Bwindi national park
Bwindi national park is a tropical rain forest with annual temperature of 7–15-degree Celsius to a maximum of 20 -27 degrees Celsius. The national park is located in southwest region with a cover of 331square kilometers and is found in the parts of kigezi highlands
The national park is well known for gorilla trekking and is a habitat to half of the world’s mountain gorilla population. These primates are endangered species and the park has over 400 individuals.
Bwindi national park is a home to primates such as, black and white colobus monkeys, vervet, red-tailed monkey, l’hoests among others, 120 mammals such as elephants, giant forest hog, antelopes, African civet among others and over 350 birds such as dusky twin spot, strange weaver, handsome francolin, Rwenzori batis, grey gecko-shrike, western green tinker bird among others.
ATTRACTIONS IN BWINDI NATIONAL PARK
MOUNTAIN GORILLAS
Bwindi national park is known for having endangered mountain gorilla’s half of the worlds population which is 450 and are split into families. According to research 19 mountain gorilla families are habituated ready for the Uganda gorilla trekking safari.
The gorilla trekking process is done in various regions within the park and these are buhoma, rushaga, ruhija and nkuringo
1.NKURINGO SECTOR
This region is found in the southern part of Bwindi and it’s a home to only 3 gorilla families that is to say the nkuringo family which has 12 individuals, bikingi gorilla family with 15 family members and bushaho family with only 8 Individuals.
2.RUSHANGO SECTOR
This is the most toured sector in Bwindi national park and is found in the southern part of the park. It’s the sector with a large population of mountain gorillas such as nshongi with 7 family members, kahungye family with 17 individuals, busingye with 9 members, mishaya family with 12 members and lastly bweza with 23 family members.
3.RUHIJA SECTOR
It’s located in the eastern part of Bwindi and it only has 3 families and these include bitukura which consists of 14 individuals, oruzogo with 17 members and kyaguliro family with 20 family members it’s the largest in the sector.
4.BUHOMA SECTOR
It’s located in the north part of Bwindi national park and it’s the sector with the mubare family which is the first family to be habituated in 1992. This sector consists of three family’s that is mubare with 5 individuals, habinyanja family with 13 family members, rushegura family with 19 family members.
MAMMALS AND OTHER PRIMATES
Though Bwindi national park is known for being a great home to mountain gorillas its also a home to a number of mammals such as elephants, giant forest hog, antelopes, side stripped jackal among others. Whereas primates include chimpanzees, black and white colobus monkey, vervet, L’hoests, red tailed monkey, nocturnal potto among others.
BIRDS
Bwindi impenetrable national park is a home of over 350 bird species especially water and forest bird species and is also a good place to view montane-forest bird watching. birds such as shelly’s greenbul, kivu ground thrush, yellow-sreaked greenbul, red-throated alethe, strange weaver, collared apalis, handsome francolin among others.
The interesting trail for watching birds in the national park is buhoma waterfall trail, mubwindi swamp trail and bamboo zone.
THE BATWA PYGMY PEOPLE
The Batwa pygmy people are taken to be the ancient inhabitants of Bwindi Forest during the early days where Bwindi was a gazette area and a protection area and were later forcefully driven out of the forest to the shores of the forest. So, while on the Uganda safaris, one will be able to visit the Batwa community for the culture encounter where on will be able to learn more about the pygmies.
Batwa People
HIKING TRAILS
The hiking trails are also part of Bwindi national park and lead tourists to various parts of the park. As one is walking through the trails many mysteries of the park are being talked about by the guides.
These trails include river Ivi trail which takes 7hours, waterfall trail which takes 4 hours to hike, habinyanja trail which takes around 4 to 6 hours which takes them to munyanga river, kashasha river trail which takes 5 to 7 hours, bamboo trail which takes 6 hours leading to rwamunyonyi peak, muzabajiro among others.
ACTIVITIES IN BWINDI NATIONAL PARK
GORILLA TREKKING
Bwindi impenetrable national park is known to be a home to the largest population of endangered mountain gorillas which makes it the best gorilla safaris destination. This is done in the four sectors of ruhija, buhoma, rushaga and nkuringo sectors.
The gorilla trekking process begins early in the morning with the rules and regulations to follow. With the help of a guide the tourists are divided into groups of 8 and each is allocated to a habituated family to trek. The trekking takes an hour and with such the tourist are given chance to be with the gorillas and learn their behaviors, lifestyle, watch them feed, breastfeed, take photos and even record videos.
GORILLA HABITUATION EXPERIENCE
This is really an adventurous activity to participate in Bwindi national park where the endangered gorillas are trained to get used to human presence for trekking. The process takes 2 to 3 years for completion and the process is done from rushaga region in the southern part of Bwindi.
The Uganda gorilla habituation process takes a full day and within the trekking activity the tourists can be able to view other wildlife, mammals, primates and birds. Therefore, when the gorillas are spotted the tourists plus the other group of researchers, scientists and park rangers spend four hours with them. This helps them to monitor their day-to-day activities and lastly take pictures with them. The uganda gorilla safari is one of the amazing trips to experience.
BIRD WATCHING
Bwindi national park is known to be a habitant of over 350 bird species including 23 Albertine rift endemics, forest birds, migratory birds among others. The bird watching activity is done in the bamboo zone trail, buhoma waterfall trail, mubwindi swamp train in ruhija among others. The experienced bird guide will accompany the tourists and help them to spot out various birds’ species such as mountain wagtail, Ruwenzori batis, Cassins flycatcher, white headed saw-wing, barred long tailed cuckoo, grey crowned crane, archer’s robin chat, African pygmy kingfisher, black bee-eater, handsome francolin, African goshawk among others.
NATURE WALKS
This is an amazing activity in the national park because this is where tourists get personal and close to wildlife species, views of waterfalls, plants, and various bird species. Due to the various trails in Bwindi national park. For example, ruhija which takes 4 hours, bamboo trail takes 7hours, kashasha trail in buhoma takes 4 to 5 hours, muzabajiro loop in buhoma takes 3 to 4 hours, habinyanya trail in buhoma takes 4 to 6hours the ivy river trail takes up the whole day among others.
BATWA CULTURAL TOUR
This is also an amazing activity on the uganda wild safaris. Here the tourists get to interact with the Batwa or pygmies who once lived in Bwindi Forest before it was changed to a national park. This all starts with a nature walk through the forest as the guide explains how they lived, how they used to hunt small animals and gathered honey among others. Tourists also have a chance of visiting their traditional homestead, their local dishes, listen to ancient stories and also traditional songs among others.
