Bwindi Impenetrable national park
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is most sought of when it comes to mountain gorillas, the phenomenal national park is home to half population of the world’s remaining mountain gorillas, these live within the forest with freedom to roam in the natural ecosystem, Bwindi is situated in the western part of the country, it is one of the few places to find the primate species, they are the world’s largest primates led by a male silverback, the national park was gazette as a protected conservation area in the 1993 and declared a UNESCO world heritage site by the 1994 as a way of protecting the critically endangered species, it covers an area space of approximately 321 square kilometers towards the edge of the rift valley, offering an ultimate gorilla experience.
The Bwindi forest is one of Uganda’s most biodiverse tropical rainforests dating back to over 25 million years ago, it is bisected into four sectors the Nkuringo, Buhoma, Ruhija and the Rushaga sector, each of these has got habituated gorilla families to track the Mubare gorilla group was the very 1st family to be habituated and made to get used to human presence in the1993 in the Buhoma sector mountain gorilla species live freely within the ecosystem without being captivated they live in families of up to 20 members, baby gorillas live under the care of their parents until the age of 2 years old, they mostly nest on the ground hence a gorilla population census can be done by how many nests have been built, they feed in different locations allowing food to regrow mostly the plants, leaves, mushrooms.
The impenetrable forest contains thick tree canopies an undergrowth consisting mostly fans and climbing plants these act as homes to not only thee mountain gorillas but also other species like the black and white colobus monkeys, L’hoest monkeys, forest elephants, mountain duikers over 350 species of birds have been recorded here to date with endemics of the albertine, some are restricted to specific areas like the African green broadbill in the Ruhija sector, despite the many animals being present in the national park they are rare to see, in the past few years the group of the last remaining population of the short structured people resided in the forest with other creatures amicably! All these existing in one environment presents a chance to do several tourism activities the number one is the,
Gorilla trekking takes place from the park headquarters within which one has bought their gorilla permits, park rangers will brief you in how to conduct yourself while with the gorillas, based on the gorilla rules and regulations tracking through the highland area is amazing however you will need to consider being physically fit as the terrain can mean to be tough, the trek takes 2 -8 hours or even the entire day depending on how far the gorilla families have moved, Gorilla habituation in relation to the trekking is done all day, on this one travelers can choose to have a gorilla doctor of board, the hike is basically to follow a gorilla group that has not been fully habituated.
Batwa cultural experience to the Batwa community a walk through the forest is amazing in any sector of the national park you can have the chance to meet the locals of the community, they lived together in harmony until they were evicted due to conservation purposes however they continued living in the neighborhood passing onto their culture to generations, they will dance and perform to their traditional song, how they used to live , gather and hunt from the forest showcasing survival skills like making fire without using the modern day a match box or lighter!
Other things to do while here include birding, guided nature walk through the lovely forest from one sector to another sector, community walks, community hospital to mention a few, the park can be accessed by road passing through the angelic small towns and villages, it approximately +/- 9 hours drive to reach the destination charter flights of scheduled flights to the destination can arranged from Entebbe or Kajjansi for +/-2 hours flight, these land at the Kisoro or Kihihi airstrip.