Flying Safaris to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
Bwindi Impenetrable National park is located in the south western part of Uganda in Kanungu District covering 321square kilometers. This park was gazeted in 1991 as a national park and in 1994 was declared as a UNESCO World Heritage. Bwindi is a home to over 400 mountain gorillas, 360 bird species, 200 butterfly species, 324 tree species, 10primate species and Bwindi has a tropical type of climate.
Flying safaris to Bwindi Impenetrable National park. Since Bwindi Impenetrable can be accessed to by air transport its such good news to know that you can save time you would have spent travelling by road transport by flying to Bwindi. Flying safaris are done by those visitors who don’t want to spend much time travelling, those who don’t have much time to spend choose to Bwindi for quicker and easy way to get there and those who wan some privacy. Flying safaris involves booking a scheduled flight or chartered flight to Bwindi Impenetrable National park and this can be done for you by a tour operator like Journey’s Uganda. All you need to do Is provide the details of the planned dates and we contact the airline operators to check the availability when confirmed then book the ticket. And the flying safaris are very possible because Bwindi Impenetrable is being served by the three airfields like the Kihihi and Kayonza airfield best for those heading to Ruhija and Buhoma sector and the Kisoro airstrip(Nyakabanda)best for those going to Rushaga and Nkuringo. A chartered flight is of a great advantage since they can land in small areas close to the place of stay and its available any time you want it. In Uganda all airline companies offer both chartered flights and the scheduled flights its up to you to choose what to use for a flying safari. In Uganda there are only two domestic airlines that provide scheduled or chartered flights and these are based both in Entebbe international and Kajjansi domestic airstrip and these fly to either Kisoro domestic airfield or Kihihi domestic airfield. This depends to the part of Bwindi Impenetrable National park your going to visit or the place of stay. From the landing airfields to Bwindi it I’ll take approximately one and half hours to reach the park. Scheduled flights are organised for you using domestic flight which saves you from spending a lot of time on a road which takes about 8 to 10hours roughly and exhaustion from the long drives.
Airlines that fly to Bwindi Impenetrable National park. Flying safaris to Bwindi are arranged for those visitors who wish to travel by air. And these flying safaris range from up market(luxury), midrange and budget flying safaris and all these can be arranged by the journeys Uganda. There are two airline companies that conduct domestic flights to Bwindi Impenetrable park and these are Aero link Uganda and Fly Uganda which are based in Entebbe and kajjansi airfield. These airlines will fly you to either Kisoro airstrip or Kihihi airstrip from there you I’ll be picked up by our professional driver who will take you to Bwindi to your booked place of stay depending on the sector of Bwindi your going to trek in. Where you land depends on where your going to stay or region of trekking that is if your destination is in Rushaga or Nkuringo sector then the flight will be landing in Kisoro airstrip since those sectors are in the southern part of Bwindi and on the other hand if your going to Buhoma sector or Ruhija the perfect airstrip to land in will be Kihihi airstrip since we are targeting proximity. Aero link Uganda is a domestic airline that flies to Kihihi airstrip 3times a day. Aero link conducts flights from Entebbe to Kisoro depending on the weather conditions. The flights to Kisoro in the morning departure time is 7:00am and lands in Kisoro at 8:10am and returns back from Kisoro at 8:25am and arrives at 11:2am in Entebbe. Then departing at 10:15am and arrives at 11:25am and in the afternoon departs 12:00pm and arrives 2:45pm respectively. The charge of flying to Bwindi will depend on the kind of the route therefore Aero link Uganda for a one way route will charge 283dollars and if it a two way it will charge you 543dollars to fly to Bwindi. Other companies that provide flights to Bwindi are Fly Uganda.
Things to consider on a flying safari to Bwindi Impenetrable National park. Before you embark on a flying safari to Bwindi there things you need to first meet that will determine a successful flying safari and these are. Booking and securing a gorilla trekking permit. Since your going to trek gorillas therefore you I’ll need a gorilla trekking permit which can be acquired from the Uganda Wildlife Authority main offices and this costs about 700dollars to the foreign non residents, 600dollars to the foreign residents and 250000 to the East African Citizens. And if your going to participate in gorilla habituation experience still you will have to purchase a habituations permit which costs 1500dollars to the foreign non residents, 1000dollars to the foreign residents and 750000shs to the East African citizens. And booking should be made in advance 3months prior to the trekking date and 6months earlier for the habituation permit. A comfortable travel to Bwindi from the domestic airfields. This could be from either Kisoro or Kihihi airstrip since getting to Bwindi is by road from the landing site. A comfortable luxury car is preferable to transfer the visitors to the destination and you I’ll need to use 4×4 land cruiser for a luxury flying safari and if it’s a budget flying safari then a 4×4 safari van is okay. Remember this journey to the destinations is 1½ hours drive. Booking a chartered flight or scheduled flight and secure your ticket. This involves booking with either Aero link Uganda airlines or Fly Uganda airlines who will fly you to other domestic airstrips. Since there is no a direct flight to Bwindi therefore you will be left at Kihihi or Kisoro from there you will be picked up by a professional driver or guide in a comfortable vehicle to the destination. Booking a place to stay. Since you have a trans night in Bwindi this mean you have to get a place to stay an its always to book so that you don’t get disappointments of finding rooms taken up especially if your focusing on the luxury or budget range and these include Chameleon hill lodge, Mahogany Springs, Ichumbi lodge, Bwindi guest house, Crested crane Bwindi, Engagi lodge, Gorilla mist camp, Bwindi jungle lodge, Cuckoo land tented lodge and so much more Consider the time of travelling to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Since Bwindi is a tropical rainforest therefore it also experiences a tropical kind of climate it is expected to rain at any time. Though travelling to Bwindi is done all year throughout but there is this best and perfect time for you to go to the park and this is during the dry season in the months of December, January, February, June, July, August and early September since during these months its expected not to rain if it does there is very little rainfall so the pathways are dry and passable making trekking easy and simple. And the weather is conducive . However, one can choose to also go for a flying safari to Bwindi Impenetrable during the wet season but this is a challenging time since the park is very cold, the roads n trails are muddy and impassable and the vegetation is over grown due to the heavy rains that lead to a fertile soil. Though there are son advantages of visiting the park in the wet season like attracting son discounts on the permits and lodges, few crowds in the park. This wet season takes months from March, April to May and October to November this is when the park receives heavy and long rains.
Requirements and what to pack on flying safari to Bwindi. There are essentials you will need to have if your to trek on flying safari to Bwindi and the following is what you I’ll require long sleeved shirt and long trousers, hiking stick, energizers like water and enough snacks, hat and sunglasses, waterproof hiking boots of a light weight, sun creams, insect repellent, water proof bag, two surgical masks, gardening gloves, camera with extra batteries.
Gorilla trekking on a flying safari to Bwindi Impenetrable National park. This is the primary activity one can carry out during the flying safari to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Gorilla trekking is carried out in the four gorilla trekking regions of Bwindi where there are fully habituated gorilla families. Bwindi has 20gorilla families that are fully habituated and opened for gorilla trekking. Each sector has different gorilla families meaning has something unique to offer to the trekkers. The number of people allowed to trek a gorilla family per day is a group of eight people and these should have fifteen years of age and above plus having acquired the gorilla trekking permit. And gorilla trekking lasts for two to eight hours depending on where the mountain gorillas might have spent the night and a period of one hour is given to trekkers to stay with gorillas in their natural habitants once it has been tracked. And here is the list of gorilla families per the sector. Buhoma gorilla trekking region being the first and oldest region to be opened up for gorilla trekking has a history and has the oldest habituated gorilla family called the Mubare gorilla group. This gorilla family has 12 members on the regime of Silver Ruhondeza but due to the fight amongst the gorillas the leader died and later silverback Kanyonyi took power. Habinyanja gorilla group which had 25 members but due to the struggle for power between Rwansigazi and Mwirima after the death of Mugurusi the group split. This group was discovered around the swamp in Bwindi forest and that is where it got its names from. Later on Mwirima separated and created his own family. This family consists of 19members. Rushegura gorilla group has 17 members inclusive of the silverback Kabukojo, 4 black back, 4 adult females, 4juveniles, 4 infants and this group split from the Habinyanja family and It got its name from the tree specie where it was First spotted. Katwe group has 7 members inclusive of silverback Katwe and this was opened up in 2018 after the 3years of habituation. Muyambi gorilla family has 7members and its as a result of the silverback Muyambi walking away from the Mubare family. This was opened in early 2019 and it’s the newest family in Buhoma region. Rushaga gorilla trekking region has the highest number of gorilla families and is found in the southern part of the park. Nshongi gorilla group has 10 members headed by silverback Nshongi and was found around River Nshongi that is where it gets the name from. At first this group had 32 members and it split up and reduced to 26members in 2010 and 2013 further split up and reduced to 18 members. Bikingi gorilla family has some members who split from the Nshongi group decided to walk away has 15 members inclusive of the silverback, 5 adult females, 2 sub adults, 2 juveniles and 5 infants. Mishaya group which is as a result of the splitting of the Nshongi family in 2010 silverback Mishaya decided to leave with some adult females to create his family and he managed to gather other members from other groups unfortunately in 2014 Mishaya died which left the family in a mess. Kahungye family has 17members and it headed by Rumanzi. This family gets its name from the Kahungye hill where it was first spotted. 3 silverbacks, 3 black backs, 3 adult females, 3bsub adults, 3 juveniles and 2 infants. In 2011 the group had 29 members but due to the conflicts between the males some walked away. Busingye gorilla family has 9 members an its from the Kahungye family. The head is silverback Busingye. Bweza gorilla family has 12 members and comes from the Nshongi family when silverback Mishaya left the Nshongi family we left with silverback Bweza who later also split from the Mishaya family to create his own. Mucunguzi family has 8 members and it split from the Bweza family. Rwigi gorilla family which is the newest in the sector. This group comes from the Kahungye gorilla family. Ruhija gorilla trekking sector has four habituates gorilla families open for gorilla trekking and its found in the Eastern part of Bwindi. Oruzogo family which has 17 members 2sliverbacks, 2 black backs, 5 adult females, 2 sub adults, I juvenile and 5 infants headed by Bakwate. It is one of the interesting groups to trek coz it has playful and energetic juveniles and infants. Kyaguliro gorilla family has 10 members headed by Rukara and its mainly used for research. Has 2 black backs, 3 adult females, 2 juveniles, and 2 infants.Sliverback Mukiza who succeeded Rukina was later ambushed by Rukara an adult silverback from Bitukura family led to the splitting of the group where Kyaguliro A was for Rukara and Kyaguliro B for Mukiza later on Mukiza decided to create his own. Mukiza family has 10 members headed by silverback Mukiza has 4 adult females, 1 sub adult and 4 infants. Bitukura family has 13members headed by Ndahura silverback, 4 silverback, 4 adult females, 2 juveniles and 3 infants. This group got its name from a river where it was first sighted. Nkuringo gorilla trekking sector situated in the southern part of Bwindi and has the least number of habituated gorilla families. Nkuringo gorilla family has 12 members 2black backs, 2 adult females, 2 sub adults, 3 juveniles and 2 infants. This group got its name from Nkuringo hill where it was found. First was led by silverback Nkuringo who died in 2008 leaving silverback Safari who took over and later Rafiki took power but unfortunately he was killed during the 2020 lock down and is now headed by Rwamutwe. Bushaho gorilla family has 12 members led by silverback Bahati, 5 adult females, 1sub adult, 2 juveniles, 2 infants and 1black back. It is one of the interesting gorilla family due to Bahati who likes showing off. Christmas gorilla group is the newest habituated gorilla group in this sector and got its name from the dominant silverback who was born on Christmas. This group has 9members and 6 of them are the ones available for trekking. Another activity that can be carried out on a flying safari to Bwindi is gorilla habituation experience and this happens in the southern part of Bwindi in only two sectors that is Rushaga sector which has the Kutu gorilla family which is still under habituation process and has eight members and in Nkuringo sector there is the Posho gorilla family which is still under habituation and available for habituation experience. The gorilla habituation permit costs 1500dollar to the foreign non residents, 1000dollars to the foreign residents and 750000shs to the East African community citizens. Gorilla habituation experience starts with an early morning briefing at the park headquarters and 8am you head to the jungle. But before you start you are grouped into 4people since its only 4 people that are allowed to visit the gorillas under habituation process and a period of four hours is given to the visitors to stay with the habituating gorillas. Other activities that one can participate in during a flying safari include; chimpanzee tracking and primate viewing like the baboons, Blue monkeys, Red tailed monkeys among others, wildlife viewing like animals like forest elephants, bush bucks, buffaloes among others, forest nature walks, village walks like the Rubuguri village walk, Game drives(full, half or night), mountain biking, Canoeing on lake Mutanda, Camping among others.
In conclusion Journeys Uganda will help you organize all kinds of flying Safaris to Bwindi Impenetrable National park whether luxury or first class, midrange an budget end safaris don’t hesitate reaching out to us for the best tremendous and memorable flying safari.
