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Bwindi Forest

This national park with its “impenetrable forest” lies in the south west corner of Uganda, at an altitude of 1,100m to 2,400m above sea level, on the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is some 500km west of the capital city, Kampala, but the long drive from here can be broken up by, for example, a visit and overnight stay at Lake Mburo National Park, which is around half way along the route. It is also possible to fly to/from Bwindi in a light aircraft.

Even though the Bwindi Forest is very dense and is growing on steep mountain slopes, in reality it is not totally impenetrable, as it is here you come if you wish to visit one of the groups of impressively large mountain gorillas. The demand for permits to go gorilla trekking is high, as is their cost. The number of family groups that have become habituated to humans, so that they won’t be significantly disturbed by people approaching them, has therefore been increased so that there are now 10 groups of gorillas in Bwindi, that can give an hours audience to people daily.

The walk out to the gorillas can be long, as it is through dense forest on steep mountain slopes in hot and humid conditions. It is therefore important that you are in reasonable shape and can cope with the heat. If you experience problems along the way you can, for a modest extra charge, book an “African Helicopter”. This simply means that a group of around eight local helpers will be summoned to carry the person experiencing difficulties up to the gorillas on a primitive stretcher - then carry them down again. Although there can never be a 100% guarantee of finding the gorillas, it is close, as these animals are under close surveillance and experienced “scouts” are sent out in advance to find them.

The Bwindi Forest is also home to many other animals, especially primates, birds and butterflies, but they can be very difficult to spot in the dense forest - in the local language the word Bwindi actually means dark! The forest is the only place where mountain gorillas live in the same area as chimpanzees, but even though the latter can often be clearly heard, they have not been habituated to people and are nearly never seen. The forest is also home to a small population of elephants, but again you should not expect to see them. If chimpanzees and elephants are both on your wish list then a visit to two of the nearby national parks, Queen Elizabeth and Kibale Forest could be the solution. On the other hand, Bwindi is a paradise for botanists with 85 species or orchids, 105 species of ferns and 300 series of tree, including huge mahogany trees.

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