How do I get to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park from Kigali? From Kigali, there are two (02) land border posts that connect Kigali to Bwindi;
- Getting to Bwindi from Kigali Using the Gatuna/Katuna Border.
- Getting to Bwindi from Kigali Using the Cyanika/Kyanika Border
Getting to Bwindi From Kigali through the Gatuna/Katuna Border
From Kigali city, the distance to get to the Gatuna/Katuna border is 80km/50mi. It does take about 02 hours to get to the Gatuna/Katuna border from Kigali (be cautious of the speed limits).
On arrival at Gatuna/Katuna border, you’ll spend about 01-hour sorting all the border crossing modalities. Thereafter, depending on which sector of Bwindi (there are four gorilla trekking sectors ) you intend to visit, you will need to plan as below;
- Gatuna/Katuna to Buhoma Sector: This journey is approximately 117km/73mi and you’ll require about 3 – 4hrs of off-road driving to get to the Buhoma region.
- Gatuna/Katuna border to Ruhija Sector: This is the closest/shortest/quickest or rather easiest sector of Bwindi from Kigali. The standard drive time from Kigali international airport to the Ruhija sector is approximately 4 hours; 02 hours Kigali to Gatuna/Katuna border, and 02 hours from Gatuna/Katuna border to Ruhija Sector.
- Gatuna/Katuna border to Rushaga Sector: This journey is about 90km following the Kabale – Kisoro highway. The drive time from Gatuna/Katuna border to Rushaga is approximately 02hr 30minutes.
- Gatuna/Katuna border to Nkuringo Sector: This journey is about 106km following the Kabale – Kisoro road, and the drive lasts about 03hours30minutes to get from Gatuna/Katuna border to the Nkuringo region.
Getting to Bwindi From Kigali through the Cyanika/Kyanika Border
The Cyanika border is one of the major road border crossings between Rwanda to the south and Uganda to the north. The Cyanika/Kyanika border crossing is in close proximity to Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park where travelers go for gorilla trekking & Gorilla Habituation Safari encounters.
From Kigali, you’ll use about 03hours to cover the 119km/74mi journey to get to the Cyanika/Kyanika border point. Thereafter, depending on which sector of Bwindi (there are four gorilla trekking sectors ) you intend to visit, you will need to plan as below;
- Cyanika/Kyanika to Nkuringo Sector: The distance from Cyanika/Kyanika to the Nkuringo sector of the great Bwindi Impenetrable forest National Park is about 43Km/27mi – a journey that will require approximately 90minutes of off-road driving. We recommend hiring a reliable 4X4 especially if traveling in the rainy season.
- Cyanika/Kyanika to Rushaga Sector: Similar to getting to Nkuringo from Kigali, the journey from Cyanika/Kyanika to the Rushaga sector takes about 90minutes to cover a distance of 43Km/27mi to get to the Rushaga Gorilla trekking region. We recommend hiring a reliable 4X4 especially if traveling in the rainy season.
- Cyanika/Kyanika to Ruhija Sector: From Cyanika/Kyanika, Ruhija Sector is approximately 80km/50mi which takes about 2hour 30minutes to get to Ruhija sector. While a section of this drive is on paved road, the last sections to Ruhija are off-road and will require a good 4X4 and a qualified driver guide to safely get you there.
- Cyanika/Kyanika to Buhoma Sector: This is the farthest of all four Gorilla trekking sectors in Bwindi Impenetrable National park. From Cyanika/Kyanika, you will drive for about 4hours 30minutes through a distance of approximately 128km/90mi. Many travelers often want to go to buhoma because of the fact that it’s where gorilla trekking in Uganda started in 1993 with the hope of getting to trek the Mubare gorilla group ( the first gorilla group to be commissioned for gorilla trekking in Uganda).
