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Write a User ReviewGo for the Gorillas, Stay for the Forest
Seeing Bwindi for the first time was an emotional moment: there it was, the fabled rainforest. Everyone told me I’d love the gorillas, but no-one mentioned it was the forest that I would fall for.
Disclaimer: gorillas were never top of my travel bucket list. In fact, I’d ended up in Bwindi by chance, while working in conservation in Queen Elizabeth National Park.
To be honest, the gorillas didn’t do much to entertain me on that occasion, but it was the cross-country journey to Bwindi that captivated me: dusty villages giving way to vibrant green valleys, the walk through misty tea plantations and up into the dense jungle.
Finally, crouched in the dark forest, I watched a baby gorilla’s aerial pirouettes high above my head, gazing at me wide-eyed as it dangled by one arm from a vine, twirling round and round. It was love. People say it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience, I have to disagree: track primates as often as you can, every encounter
When I started writing this review, I didn’t intend to write much about gorillas but 15 years later, the memory of that spinning gorilla still touches me.
That said, it's completely understandable if you visit Bwindi without tracking the gorillas. Indeed, in many ways, the gorillas are a distraction from the main event: the forest itself.
The downside of tracking is that you will be in a group and thus unlikely to see many of Bwindi’s 120 mammals or 350 birds. Set aside a few hours for a deeper – quieter – exploration of the forest and you will be hooked.
Despite the impenetrable moniker, forest birding in Bwindi can be surprisingly accessible. I was impressed at how easy it was – with the right guide. Bwindi is an Important Bird Area and home to 23 of Uganda’s 24 Albertine Rift endemic birds. The rare Grauer’s broadbill has only been recorded in Bwindi National Park, and is frequently seen in Ruhija, Bwindi’s top birding spot.
The day-long walk from Buhoma through the forest to Nkuringo is extraordinarily beautiful, full of giant ferns, towering mahogany trees and wooden bridges crossing streams. My first foray into Bwindi was the more leisurely Waterfalls Trail – wild swimming anyone? – a short walk from Buhoma, and highly recommended.
I’ve visited Bwindi many times since that special moment with the baby gorilla. In 2023, I joined the 20-year celebrations of the NGO Conservation Through Public Health. Tip: if you’re serious about your gorillas, stay in Buhoma and visit CTPH’s Gorilla Health and Community Conservation Centre, created by the trailblazing vet Dr Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka.
Disclaimer: gorillas were never top of my travel bucket list. In fact, I’d ended up in Bwindi by chance, while working in conservation in Queen Elizabeth National Park.
To be honest, the gorillas didn’t do much to entertain me on that occasion, but it was the cross-country journey to Bwindi that captivated me: dusty villages giving way to vibrant green valleys, the walk through misty tea plantations and up into the dense jungle.
Finally, crouched in the dark forest, I watched a baby gorilla’s aerial pirouettes high above my head, gazing at me wide-eyed as it dangled by one arm from a vine, twirling round and round. It was love. People say it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience, I have to disagree: track primates as often as you can, every encounter
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will surprise you.When I started writing this review, I didn’t intend to write much about gorillas but 15 years later, the memory of that spinning gorilla still touches me.
That said, it's completely understandable if you visit Bwindi without tracking the gorillas. Indeed, in many ways, the gorillas are a distraction from the main event: the forest itself.
The downside of tracking is that you will be in a group and thus unlikely to see many of Bwindi’s 120 mammals or 350 birds. Set aside a few hours for a deeper – quieter – exploration of the forest and you will be hooked.
Despite the impenetrable moniker, forest birding in Bwindi can be surprisingly accessible. I was impressed at how easy it was – with the right guide. Bwindi is an Important Bird Area and home to 23 of Uganda’s 24 Albertine Rift endemic birds. The rare Grauer’s broadbill has only been recorded in Bwindi National Park, and is frequently seen in Ruhija, Bwindi’s top birding spot.
The day-long walk from Buhoma through the forest to Nkuringo is extraordinarily beautiful, full of giant ferns, towering mahogany trees and wooden bridges crossing streams. My first foray into Bwindi was the more leisurely Waterfalls Trail – wild swimming anyone? – a short walk from Buhoma, and highly recommended.
I’ve visited Bwindi many times since that special moment with the baby gorilla. In 2023, I joined the 20-year celebrations of the NGO Conservation Through Public Health. Tip: if you’re serious about your gorillas, stay in Buhoma and visit CTPH’s Gorilla Health and Community Conservation Centre, created by the trailblazing vet Dr Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka.
Rare Birds and Gorillas in the Mist
Uganda is one of only three countries in the world (the others being Rwanda and, when it is open to tourists, the DRC) where the iconic mountain gorilla can be tracked on foot, an experience I’d have no hesitation recommending as the most thrilling wildlife encounter Africa has to offer. And of the 24 habituated gorilla groups in Uganda, all but one is resident in Bwindi, spread between four trailheads: Buhoma, Ruhija, Nkuringo and Rushaga.
Yet, while the opportunity to stare into the liquid brown eyes of a giant silverback is what brings most tourists to Bwindi, it would be massively reductive to treat this magnificent forest, which sprawls over steep hills nudging the Congolese border, as merely a ‘gorilla reserve’. Bwindi is an excellent place to look for many other localized forest mammals – indeed, it is the only place where I’ve seen the bizarre yellow-backed duiker and the one place in Uganda where you regularly encounter the handsome l’Hoest’s monkey.
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Bwindi’s birdlife is, quite simply, stunning. The park checklist of 350 species includes a full 23 Albertine Rift endemics along with many other rarities. The forest trails around Buhoma, the most established of the park’s four trailheads and the best equipped when it comes to upmarket lodges, rank among my favourite birding spots anywhere in Africa, reliably offering sightings of specials such as bar-tailed trogon, black bee-eater and a profusion of forest greenbuls, finches and warblers. Elsewhere, for adventurous and fit walkers, the remote Mubwindi Swamp – for which the park is named – is home to herds of forest elephant and the beautiful Grauer’s broadbill, an Albertine Rift endemic only otherwise recorded in an inaccessible part of the DRC.
Yet, while the opportunity to stare into the liquid brown eyes of a giant silverback is what brings most tourists to Bwindi, it would be massively reductive to treat this magnificent forest, which sprawls over steep hills nudging the Congolese border, as merely a ‘gorilla reserve’. Bwindi is an excellent place to look for many other localized forest mammals – indeed, it is the only place where I’ve seen the bizarre yellow-backed duiker and the one place in Uganda where you regularly encounter the handsome l’Hoest’s monkey.
Bwindi’s birdlife is, quite simply, stunning. The park checklist of 350 species includes a full 23 Albertine Rift endemics along with many other rarities. The forest trails around Buhoma, the most established of the park’s four trailheads and the best equipped when it comes to upmarket lodges, rank among my favourite birding spots anywhere in Africa, reliably offering sightings of specials such as bar-tailed trogon, black bee-eater and a profusion of forest greenbuls, finches and warblers. Elsewhere, for adventurous and fit walkers, the remote Mubwindi Swamp – for which the park is named – is home to herds of forest elephant and the beautiful Grauer’s broadbill, an Albertine Rift endemic only otherwise recorded in an inaccessible part of the DRC.
An Experience You Will Never Forget
Trekking to see the fabled mountain gorillas is something everyone should get to experience at least once in their lifetime. Gorilla permits are certainly not cheap and the hour you get to spend with these gentle giants whizzes by in a flash, but the experience will linger for a lifetime. When a family of gorillas permits you to enter their safety zone and their guardian silverback allows your group of eight privileged tourists to sit quietly in their presence, it’s the ultimate honour. Even though I’ve trekked to see the gorillas on numerous occasions, this meaningful encounter with other sentient beings is an experience that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up every time. Aside from the chance to chill with our distant relatives, Bwindi also offers a whole host of picturesque forest walks and half-day birding safaris. I particularly like taking a day or two out from the gorillas and tramping through the rainforest with a park guide to some distant river, spotting colourful
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birds along the way and always hoping that a wild gorilla might just cross the path ahead. (Remember: Bwindi is a typical rainforest and there is no real dry season, so come prepared.)Gorillas in the Mist
Tracking mountain gorillas has been one of my ultimate wildlife experiences ever. I love all primates, but there is something about looking these gentle giants in the eyes that blows your mind. Unlike habituated chimpanzees that seem oblivious to your presence, gorillas seem to really look at you. The park itself is all a rainforest should be: mystical, dense and very wet. The day we tracked the gorillas, it rained all day. This took a little bit from the experience, but what else can you expect in a rainforest? The birding is amazing, but like in every forest, it is very hard. Good birding guides are available on the spot and they make all the difference.
Primate Paradise
This park is called impenetrable for good reason. Its dense rainforests make gorilla tracking hard work but the hour spent with these wonderful creatures is totally worth all the effort and expense and one you’ll never forget. Be prepared for some steep, muddy climbs on indiscernible tracks that frequently demand machetes to hack a way through the vines, thorns and shrubs.
Bwindi currently has more than 20 groups habituated for tracking, with only eight visitors allowed to visit a group on any one day. A very different encounter – the Gorilla Habituation Experience – has recently started, involving a group that isn’t fully habituated: they’re used to their trackers but not to seeing different people every day. It’s an exciting alternative – instead of just one hour, we had four hours starting from when we reached their previous night’s nests. We actually tracked the gorillas with their trackers, unlike regular tracking where you’re simply taken to where the
I’d also recommend a day visiting the Batwa Experience, a “living museum” in the forest, for a fascinating insight into the culture of the Batwa Pygmy tribe who lived alongside the gorillas for 4000 years until they were evicted when Bwindi was gazetted as a national park.
Bwindi currently has more than 20 groups habituated for tracking, with only eight visitors allowed to visit a group on any one day. A very different encounter – the Gorilla Habituation Experience – has recently started, involving a group that isn’t fully habituated: they’re used to their trackers but not to seeing different people every day. It’s an exciting alternative – instead of just one hour, we had four hours starting from when we reached their previous night’s nests. We actually tracked the gorillas with their trackers, unlike regular tracking where you’re simply taken to where the
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group has already been found. It’s physically demanding – semi-habituated groups aren’t as calm, or docile, as other groups can be when they’re fully habituated – and they move fast. The objective is to move with them, to stay in their sight so that they gradually get used to having people around and you get to that magical seven metre distance from them. It’s an immersive experience, at times edgy, and often exhausting – but the rewards far exceed the efforts. It’s expensive, too, at US$1500, but that is the same price you’d pay in Rwanda for regular tracking.I’d also recommend a day visiting the Batwa Experience, a “living museum” in the forest, for a fascinating insight into the culture of the Batwa Pygmy tribe who lived alongside the gorillas for 4000 years until they were evicted when Bwindi was gazetted as a national park.
A Special Place To Be Granted an Audience With the Greatest of Apes
It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve heard it, staring a gorilla in the eye is undoubtedly a magical wildlife encounter. Every one of my visits to Bwindi has been unique and every meeting with these gentle apes an honour. Bwindi is an outstandingly beautiful place, a magnificent green swathe of tangled forest that clings to the steep ridges of the Western Rift Valley. But the trek to find the gorillas should never be underestimated: it’s a tough scramble up and down wet and slippery hills through the dense undergrowth. But that all adds to the achievement, and nothing can beat the excitement when your tracker halts abruptly in front of you, hesitantly sniffs and listens to the crisp air, motions for you to sink to the ground, and then slowly points…