Four Gorilla Lodge
Four Gorilla Lodge is a luxury accommodation facility for gorilla trekkers visiting the Rushaga sector of Bwindi impenetrable forest national park. Rushaga sector is found in the southern region of Bwindi impenetrable forest national park with five mountain gorillas families – Nshongi, Kahungye, Busingye, Mishaya, and Bweza. Rushaga sector is another area where you can participate in mountain gorilla habituation on Bikingi gorilla family.
Four Gorilla Lodge is one of the best luxury accommodation facilities in Rushaga sector offering the best luxury services. The lodge is set in Rushaga sector just 10km away from the briefing sector. Four Gorilla Lodge has 8 cottages varying in sizes – single, double, twin, triple, and family cottages that are surrounded by the thick forest of Bwindi. The rooms are made in an African style with timber, stones, and roofs made of grass. Each room is built on a raised surface giving great views of the forest, rooms have private flushing toilets, showers with hot and cold water, televisions, hair driers, mosquito nets, and private sitting areas with wooden balconies.
The balconies give great views of the national park and the guests do get an opportunity to encounter some of the park mammals, primates, and birds among others. Four Gorilla Lodge has a fireplace where guests can gather, relax and share stories. The guests can share how the gorilla trekking activity was or even talk about what it might be like if they are trekking the next few days.
Four Gorilla Lodge has free parking, free Wi-Fi, free breakfast, a well-stocked bar with soft and hard drinks, and a restaurant well professional chefs that can prepare local and international dishes. Four Gorilla Lodge does pick up and drop off at Kihihi airport for its guests that visit the park by Air transport. Travelers that are intending to have a luxury safari to Bwindi should look for Four Gorilla Lodge.
Getting to Four Gorilla Lodge
Four Gorilla Lodge is located in the southern sector of Bwindi impenetrable forest national park and it takes 9-10 hours to get to the lodge from Kampala/Entebbe through Masaka, Mbarara, Kabale, and Kisoro road. The lodge can be accessed in 4-5 hours from Kigali international airport via Katuna birder in Kabale and Cyanika border in Kisoro. Travelers that are using air transport can fly from Kajjansi airstrip/Entebbe international airport to Kisoro airstrip where you drive for 2 hours to connect to the lodge.
Activities to do from Four Gorilla Lodge
Gorilla trekking: Four Gorilla Lodge is a perfect accommodation facility for travelers that are coming for gorilla trekking in Bwindi impenetrable forest national park. The lodge is located 10 minute drive from Rushaga headquarters where briefing takes place. Tourists can even walk for 20 minutes to the briefing point where trekkers gather for a briefing from the park wardens. The park wardens teach trekkers the rules and regulations of the gorilla trekking activity and then brief trekkers not exceeding 8 people to search for a family.
Travelers that have excess luggage can hire porters at an affordable price and armed ranger guides lead the trek showing the trekkers the right routes to use as well as protecting them from dangerous wild animals. The search for gorilla families in the Rushaga region can take 2-7 hours and this depends on the location of the gorilla family as well as the speed of trekkers. When the mountain gorilla family is found, trekkers rea given 1 hour to be around the group, watch the members do daily activities, take photos and learn about the gorilla habits.
Batwa community tour: Guests staying at Four Gorilla Lodge can visit the Batwa people before or after gorilla trekking. The Batwa live around the park boundaries and guests at the lodge can always and get a local guide to lead them to their community. A visit to the Batwa community first goes around the forest boundaries where guides take about how they used to live in the park surviving on honey, fruits, and meat from small animals. When you reach their communities, you will be welcomed by the traditional dancers who will entertain you through dance and drama. You will visit different homes and see how people do their day to day life, visit gift shops and traditional healers who still use local plants as medicine to cure illness.
Nature walks: Guests having a stay at Four Gorilla Lodge can have a nature walk around the lodge or with un the park with a help of an armed ranger guide. The nature walks enable guests to move around the park on foot and encounter different park animals such as elephants, buffaloes, duikers, giant forest hogs, bush pigs, and birds such as African jacana, mountain oriole, regal sunbird, Kivu ground thrush, ad different plant covers.
Birding: Bird lovers staying at Four Gorilla Lodge can be part of the birding activity conducted by the lodge or the national park. Birding activities in Rushaga sector will give you an opportunity to encounter bird species such as hadada ibis, black kite, cattle egret, black kite, African goshawk, purple heron, southern pochard, hottentot teal, bat hawk, shikra, Eurasian hobby, African hawk eagle, black crake, red knobbed coot, African jacana, ross turaco, and great blue turaco among others.
Best time to stay at Four Gorilla Lodge
Travelers can stay at Four Gorilla Lodge and visit Bwindi impenetrable forest national park at any time of the year however there are months that are better than the rest. The dry months are the best to visit Bwindi and stay at Four Gorilla Lodge because they are characterized by little or no rainfall that makes the trekking trails muddy and slippery, the vegetation is short and thin with good views of the wild animals and the roads leading to the park are in good conditions.
Travelers especially the budget ones can visit Bwindi impenetrable forest national park and stray at Four Gorilla Lodge in the rainy season of March to May and October to November and by doing so they will enjoy huge discounts on accommodation. Travelers should however note that the rainy season is characterized by too much rainfall that makes the trekking trails muddy and slippery, the vegetation is tall and thin with bad views of the mountain gorillas and the roads leading to the park are in poor condition.
