Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
is located in southwestern part of Uganda. It covers an area of 331 square
kilometers. Western side of the park is the border to DRC while Kabale town is
to its southeast & it is the nearest main town to the park, 29 km away by
road.
Bwindi has a tropical climate.
Average temperatures range from a minimum of 7-20°C to a maximum of 20-27°C.
Bwindi receives up to 2390mm of rain each year.
Bwindi Impenetrable National park
gets really cold especially in the mornings and at night. And it became dark
earlier in the evening because of the impenetrable forest.
The peak of the rainy season
happens in March to April and from September to November. Altitude varies from
1160m to 2607m above sea level, which results in variations in temperature.
More famously, this “impenetrable
forest” also protects an estimated 400 mountain gorillas – roughly half of the
world’s population, including several habituated groups, which can be tracked.
This biologically diverse region
also provides shelter to a further 120 mammals, including several primate
species such as baboons and chimpanzees, as well as elephants and antelopes.
There are around 350 species of birds hosted in this forest, including 23
Albertine Rift endemics.
The National park has an average
rain fall of 1,500mm, and it is a vital catchments area, the source of five
major rivers, which flow into Lake Albert. Tourism to Bwindi focuses on Gorilla
tracking at two locations, Buhoma and recently established location at
Nkuringo. More than half of the World’s mountain Gorilla population is resident
in Bwindi.
In Uganda, Bwindi National park
receives the largest number of tourists every day. They visit the park purposely
for Gorilla trekking, birding, nature walks and Cultural tours among others.
Bwindi Impenetrable forest is
among the tropical forest Uganda still has. The Forest is full of trees of
different species including mahogany and Brazzeia longipedicellata among
others.
Alongside Gorillas, Bwindi forest
also hosts Blue Monkey, Red-tailed Monkey, Black and White Colobus Monkeys,
Baboon and l’Hoest’s Monkeys along with three nocturnal primate species namely
the Potto, Demidoff’s Galago and the Spectacled Galago. The park supports
Elephants, Bush Pigs, Giant Forest Hog, Black Fronted Duiker, Yellow Backed
Duiker, Clawless Otter, Side Stripped Jackal, Civet and numerous other species,
especially of bats and rodents among others.
