Overview.
The 3 days Bwindi Gorilla Safari from Entebbe offers a lifetime opportunity to you to immerse yourself into the lush Bwindi Impenetrable Forest to see the rare mountain gorillas. This short tour covers gorilla trekking and the Batwa cultural experiences. A total of about 459 of the 1063 of the rare mountain gorillas that live on earth today exist within Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (BINP) is a tropical forest park located in Southwestern Uganda. Established in 1991 and it was primarily founded to protect the now endangered mountain gorillas. Its land area expands measuring up to 331sq.kms and houses not only mountain gorillas, but also other wildlife including African elephants, L’Hoest’s monkeys, chimpanzees, 360 bird species like the Grauer’s swamp warblers, Shelley’s crimson wing, African green broadbill, etc.
Detailed itinerary.
Day 1: Bwindi Impenetrable National Park from Entebbe city
Leave Entebbe city for Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, 8-9 hours’ drive in a mechanically fit 4×4 safari vehicle. Drive through the Masaka-Mbarara-Kabale highway, with endless scenic views of the countryside. Expected stopovers on the journey to Bwindi will be the Equator crossing at Kayabwe. After photography and water experiment, continue to Igongo cultural center or any other hotel in Mbarara city to enjoy lunch.
Equator separates the earth into 2 parts; the Northern and Southern hemispheres and at Kayabwe, you will have a chance to stand on the two points while taking pictures or perform an experiment using water. Continue southwards, while viewing the rolling hills and scenic rural countryside of Uganda. Check in at the safari lodge outside Bwindi National Park for evening relaxation, dinner and overnight stay.
Day 2: Gorilla Trekking + Batwa cultural experience
Wake up and be provided with a sumptuous breakfast, after, head off for briefing at any of Bwindi National Parks’ 4 regions – Buhoma, Rushaga, Nkuringo and Ruhija sector. By gorilla trekking standards, strictly 8 tourists visit one habituated gorilla family and 20 of them are found within Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. Each group of 8 visitors is allocated to a trained and experienced park guide to lead through the gorilla trek often lasts for about 2-6 hours.
The time to be spent trekking through Bwindi Impenetrable Forest varies depending on your fitness level, nature of habitat and location of a family of gorillas. When you find a silverback with his group members, the park ranger/guide will permit you to enjoy only 1 hour face-to-face with them including photography.
Other than mountain gorillas, Bwindi Forest supports a range of wildlife and you may come across some, including over 360 bird species that live within Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, 200 species of trees, forest elephants, buffaloes, other primates such as chimpanzees, black and white colobus monkeys and L’Hoest’s monkeys.
The Batwa cultural experience will be additional activity for the day. This will be done in the nearby Batwa local community and the overall experience covers interacting with the Batwa pygmies themselves, learn in depth how they managed to stay for thousands of years as hunters, gatherers and discover their unique hunting & gathering techniques, lifestyles, traditions, cultures, practices, stories. All these will be accompanied by great traditional/cultural dances, music performances and so much more. Later return to the accommodation for leisurely dinner and overnight stay.
Day 3: Drive back to Entebbe.
A leisurely breakfast early morning; check out of the lodge and then board your 4×4 drive vehicle. With your interactive driver guide, return to Entebbe city while viewing the spectacular hillside of Kigezi and Ankole regions.
A stopover will be made at Equator crossing for photography later at Mpambire Drum Makers to get insight into how African drums are made traditionally.
