Forest Walks in Bwindi – Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park has become the number one destination for trekking the endangered mountain gorillas. The park is home to half of the world’s mountain gorilla population, with the other half found in the Virunga range volcanoes that stretch across Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
There are about 1,004 mountain gorillas left in the world. These endangered primates were once close to extinction, but their numbers have slowly increased in recent years due to conservation efforts by the three countries. However, their population cannot grow rapidly because of their low birth rate. Female gorillas are fertile for only 1-2 days in a month and give birth to only 4-6 offspring in their lifetime.
Forest Walks in Bwindi
While gorilla trekking is the most popular activity in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, there are also many other activities tourists can enjoy before or after trekking, such as forest walks.
Different trails have been set up in the park, and visitors can choose based on their interests, as each trail leads to a unique destination.
Some of the trails include:
- Munyanga Waterfall Trail
- Rushura Hill Walk
- Muzabajiro Loop
- The Ivy River Walk
- Buhoma-Nkuringo Trail
- Habinyanja Trail
Forest walks in Bwindi allow visitors to see many other primates apart from mountain gorillas, such as blue monkeys, black-and-white colobus monkeys, vervet monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, and olive baboons.
Other wildlife includes giant forest hogs, duikers, bush pigs, bushbucks, and occasionally elephants. During these walks, visitors can also spot trees as tall as 60 meters and over 200 years old.
Bird lovers will enjoy spotting some of the 351 bird species recorded in Bwindi. Some common birds include the giant kingfisher, crowned hornbill, African green pigeon, African broadbill, blue-headed sunbird, handsome francolin, olive-breasted greenbul, yellow-streaked greenbul, regal sunbird, Ruwenzori apalis, black-faced rufous warbler, black-billed turaco, cinnamon-chested bee-eater, and purple-breasted sunbird. Besides birds, visitors will also see flowering plants and various butterfly species.