Bwindi Lodge is owned and operated by Volcanoes Safaris, the company founded in 1997 by Praveen Moman, who pioneered gorilla and chimpanzee ecotourism in Uganda and Rwanda. Moman was born in Uganda, part of the Asian community of East Africa, and his family became refugees during the 1972 expulsion of Asians, moving to the UK.
He had first walked near Gahinga in 1966, aged twelve, with his father, Kuldip Rai Moman. After a career advising in the European Parliament and British Government, he returned to the region in 1997 to help rebuild gorilla tourism.
The lodge began as a simple camp in 1999 and marked its 25th anniversary on 4 February 2025. It is one of four Volcanoes Safaris lodges near the great-ape parks, run by manager Phiona Nabagesera with a team drawn overwhelmingly from local communities.
The land runs from the main road near the park headquarters down to the Munyaga River, with a stream separating the grounds from the forest itself. It acts as a buffer zone between the growing village of Nkwenda and the forest, reducing crop-raiding and conflict between people and wildlife. The gorilla-trekking start point at Buhoma is a few minutes’ drive or a short walk away.
Every banda balcony looks directly onto the primeval forest, separated from it by only a stream.
Bwindi Lodge has its own footpath into the forest for starting treks, and is a favourite haunt of the Rushegura gorilla group, which frequently visits the grounds. Below the lodge, the Munyaga pools into a natural swimming hole where guests can swim, and trails through the property lead to a waterfall and the river.
The lodge stands in the Buhoma sector on the edge of the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in southwest Uganda. Buhoma is roughly a full day’s drive from Entebbe or Kampala; by air, light aircraft land at Kihihi airstrip, around 90 to 120 minutes’ drive away depending on road conditions.
Gorilla trekking is governed by Uganda Wildlife Authority permit rules. Treks depart for the Buhoma or Ruhija sectors, with a maximum of eight visitors per habituated group each day and one hour spent with the gorillas. Bwindi has more than 25 habituated groups. A longer gorilla habituation experience and private group treks for up to eight guests can be arranged.
The African Bird Club has named Bwindi the top birding destination in Africa.
The forest holds around 350 bird species and 23 of Uganda’s 24 Albertine Rift endemics, including the African Green Broadbill and Shelley’s Crimsonwing, alongside more than 1,000 flowering plant species and roughly 200 tree species.
Conservation and community work runs through the Volcanoes Safaris Partnership Trust, established in 2009. The Bwindi Bar, opened in 2015, trains disadvantaged local youth in hospitality, with profits reinvested in training. A tea-processing project begun in 2013 grows tea as a buffer crop unpalatable to wildlife. Conservation Through Public Health, founded by Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, links gorilla health, community health and livelihoods, and a Gorilla Interpretation Centre is being added at the lodge in 2025.
Closer to home, the grounds offer the Munyanga River Trail, a waterfall walk, the Rushurra Hill Border Trail and the Muzabajirro Loop, plus tea-plantation tours and visits to the Bwindi Community Hospital.
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accommodation
Ten hand-built bandas face the forest: eight standard rooms, six doubles and two twins, plus two deluxe bandas of around 52 square metres with a sitting room and fireplace. Each has an en-suite bathroom, a private terrace over the canopy and a fireplace for cool mountain evenings. Personal butler service is included for all guests.
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activities
Gorilla trekking departs for the Buhoma and Ruhija sectors, with a maximum of eight visitors per habituated group and one hour with the gorillas. A habituation experience and private group treks can be arranged. Lodge trails lead to a waterfall, the Munyaga River swimming hole and tea-plantation tours.
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conservation
Projects run through the Volcanoes Safaris Partnership Trust, founded in 2009. The Bwindi Bar trains local youth in hospitality, a tea-processing project grows a buffer crop against crop-raiding, and Conservation Through Public Health links gorilla and community health. A Gorilla Interpretation Centre is being added at the lodge in 2025.
Get in touch and let’s start the conversation. An initial consultation helps us understand what you’re looking for, whether that’s specific experiences, luxury touches, or marking a special occasion, and from there we’ll guide you through what’s possible so you can decide if we’re the right fit.
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Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
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Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
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Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
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Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
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Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
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Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
Most guests fly. A light aircraft from Entebbe reaches Kihihi airstrip in around an hour and a half, and from there it is roughly one to one and a half hours by road to the Buhoma sector and Bwindi Lodge, near the park headquarters at Buhoma. We build the flights and the transfer into your trip so the day joins up cleanly. We can also arrange the flight as a private charter, typically a Cessna Caravan or Pilatus PC-12, timed to your international arrival.
The alternative is the drive from Entebbe or Kampala, around eight to nine hours through the western highlands. It is a long day but a scenic one, and it can be broken with a night on the way if you would rather not do it in a single stretch.
Yes, in the sense that the whole of Uganda is a year-round malaria area, so Bwindi is not somewhere we would ever call malaria-free. The lodge sits in the high forest of the Buhoma sector, cooler than the lowlands and with fewer mosquitoes, which lowers the risk, but antimalarial cover is still the sensible course.
Malaria guidance shifts from year to year, so we always suggest confirming the current advice with a travel clinic or your doctor before you travel, and taking the usual care against bites after dark: repellent, long sleeves in the evening and the mosquito net over the bed.
Yes. Every visitor who treks needs a gorilla permit, and it is the one thing to secure early. The Uganda Wildlife Authority issues a fixed number each day for a single hour with a habituated family, and in the busy months they sell out well ahead, so we book yours in advance as part of arranging your stay.
At the time of writing a gorilla permit is 800 US dollars per person for foreign non-residents, a figure we confirm at the time of booking as the Authority reviews it periodically. The minimum age to trek is 15. The lodge has its own footpath into the forest for starting treks, and the briefing point at Buhoma is a short walk or drive away. The forest is steep and often muddy, so a reasonable level of fitness helps, and we recommend a porter to carry your daypack and lend a hand on the climbs, which we arrange at the trailhead. A four-hour habituation experience, spent with a family still being settled to people, is offered in the Rushaga sector at a higher price, around 1,500 US dollars, if you want longer in their company.
The lodge is a refined, butler-served camp of ten hand-built bandas run by Volcanoes Safaris, which suits couples and keen trekkers more than very young families. Gorilla trekking is limited to guests aged 15 and over.
Families with teenagers can trek together, and younger children who cannot trek stay at the lodge, where trails lead to a waterfall and a river swimming hole on the grounds. Tell us the ages of everyone travelling and we will advise on the fit and the rooms.
Pack for a wet mountain forest and a hard walk. The essentials are a waterproof jacket and over-trousers, sturdy walking boots already broken in with good ankle support, and a pair of garden gloves for gripping wet vegetation and pushing past nettles on the climb. Long sleeves and long trousers you can tuck into your socks, gaiters, insect repellent and a small daypack with plenty of water complete the kit. Neutral colours are best.
It is cool at altitude, so bring a warm layer for the early start and the evenings at Bwindi Lodge, where the fire is usually lit. We recommend hiring a porter to carry your daypack and lend a hand on the steeper ground, and we arrange one for you at the trailhead.
Uganda's mobile networks, MTN and Airtel, cover the towns and the main roads, but the signal thins out across the Buhoma sector of Bwindi and can fade to nothing at the lodge and once you leave the main roads. Bwindi Lodge offers wifi in the main areas, best treated as enough for messages and email rather than video calls or streaming.
If staying reachable matters on your trip, tell us and we will confirm the current setup before you travel, and plan around the quieter stretches. Many guests find the drop in signal one of the better parts of being out here.
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