Lake Kitandara Bwindi Camp

Lake Kitandara Bwindi Camp is one of the accommodation facilities in Bwindi gorilla park. The lodge is a mid-range accommodation facility located in the Buhoma sector which is found in the northern region of the park. Lake Kitandara Bwindi Camp is located 14.5km from Kisoro town and 5 minutes’ walk from Buhoma headquarters.

Lake Kitandara Bwindi Camp comprises 20 spacious tents all set up with great views of Bwindi Forest. The rooms are made in modern culture with comfortable beds, hot and cold showers, flashing toilets, and a veranda with tremendous views of Bwindi Forest. The accommodation facility has friendly with good customer care.

At Lake Kitandara Bwindi Camp, there is a restaurant with both local and international cuisine made by well-trained chefs. They have a bar with both soft and hard drinks and it’s strategically located facing the Bwindi forest. Facilities at the camp include airport shuttle, laundry services, and tight security among others.

Activities to do from Lake Kitandara Bwindi Camp

Gorilla trekking: Travelers that are intending to visit Bwindi gorillas in the Buhoma region can stay at Lake Kitandara Bwindi Camp located 5 minutes walk away from the Buhoma headquarters. Guests staying at this camp will have to wake up early in the morning and move to the sector offices where they will meet other trekkers. Here there are park wardens who teach the rules and regulations of the gorilla trekking activity, group trekkers, and get armed ranger guides to lead the groups in the jungle.

At the starting point of gorilla trekking are the porters who are always ready to carry excess luggage at a fee and there are also sticks to help trekkers balance while walking in the jungle. Armed ranger guides lead the trek for 2-7 hours till the mountain gorillas are spotted. These hours depend on the location of the gorilla family as well as the speed of trekkers.

During the search for mountain gorillas, trekkers are able to see different park animals such as chimpanzees, red-tailed monkeys, blue monkeys, bush pigs, elephants, buffaloes, duikers, and bords. The moment the mountain gorillas are spotted, trekkers are given 1 hour to be around these animals and watch them do daily activities, take photos and learn about their habits.

Birding activity in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest Park

Bird watching: Birding from Lake Kitandara Bwindi Camp can happen around the lodge but the best place to encounter several bird species is the national park. Buihoma is one of the best regions for birding in Bwindi and therefore bird lovers staying at Lake Kitandara Bwindi Camp so be lucky trekking in this region. The region has got the best birding spots and different birding trails where armed ranger guides do lead birders while protecting them from dangerous wild animals.

Bird lovers staying at Lake Kitandara Camp should look out for birds such as red-eyed dove, African jacana, scaly francolin, African hobby, klass cuckoo, red chested cuckoo, Rwenzori night jar, yellow bill, black bee-eater, greater honeyguide, malachite kingfisher, rock martin, barn swallow, cape wagtail, red-tailed greenbul, wood warbler, green crombec, grey chested illadopsis, malachite sunbird, swamp flycatcher, banded prinia, collared apalis, tropical boubou, and olive sunbird among others.

Batwa cultural experience: Batwa people live around the whole of Bwindi impenetrable forest national park and therefore you can visit them from any region. Travelers staying at Lake Kitandara Bwindi Camp can visit the Batwa people staying around Buhoma region. A visit to Batwa is led by the local people and these first take you around the jungle to show you how they used to survive here for many years and then later to their communities to show you how they live their day to day life.  A visit to their community helps you interact with the elders and get to listen to stories of long ago. You also get an opportunity to get entertained by the traditional dancers.

Nature walks: Nature walks can be done around the lodge since is located inside the park or you can head to the park headquarters and join other travelers for a nature walk around the forest. Nature walk activities give travelers an opportunity to explore the jungle on foot. Nature walks give travelers an opportunity t see animals such as buffaloes, bush pigs, elephants, duikers, giant forest hogs, chimpanzees, different bird species, water sources, and plants among others.

Accessing Lake Kitandara Bwindi Camp

Lake Kitandara Bwindi camp is located in Buhoma region of Bwindi gorilla park and can be accessed using road transport or air transport within a single day. The national park can be accessed from Kampala using road transport through Masaka, Mbarara, Kabale Kisoro road. Travelers from Kigali can access the lodge by crossing to Uganda using Katuna birder in Kabale or Cyanika border in Kisoro.

Travelers that want to avoid traveling long distances or those that want to travel a luxury life can access Buhoma and stay at Lake Kitandara lodge by flying to Kihihi airstrip which is located in Buhoma region and then later access the lodge using road transport which takes a few minutes.

Lake Kitandara Bwindi Camp

Best time to visit Bwindi and stay at Lake Kitandara Bwindi Camp

Bwindi can be visited at any time of the year for any activity however there are months that are better than the rest. The dry months are the best to visit Bwindi while staying at Lake Kitandara Bwindi Camp and these happen from June to September and December to February. They are characterized by little or no rainfall that makes the trekking trails muddy and slippery, the vegetation is short and thin with great views of animals and the roads leading to the park are passable.

Travelers especially budget travelers should visit Bwindi gorilla park and stay at Lake Kitandara Bwindi Camp in the rainy season of March to May and October to November to enjoy huge discounts on accommodation facilities. The rainy season is however characterized by too much rain that makes the trekking trails muddy and slippery, the vegetation is tall and thin with unclear views of the mountain gorillas and the road connecting to the park are impassable.