Buhoma is among the four sectors of Bwindi National Park which is located in southwestern Uganda occupying part of the Kigezi highlands near the with Congo’s Virunga national park. Bwindi Impenetrable national park is home of mountain gorillas covering an area of 331 Square kilometers, comprising of 19 habituated gorilla families that are open to tourists. Apart from Nkuringo, Ruhija and Rushaga, Bwindi national has the Buhoma sector located in northern side of the park.
Buhoma sector is well known as the first sector to host pioneer tourists to trek and habituate mountains gorillas in 1993. This means that it is the oldest sector of the park and Uganda at large to be open for tourists to spot these endangered apes. Until now, the sector is the most visited compared to other sectors.
It is home to four gorilla families – Mubare, Habinyanja, Rushegura and Katwe gorilla families. Mubare gorilla family was the first to be habituated and the process took 2 years from 1991 until it was opened to trekkers in 1993. This group was first spotted by researchers on Mubare hill where its name originates. It had 18 members at the time but they kept reducing to 9 members because of different reasons like death and splitting due to misunderstandings between silverbacks which separate to form other groups.
Habinyanja gorilla family getting its name from the Rukiga word ‘Nyanja’ meaning water pond and this is where it was first sighted by researchers and park rangers. It was opened to tourists in 1999 after 2 years of successful habituation process. This group had 30 members under the leadership of Mugurusi – the lead silverback but after his death, the group was under the leadership of two brothers, Mwirima and Rwansigazi. Later Mwirima the son of Mugurusi formed his own family called Rushegura gorilla family. Habinyanja gorilla family now comprises of 18 members.
Rushegura gorilla family. Originally formed by Mwirima, it is now led by Kabukojo the silverback and by the time it split from Habinyanja it comprised 8 members but now it has 16 members. Mwirima the founder of the group died in 2014 but he had groomed his members with good habits and was very peaceful.
The Katwe gorilla family. Katwe is the recently habituated gorilla family in Buhoma Northern part of Bwindi National Park and is comprised of 7 members with one silverback. The head of this group is Katwe where the name of this family originates. Therefore most of the gorilla families in Buhoma sector were named depending on where they were formed or after the dominant silverback that created the group.
As you have noticed, there are only four gorilla families in Buhoma, each family can be trekked once in a day by only 8 visitors which means that only 24 gorilla permits are available for trekkers.
Accessibility
The Buhoma sector is easily accessed either from Kigali Rwanda, Kabale Town or Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park. Therefore most tourists willing to take on a gorilla safari in Bwindi request to visit this sector because of convenience and accessibility.
The terrain is favorable to trek compared to other sectors and that makes it possible to trek easily. The terrain here in Buhoma is not as steep and rugged as that of Nkuringo or Rushaga. Visitors trekking gorillas will spend less time spotting the gorilla family compared to those in Nkuringo or Rushaga.
Wide range of accommodation facilities
The sector is comprised of all types of accommodation that range from budget to luxury lodges. These provide wonderful services and you spend a night or several nights enjoying the cool breeze from the Bwindi forest.
The Buhoma sector offers a wide range of other activities like cycling, cultural encounters with the Bakiga and Batwa pygmies, among others and visitors can take part in these experiences after gorilla trekking.
For all the above factors and more, this makes Buhoma gorilla permits so scarce as compared to other sectors in Bwindi national park. Therefore, visitors are encouraged to book their permits earlier enough at least between 6 and4 months before the day of trekking.
