The name Bwindi refers to “Impenetrable” in a local Bantu dialect! This gives a full description of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park. The Forest N.P. was first gazetted as a Forest Reserve in 1942 and graduated into a National Park in 1992. The park later ascended to a platform of a World Heritage Site in December 1994 because of the diversity of wildlife that it harbors. Bwindi covers a total area of 327sqkms of a rugged landscape which is basically thickly forested highlands. The longevity of the Bwindi forest that spans over 25,000yrs explains the collection of a litany of wildlife species such as 310 species of butterflies, 51 reptiles, 200 tree species, 88 moths, and a remarkable 120 mammal species including 10 man-like (primate) species. Among the ape residents are Chimpanzees, L’ Hoest’s, red-tailed and blue monkeys, black & white colobus monkeys, baboons, and the highlight of the primate world “The Great Mountain Gorillas”!!

Bwindi is home to more than half of the remaining Mountain Gorillas on planet earth! Avid birdwatchers and ornithologists love exploring the diversity of birdlife that Bwindi supports. There are 350 recorded bird species most of which are Albertine Rift endemics thus not seen in other parts of East Africa.