Buhoma is the oldest gorilla trekking sector of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park and it is found in more than one sector of this park. Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park harbors more than half of the endangered mountain gorillas and this is very interesting. Bwindi Impenetrable forest National Park is found in southwestern Uganda and the park has been on the timeline for the as one of the best destinations within the country. Bwindi has got 4 sectors and the other sectors include the Rushaga, Nkuringo, and the Ruhija sectors, and all these favor the interesting destination for gorilla trekking.
Buhoma gorilla trekking sector is the activity that is done within the dense tropical forests and the visitors do move in the deep forest reserve and once the gorillas are seen, they will be seen for only one hour. Buhoma has got more than four habituated gorillas families that are visited and engaged in seeing the gorillas. And today we look at the gorilla families in the Buhoma gorilla trekking sector.
Rushegura gorilla family in Buhoma sector; this is one of the gorilla families found in the Buhoma sector and it is believed that it was created by the Habinyanja gorilla trekking family in the year 2002 when the silverback Mwirima lead broke away and it went with the eight members to form these lakes. Kabukojo silverback takes over for the leadership of this group after the death of the leader Mwirima in 2014 and at the moment this group features more than sixteen members that you will see when engaging in the gorilla trekking safaris.
Habinyanja gorilla family in Buhoma sector; This is the gorilla trekking family that got its name from the local language word which means the water pond and it is the place where the gorilla families were first sighted the forest trackers. This gorilla family was first habituated in 1997 and later it was opened for gorilla trekking in 1999. It is believed that the gorilla trekking has 30 gorilla families with the Migurisi as the silverback bit later this leadership later changed to the brothers of the Rwansigazi and the Mwirima and this was because of the fights that resulted and later Mwirima decide to move away from the group and formed his own group that is now called the Rushegura gorilla family.
Katwe Gorilla Family in Buhoma sector; Katwe gorilla family is the latest edition of the gorilla families in the Buhoma gorilla trekking sector. The groups feature more than seven members and these include four adult females, one silverback, and two babies. .visitors are informed that in Buhoma, the gorilla trekking activity starts early in the morning at the headquarters with then briefing where they are told of the rules and the regulations that the visitors will have to follow and later the visitors are dived into a group of 8 people, given the gorilla family to trek. The visitors are given the gorilla family based on their preferences, physical fitness, and the availably of the visitors. The gorilla trekking activity takes around 8 am in the morning whereby you will be able to go to the forest with the help of the guide and then start your activity in the forests engaging in the gorilla trekking safaris. You will use the established trails until you reach the places where the gorillas are.
Usually, the gorilla trekking may last from 2 to seven hours depending on the distances and the physical fitness of the gorilla families found and once you have found the gorillas, you will be able to take photos, watching the gorillas doing their visitors and several activities and these include learning more about the lifestyles, habits, behaviors and even making some short of the recordings.
In Buhoma gorilla trekking sectors more than 32 gorilla trekking permits are available for the visitors to see on the daily basis. Therefore travelers who are planning to go to Buhoma for gorilla trekking should be able to book their gorilla trekking in advance such that you get the permit because at times these permits can be sold quickly since the sectors are well known and popular and thus come and book your permits early for this activity. In case you want to trek the gorillas, you should be able to have the gorilla trekking permits and the gorilla trekking permits costs $700 for the foreign non-residents and then $600 for the foreign residents. You can as well engage in the Buhoma gorilla trekking by booking the gorilla trekking permits from either the Uganda wildlife authority or the recognized tourism operator.
Other than the gorilla trekking activity, there are other activities that you can engage in Buhoma sectors and these include the community encounters whereby you will go and get into contact with the Batwa people around Bwindi impenetrable Forest National Park, you can also engage in the forest walks and learn more about the jungle, visitors can as well engage within the bird-watching safaris, among other activities and thus visitors can do a lot of activities in the Buhoma sectors as they do the gorilla trekking safaris
When to travel to the Buhoma sector?
Gorilla trekking activity is an activity that is done all the time and every month but it is best done during the dry season especially in June to September and from December to February when the park is facing few incidences of rainfalls. The dry season is also known as the peak season, and visitors prefer to visit during this time because there is less precipitation in the backwoods, making gorilla trekking trails in the wilderness and access streets to the Buhoma area tolerable, as opposed to the rainy season, when the area receives heavy precipitation, making gorilla trekking trails sloppy and not favorable, making gorilla trekking experience a little bit hectic.
Another interesting this about Buhoma is that the sectors offer visits with the interesting accommodation facilities’ where you can stay. These accommodation facilities can either be budget, mid-range, luxury, or camping. Some of the lodges include haven lodge, jungle view lodge, engage lodge, Buhoma community Camp, Lake Kitandara Gorilla Forest Camp, Buhoma rest Camp, Bwindi Guest house among other interesting lodges and hotels where you can stay.
