Gorilla tracking, birdwatching, and Batwa community

Uganda's most famed protected area is home to half the world's remaining mountain gorillas and is host to a huge variety of forest wildlife.

Bwindi has an exceptionally rich biodiversity and offers a truly fulfilling African rainforest experience. Yet it’s the gorillas that most people come to see, and few wildlife encounters leave such lasting memories as visiting a habituated group of mountain gorillas in the wild. All the habituated mountain gorillas are tracked daily with no more than eight visitors per family, and each trekking group is escorted by National Park rangers and guides. Gorilla tracking in Bwindi is impressively efficient, especially in the Buhoma section of the park. Operations here work like a well-oiled machine, to make your gorilla-tracking experience go as smoothly as possible.

All of the habituated mountain gorillas are tracked daily with no more than eight visitors per family. Trekking groups are escorted by National Park rangers and guides.

Aside from visiting gorillas in Buhoma, we also recommend the three-hour Waterfall Trail, along which the diversity of ferns, birds and butterflies is bewildering. Birdwatching in Bwindi is one of the most popular reasons to visit - did you know that there are close to 350 species here, along with over 200 species of butterfly?

If you have time, we do encourage visiting the Bwindi Community Hospital, founded in 2003 as an outreach clinic under a tree. Worthy of a mention, this hospital began as a special mission to help the Batwa community after they were displaced to make way for the national park, including a Sanitation Project for Schools and Homesteads.