I have just recently completed a walking tour from Buhoma to Kisoro through the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and felt I needed to share this experince as it proved to be the highlight of my stay in Uganda.
I started my tour in Buhoma mainly because of the ease of getting there by public transport as there is a daily bus from Kampala. The first day with my guide Asgario from Nkuringo Walking Safaris we walked 5 hours through the forest some 10 km from the park HQ to Nkuringo where I stayed at the Nkuringo Gorilla Campsite at some 2086m in altitude. The campsite and adjacent bunkhouse provides accommodation for primarily budget travellers trekking between Buhoma and Kisoro and Kisoro and Buhoma. Yes the trail can be walked in either direction but I found it personally more rewarding to be walking towards the mighty volcanoes of the Virunga with the majestic Lake Mutanda in the foreground.
The campsite has a 14 km unbroken view of gallery rain forest in one direction and in the reverse the outline of all the volcanoes of the Virunga range were clearly visible. As incredible as it sounds even the peaks, snow and glacier of the DR Congo side of the Rwenzori were also visible some 160km distant from the plateau on the top of the campsite. These were exceptional conditions my guide pointed out attributed to it being the rain season when the visibility is always much better than in the dry season.
I spent the night in the bunkhouse at a cost of US$12 for the single occupancy of a twin bedded room. It was very simple yet clean and more than welcome as it rained for most of the night. Sipi the cook prepared a fantastic supper and breakfast all from fresh local produce that was an achievement considering the remoteness of our location.
The following days walk to Kisoro was virtually downhill all day. We set off early with a 19km hike to the shore of Lake Mutanda which took 4 hours with stops en-route to photograph the volcanoes and villages. I then embarked on a 2 hour dugout canoe trip to the southern end of Mutanda before reaching Kisoro. The final walk into Kisoro involves an assent of a volcanic outcrop that offers great views over the town, the Virunga and the most amazing panorama of Lake Mutanda back towards Nkuringo.
I can certainly recommend this experience to those on a tight budget and unable to trek Gorilla's but regardless keen to visit Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.
There is little knowledge of this activity locally as it is very much still embryonic in it's development however certainly has great potential for the future be become a must do walking itinerary.
More details on this trip can be found at www.nkuringowalkingsafaris.com where I found a link to it from The Uganda Travel Planner www.traveluganda.co.ug.
