Silverback Lodge stands on a ridge above the Buhoma sector of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, in southwestern Uganda, a short walk from the trailhead where mountain gorilla treks begin. Bwindi holds close to half the world’s remaining mountain gorillas, and the lodge’s position puts that encounter within easy reach of breakfast.
Twelve rooms line a pathway carved into the hillside
Trekking from Buhoma means little transfer time and an early, unhurried start. Twelve rooms line a pathway carved into the hillside, each one facing the ancient canopy that spills across the valley below. The forest shifts through the day as mist lifts and settles over the ridgelines, and now and then the distant chest-beat of a silverback carries up from the trees.
The lodge was rebuilt from the ground up and opened in stages through 2025, relaunching on World Wildlife Day in March 2026. It is the work of South African firm HK Studio, the practice behind Kwitonda Lodge and Singita Kataza House, and it is deliberately contemporary, stepping away from colonial safari convention at every turn.
Floor-to-ceiling glass faces the rainforest from every room
Hand-troweled plaster, locally quarried stone and Ugandan slate give the interiors a dark, calm character, warmed by taupe walls, eucalyptus beams and woven textiles over polished concrete. Floor-to-ceiling glass faces the rainforest from every room. More than ninety percent of the construction workforce came from surrounding communities, and much of the finishing was shaped and laid by hand.
Tanya Madhvani founded and leads Marasa Africa, the company that operates the lodge, and she has left the day-to-day to lodge manager Adielah Misbach and Director of Operations Mike Sanders. Together they favour access and stillness over flash, and it shows in the rooms. A dedicated butler and a private terrace meet a fireplace for cool evenings and a sunken tub set for a hot or cold soak after a long day in the forest. The whole place is built to slow you down rather than to show off.
Gorilla trekking is the reason most guests come, and Buhoma’s proximity is the practical advantage. It all runs under Uganda Wildlife Authority rules, which cap groups at eight visitors per gorilla family, set a minimum age of fifteen, and hold you seven metres from the animals. The forest holds more than the gorillas, though. Non-habituated chimpanzees move through it, over a hundred mammal species live in it, and more than 350 bird species draw birders to the canopy edge, among them the Albertine Rift endemics.
Together they favour access and stillness over flash, and it shows in the rooms
The days fill easily around the trek. The Waterfall Trail runs through ferns, orchids and butterflies, and community walks lead down into the villages, where a coffee-making session with local farmers follows the bean from plant to cup. Visits to the Batwa community share the survival skills and stories of a people who once lived within the forest itself. A small spa handles the recovery side, and meals are served in the Engagi Restaurant, out on the open-air deck, or over a barbecue in the gardens.
The kitchen leans on what arrives from local farms, so the menu shifts with the day’s produce, pairing Ugandan dishes with international cooking and a considered wine list. Mornings tend to start the same way: mist lifting off the canopy, birdsong building, a cup of Ugandan coffee on the terrace before the walk to the trailhead. The conservation partners are woven into the fabric of the place, quite literally, from the chairs to the embroidered textiles, each one made by a named local or refugee project.
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accommodation
Twelve rooms run along a pathway cut into the hillside, one single, four doubles and seven twins, each sharing the same outlook. Floor-to-ceiling glass faces the forest, and every room comes with a private terrace, a fireplace, a sunken bathtub set for a hot or cold soak, and a dedicated butler.
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activities
Gorilla trekking from the Buhoma trailhead is the core draw, run under Uganda Wildlife Authority rules. Between treks, guests walk the Waterfall Trail, birdwatch among 350-plus species, join a coffee-making session with local farmers, visit the Batwa community, and retreat to the small spa.
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conservation
More than ninety percent of the construction workforce came from surrounding communities. The lodge sources its woven chairs from Ride 4 A Woman in Bwindi Village and its embroidered textiles from the Milaya Project, which supports refugee women, and it has worked with Conservation Through Public Health and Snare to Wares on wildlife monitoring.
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.
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 Silverback Lodge, on a ridge above the Buhoma sector. We build the flights and the transfer into your trip so the day joins up cleanly, and if you would rather fly privately we can arrange a charter to Kihihi, 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. Uganda is a year-round malaria area and Bwindi is part of it, so this is not somewhere to think of as malaria-free. The forest here is high and cool, which keeps mosquitoes fewer than in the low savanna parks and the risk lower, 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 Buhoma trailhead is a short distance from the lodge, so the start is early but unhurried. 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.
Silverback reopened as a deliberately contemporary lodge of twelve rooms, each with a butler, and it suits couples and keen trekkers more than young families, with no dedicated family suites among the singles, doubles and twins. 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 with the small spa and short walks close by. Tell us the ages of everyone travelling and we will advise on the rooms and the fit.
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 Silverback 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 ridge in Bwindi and can fade to nothing at the lodge and once you leave the main roads. Silverback 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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