Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is located in southwestern Uganda region, on the edge of the rift valley. It is famously known as home to highest population of endangered mountain gorillas in the entire world.
By Road Transport
Bwindi National Park can be accessed from Queen Elizabeth National Park to the northern just 2 to 3 hours’ drive, from Kampala through Mbarara covers 7 to 8 drive or from Kabale town to the southern just 1 to 2 hours’ drive.
A daily bus service leaves Kampala for Butogota via Rukungiri and Kihihi.
By Air Transport
Travelers can choose to fly from Entebbe or from Kampala at Kajansi Airfield to the up-to-date tarmac airstrip found at Kisoro. More to that, planes may as well be chartered to the savannah or the grass Kayonza airstrips.
Well, Bwindi is served by 3 airfields at Kihihi and Kayonza for the northern area in addition to Nyakabande located in Kisoro for people going to track mountain gorillas within the southern area ‘’Mishaya, Nshongi plus Nkuringo’’.
Bwindi National Park is located in the south western part of Uganda, approximately 8-to-9-hour drives via Masaka rood from Kampala. The easiest means of transport to Bwindi is by road.
Queen Elizabeth National Park ‘’Mweya ‘’-Kihihi – Buhoma
Starting your journey from Queen to Bwindi, you will pass through Ishasha and you will enjoy watching the climbing lions along with monkeys on the road. Bwindi covers an area of about 160 kilometers from Mweya and about 64 kilometers from Ishasha.
Kampala -Kabale – Kanungu – Buhoma
The route from Kampala has a tarmac highway to Kabala and covers an area of about 414 kilometers and takes 5 to 6 hour’s drive. The next route has a murram road and covers a distance of about 120kilometers.
Can use route that goes through Kanungu as well as Kanyantorogo and it takes about 4 – 5hours. The most advisable vehicle to use is A4WD.
Kampala – Ntungamo – Rukungiri -Kihihi – Buhoma
This is the most convenient route from Kampala direct to the tarmac road Rukungiri and covers about 390km in addition to murram road to Buhoma.
Kampala – Kabale -Ruhija -Buhoma
This route covers an area of about 95 square kilometers on the murram road and it takes about 3- 4 hours. The kind of vehicle advised to use through Ruhija is a 4WD.
Kampala -Kabale – Nkuringo
Driving from Kampala via Kabale to access Nkuringo of Bwindi, covers a distance of about 105kms from Kabale town and it takes about 4 hours to get to the mountainous murram road. Some visitors /tourists choose to spend their nights in Kisoro town and the remaining distance is about 80 km from Kabale prior to Nkuringo.
Kisoro road to access Bwindi takes about 1 hour and 20 hours. The most suitable car for this area is the 4WD.
Travel by Air Transport
Travelers can fly by a domestic flight ‘’Aero link Uganda’’ from Kajjansi airfield or Entebbe International Airport to fly you to either Kisoro airstrip or Kihihi airstrip. Flying with a domestic flight to Bwindi from Entebbe, takes 1:10hour to access one of the airstrips.
Climate and Best Time to Visit;
Bwindi experiences an average temperature which ranges from a minimum of 7 degrees Celsius to 20 degrees Celsius to a maximum of 20 to 27 degrees Celsius. Bwindi National Park receives up to 2390mm of rain each year. Meanwhile, the park gets cold especially in the morning and at night. Thereafter, visitors are advised to carry essential requirements when planning a gorilla trekking tour.
The coldest time in Bwindi usually happens from June to July while the wet season happens in March to May as well as from September to November, experiencing a total annual rainfall of 2390mm. September to November receives heavier although these are long hours of gentle drizzles.
Accommodations in Bwindi National Park
There is a variety of accommodation places to stay basing on which gorilla group you to track.
Generally, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest Reserve was created in 1942 and later on renovated to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in 1992. In 1994, it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The fact that, the park covers an area of about 327sqaure kilometers of scrambled vegetation draped over an intensive landscape of the steep, haughty ridges, the slippery valley and high. The terrain may seem to be hard to manage but remember it’s what makes Africa a remarkable continent.
Well, Bwindi National Park has a big population of gorillas and affordable gorilla permits compared to Rwanda’s gorilla permits. Uganda gorilla permits costs USD800 per person and Rwanda gorilla permits cost 1500 per person.