Bwindi Impenetrable Forest - Home to about half of the endangered Mountain Gorilla Population and much more!

Welcome to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Bwindi a word that has the connotation of darkness in it. 

The Park is located southwest of Uganda about 9-10 hours of driving from Kampala Capital and its famous for its exceptional gorilla Tracking Experience.

The park measures 321km² with an altitude of 1,160m above sea level and was gazette as a national park in April 1991 and declared a UNESCO Natural World Heritage site in 1994.

It is spread over a series of steep ridges and valleys making it a source of five major rivers which flow into lake Edward.

Originally it was called an impenetrable forest under colonial administration but was later named Bwindi National park in 1991 under the current government of President Yoweri Museveni. 

Bwindi is home for over 400 of the worlds most endangered species that have been in protection for since 1964.

There are 9 habituated mountain Gorilla families and one on research excluding those in Mgahinga.

The local communities receive about 10% of income from the park collections to avoid human animal conflicts that may cause extinction of the endangered species.

The political stability in addition to several environmental conservationists have contributed to the steady rise in Gorilla population since 1991.

The pioneer for hosting Tourists to Gorillas was named Walter Baumgartel, who was a resident of Kisoro and an advocate for Gorilla conservation.

One of the pioneers of bringing tourists into the presence of Gorillas was Walter Baumgartel, who lived in Kisoro, he was an advocate of gorilla conservation, and among the very first people to experience the goodness of tourism.

Walter was the proprietor for a hotel called Travelers Rest Inn where Dian Fossey from the Gorillas to be mist used to stay.

He Authored a book Encounter with the giant apes in the remote highlands of southern Uganda which remains a great source of information about Mountain Gorillas and boost your interest to see them up close.

On a separate note, Bwindi has the most adverse ecosystem in Africa. It harbors a number of Forest elephants rarely seen by visitors. These elephants are smaller with more hair than the savannah elephants. The park has a total composite of 100 mammals for example, L” Hoests’s, red tailed and blue tailed monkeys, Black and white colobus monkeys, Baboons and chimpanzees in large numbers.

 The park also contains different bird species that are found no-where else.

About 220 butterfly species, 27 species of frogs, chameleons, geckos and many endangered species are found in the park.

There is an option of taking day trails from 30 minutes to 8 hours around Buhoma area to learn and enjoy diversity of culture in addition to the multiple species of butterflies that meet you along the way.

The park contains 350 unique species of birds that give birders a once in a lifetime experience.