Nkuringo Bwindi Gorilla Lodge.
To enquire about rates, availability or to make a booking at Nkuringo Bwindi Gorilla Lodge, please email us at tea@tourseastafrica.com or call/watsapp +447908639450
Nkuringo Gorilla Lodge is situated on the south edge of Bwindi Impenetrable forest along the Nteko Ridge.
The lodge is at a very high altitude which makes it total mosquito free and gives it fantastic views over Nkuringo, the Kashasha valley below, the majestic Virunga Volcanos, the great Albertine rift valley as well as Bwindi impenetrable forest home of half of the world’ remaining population of mountain gorillas. For visitors who wish to locate the lodge using GPS coordinates, same are S 01° 05’ 05” E 29° 37’ 52”
Nkuringo Bwindi Gorilla Lodge has 18 beautiful cottages each with great views of the imposing Virunga Volcanoes, the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and the Great Albertine Rift Valley. Each of the cottages at Nkuringo Bwindi Gorilla Lodge offer luxury, comfort and a great atmosphere one would expect from a mountain chalet of the Swiss Alps, only that here you are surrounded by the feeling of being in a tropical rain forest. Nkuringo Bwindi Gorilla Lodge has been designed with conservation of the environment in mind. The cottages are all hand crafted, the lodge uses solar energy, water is rain harvested and the lodge makes every effort to recycle, as well as source organic products, including food locally from the Nkuringo locality.
The main area of Nkuringo Bwindi Gorilla Lodge has a restaurant serving organic meals, freshly homemade break, a coffee shop with coffee sourced locally from the Nkuringo community as well as a bar for inhouse entertainment for visitors here to hike a volcano, track the mountain gorillas, adventure Nkuringo walking safaris or just simply relaxing over a weekend away from the hustle and bustle of hectic and stressful city life. You can also buy here some relax-inducing products that is perfect for your getaway.
The lodge has 15 rooms that are divided into two categories, the 2-bedroom villas and the garden cottages. The lodge has seven garden cottage rooms which are snuggly tucked away from the lush green gardens, with each having a fireplace for the cold night typical of Bwindi especially during the rainy season months. The four 2-bedroom villas are perfect for families or guest groups of 4persons. Each of the rooms is independent and self contained but interconnected. The 2 rooms are joined by a large private verandah with great views facing the impenetrable rainforest. In addition, each of the rooms has a sitting area and large fireplace.
Nkuringo Bwindi Gorilla Lodge activities.
· Mountain gorilla tracking in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest Uganda
· Nkuringo guided walking safari through local villages
· Batwa village experience
· Bird watching
· Dug out canoe trip on Lake Mutanda.
Most visitors to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and by implication to Nkuringo Bwindi Gorilla Lodge is to track the rare mountain gorillas in their natural habitat. Over half of the surviving mountain gorillas live in Bwindi Forest and the other half shared between Virunga National Park of DRC and Volcanoes National Park of Rwanda. For adventure enthusiasts Bwindi is popular for volcanoes hikes, bird watching, dugout canoeing on the beautiful Lake Mutanda plus visiting the Batwa people.
Gorilla tracking is for most people the highlight of their safari travel to Uganda or Rwanda and to some a once in a lifetime experience. You will have a very early breakfast at the lodge and be transferred by your safari driver guide to the park headquarters in Nkuringo. The pre-gorilla trekking briefing takes place at 7am. You will be taken through the gorilla tracking etiquette and be allocated into groups of 8 persons each. You will then transfer to the gorilla tracking trailheads from where you will be ledt by expert mountain gorilla tracking ranger guides into the mountains in search of the gorillas.
The rangers will be looking for signs of where the gorilla spent the previous night and will be looking for fresh gorilla dung, freshly chewed bamboo shoots and nests. When you find the gorillas, you will be permitted to spend 1 hour with them. You will observe and photograph them as they play, feed and going on about their lives. You will then be invited to quietly walk away from the gorillas so that they can get on with their lives in the impenetrable Bwindi forest.
Bwindi Impenetrable national park is Uganda’s oldest and most diverse mountain rainforest. Bwindi has an amazing diversity of flora and fauna and is the only place in Africa that boasts to be habitat of both chimpanzees and mountain gorillas. In Rwanda, the gorillas are in Volcanoes National Park, where as the Chimps are 7 hours drive away in Nyungwe Forest. Half the world’s surviving mountain gorillas call Bwindi home, as well as over 380 bird species some of which are endemic to Bwindi.
At present Uganda boasts of 15 gorilla groups available for tracking including one gorilla group for habituation. Of the 15 mountain gorilla groups, 1 group can be tracked from Mgahinga National Park and the rest of the 14 mountain gorilla groups are tracked from Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.
Seven of the gorilla groups can be tracked from Nkuringo Bwindi Gorilla Lodge as the base plus the 1 gorilla group that can be visited for habituation.
In Nkuringo one can track two gorilla families ( Nkuringo gorilla group and Bushaho gorilla group) both ranging in the southwestern sector of Bwindi Forest and in Nkuringo Hill park of the forest. to be found on the Nkuringo Hill (southwestern sector of Bwindi N.P.). From Rushaga sector of Bwindi Forest one is able to track 5 gorilla families all in the south eastern part of Bwindi Forest. The 5 groups are Nshongi gorilla group, Bweza gorilla group, Kahungye gorilla group, the peaceful Busingye gorilla group and the 1 gorilla group under habituation, the Bikingye gorilla family.
For visitors who are undertaking the Nkuringo walking safari, you can choose to walk for anything from 1,5hrs for the 4km walk to Lake Mutanda Sheba’s Camp. Alternatively drive 30 minutes to Lake Mutanda and jump into a dugout canoe for a 3hrs boat ride across the serene Lake Mutanda, soaking in the dramatic views of the majestic Virunga volcanoes, Mgahinga and Bwindi Forests as you sail along on Lake Mutanda.