Best of Africa Tours and Safaris Limited | Bwindi Impenetrable National Parks

A magnificent verdant swathe across thesteep ridges of the Albertine Rift Valley,this ancient rainforest - one of the few inAfrica to have flourished throughout thelast Ice Age - is home to roughly half of theworld's mountain gorillas. Looking deepinto the expressive brown eyes of thesegentle giants is surely the most exciting andpoignant wildlife encounter that Africa hasto offer - but we should not let it distractfrom Bwindi's broader biodiversity, a resultof its immense antiquity and an altitudespan from 1,160 to 2,607m. The nationalpark has 90 mammal species, including 1 1primates, of which the black-and-whitecolobus, with its lovely flowing white tail, isprominent. The forest birding ranks withthe best in Uganda, with 23 highlylocalised Albertine Rift endemics present.

Size:
321 sq km

Location:
Southwest.The closest large town is Kibale

Getting there:
Bwindi can be reached from OENP in the north (2-3 hours), from Kabale to the south (1-2 hours), or from Kampala via Mbarara (6-8 hours). The roads meet at Butogota, l7km from the Buhoma entrance gate.

What to do:
Gorilla trucking is the main attraction; permits must be pre-booked at the UWA office in Kampala. Other guided forest walks are
available one popular trail leads to a pretty waterfall, others focus on birding and monkey-viewing

When to visit:
Any time through conditiona are challenging through rainy season (April-May and September, November)

Where to stay:
Several tented camps and lodges, community-run budget rooms and camping are available near the Buhoma entrance gate.