Gorilla trekking in Uganda

Gorilla trekking in Uganda

Gorilla trekking in Uganda,Gorilla tours Uganda, Gorilla tracking in Bwindi impenetrable National Park,Habituated mountain Gorillas, Gorilla families, Bwindi impenetrable National Park

Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park is popularly known for its Mountain Gorilla populations and Gorilla trekking in Uganda. It also offers some of the finest montane forest birding in Africa and is a key destination for any birder doing a Safari to Uganda the Pearl of Africa. Among st the numerous possibilities are no fewer than 23 of Uganda’s 24 Albertine Rift endemics, including spectacular, globally threatened species such as Shelley’s Crimson wing and the African Green Broadbill. Bwindi National park is one of the few areas in Africa to have flourished throughout the last Ice Age and it is home to roughly half of the world’s Mountain Gorillas.

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is best known for its outstanding Gorilla tracking, but it also provides refuge to elephant, chimpanzee, monkeys and various small antelope and bird species. With Great Adventures Uganda, if you book a Uganda safaris without Gorilla trekking in Uganda’s Bwindi National park then you will have missed an opportunity to see these rare and threatened Gorillas in their natural habitat. The variant biodiversity is supported by the fact that Bwindi National park is extremely old and also its slopes extend over a broad altitudinal range of 1447m above sea level, enabling habitats ranging from lowland forest to Afromontane vegetation.

Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is located in the south-western Uganda on the border with Congo and Rwanda. Covering an area of about 33.7 sq kilometres, the park is a habitat for man’s closest relative, the Mountain Gorillas which roam about the whole forest in search for food and water. This National park is one of the few places in the world where the endangered Mountain Gorillas live and it attracts people from different countries all over the world to come on Uganda Gorilla Safari. There is no doubt that Mgahinga Gorilla National park is one of the leading tourism sites in Uganda since it harbors these rare and endangered primates.

Someone may wonder why Gorilla trekking in Uganda should be done in Mgahinga Gorilla National park and not other places but the secret behind it is that this National park has a thick rain forest with a wide variety of tree species, and Gorillas are known to be vegetarians. There is enough food for them in the National park and this is the reason why some even migrate from Congo and Rwanda to this place. Though not in large numbers, Gorillas of Mgahinga National park are easily seen in their natural habitats and this makes Gorilla trekking in Uganda more easy compared to other National parks.

Bwindi Impenetrable National park can be accessed either by air from Entebbe Airport or Kajjansi Airstrip or by road from Kampala.
From Entebbe, there are scheduled flights to Kihihi which is close to Buhoma the northern sector of Bwindi national park and also flights to Kisoro which is close to Rushaga and Nkuringo the Southern sector of Bwindi. Flights to Kisoro only leave in the morning while Kihihi has both morning and afternoon departures from Entebbe. You can also do charter flights from Kajjansi Airstrip to either Kisoro or Kihihi.

By road, there are alternatives that include:
Kampala-Kabale-Kanungu-Buhoma which follows a tarmac highway until Kabale for about 414km spending about 6-8 hrs and then connect on a murram road through Kanungu and Kanyantorogo for about 120km to Buhoma, the northern sector of Bwindi.

Kampala-Kabale-Ruhija-Buhoma which follows the same route as the above first option except the Kabale-Ruhija-Buhoma section is about 95km on a murram road and can take about 3-4 hrs.

Kampala-Kabale-Nkuringo also follows the same as the above routes to Kabale and an additional 105km about 4-5 hrs drive on a mountainous murram road to Nkuringo from Kabale. Some people prefer spending a night in Kisoro which is about 80km from Kabale and in the morning proceed to Nkuringo for Gorilla tracking.

Kampala-Ntungamo-Rukungiri-Kihihi-Buhoma is regarded as the quickest and most direct of all the routes from Kampala and follows a tarmac rout to Rukungiri about 390km followed by murram roads to Buhoma for about 82km.

It can also be accessed by road this time with a shorter drive of 4-5hours from Kigali Rwanda to Kabale and connect to Bwindi compared to the one from Entebbe/Kampala which take 9-10hours drive.For more information about Gorilla traekking in Uganda contact on of Great Adventure safari consultants in office.