Road trip to Bwindi impenetrable National Park from Kigali.
The ideal way to go on a gorilla safari from Kigali, Rwanda is to drive to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, particularly now that the country is under a COVID-19 lockdown. Traveling around the nation while taking in the stunning landscapes is an incredible and unforgettable experience.
Travelers may reach Bwindi National Park from Kigali International Airport via the Cyanika, Nyamirama, or Katuna border crossings. For those interested in gorilla safaris, Katland Safaris arranges transportation from Kigali to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
Depending on your preference, your road trip can begin at 8:00 am either at Kigali International Airport or at your hotel. After a city drive through Kigali, you will visit the genocide memorial, which contains a wealth of information about Rwandan history.
After crossing the border into Uganda, you will continue on to Kabale, where you can stop for lunch. At the Lake Bunyonyi viewpoint, you may take pictures of the picturesque lake and its numerous islands. The Mgahinga ranges—which include Muhavura, Sabinyo, and Gahinga—can be seen from a vantage point as well. To reach your gorilla viewing destination, you’ll take a scenic drive through the Kabale and Kisoro terraced hills.
Regarding the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park
Bwindi Forest National Park, in southern Uganda, shares a border with the Congo. It is famous as the best place to trek mountain gorillas because it is home to more than half of the world’s remaining wild mountain gorilla population. It is also one of only two national parks in Uganda where visitors can see the majestic mountain gorillas in their natural habitat. There are a number of areas inside Bwindi Forest National Park where visitors may undertake gorilla tracking, including the Rushaga, Buhoma, Ruhija, and Nkuringo sectors.
In Bwindi Forest National Park, visitors may embark on gorilla tracking adventures with a variety of habituated gorilla families. Each gorilla family is led and managed by a silverback, the dominant male gorilla. If you want to embark on the hike, you need a Gorilla permit that is valid on that day. Because each gorilla family in Bwindi Forest National Park may only have eight visitors per day, the number of gorilla permits is restricted.
What kinds of vehicles are used on the road journey from Kigali to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park?
For your incredible gorilla safari from Kigali, Katland Safaris only uses or recommends 4×4 safari vehicles that are regularly repaired and driven by our expert guides while you travel into the hills of Bwindi forest. When it comes to affordable safaris, we always recommend 4×4 safari tailored Super custom or Van vehicles. These options are known for their ample legroom, baggage capacity, and comfort. The super custom can accommodate one to five people, while the van is ideal for group trips with nine to ten people.
We use expensive, four-wheel-drive land vehicles that can accommodate seven people for a luxury gorilla road excursion from Kigali to Bwindi. It is possible to enjoy the comforts of a land cruise on a budget safari. For your wonderful gorilla safari, all of our cars are well-maintained and equipped with air conditioning, drinking water, and Tourism License stickers.
When traveling from Kigali to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, how is the road condition?
Traveling from Kigali to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park takes about four to five hours on a tarmac-surfaced, cross-country route that isn’t quite world-class. The roads leading into the park from the Ugandan border towns of Kisoro, Kabale, and Ntungamo are all paved with asphalt until you reach the park entrance. During the rainy season, the Muram roads leading to the various sectors of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park become very treacherous and clogged with mud, thus it is imperative that you utilize a 4X4 vehicle.
Because Rwanda is known as the “country of a thousand hills,” the highways leading from Rwanda’s western region into Uganda’s southwestern region wind their way through scenic mountain landscapes. In order to ensure your safety and comfort while you travel to your desired location, our driver-guides are highly trained professionals.
The distance between Kigali and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is how long does the drive take?
The biggest city and airport adjacent to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is Kigali, as is Kigali International Airport. You may make arrangements at Kigali International Airport in the morning and reach Bwindi Impenetrable National Park by afternoon.
Traveling from Kigali to Uganda by car takes no more than four or five hours, and passing through customs may take as little as an hour. In order to ensure the safety of all road users, including tourists, we consistently stress the need of maintaining a speed range of 60-80 mph.
How to go from Kigali to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and what to see and do there
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is a must-visit African tourist hotspot due to its abundance of natural beauty and cultural attractions. See everything there is to see and do in Bwindi below.
Exploring Bwindi Impenetrable National Park on Foot for Gorillas
The main way to observe gorillas in Bwindi is to go on a gorilla tracking safari. You have a 98% chance of seeing mountain gorillas in their native environment when you visit Bwindi Forest National Park, which is home to half of the world’s surviving mountain gorillas. Two southern areas of Bwindi Forest National Park, Rushaga and Nkuringo, and two northern and eastern sections, Ruhija and Buhoma, are home to mountain gorillas.
If you want to go on a gorilla walk in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park from Kigali, the most important thing is to get a gorilla permit. You need to buy the gorilla permit in advance if you want to go on a trek with them. You may do it on any day you want, as long as the permits are available on that particular day.
There are a total of eight permits available for each gorilla family, so if you want to go on a gorilla trek with a group of eight, you’ll need to book your permit months or even days before you fly into Bwindi Forest National Park from Kigali. All you have to do to book an all-inclusive gorilla safari from Kigali with Katland Safaris is let us know when you would like to go gorilla trekking, and we will check online for permit availability.
We will send you an invoice for the permit fee and hold it in our preliminary reservation system. We will expedite the process of obtaining your permit and provide you with scanned copies of the relevant receipts once we receive payment from the Uganda Wildlife Authority.
On the way from Kigali to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, you may participate in a gorilla habitat experience, where you get to spend four hours in the company of habituated mountain gorillas. Because of the limited capacity of Bwindi Forest National Park in Uganda (only four individuals are permitted each habuation session), it is essential that you reserve your habuation permit in advance to ensure your spot. Depending on how long it takes you to locate them, the experience might start and finish anywhere from half a day to a whole day.
Only in the southern part of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, between the Rushaga and Nkuringo sectors, are gorilla habituation activities carried out. During this encounter, you’ll get to see gorillas up close and personal while they undergo habituated behavior modification.
While the gorillas are still adjusting to humans, you’ll get to see their feeding habits, movement patterns, resting habits, and even their communication abilities. When traveling from Kigali to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, this is a must-do.
Hiking in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park to see birds
Visitors to Bwindi Forest National Park may see endemic birds of the Albertine Rift as well as a wide variety of other rare and exotic birds. Birding in Bwindi National Park is a great way to see a wide variety of birds, including the Handsome Francolin, the Rwenzori Nightjar, the dwarf honeyguide, the African green broadbill, the Archer’s Robin-Chat, the red-throated alethe, the yellow-eyed black-flycatcher, the red-faced woodland warbler, the short-tailed warbler, the Grauer’s warbler, the Mountain Masked Apalis, the collared apalis, the stripe-breasted tit, the Rwenzori Batis, the blue-headed sunbird, the Regal sunbird, the strange weaver, and the dusky crimsonwing. From Kigali, we offer birding tours to Bwindi Forest National Park, where you can learn to recognize a wide variety of birds with the help of expert guides. Inquire about our birding road trips departing from Kigali to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
Interactions between Bwindi’s Culture and Community
For a long time, the Batwa people—also known as the pygmies—lived in Bwindi Forest National Park. However, in recent times, they were relocated to the nearby settlements in order to facilitate mountain gorilla conservation and tourism. Taking a road journey from Kigali to Bwindi Forest National Park would allow you to see how the pygmies used to live in the forest, gather wild honey, and hunt.
Their dances will be on display as they describe their successful transition out of the jungle and into everyday life. The remainder of the community lives on the forest’s edge; you can see the women’s clubs that sell food and crafts, as well as the community schools. We ask that you consider donating clothing and school supplies to help the kids there.
Forest nature hikes
The tropical forest that makes up Bwindi Forest National Park is one of the world’s oldest, having been there for at least 300,000 years. The park is home to several rare and endangered tree species, some of which are unique to this particular forest. Nature walks in Bwindi Forest are famously enjoyable because of the forest’s thick canopy, which makes it impenetrable.
During your safari, you’ll have the opportunity to learn about various tree species, see various birds, and, if you’re lucky, see rare forest elephants, monkeys, and baboons. Along with seeing the stunning rivers and waterfalls of Bwindi Forest National Park, these nature hikes also provide an opportunity to immerse oneself in nature. You may customize a package with all these activities to fit your interests and the amount of time you have.
Recommended places to stay on the way from Kigali to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
You will select your accommodation/hotel according on the sector you will be trekking gorillas from in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. The four sectors are Buhoma, Nkuringo, Ruhija, and Rushaga. We will inform you of the sectors that have permits available and provide hotel recommendations within those sectors when you inquire about permit availability with us. You may find hotels and motels in all these categories, from the most affordable to the most luxurious, with both low- and high-season prices.
Among the many lodging options in the Buhoma sector, one may find both affordable and more upscale options, such as the Buhoma Havens resort, Bwindi lodge, Mahogany springs lodge, Buhoma lodge, and Gorilla forest camp. Guests at Rushaga Gorilla Havens Lodge, Nkuringo Bwindi Lodge, and Clouds Mountain Gorilla Lodge may enjoy a night among the mountain gorillas. Similarly, at Nkuringo, you can choose to stay at Rushaga Gorilla Camp or Four Gorillas Lodge.
Leaving from Kigali, Katland Safaris arranges road trips to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, offering a variety of pre-made and tailor-made itineraries to suit your needs. Please get in touch with us via email so that we can assist you with your planning needs. Both TripAdvisor and SafariBookings have nothing but praise for Katland Safaris.
