Bwindi Impenetrable National Park has many trails available for the tourists to take walks and hike within the park, but the Ivy River trail is perhaps the most exciting trail. It has interesting features that can barely be well viewed in the other trails within the park. It covers a distance of 14 kilometers, and walking through this trail usually takes an entire day. This walk is done on an old road that lies within Bwindi Impenetrable National Park’s jungle. The trail starts from Nkuringo close to the Nkuringo park headquarters.
It then proceeds downhill with a murram road which is surrounded by a beautiful scenery for a distance of about 7 kilometers. A turn to the right is later made towards the Ivy River. From Nkuringo headquarters, it takes about a 2 to 3 hours walk before one can get to the Ivy River.
From Ivy River, a walk of about 4 hours is required for one to get to Buhoma sector. Since Bwindi has a fair share of highlands, tourists encounter lowlands and elevated small highlands. As they ascend and descend, visitors enjoy beautiful viewpoints of the far underlying lowland jungles covered in mist. It’s also common to meet the members of the community treading through this trail because it’s a common route they’ve always used to travel from Buhoma to the Southern boundaries of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, especially on the market days in Nteko Village.
Birding along Ivy River Trail
There are hundreds of Albertine region bird species that can be viewed in the Ivy trail. Some of the present bird species are endemic to the national park, and others are migratory birds from as far as D.R Congo’s River Congo Basin. Some of the many species that can be viewed are the Ruwenzori batis, blue turacos, sunbirds tropical boubou, black saw-wing, and many more.
Animals to encounter
The Ivy trail avails the tourist with an opportunity to view the bush pigs, apes such as Mountain Gorillas and monkeys, duikers, insects especially butterflies, and hundreds of bird species.
When to take on the Ivy River trail?
A visit to this trail is recommended in the dry seasons. These are alternatively known as the summer for those accustomed to the weather in the west, when the sun shines brightest. For Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, this is between mid-July to late September, and then December to February.