Gorilla trekking sectors in bwindi impenetrable national park
Gorilla Trekking sectors in Bwindi impenetrable national park
Gorilla trekking sectors in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park: Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is one of the most visited gorilla destinations, located in southwestern Uganda in the Kanungu district along the Democratic Republic of Congo border. The national park was gazetted in 1991 mainly to conserve the endangered mountain gorillas and in 1994 it was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of its biological richness. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park harbors half of the world’s mountain gorillas and about 19 habituated gorilla families, which are available for trekking daily.
Sectors in Bwindi impenetrable national park
Gorilla trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is the most famous activity, where visitors move into the dense tropical rainforests in search of the habituated gorilla families and, once found, spend one hour with them in their natural habitat. Gorilla trekking in Bwindi impenetrable national park is done in four sectors, namely
Buhoma sector
This is a gorilla trekking sector that is located in the northern part of Bwindi impenetrable national park and it’s the most visited sector in the park due to its easy accessibility from different areas. Buhoma sector is a home of 4 habituated gorilla families, which include
The Mubare gorilla family was the first gorilla group to be habituated in the national park. The Mubare family was named after Mubare Hill, where it was first sighted by trackers and it’s now comprised of 9 members.
Habinyanja gorilla family: The gorilla group was named after Nyanja, which means “a water pond” where it was first sighted by trackers. The gorilla group had about 30 individuals, including Mugurusi, the silverback who was the leader of the group after habituation and after his death, the group was led by two brothers who later separated in 2002. The Habinyanja family is now comprised of 18 members with 2 silverbacks.
The Rushegura gorilla family, this gorilla family split from the Habintyanja group in 2002 with 8 members under the leadership of Mwirima, a silverback who later died in 2014 and currently the group is now comprised of 16 members.
The Katwe gorilla family is one of the newest habituated gorilla families and the group is comprised of 7 individuals, including 1 silverback, 4 adult females and 2 babies.
Rushaga sector
Rushaga is another gorilla trekking sector that is located in the southern part of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Rushaga sector is among the most visited gorilla sectors in that it harbors the highest number of habituated gorilla families, including
Mishaya gorilla family: The gorilla group was named after Mishaya, a silverback that split from the Nshongi gorilla family with 7 members in 2010 to form his own gorilla group. The Mishaya gorilla group is now comprised of 12 members with 3 infants.
The Nshongi gorilla family was the largest group after habituation in that it had about 36 members, but after some time, Mishaya, the silverback, broke off to form his own group and now the group is comprised of 25 members, including 3 sub-silverbacks, 4 blackbacks, 7 adult females, 6 juveniles, 4 infants and the dominant silverback, Nshongi.
Bweza gorilla family, the gorilla group also split from the Nshongi gorilla family with 8 members in 2013. The gorilla group is currently comprised of 12 members, including 2 silverbacks, Kakono, the dominant leader and another one; 4 blackbacks; 3 adult females; 2 infants; and 1 sub-adult.
Kahungye gorilla family: the gorilla family was opened for trekking in 2011 and due to fights and misunderstandings, the group split to form another gorilla family called Busingye and it’s now comprised of 13, including a dominant silverback, Rumansi.
The Busingye gorilla family, the gorilla group, split from the Kahungye group in 2012 and it’s named after the dominant silverback Busingye, which implies peace. Busingye, the silverback, is known for stealing female gorillas from other groups and the group is now comprised of 8 members.
Mucunguzi gorilla family: the group was named after the dominant silverback Mucunguzi and the name means “savior.” The silverback belonged to the Bweza family, where he was the third in command and after a fight, the silverback took some members to form his own group, which is comprised of 8 members, including 1 silverback.
Rwigi gorilla family, this is one of the newest gorilla families in the Rushaga sector and it’s a break-off from the Kahungye family. The group was named after the dominant silverback Rwigi and the group is currently comprised of 6 members, including 1 silverback, 1 baby, 2 juveniles and 3 adult females.
The Bikyingi gorilla family, the gorilla group, was habituated in 2012 along with the Bushaho family in the Nkuringo sector. The gorilla family is made up of 15 members, including 1 silverback, 5 adult females, 2 semi-adults, 2 juveniles and 5 infants.
Ruhija sector
This is another gorilla sector situated in the eastern part of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Gorilla trekking in Ruhija sector is carried out on 4 habituated gorilla families, namely
The Bitukura gorilla family was named after a river where it was first sighted by trackers. The gorilla family is comprised of 13 members, including 4 silverbacks which include Rukumu, Karamuzi, Rukara and Ndahura, who is the dominant leader.
The Oruzogo gorilla family, this gorilla family is comprised of 23 members, including the dominant silverback and it was open for trekking in 2012.
Kyaguriro gorilla family: the gorilla group was first habituated in 1999 and reserved for research but later opened for trekking by visitors. The Kyaguriro gorilla family is comprised of 15 members with 2 silverbacks.
Mukiza gorilla family: This is the newest habituated gorilla family in the Ruhija sector that split from the Kyaguriro family. The gorilla group is comprised of 10 individuals: 1 silverback, 4 adult females, 4 infants and 1 subadult.
Nkuringo sector
Nkuringo gorilla family: The gorilla group derives its name from Nkuringo Hill, where it was first sighted by trackers. Nkuringo was the first group to be habituated in the Nkuringo sector in 2004 and after habituation, it was under the leadership of the Nkuringo silverback, which later died in 2008 leaving 2 silverbacks, Safari and Rafiki. The gorilla group is now comprised of 19 members with 2 silverbacks.
The Bushaho gorilla family, the gorilla group, was habituated at the same time as the Bikyingi gorilla group in the Rushaga sector and it’s comprised of 11 members, including 1 silverback, Bahati, also the dominant leader; 4 adult females; 2 semi-adult females; 1 black back; and 3 infants.
Christmas Gorilla Family, this is the newest habituated gorilla family and it derives its name from a dominant silverback that was born on Christmas day. The gorilla group is currently comprised of 9 members but only 6 members are the ones viewed during trekking.
When to visit the gorilla trekking sectors in Bwindi impenetrable national park
Gorilla trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park sectors can be done anytime throughout the year, though the best time is during the dry season in the months of June to September and December to February.
During the dry season there is less rainfall in the forest; therefore, access roads to the gorilla trekking sectors will be passable, there will be short shrubs and bushes in the park, which enables you to clearly view the mountain gorillas and the gorilla trekking trails will be dry and passable, hence making gorilla trekking successful.
How to get to Bwindi impenetrable national park
The national park is located in southwestern Uganda and can be accessed by road and air transport means
Air transport
There are domestic companies in Uganda for example Aerolink which operates scheduled and chartered flights daily from Entebbe Airport or Kajansi Airfield to Kihihi Airstrip and then connects by road to the sector where you will be trekking from.
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park can also be accessed from Kigali Rwanda and when using this route, you will fly to Kigali International Airport and then connect by road via the Cyanika border in Kisoro or the Katuna border in Kabale to any of the sectors in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, which takes about a 3- to 4-hour drive.
Road transport
When travelling to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, you will drive from Kampala via Mbarara and Kabale and then to the park headquarters of any of the sectors, which takes about an 8- to 9-hour drive.
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park can also be accessed from Queen Elizabeth National Park, where you will drive from Mweya via the Ishasha sector, where you will view tree-climbing lions and then connect to the park headquarters, which takes about a 3- to 4-hour drive.
