Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

Everything you could hope for and more

Bwindi is one of the most beautiful places I have been to, but it isn't called impenetrable for nothing. It is cold at night but quite stunning scenery.
The actual forest is huge and when you realise that you are going in soon, it is very scary but exciting not knowing how easy or difficult the day may be.
This was probably the hardest thing I have done except giving birth!
I trekked on two consecutive days and it was very hard going due to the steep terrain and it was difficult to keep your footing. Underfoot are trees brambles and vines which curl around your feet and trip you up, well they did me!
Despite it being dry on both days, I fell over loads of times but it must be even worse when it is wet.
I went gorilla trekking on two consecutive days. The first day there were 7 of us and we made our way very slowly into the forest going through banana plantations and small fields, saying Hello to the children who all smile and say 'How are you?'
You have to keep a steady pace but we always went at the pace of the slowest person and rested frequently. You choose at the briefing whether to have a porter and I would definately recommend it as not only does it provide an income to the locals but also the porters literally haul you up the slopes even though they are very slight of frame they have amazing stamina. You end up falling and slipping down the hills and we eventually found all the gorillas up a tree, so you end up balancing precariously on a steep slope, the light is quite difficult to take good photographs of the gorillas. It is very difficult underfoot be prepared to fall over frequently and slip and slide. Two ladies had great problems with their breathing and walking far but were pushed and pulled up and down slopes by the porters. The porters certainly earn their money the going rate is $15 a day but they literally haul you to the gorillas. Beware giving the porters your e mail address unless you want many e mails about sponsoring their children through school etc.So we saw the ~H group and although dissapointed not to see them on the ground near us we were all happy to have seen them.
On day 2 what a difference, despite almost dreading the day because I knew how difficult it was going to be in the terrain we drove over two hours from Bwindi and started out to find the Bitukura group, they had recently split into two groups one with a silverback and most of the ladies and infants the other with 4 silverbacks a blackback and a junevile this was who we eventually found. The terrain was incredibly steep yet again the porters again earnt every dollar going up and down and up again in search of the group, eventually after three hours we found where they had slept the previous evening! Then we discovered they had gone back where we had already climbed from , I wanted to give up as I was quite happy having seen the gorillas the day before but we carried on and eventually found the boys!
The silverbacks surrounded us and two of them charged us several times pushing over two men, it was amazing, terrifying and absolutely superb. There was no doubt that they own the forest and they the gorillas tolerate us, we had earlier given them a show when we had been kneeling down to photograph a silverback and had been attacked by the biggest ugliest ants that hung onto your skin and bite result tourists dancing, how absurd that a group of tourists were 'dancing' for the gorillas. You then spend an hour watching them eat and lie around and walk past us very closely. The hour passes very quickly and soon you have to leave these wonderful enormous creatures and looking over your shoulder all the time as it felt like you were being followed. The journey back doesn't seem so bad as you are all on a high having seen the gorillas.
I was coming up to 50 (just this was my present to myself and worth every penny) I am not particularly fit so if I can do this then anyone can, indeed there were many over 60 plus quite large people who managed it BUT be prepared for a very very long slog to see these magnificent animals, Having said that there are very many very close sightings of the different groups and perhaps you will be very lucky and they may wander into your lodge area as they are known to do in Bwindi!
You don't need gloves as suggested but good footwear and gaiters are great to stop the ants getting you.
A pole is available from most of the lodges or your tourist group or you can hire or buy one from the trackers. Bwindi is quite simply amazing and well worth the trip to get there as the roads aren't great The memory of Bwindi will live with me for the rest of my life, don't hesitate sieze the day and go!

Genuinely unique experience with the gorillas

After hours of labouring up and down muddy, slippery hilltops and cutting our way though the thickest vegetation we've ever seen, we suddenly hear our guide tell us to stop. We rested for a few minutes but it wasn't our needs for a break that he had in mind. Our guide began making a grunting noise, which we quickly learned to be for the purpose of notifying the silverback of our presence.

While we could see nothing but a wall of green and could hear little more than our heavy breathing and our hearts thumping, it was quickly learned that we were now just 4-5 meters away from a family of gorillas. These creatures somehow found this mangle of shrubs, brush and wood suitable for living. I guess this is why they call this place the impenetrable forest. Yet they seemed so at home and so at ease here.

After a couple minutes of waiting, like something out of a movie, a dark and massive creature opened the wall of shrubs and walked towards us a few steps. Now, I’m a decent-sized man (1.88cm, 100kg) but this old boy dwarfed me in size as he walked directly past me, passing no more than 1 meter away, followed by two smaller females. I remained crouched on the ground, trying to keep my camera steady, thinking to myself, ““How could this be? How could we so suddenly be this close to such imposing, dangerous creatures, yet feel at ease?” Had this been some big cat, I think we would have all panicked but instead of feeling of great calm befell upon our group of six, as there seemed nothing threatening about the gorillas at all even as we were in the wild, their home, playing by their rules.

We spent an hour here with a family of eight gorillas, etching memories in our minds that we will not soon be forgotten. The silverback encounter was the highlight for me personally while others in the group enjoyed watching the young, baby gorilla climb trees and play with his auntie. The hour we spent with the gorillas seemed to pass quickly and it was soon time for us to depart.

Then it was a return trip, up and down muddy slopes and through extremely thick brush and shrubs until we had reached our rendezvous point, where a van awaited to return us to our accommodation. We returned with another small group of six that had set off to find a separate family of gorillas nearby. We compared photos and short stories about our day with the gorillas and marvelled at how unique, special and amazing our experience had been. Sadly, we noted and recognized the poor prospects for the gorillas in the long term and felt thankful that we had been able to visit and spent time with them while there was still opportunity to do so. We only hoped and continue to do so to this day, that others, interested in wildlife, conservation and the welfare of the gorillas manage to visit Bwindi Impenetrable NP and spend a day with the gorillas while it the opportunity remains.

Uganda, a beautiful country with lots of magnificent wildlife and nice people.

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is an area where mountain-gorillas live, so main goal was to see a family of gorillas. After a pretty long walk through the beautiful green rainforest it's really breathtaking to encounter gorillas in the wild. An experience I'll never forget. There are guides who lead you through the forrest, so you need to have a rather good condition and good tracking-shoes.

A wildlife memorable hour

A friend and I went to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in May 2016 to see the Mountain Gorillas via Kampala where we work. Our trip was planned with great detail and our local guide Martin Ngabirano met with us a few days before our trip to see if we had any additional questions about the trekking. Martin, is very personable, extremely knowledgable about the culture, environment and an excellent birder. Our three day trip started early in the morning from Kampala with a mid day stop at the Equator for a bite to eat and a few pictures. The drive is approximately 10 hours through hilly and mountainous geographical areas of Western Uganda. That evening we stayed at the Rushaga Gorilla Camp which I would highly recommend for trekkers. The staff was helpful and the scenery from the lodge is beautiful.

On the second morning we left for the Rushaga Gate for gorilla orientation and to meet the ranger, trekkers, guide and porters. Do hire a porter to carry your backpack, camera bag, and help you through some physically demanding areas and you are helping the local people. The time it takes to trek the gorillas can vary from a half an hour to 6+ hours. Our guide told us that we would be following the Bweza Gorilla Group. We hiked for approximately an hour and a half before we saw our first subadult. We were instructed to keep our distance to 7 meters but on occasions it can be closer due to the where the animals are feeding next to the trail. Visitors to the forest are allowed 1 hour to observe the gorillas and may take photos, and videos at this time. No flash is allowed. We saw 8 of the family members, feeding, and climbing trees. To spend this hour with these astonishing beautiful animals and the very skilled rangers, and guides was a life time experience. After the gorilla trekking we left the Rushaga gate and drove two hours to visit the Ruhija community Orphanage just outside the Ruhija gate in Bwindi. This orphanage is run by remarkable lady, Happy and the children are taught by a dedicated staff. Ruhija Little Angels Orphanage and Primary School is found on Facebook. We spent the night in the Ruhija community at the Trekkers Tervan which is comfortable.

The third morning after breakfast we headed back to Kampala and and on our way we saw Blue Monkeys, numerous birds and gorgeous scenery.

The gorilla permit is now $600 except during the rainy season months which are April, May and November when the permit is $450.00 When you go gorilla tracking, you are not just supporting the protection of the gorillas as well as the surrounding communities, but also helping to preserve the entire Uganda National Park System.

This is the scenery for Tarzan & Jane story. Our guide would make way with his machete where there was nothing but dense forest in steep mountainside. One could employ porters to help with the trek, which provides income to members of the community that has been relocated away from the gorillas.
A lot of care is shown towards the gorillas, the trackers have established a trusting relationship with the families they track so the animals feel safe in human presence. And still, this is a visit on their terms. You quietly observe them without interacting with them like you would in eg a circus, thus they remain wild and comfortable in their own environment. Priceless!

It was really impressive to see the animals up close. But in a smaller group it would be even better to really get a full score under bush vibe

The safari was very good organized by Lifetime Experience.

A Challenging Yet Rewarding Adventure

When I decided to visit Bwindi to track to the mountain gorillas, I expected it to be fairly challenging, but as luck would have it, it was much tougher than anticipated. We stayed at Lake Mutanda Resort, a small camp about a 90 minute drive from Bwindi's southern Rushaga gate. The camp - which involved staying in wooden huts with an astonishing view over the lake and the Virunga volcanoes - was lovely, but staying so far out from the forest meant a very early start to drive on the 'African massage roads' to get to the track briefing point for 8am.

During the briefing, one of UWA's rangers explained to us how the gorilla trek would work, what we should expect, and what we should do when we faced the gorillas. We were also warned that if they discovered we were sick with any airborne illness, we'd be taken back down the mountain, as the gorillas are very susceptible to human illnesses. Each gorilla family has eight permits a day, and on the day we were there, they were completely full. We were assigned to track one of the 'further away' groups, the Kahungye family. This group has 18 members including 3 silverbacks, but would involve a hard hike. We were driven the 25 minutes to our trail starting point and then had to walk up the side of the mountain for an hour to reach the edge of the forest. The views were remarkable. Inside the forest, we walked for about an hour more and then we reached the gorilla family. The hour we spent with them was magical. Just being able to quietly observe their behaviour as they sat, eating leaves and picking insects from each others' fur was breath-taking. It also felt quite adventurous, with our rangers hacking at the dense vegetation (and it really is dense) to get us closer to various family members. At one point, a silverback mock charged us to show his strength and we were left in no doubt about who was the boss!

The walk back was equally as challenging because by this point, we were out of energy and my legs were feeling sore. The guide gave us a 30 minute lunch break to refuel and recover before we slogged back through the rainforest. As we came out of the trees onto the side of the mountain, we were greeted with a stunning view of the Virunga volcanoes. The weather for the entire trek was warm and sunny, although it was humid in the rainforest and the ground underfoot was slippery in places. On the way down the mountain, we stopped for a mini award ceremony with our guide to receive our certificates and play a hilarious game of 'gorilla charades'.

Our guide was very knowledgeable about the gorillas and the forest, but also very good at reading when the group was struggling and needed a rest. As I was the slowest, he put me at the front so everyone had to walk on my pace. This may have frustrated some of the athletes behind me, but it meant I made it there and back. I also hired a porter, a lovely young girl from a local village, and she carried my bag with all my camera equipment and pulled me up the particularly steep and slippy parts.

All in all, visiting Bwindi was a once in a lifetime experience (although I wouldn't rule out a second experience one day!) Although the hike was tough, there are easier families to access, and if you're prepared, it's certainly achievable. And in any case, the hour you spend with our gorilla cousins is something you will never forget.

Incredibly close to "The Gentle Giants"

We walked for one and a half hours before we found the gorillas. They kept moving and was in a dark part of the forest. It was a photographic challenge. Eventually they appeared in a sunlit glade and sat down to eat. All too soon, our hour with the gorillas passed and we had to go back. We were back in one hour.
It was an amazing experience to be so close to the animals and really be in the jungle. It takes effort to go through the jungle but if you are in normal shape it is no problem. It is possible to make all the breaks you want on the way out there and on the way home. We needed to keep pace with the gorillas when they moved, but it was not that hard.
The day with the gorillas, I will never forget.
The only thing I think could have been better was if we had had the energy to see more of the forest and its other inhabitants. We were all (tourists and guides) so focused on gorillas that I did not see other animals on the 4-5 hours I spent in the forrest.

Gorillas-gorillas-gorillas!

We just did the gorilla trekking at Bwindi, which was truly the highlight of our 3-week-roadtrip! We came up close with the gorillas (this family was one of the first to be habituated to humans), and could observe their behavior for an hour.
The scenery is stunning as well, especially in the morning light! There are some walks (only guided) in the park as well, but we didn't do any of these.
We spent the night in the Buhoma Community Rest Camp, planning on pitching our tent, but we decided to go for a banda as it was pouring rain. This was 100$ per person, which is steep compared to other parks, with shared bathroom and toilet. Besides this, the staff was very friendly and helpful and the food delicious (though quite pricey, too)!