Activities in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
Canoeing at Lake Mutanda
Isn’t it such a rare blessing to have one of the most beautiful lakes in Uganda and the home of the gorillas all in one area? Lake Mutanda, one of the most popular destination for canoe trekking in the country, is only a short distance from the Park. More cultural activities await you at the islands. The lake’s canoers are dexterous at their game and will sail you from one shore of the lake to the other. There is a luxurious lodge at the shores where you can spend a night in case you would love to spend more time savoring the balmy Mutanda breeze and soothing bird songs.
The place is blessed with a great climate that is punctuated with a cool and sunny environment. Even though Lake Mutanda is majorly famous for its scenic views and great landscapes, the lively epithet draws its luxury from the absence of crocodiles and bilharzia which provide for the presence of water sports that offer more than just sun and surf! The lake is surrounded by spectacular hills that are decorated by verdant vegetation that is underlined by forests and nature! All these act as perfect additives as one carries out canoeing on this volcanic lake. Some of these hills are part of the 8 extinct volcanoes of the Virunga landscape that include the Muhabura and Mgahinga among others. Within the lake, there are also a few islands that expound the variety of diversity found in this place. Although the canoes are made out of wood, this is one of the not-to-worry-abouts since they are perfectly established in stature.
Location.
Lake Mutanda is a kilometres from Kisoro town (about 20 minutes drive) and Kabale (1 to 2 hours drive.) From Kampala, which is Uganda’s capital, it takes about 8 to 9 hours to reach the Southwestern region of the country where the place is nestled. Alternatively for those coming from Rwanda, one can use the Chanika border and it takes an estimated 35 minutes to reach the Lake. The lake is found in the Albertine rift at the periphery of Mgahinga and Bwindi National Parks at an altitude of 1800m. These national parks are famous for harboring the mountain gorillas. Therefore, a trip to Lake Mutanda is usually a combination with gorilla trekking, although it can also be stand alone activity as interest dictates. During this tour, you are also bound to experience a sunrise or sunset, depending on the timing of your canoeing activity. The Lake is altogether a platonic ideal of a honeymoon spot.
There are other activities that can be done within the proximity of Lake Mutanda. These include: Mountain Biking, Swimming, fishing, village walks and bird watching. There are two islands at the lake famous for bird watching and reptile viewing. Swimming is permitted at designated areas of the lake.
Nature Walks in and around Bwindi
The nature walks in Bwindi are pretty much like hiking sprees. They involve climbing rugged peaks, and sliding in slippery valleys. But all these little difficulties really work for your good, to add zest to your trip. Nkuringo is one of the best places for nature walks. The forest around this area is rich with primates of every kind which you will see playing and jumping from tree to tree as you walk through the forest; Red tailed monkeys, Black colobus moneys, the Blue monkey, and lots of baboon families. A nature walk to the water falls at Munyanga, the pigmy community at Buhoma, or the shores of lake Mutanda can also be rewarding. In Bwindi, a nature walk is one of the most outrageous activities, together with gorilla trekking, that tourists often engage in. It is a very interesting phenomenal that combines the beauty of nature together with the thrill for pleasure, in effect offering one the best so deserved. Inside the forest, the nature walk normally takes about 3 to 5 hours, basing on the speed of navigation. However, the journey is filled with so many hikes, that one usually has to endure the “harsh” struggle to make it to the upper falls. The truth of the matter indeed, is that the journey is of a long and agonising type, thereby shortly pronouncing tiredom to many of those who choose to embark on it. This is, however, on the list of the not-to-worry-abouts, since the forest rangers are always present to guide folks back to the information centre as they perform their patrolling and security duties.
The park gives an option of complimenting your walk with a visit to the local communities around Bwindi. These hospitable communities are a good place to learn about the African way of living, customs, dressing, building, and social life. Bwindi offers one of the very best examples of human-wildlife coexistence.
Bwindi is one of those few places on earth where animals (both wild and tame), hills, rivers, water-falls, forests and humans coexist magnificently in such a harmony. It not only gives one an opportunity to discover the hidden depths that blanket the misty forests, but also the possibility to penetrate the so-called impenetrable forest. This is possible through the nature walk that ushers one into the mystical concealments of the forest that have seen both hot and cold over the years. It is these intact forested perfections that charmingly and amazingly gaze and sway to any adventurer who signs up for the task of trekking the forest with a compelling force to respond by swaying back or relaxing the mind.
The nature walk involves trekking the forested land. Through the forest, one encounters flowing streams of fresh water that endlessly slither down from the upper falls, as well as the different plant species that have patiently endured the great storms which rampage throughout the forest during the heavy rains. All this contributes to the learning experience that is punctuated by the different mammalian species which one inevitably encounters all through the trek. The guide keeps dissipating relevant information, enhancing numerous interesting interactions and discussions amongst the team members. All this in turn creates social cohesion and works magic for those whose hobby-list includes making friends.
The forest homes numerous varieties of birds that know everything there is to do with composing some of the sweetest melodies every human ear could ever treat itself to, leaving one with the perplexingly juxtaposed options of whether to try hard and whistle along, or just sit back and simply blush in awe!! Too beautiful is the harmonious churn of the falling waters of the waterfalls, one cannot help but relish the momentous flow of this somewhat surreal kind of perfection. The experience is altogether concomitant with discovery, crowding the adventurous heart with beams of long-craved satisfaction.
In Buhoma, there are various trail heads and walks that offer experiences to those who sign up for nature walk tasks within the mist-blanketed forests. These include:
Buhoma community walk.
This reveals the local people who stay in proximity to the Impenetrable Forest as well as their culture. During this walk, one acquires knowledge of the cultural ways, gets access to locally made art crafts and grabs an opportunity to watch the epic dance performances that are decorated with a lot of art. It is during such a task that the traditional way of cooking, brewing as well as the application of local medicines becomes clear and vivid to any adventurer that has having fun on the to-do list. The Buhoma Village Walk gives one an opportunity to observe the locals, visit a typical homestead and undergo the Batwa cultural experience. The walk lasts for about three hours.
Munyaga river trail
This is one of the simplest foot paths in the forest, which takes about 2 hours beginning at the end of Buhoma road through the Bizinge creek and connecting to the bank of Munyaga River. The trail is round in a way that one doesn’t have to turn back but progressively reaches the point of commencement as the journey continues. During the walk, an opportunity of stopping by River Munyaga strikes every participant and thus enables one to watch women washing their clothes while using their hands in the customary way and not with machines. Alongside the rocks, it is inevitable to appreciate a breathtaking view of various beautifully multicolored butterflies. River Munyaga also acts as a good spot for birding excursions and earns the respect of being a site for most birds, some of which are endemic to the forest. The trail lies in the valley of Buhoma, which is a short walk that offers a watching opportunity for primates along the outskirts of the forest.
Muzabajiro loop trail
This is adequate a hike that involves visitors crossing over the Muzabijiro tributary before finally ascending via the canopy forest to Ruhubra hill. Abundant vines and slippery boles of dead trees offer breathtaking views of the national park.
Waterfall trail: There is a waterfall in the middle point of the farm land, which perhaps inspired the orchestration of the waterfall trail. This trail passes beneath tree ferns, epiphytic ferns as well as orchids and lasts for roughly three hours. To reach the upper waterfalls, it is an endurance of a number of hikes as one by-passes two waterfalls, before actually being rewarded with the happiness of making it to the final one. On the sides of the hills, a diversity of tea is cultivated which makes the aura picturesque.
Rushura hill trail.
This is ranked the most exhausting hike in the forest with an unforgettable experience that lasts for about 3 hours to the highest point of Rushura hill which occurs at an elevation above sea level. This trail hikes through the forests and the top of the mountain which gives tourists a splendid sight of the western rift valley, Lake Edward, the distinctive Rwenzori Mountains and the Virunga volcanoes.
Bamboo trail:
This trail is positioned at the highest point at an altitude of 2,607m/8,550ft above the sea level at Rwamunyo forest. It takes roughly 6 good hours to reach at the end point. The bamboo avails with a chance of walking through the different types of vegetation, something which is remarkable. The different vegetation types include; bamboo forest, alpine vegetation and lastly the afro montane vegetation which is at the highest point.
River Ivi trail: This trail leads to the southern sector of the national park and is mainly used by the local people when they going to local gardens and markets. The trail follows an old road in the forest, emerging near Nkuringo on the southern edge of the impenetrable forest and takes about 6 hours. While in this trail, tourists are heartened to observe a lot including the local people, monkeys, bush pigs, birds and mountain gorillas and many others. This walk can either be started from Nkuringo or Buhoma, depending on the area of residence.
Bird Watching in and around Bwindi
Bwindi has the highest percentage of bird species endemic to the rift valley. There are also birds which do not live anywhere else in East Africa except in the Bwindi area. The park’s old forest is punctuated with over 350 bird species, 25 of which are restricted-range species. Here are a few birds to look out for: The dusky twin spot, Frascer’s Eagle Owl, Robin Chat, the African green broadbill, White tailed blue monarch, Yellow eyed black fly catcher, Dwarf honey guide, Rusty faced woodland warbler, and other endemic species listed above.
For bird enthusiasts, the park is home to 23 Albertine Rift endemics such as the shorttailed warbler, Shelley’s crimson wing, African green broadbill and the blue-headed sunbird, and seven IUCN Red Data List species. Fourteen species, including the brown-necked parrot and the white-bellied robin chat, occur nowhere else in Uganda. Bwindi also has 25 bird species that are globally threatened according to IUCN. These include: Grauer’s Rush Warbler, African Crowned Eagle, Dwarf Honeyguide, Handsome Francolin, Grey Parrot, Red-chested Owlet, Lagden’s Bush Shrike, Rufous-breasted Sparrowhawk, Corncrake, Brown-necked Parrot, Fraser’s Eagle Owl, Scarce Swift, Papyrus Gonolek, Forest Scimitarbill, Forest Wood Hoopoe, Yellow-bellied Wattle-eye, Grey-chested Babbler, Greychested Illadopsis, Mountain Buzzard, Ayres’s Hawk Eagle, African Green Broadbill, White-bellied Robin Chat, Chapin’s Flycatcher, African Black Duck and the Shelley’s Crimson-wing. Bwindi’s four trailheads all offer excellent birding opportunities with the prospect of checking off forest rarities. The River Ivi Trail between Buhoma and Nkuringo is recommended, as is Buhoma’s forest-edge Munyaga River Trail. Ruhija’s Bamboo Trail, leading to the 2607m Rwamunyoni peak, and Mubwindi Swamp Trail areMunyanga River Trail, in the valley below the Buhoma trailhead, provides a short walk to view birds and primates along the forest edge. Waterfall Trail leads through one of Uganda’s most pristine tracts of rainforest, passing beneath tree ferns, epiphytic ferns and orchids to visit three sparking crystal clear waterfalls. Rushura Hill Trail provides expansive views across the plains of the Albertine Rift Valley and (on clear days) to Lake Edward and the Rwenzori Mountains to the north. Bwindi is therefore ideal for a bird watching safari.
Hiking in and around Bwindi
Nature loves: Forget the sense of urgency and create some time to walk through the nine trails of the Bwindi jungle just for the fun of it. There is no reason for you to hurry. Bwindi has enough beauty to mesmerize you for days. After you have visited the gorilla, which is only the starting point of a Bwindi visit, put on your boots once again and get into the woods for a more immersing experience. There are trails that lead southwards from Buhoma to Nkuringo, crossing the five rivers of the forest, and taking you up to the very peak of its highest hills.
Perhaps we should describe the beauty of the forest a little more. There are waterfalls to be viewed, a strip of volcanic ranges to be climbed, hundreds of bird species to be admired, five rivers to be followed and crossed, and beautiful forest flowers to be picked. Ask the guides to lead you to Rwamunyonyi hill, the hill of the birds. Ask them to lead you the ivy river, the river of the antelopes and bush pigs, and don’t forget to reach peak Rushura, the highest range in Buhoma where the entire beauty of Bwindi can be viewed in a single unforgettable moment. Hiking is the best time to see the more elusive animals of the forest like the elephants, bush pigs, antelopes, lizards, frogs and other primates. The trails have been used for hundreds of years and are therefore clearer and less exhausting then the tracking paths. A lengthy trail will go up to nine hours. A shorter one will be about one hour.