Budget lodges and campsites in Bwindi.
Booking lodging that fits your budget is essential while visiting Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. The bulk of the low-cost lodges in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park include common amenities including restrooms, dining centers, and more, but their services are limited. If you’re uncomfortable while on the ground, you may go to a different facility, but the resort won’t reimburse you.
The majority of low-cost lodges in Africa have the trait of primarily providing bed and breakfast services. You must rent a tent and sleeping bag for your nights in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park if you have a campsite. It’s an exciting experience.
How Crucial Is It to Reserve Lodging for Gorilla Trekking? In Bwindi
When organizing a gorilla trekking trip in Uganda, lodging is crucial. Both Mgahinga National Park and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park provide gorilla trekking opportunities. The Bwindi Impenetrable National Park offers a number of affordable lodging options, including lodges and campsites.
A resort or campground that can support your planned expenses while on an African safari in Bwindi is essential if you are a low-budget visitor. This article examines the many low-cost lodging choices that are now available in Mgahinga National Park and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
Before you reserve your gorilla permit, please be aware that there are four gorilla trailheads in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, and each area has its unique accommodations. It is crucial that you start by looking at the lodging alternatives that are offered in each area.
You must secure lodging in a location where your gorilla trekking permit is booked after securing one for Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Bwindi is separated into four regions: the areas of Buhoma, Ruhijah, Rushaga, and Nkuringo. Although each includes a list of lodgings for gorilla trekking, you must reserve one nearby or in the same region as the permit booking.
This will save you from having to get up extremely early to attend a briefing at the ranger station at another gorilla trekking location. The roads may sometimes be inaccessible, obstructed by large logs, or the vehicle may have a mechanical issue. All of them might lead to you avoiding the agonizing experience of gorilla trekking.
If you want to self-drive through the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, it is advisable to reserve a car with 4×4 wheel drive (not suggested for first timers). This is a result of the topography of this region. Sometimes the routes between areas are inaccessible.
This is one of the main justifications for spending the night at the location where a gorilla permit is reserved. Even the local community may not be able to assist you if you get trapped on the road in the middle of the night while attempting to cross to the location where your permit is scheduled.
In order to reach the briefing location on your gorilla permit, you must sometimes travel via other routes since fallen trees sometimes block access to the road.
Low-cost lodges and camps in Buhoma.
Compared to other parts of the park, the Buhoma Gorilla Trekking Area offers a wider range of lodging alternatives. This region has drawn several investors throughout the years to build lodging facilities that assist visitors to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park for a variety of purposes.
We begin by looking at affordable possibilities in the Buhoma Region. Because it was the first location where visitors could walk habituated gorillas, Buhoma continues to be the most popular tourist destination in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
After the Mubare Gorilla Family welcomed its first visitors in 1993, additional families, like the Habinyanja and Rushegura families, became accustomed to the area. Due to family conflicts, assaults by other wild gorilla families, or the death of the dominant silverback, some of these gorilla families broke apart.
Many low-cost hotels and campgrounds are being built in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park as tourism picks up speed, but they must mix in with the local ecology. Numerous low-cost lodging options in this area include both self-contained and non-self-contained rooms, as well as decent services.
Among these are the Bwindi View Canteen, the Conservation through Public Health Campsite, and the Buhoma Community Rest Camp and Bandas. You may read Trip Advisor evaluations of these services, which have been tried and tested. Mubare, Habinyanja, and Rushegura are among the gorilla families that may be traveled from here.
Site of the Buhoma Community Rest
The proceeds from the sale of overnight reservations at the Buhoma community rest site are utilized for community assistance via the Buhoma Mukono Community Development Association (BMCDA), which is a community-run organization.
The money goes toward helping kids in school, giving the community access to gravitational water, enhancing local healthcare facilities, funding initiatives that empower women, and much more. The resort is located only a short distance from the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park entrance.
Six self-contained safari tents, three self-contained cottages, two non-self-contained twin cottages, a hostel, and a campground are all available at the rest site. Rooms, a restaurant and bar, airstrip pickup, massages, and other services are available here.
Bandas’ Bwindi View
Strategically placed in front of Bwindi Forest are Bwindi View Bandas. The thick Bwindi canopy is not visible from the bandas. The lodge operates a restaurant for meals but mostly offers bed and breakfast. A range of foreign and local cuisines are available for purchase here.
Other amenities offered by the lodge include internet, a bar, laundry, and much more. Additionally, the resort offers family, double, and single bandas.
Gorilla Conservation Camp at CPTH
This lodge is situated in the Buhoma area on the outskirts of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. This typical facility is reasonably priced and offers a cozy, rural setting. a furnished tent and a self-contained single double in a guesthouse. In addition to internet, the lodge serves breakfast, lunch, and supper.
Low-cost Ruhija Camps and Lodges
The Ruhija area is accessible via Kabale town or Buhoma and is situated on the eastern edge of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. The Mukisa, Oruzogo, Bitukura, and Kyaguriro families are the four habituated gorilla families identified in Ruhija.
With its ensuite tents and proximity to the gorilla launching site, Broadbill Camp is the most popular low-cost lodging option in this area. Budget accommodations in Kabale’s Lake Bunyonyi are available for those who would rather spend the night before gorilla trekking. These consist of Bunyonyi Backpackers Hostel, Bushara Island Camp, Bunyonyi Overland Camp, and Crater Bay cottages.
You would need to travel around an hour to Ruhija for your gorilla hike if you want to lodge here. Bunyonyi is perfect since it offers additional activities like bird viewing, kayaking, and hill climbing.
Camp at Broad Bill Forest
Broad Bill Forest Camp is located on the eastern edge of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. It is the one nearest to the Ruhijah gorilla trekking area’s starting point. This campground has six tents, a dining area, a bar, a fireplace, and many more amenities.
Broad Bill Forest Camp, the major administrative center of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, located around 3 kilometers from the Buhoma region. Because of its location, ornithologists may see a variety of species, including endemic Albertines, from the balcony of their rooms.
Ruhijah Rest Camp
Located in the Ruhijah region, this low-cost establishment offers backpackers camping sites, tents, family cabins, double and single rooms, and shared rooms. Various cuisines are available at the lodge’s restaurant upon request.
One may pitch a tent at the campground or rent one, and a fireplace can be put up upon request. For an additional bit of assistance in the forest on the day of the gorilla hike, visitors may rent a walking stick from the lodge for a nominal cost.
Bakiga Lodge
Bakiga Lodge’s architecture is a typical blend of Western and African styles. It’s one among the lodges in the Ruhijah region of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park that offers excellent service at a reasonable cost. The endeavor is non-profit.
Low-cost lodging options in Rushaga
The southern section of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, which also includes Nshongi, Bussingye, Bweza, Nkuringo, Mishaya, Kahungye, and many more places, is where Rushaga and Nkuringo are situated. Those who are unable to secure permits for Ruhija and Buhoma may do so in this area. Nshongi Campsite, Gorilla Valley Lodge, and Kisoro Travellers Rest Hotel are lodges that provide affordable lodging. It takes around two hours to drive from Kisoro town to Nkuringo or Rushaga.
Please be aware that new campgrounds and lodges are always being built, so the alternatives listed here are not the only low-cost lodging choices. You can reach us, and we’ll provide you appropriate advice.
Campsite Nshongi
Nshongi Camp is a low-cost lodging option located in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park’s southern region. Nshongi campground is just a short walk from the Uganda Wildlife Authority’s main briefing location. There are four bandas in the campground, however there are three meal plans: breakfast, lunch, and supper.
Double beds and a separate bathroom are features of the Lodge Bandas. You may take in the breathtaking panoramic view of the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest from the campsite’s grounds. Five gorilla families—the Nshongi, Mishaya Kahugye, Busingye, and Bweza—can be visited from the Bandas.
Lodge in the Gorilla Valley
This is the ideal lodge to reserve if you want easy access to the Rushaga Uganda Wildlife Authority briefing station. It is situated on the hills overlooking the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. Each of its fifteen rooms has a private bathroom.
Occasionally, mountain gorillas visit the resort. Each room at this eco-friendly lodge has a cozy twin bed and is heated by solar energy. Rates range from bed and breakfast to half-board to full-board.
As the day dawns at our lodge, you awaken to the sounds of the forest.
The Traveler’s Rest Hotel in Kisoro
Among the oldest lodging establishments in the neighborhood with colonial architecture is this one. There are still several colonial-style structures at the hotel, which was constructed by Walter Baumgartner in 1955 and refurbished in 1999. Many visitors choose it as their lodging option because of its distinctive past. It’s like to going back in time overnight.
There are fifteen specious rooms in the motel. You can take in the stunning view of the Virunga Mountains and Volcanoes from the lodge complex. The hotel has a restaurant that provides four-course meals, the majority of which are made using locally sourced ingredients. It also has a Congolese-style bar. It takes around two hours to travel to the briefing location.
Low-Cost Lodging There are about three gorilla families in the Nkuringo Gorilla Trekking Area: the Christmas Gorilla Family, the Bushaho Gorilla Family, and the Nkuringo Gorilla Family. Due to habituation, the Posho gorilla family is not currently available for gorilla trekking. Among the lodges you may be able to choose from are
Eco Community Center Mutanda
At least ten people may utilize the four bandas that this environmental center possesses. There is a platform at the campground where you may set up tents, and it is elevated off the ground in case of rain. To shield the tents from the frequent rain, the platform is elevated with a roofing. To save the environment, the center lights are powered by solar energy. There is a dorm there that can hold up to four guests.
Bwindi Backpacker’s Lodge
Tourists traveling to Nkuringo and Rushaga gorilla trekking families are welcome to utilize this lodge amenity. This low-cost lodging has cottages, self-contained rooms, common toilets, and a camping space.
Camp Karungi
This low-cost lodging option provides travelers visiting the southern region of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park with reasonable rates. In Rubuguri, the camp provides roomy accommodations. The lodge has a cafeteria that serves continental meals, including lunch and supper, but it also provides bed and breakfast accommodations.
Additionally, Karungi Camp offers five cottages—Robin Chat Cottage, Regal Sunbird Cottage, Blue Flycatcher Cottage, Cisticola Cottage, and Crane Cottage—that are available for reservations in advance.