Bwindi Impenetrable National Park - Gorilla Tour, Uganda
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is a hot spot for travelers to the Pearl of Africa, the country s a landlocked small state in East Africa, small as it is one of the most wonderful places to go on an African safari, and the Bwindi forest is among those few places reach out, it is bisected into four sectors (Buhoma, Ruhija, Nkuringo, and Rushaga), each of these is placed with habituated gorilla families for tracking, it was gazette in 1991 as a national park, to protect the critically endangered species of the mountain gorilla a subspecies of the eastern gorilla –gorilla beringei, beringei by 1994 it was declared a UNESCO world heritage site, the park is home to half of the worlds remaining population of the mountain gorillas, it covers an area space of approximately 331 square kilometers elevated between 1190 meters and 2560 meters above sea level.
The park is angelically placed in the Kigezi highland areas of the southwestern part of Uganda, it is also known as the Switzerland of Africa because of its ragged terrain, it has different vegetation zones from the farmlands of the Bakonjo and Batwa farmers to montane forest, bamboo forest, and the heath and moorland, these are home to several wildlife species including the mountain gorillas, mountain duikers, forest elephants, giant forest hogs, primates like the L’hoest monkeys, Black and white colobus monkeys and over 300 bird species are present in the park some of which are endemics to the destination, for example, the African green broadbill, great blue turaco to mention a few, the forest used to be home to the Batwa community a group of the last short structured people on the country pgymys, these used to dwell in the forest together with other forest creatures until they were evicted due to conservation purposes.
Gorilla trekking is the major thing to do while in the national park, in 1993, the Buhoma sector of the national park was the very first place to spark the gorilla trekking activity, gorillas live in the forest and are characterized by their gentleness, brown eyes, and four bodies, they are herbivores feeding on the forest plants, back trees, mushrooms, and fruits, these live within the national park freely without being captivated and live in Families of up to 20 members led by a male silverback, baby gorillas live under the care of their parents until the age of 2 years, families are normally comprised of black backs, silverbacks, young ones, and babies, gorilla trekking is done in groups of up to 8 members per gorilla family it takes 2-8 hours doing the activity depending on how far the gorilla families have moved, gorilla permits are purchased at $700 per permit for foreign non-residents, $600 for foreign residents and 250,000 ugx for residents other park activities include Birding in the national park, guided nature walks, community visits, and the batwa community experience .
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park can be visited all year round, it receives different seasons of weather the dry and wet seasons, and the trail of the forest is much drier during this time hence important to come in the dry period, there is available accommodation in the park ranging from the best budget to Luxury, it is approximately 9 hours drive to arrive at the destination while passing through the beautiful hills banana and tea plantations of western Uganda. To enjoy a gorilla trekking experience, it is important to carry warm clothes, long-sleeved shirts, trousers, insect repellants, and any other items of personal nature.
