UNESCO World Heritage List Inscription Details
Visited in July 2014
Bwindi is home to 340 or more than a third of the world’s remaining 800 mountain gorillas and gorilla tracking is without a doubt one of my most memorable travel experiences. I highly recommend it to anyone. However there are a few things to keep in mind when planning this “trip of a lifetime” : you have to plan far in advance, as permits are limited, the trip is not cheap, and there is no guarantee you will actually see the gorillas, although the park estimates your chances at 95%. In my view however, this trip is definitely worth the expense and risk of disappointment.
The first thing to do if you are considering a visit here is to check out the Park’s very informative website. It will give you some good information on costs, accommodation options and ideas for planning your trip.
To understand how far in advance you need to plan your trip, consider the following – there are 27 gorilla groups living in Bwindi, of which have been 9 habituated for tourist visits. There is a maximum of 8 visitors a day allowed for each gorilla family, so permits are extremely limited and can sell out quick in the high season months (December to March and June to September). Permits can be booked directly through the Uganda Wildlife Authority, or through a safari company. If you do decide to arrange the trip yourself, which is possible, just make sure you find out which part of the park the gorilla group you are going to see is best accessed from – as there are four park regions which allow access to different gorilla groups and these are far apart from each other. The most popular and developed region of the park is Buhoma in the park’s Northwest corner and this is the one we did our trek from.
Buhoma offers some interesting experiences aside from the obvious. It also has many accommodation options for all budgets, especially when you consider that there are only 24 gorilla permits, so the tourist numbers are limited. We stayed at the wonderful Volcanoes Bwindi Lodge for 3 nights and it was the perfect length for this trip. After flying in to the Kihihi airstrip and a short 37 kilometer drive of less than an hour, we went on a very informative visit to the tea plantation next door to the lodge. You can take the road directly from Kampala, but be prepared for an all-day drive.
Our gorilla trek started the next morning at around 8.30 AM with a visit to a ranger station, where we were divided into groups of 8 and assigned a family each group would see. Keep in mind is that you will not be allowed to visit the gorillas if you have n a cold or flu, as they are susceptible to human diseases. You will also be instructed to keep a distance between of 27 feet (8 meters) between yourself and the animals. To be honest this is unfortunately not always possible. The gorillas will be as curious about you as you are about them and may try to come closer. On our trek we met an American graduate student, living in Buhoma for several months, going on daily treks with the tourists. As part of her studies, she was polling the tourists to see whether they would agree to wear face masks during their time with the gorillas to reduce the risk of spreading human diseases to the animals. To my surprise, she said the overwhelming response had been “no”.
After meeting the rangers we drove to the starting point of the trek where we were met by local villagers, who could serve as our porters. While you don’t really need a porter to for this trip, hire one anyway. If you can afford to come on this trip, you can afford the $15 dollars a porter will cost you, but this is a substantial amount of money the person you hire. And the villagers only get one chance to do this in two weeks, so think of it as a way to help the community where you are a guest. Also, the trek to meet up with the gorilla family can take anywhere from several minutes to several hours up steep hills and through tangled vegetation, possibly through mud and rain. Dress appropriately (long sleeves and pants) and if you think that the walk may be too much, consider hiring a “helicopter” for $300. A helicopter is actually 12 porters, who will take turns carrying you up to see the gorillas in groups of 6. While this might seem as an embarrassing way to get to the gorillas, it will be a bigger shame to come all this way and miss them, because the hike was too much.
I think we spent about an hour walking mostly uphill. Our guide was in constant contact the trackers, who had gone out earlier to find our gorilla family, so we knew when they found the gorillas and went to meet them. The permit allows you exactly one hour to spend with the animals, but if they don’t move on after the hour is up, the guide might extend this for a few minutes. I inadvertently broke the 27 feet rule as an adult female came up to take a closer look at the strange four-eyed human. The hour went by way too fast, but every cliché about how unforgettable the encounter is was absolutely true. We were exhausted, but ecstatic when we came back to the lodge.
The next day we stayed in the area for a couple of interesting side trips. One was the Buhoma community walk, where we went to see the local school, a traditional healer and a banana plantation where they make banana beer and liquor. The school principal did a wonderful job talking about his school and their efforts to build a diverse library. So if you come here and have some room in your luggage – take some of those old paperbacks and bring them to the Buhoma school.
The second tour we did was the Batwa Experience. The Batwa or Twa pygmies lost their homes in Bwindi without compensation when it became a national park. This tour is an introduction to their culture and a way of preserving it. A wonderful experience and a great way to cap off your Bwindi visit.