Flying Safari to Bwindi for Gorilla Trekking
Flying safari refers to traveling to tourist destinations like Bwindi Impenetrable National Park for Gorilla Trekking using a light aircraft. With improved air transport network in Uganda, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park can easily be accessed. There are many Airstrips that have been constructed and improved in the towns that neighbor Bwindi. The major airstrips are Kisoro Airstrip in the South and Kihihi Airstrip in the North of Bwindi. All these are just 40 Minutes of Driving to Bwindi and this makes your Journey so relaxing.
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is over 9-10 hours by road from Entebbe International Airport. This makes a flying safari the best alternative way to travel to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. However, the long drive to Bwindi gives you chance to experience the real countryside. Visitors on a flying safari to Bwindi for gorilla trekking can start their journey from Entebbe Airport or Kajjansi Airstrip depending on which flight company they are flying with. A flying safari can take about 1 hour to land in airfields around Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Upon arrival at either airstrip, visitors then connect to the park by road for only 40 minutes.
Gorilla Trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is without a doubt the best gorilla trekking destination in the world. This is so because of its vast wilderness that is distributed into four gorilla sectors of Trekking. These sectors include Nkuringo, Buhoma, Ruhija, and Rushaga gorilla sectors.
Bwindi hosts the largest number of mountain gorillas in the world with more than half of the world population. With over 1,062 individual mountain gorillas left in the wild, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park harbors approximately 459 mountain gorillas. Bwindi was established in 1991 and by 1994 recognized as a World Heritage site by UNESCO. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park’s terrain and vegetation make it the best destination for gorilla trekking.
Just like all the other destinations, Gorilla Trekking in Bwindi begins at the park headquarters with pre-briefing. This briefing aligns to bring visitors up to speed with the rules and regulations of gorilla trekking. The visitors are then grouped into 8 people per gorilla family with lead guide ranger.
Mountain gorillas are social animals that stay in small families and are headed by silverbacks. This closes the arguments of these primates having a liking to us by sharing over 98% of our DNA. The Mountain Gorilla families are scattered across the four sectors of Ruhija, Rushaga, Nkuringo and Buhoma.
After traversing the vast vegetation of Bwindi forest, you find the gorilla family and you are allowed to spend an hour in its presence. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park has over 50 gorilla families with only 24 are habituated and available for trekking.
How much is Gorilla Trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park?
For one to visit Bwindi for Trekking, you will need a Gorilla Permit which is purchased through a tour company like Native Africa Tours. The price for a gorilla permit in Uganda varies in region and nationality. Foreign non-resident permits cost USD 800, foreign resident permits cost USD 700, and East African citizens and Ugandans pay UGX 300,000. There is also a rate for the rest of Africa that goes for USD 500.
The money obtained from the purchase of these permits goes to conservation efforts of these endangered species, paying the workers, and the rest to the community developments. This is in a way to give back to the communities since they are the immediate neighbors and the first conservationists on the ground.
What else to do in Bwindi other than Gorilla Trekking?
Gorilla trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park sometimes overshadows other tourist activities. However, several other activities are present in Bwindi and can interest visitors with epic adventure experiences. These activities include the following:
Gorilla Habituation
Gorilla habituation is the practice of taming wild gorillas to human presence in preparation for trekking in the future. The activity takes about 4 fours in the presence of the mountain gorillas.
Rangers, scientists, and researchers train these mountain gorillas to look at humans not as a threat, and accommodate their presence. Experts with vast knowledge of gorillas’ lives, and their likes and dislikes take the lead and explain to all visitors to ensure safety. Gorilla habituation happens in the Rushaga Sector in the south part of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
Batwa cultural tours
This experience teaches visitors several survival and life skills that the Batwa people use. These include lighting fire using dry sticks, making wild honey, hunting, listening to ancestral stories around the fireplaces, and house construction.
Birding
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park has designated birding points that are popular for hosting several bird species in the park. This ensures visitors on a birding adventure experience encounter various bird species both migratory and endemic bird species.
The most popular birding spot in Bwindi is Mubwindi Swamp in Ruhija. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park hosts over 350 bird species and 90% of these bird species are Albertine Rift region dwellers only.
Some bird species to look out for in the park include the brown-necked parrot, blue-headed sunbird, short-tailed warbler, African green broadbill, Shelley’s crimson wing, giant kingfisher, cinnamon chested bee-eater, and regal bird.
