History of Safety and Security in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.

There have been quite some controversies about the safety and security of Bwindi impenetrable national park especially after the 1999 tragedy where the Rwandan rebels of the genocide attacked a safari camp in the park and killed a number of tourists.

Another sad incident that worsened the security status of the park was the killing of one of the silverbacks belonging to the Nkuringo group known as “Rafiki”, later the political instabilities between Rwanda and Uganda arose on the border that later escalated doubts on whether it was safe to visit Bwindi for gorilla trekking activities. Today, both Rwanda and Uganda are on good terms and therefore the borders can be accessed allowing travelers to carry out gorilla trekking in both countries, especially in Bwindi. 

There has been a total ban on human settlements in the park after the 1999 terrorist attacks and the Ugandan government has since tightened the security in Bwindi making it very safe to visit. Bwindi shelters almost half of the only remaining mountain gorillas in the wild and to date, the activity is considered a popular one in the country it is one of the most well organized activities with exceptional safety as visitors are always accompanied by park rangers to ensure no threats. 

ABOUT BWINDI IMPENENTRABLE NATIONAL PARK. 

The enormous Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park covers about 32,000 hectares and is situated in the southwestern part of Uganda spanning the districts of Kanungu and Kisoro district and lies on the edge of the Rift valley. The magnificent park is one of the most visited and popular national parks in Uganda and is dominated by lowland and montane forests between an altitude of 1160 meters and 2607 meters above sea level.

Bwindi also carries pride as one of the great popular destinations for primates on the African continent with almost half of the thousand remaining mountain gorillas in the world. The park was designated as a national park in 1991 before being listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1994.  It attracts an average rainfall of about 1500 mm and is rich in biodiversity while being one of the oldest forests on the African continent.  

Bwindi impenetrable forest national park is popularly known as one of the only few homes of the endangered mountain gorillas and the largest host of these primate species that are only sheltered in three countries including Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo making it a famous gorilla trekking destination on the African continent and the whole world at large. The major purpose of the park’s designation was to protect and care for the surviving and orphaned endangered mountain gorillas some rescued from poaching and other illegal wildlife activities. 

ATTRACTIONS AND WHY ONE SHOULD VISIT BWINDI. 

There are over half of the thousand remaining mountain gorillas in their natural habitats in Bwindi impenetrable national park making it a great destination for gorilla trekking safari tours. Aside from the endangered mountain gorillas, the park also shelters about 11 other primate species including chimpanzees, golden monkeys, vervet monkeys, blue monkeys, red tailed monkeys, L’Hoests monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys making it a rare spot where both the mountain gorillas and chimpanzees share the same shelter.

There are also about 160 different tree species offering a beautiful exceptional canopy giving the park a remarkable view. Bwindi shelters about 120 different mammal species including buffaloes, elephants, impalas, duikers, bushbucks, alongside a wide range of about 360 different bird species including those that are not recorded elsewhere in the country. 

TOURISM ACTIVITIES IN THE PARK. 

Gorilla trekking

Bwindi has made gorilla trekking a popular tourism activity in Uganda attracting a large number of both domestic and international visitors across the world. The park shelters over 400 gorilla individuals in its four main gorilla tracking regions and offers visitors an opportunity to spend quality time of one full hour with these human-like primate species that share about 98% of the human gene in their natural habitats. The four gorilla tracking regions in Bwindi include the Buhoma gorilla sector that lies in the northern part of the park, Ruhija, Rushaga and Nkuringo.

Gorilla trekking in Bwindi starts around 7:30 am with a simple briefing before visitors can head down to the forests of the park in search of the mountain gorillas. The time taken tracking the primate species largely depends on their location where some gorilla families tend to move for quite a longer distance in search of food, the activity can therefore take about 30 minutes to 6 hours. Once the tracked gorilla family is located, visitors are given a lifetime opportunity to spend one hour learning about their behaviour, breastfeeding habits, feeding habits and their reaction to human presence.