The Bwindi Impenetrable National Park has been listed among the top 5 African parks. This world known park is one of the few African UNESCO World Heritage Sites. It has been listed by the Cable News Network, an American news channel .
Located in South Western Uganda, the ancient forests of Bwindi are among the richest ecosystems in Africa. It is a home to a great number of species including; 200 different species of trees, 120 species of mammals, 27 species of frogs, geckos and chameleons, 220 species of butterflies, 348 species of birds and other endangered species in their natural habitat. The park offers an amazing opportunity to see the endangered mountain gorillas upclose in their natural habitat. The park is inhabited by about 440 individual mountain gorillas known as the Bwindi population, which makes up almost half of all the mountain gorillas in the world. The rest of the worldwide mountain gorilla population is in the nearby Virunga Mountains. Today there are 17 habituated mountain gorilla groups that are open to touristic visits. These groups are spread over four different sectors of Buhoma, Ruhijja, Rushaga and the Nkuringo.
The park is managed by the Uganda Wildlife Authority, a governmental parastatal responsible for conserving wildlife and managing national parks and game reserves in the country.
Bwindi is one of Uganda’s most remarkable destinations for visitors taking adventure safaris in Uganda. All year round the park receives a good number of visitors who come to see the endangered mountain gorillas in their natural habitat. The park hosts almost half of the remaining world population of the endangered mountain gorillas with the remnant population living in the Virunga Volcanoes that spread over Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Due to the above, the park has been recognized on several basis by different media plat forms i.e. named among the best 35 romantic places a couple must visit in their life time by the Business Insider and also recently when it was named among the top 5 tourist destination 2017 by CNN. This makes it among the best and most selling destinations in Africa.
Visitors to the park can engage in lots of adventure activities! This is the best national park for mountain gorilla trekking, a unique wildlife experinece which involves visitors hiking into the impenetrable jungles in search of the gigantic mountain gorillas. These great apes are worthy visiting and a journey to the family takes from 3 hours to a full day experience. A permit to see the mountain gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park costs USD600 for a one hour stay with the great apes or USD 1500 for a full day gorilla habituation experience.
Tourism is conducted along guidelines of ecotourism and sustainability. Numbers of visitors going on gorilla treks are restricted to only 8 people tracking each habituated gorilla group. This helps to protect the endangered gorilla families from getting used to human activities and interference. Gorilla watching is restricted to strictly 1 hour. In the national park, rough paths weave amid dense forests, which are home to many butterflies and birds. There are several lodges and hotels near the gorilla parks. You chose to stay in any of these lodges. The choice of the lodge depends on you budget. The lodges range from Budget to Luxury
Besides gorilla trekking there are many exciting activities that can be done in Bwindi. These include among others;
- Nature walks through different trails. A nature walk to Bwindi impenetrable forest where you may get the chance to see the hidden gem of the crystal clear waterfalls in the thick rain forest.
- Cultural tours like visiting the Batwa culture. Learn how they used to survive in the forest and some of the ways of life e.g how to light fire using sticks, hunting etc.
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