Chartered flights to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park
Chartered flights to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park are arranged for specific groups of people or individuals who would prefer to be alone on a flight. Bwindi is located in the southwestern part of Uganda in Kisoro district about a 9 to 10-hour drive from Entebbe. With the journey being too long, some tourists hate traveling for long distances, and the luxury ones end up traveling to the park by air
With chattered flights to Bwindi, tourists get to travel privately for their gorilla safaris to the park. Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park is the best place to watch mountain gorillas in their natural habitat. The park has the highest number of these primates in the world living in four sectors of the park namely Rushaga, Ruhija, Nkuringo, and Buhoma. On a safari to the park, tourists are able to visit any region for trekking and only Rushaga for habituation.
Chattered flights to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park
Chattered flights to Bwindi impenetrable forest national park are organized by different airline companies in the country. Aerolink Uganda, Bar Aviation Uganda, and Kampala Executive Aviation. To book with these airline companies you need to inform them about the travel dates so that they see if they have availability. Tourists who want chattered flights in the high season are advised to book 3 to 4 months or more in advance when there is still space available.
To fly to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, tourists use two airstrips Kihihi and Kisoro. Kihihi airstrip is used by tourists visiting Ruhija and Buhoma sectors in the northern sector of the park while Kisoro airstrip is used by tourists who are visiting Rushaga and Nkuringo sectors of the park. From the airstrips, tourists take a few minutes to get to the lodges in different sectors where they are trekking.
Flights to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park take about 2 hours from Entebbe/Kampala saving tourists from the 9 to 10 hours’ drive. From Entebbe International Airport or Kajjansi Airstrip fly to Kihihi Airstrip or Kisoro Airstrip in the morning, mid-morning, or evening. The driver guides are always ready to transfer tourists to the lodges.
When to have chattered flights to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park
Tourists who are interested in using charted flights on their safari to Bwindi can do so at any time of the year however June to September and December to February are the best times. These are dry season months when the region receives little or no rainfall and plenty of sunshine. The weather is so good favoring the flights at any time of the day, the trekking trails in the park are dry and the vegetation is short with clear views of attractions.
Tourists who find time to travel in March to May and October to November can still visit Bwindi impenetrable forest national park. Tourists should however know that it’s a period when the park is receiving plenty of rainfall and little sunshine. The roads from the airstrip to the park are in a bad state, the trekking trails are muddy and slippery, and the vegetation in the jungle is tall with unclear views of some attractions.
Top things to do in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park
Mountain gorilla trekking
The highest number of tourists that visit Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park are those interested in mountain gorilla trekking. The park has the highest number of gorilla families with affordable gorilla trekking permits. Gorilla trekking is an activity that will allow tourists to see the mountain gorillas in the wild for a maximum of one hour.
Gorilla trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park is carried out in all park sectors for they have fully habituated mountain gorillas. Early in the morning of trekking, all trekkers gather at the different sectors to get a briefing from the rangers who teach the rules and regulations of the activity for the safety of mountain gorillas and the trekkers while in the jungle.
Gorilla trekking is carried out by a maximum of 8 people and these are grouped after the briefing. Armed ranger guides are allocated to lead the trekkers into the jungle so they look for the mountain gorillas. The search for the mountain gorillas might take 2 to 4 hours whereby trekkers use different trekking trails inside the jungle.
Bwindi is home to over 120 mammals, 11 primates, and more than 350 bird species most of which are spotted before and after gorilla activities. While in the jungle where the mountain gorillas are located, trekkers are given 1 hour to be around them and this comes with an opportunity to see them carry out daily activities, learn about their habits, and capture images or videos for future memories.
Mountain gorilla habituation.
Tourists can fly to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park for gorilla habituation. This is a four hour activity around semi-habituated mountain gorillas making them get used to the human presence around them. This activity is only carried out in Bwindi impenetrable forest national park and currently only one mountain gorilla family is open for the activity in Rushaga sector of the park.
Before flying to Bwindi Forest to spend four hours with the mountain gorillas, you must have obtained a habituation permit from the Uganda Wildlife Authority. On the morning of the activity, you will move with your permit to the sector headquarters where you will present it to the ranger and be part of the briefing to learn the rules and regulations of trekking.
A maximum of four trekkers go for gorilla habituation and they are guided by a team of rangers, researchers, and doctors. The search for the semi-habituated mountain gorilla family takes a few hours and once the members are spotted, trekkers are given 4 hours to be around the members. This comes with an opportunity to be part of the activities that make the mountain gorillas get used to the human presence around them.
