievement in Bwindi gorilla trekking.

Gorilla Habituation Experience.

Gorilla habituation is a safari activity so amazing that it even surpasses the regular Gorilla trekking which itself is a thrilling venture. A briefing is also held at the beginning of the activity just like in gorilla trekking safari.  Bwindi impenetrable forest national park is the only spot in Africa where you can stay with a gorilla family in their natural habitat for up to 4 hours. You are also lucky to spend time with the researchers prepping a wild gorilla group for human interaction and thus you can spend more hours watching and discovering the mountain gorillas’ lifestyle.

Bird watching.

Bwindi is a heaven for birdwatchers and those who wish to go on a bird watching safari in ​‍​‌‍​‍‌Uganda. Bwindi​‍​‌‍​‍‌ Impenetrable Forest has 350 bird species, including 23 endemic ones, which constitutes 90% of the Albertine Rift Endemics. Among these are Mountain greenbul, Great blue turaco, Elliot’s woodpecker, Black-billed turaco, Short-tailed Warbler, White-browned crombec, Yellow-whiskered greenbul, Blue-headed Sunbird, and many more. Birdwatching safari in Bwindi is carried out via main trails, main trail, Buhoma Waterfall Trail as well as through bamboo zone and Mubwindi Swamp trail in Ruhija.

Hiking/Nature Walks.

For travelers who want a guided walk, there are various nature trails to go through the forest. Different directions of the trails lead to a variety of sights such as rivers, primates, mountain views, peaceful nature and a lot of different birds. Muyanga Waterfall Walk, Rushura Hill Walk, Ivi River Walk, Muzubijiro Loop, and Habinyanja (Railegh) Trail are some of the paths.

Cultural / Community Tours.

Besides the Batwa trail and the Batwa experience, which are the main cultural activities in Bwindi, there are also other interesting and rewarding cultural experiences and community tours in Bwindi that can get you to know the Bakiga and Batwa cultures and communities better. They, as well, provide travelers with an opportunity to listen to their history, admire their traditional dances, and hear their songs, and at the same time participate in their activities such as milking, digging, making local beer, food preparations, and others.

Best time to visit Bwindi Impenetrable Forest national park.

You can plan your visit to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park between June and August or from December to February. Those months usually do not have much rain, so you are more likely to have sunny and clear days which is very good for wildlife sighting and gorilla trekking.

How to get to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest national park.

You can get to the park by road or by air.

By road.

Kampala (or Entebbe) to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park by vehicle: The forest park can be reached by separate stages of the journey from Kampala or Entebbe. The trip lasts about 9 to 10 hours. Although this is a long drive, tourists will be offered a variety of attractions that could include a stop at the equator, beautiful farmlands with grazing cattle, the scenic hills of Kigezi region and local villages on the road.

Queen Elizabeth national park to Bwindi impenetrable national park Uganda by vehicle: Often it is the case that travelers, who want to see both Queen and Bwindi, drive from Queen Elizabeth National Park to Bwindi Forest via the Ishasha section of Queen. This road trip by vehicle lasts about 2-3 hours.
Kigali, Rwanda, to Bwindi Forest, Uganda by vehicle: Visitors can enter the Ugandan side of Bwindi Forest National Park either through the Katuna or Cyanika borders, therefore, the part which they want to explore can be chosen. The car travel time is around 4-5 hours.

By air.

Fly from Entebbe or Kajjansi to Bwindi: Direct charter flights operate from Entebbe International Airport or Kajjansi Airfield to Kisoro Airstrip. After that, you can take a road vehicle to the designated section of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in ​‍​‌‍​‍‌Uganda.

Where to stay in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park.

Bwindi Forest has a wide variety of accommodation options at all different price ranges including low-cost options such as budget lodges, mid-range lodges and high-end / luxury lodges. Some of the many options you may consider staying at while visiting the vicinity of Bwindi Forest include: Buhoma Lodge; Buhoma Community Camp; Sanctuary Gorilla Forest Camp; Four Gorillas Lodge ; Kitandara Camp; Buhoma Haven Lodge; Silverback Lodge; Engagi Lodge; Bwindi Guest House; Trekkers Tavern Cottages; Gift of Nature Lodge; Ruhija Gorilla Resort; Ruhija Community Rest Camp; Chameleon Hill Lodge; Gorilla Safari Lodge; and many others.