Buhoma sector is located in the northern part of the park. It is one of the four sectors on the borders of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. This region features as most famous as the oldest trailhead in Uganda given when it comes to mountain gorilla adventures. Gorilla trekking attracts a large number of tourists in Uganda. This has turned small village trading center into a vibrant town.
The sector was the first to host the first group of gorilla trekkers when Mubare gorilla family was opened for tracking in 1993. It is in this sector where other walks have been developed including; the Munyaga River Trails in the valley of Buhoma, which is a short walk for viewing birds and primates along the forest edge. The waterfall trail which passes beneath tree ferns, epiphytic ferns as well as orchids to visit three dazzling waterfalls. The Rushura Hill Trail, Muzabajiro Loop Trail and the River Ivi Trail, of which the latter follows an old road through the forest, emerging near Nkuringo on the southern edge of the impenetrable forest.
Buhoma sector is very easy to trek, the drive takes you through Ntungamo and Rukungiri before connecting to Butogota and eventually Buhoma. The Buhoma community walk and cultural performances takes up to three hour. It involves visiting a typical homestead, the traditional healer and a banana beer brewery organized by the local community.
Buhoma is in the northern part of Bwindi and has 5 Gorilla groups including:
Mubare Family – 18 Individuals with 1 silverback, headed by Kanyonyi
Mubare is the oldest habituated gorilla group in Uganda. It was found in the Mubare hills, deep in Bwindi forest, and was fully habituated in 1998. The group started with 12 family members, led by the dominant silverback “Ruhondeza”. In a few years the group grew to 18 individuals. Unfortunately, due to fights with other wild gorilla groups, it lost several members including the one Ruhondeza who used to take care of everyone else in the family. The group remained with 5 members untill March 2013. When other members including a new dominant silverback joined and its now 11 members – an interesting group to visit – led by Kanyonyi – the Silverback. There are 6 adults, 1 teenager and 3 toddlers. Due to its convenient location with the Queen Elizabeth National Park and with limited tracking hike, Mubare gorilla permits are now priority for many tour operators and tourist.
Habinyanja Family – 18 Individuals with 2 silverbacks, headed by Makara
The once a 25 member Habinyanja group was first visited by tourists in 1999. The name comes from a local word “Nyanja” which means ‘body of water’. It refers to the swamp in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest where the group was first sighted. The group had several strong males which caused power struggles between the dominant silverbacks fighting for family leadership which led to splitting into two families – causing the creation of Rushegura family.
This group was led by Mugurisi, a silverback whose name derived from a local phrase meaning ‘old man’s teeth’. Mugurisi later on passed away because of old age and right after his death were two brothers Mwirima and Rwansigazi who shared power but because of some indifferences, they couldn’t continue to be leaders in power. Rwansigazi was an adventurous leader who loved travelling and Mwirima preferred staying at a close range with family.
The two silverbacks separated in 2002 without any fights. The members that stayed with Rwansigazi were the Habinyanja and the members that stayed with Mwirima formed a group called Rushegura family.
Later on the leader of Habinyanja Gorilla Group gave up his leadership to Makara who is now in power to lead the family. Sad news hit the group in 2011 when one of its black backs, Mizano – a very friendly Mountain Gorillas was found dead. His body had a couple of spear wounds around the neck and the shoulders. Mizano reportedly lost his life after running into a group of poachers with their dogs. He died whilst defending his family from poachers. This incident was reportedly the first that occurred by poachers since the year 1995. Habinyanja Gorilla Group now moves daily in the forest. It needs more of energy to trek this family along with its 18 members.
It’s normal for such large families to split. The split forms a new gorilla family and sometimes can be joined by members rejected by other families or other solitary gorillas and even when they do, gorillas retain the brotherhood and don’t fight against former family members if they meet. The 18 members are; 2 silverback, 1blackback, 5 adult females, 1 sub-adult, 3 juveniles and 6 infants. Visitors tracking this family need about 3 – 8 hours and it makes sense if they stay at a lodging in the Buhoma area of Bwindi. The family is headed by the shrewd alpha female called Makara.
Rushegura Family – 19 Individuals with 1 Silverback, headed by Kabukonjo
The family has 19 members with one silverback although the number may change depending on members joining in and out of the group, new born arrival and death. Rushegura is a place where the group separated from its former family Habinyanja which took place in 2002.
The separation was led by Mwirimu who loved staying at a close range with his family members.He broke away with seven members including 5 females they were other gorillas which joined him and they became 12 members. He created a stable family which increased to 19 members in 2010.At the age of 25 Mwirima shows his strength of ruling even wining fights over other wild Gorillas. The family used to cross to the neighboring country (Democratic Republican of Congo) but always came back, recently they settled peacefully in their environment of Bwindi impenetrable national park. The family is very come which usually wonders in the lodges, souvenir shops and neighboring homes in the Buhoma. They do not shy away from people and visitors which gives a chance to visitors to have a close look as they carry out their daily activities. Those who want a shorter trek should note that this large gorilla group can be often tracked in a shorter time than 5 hours. There is, however, no guarantee that the gorillas may choose to venture off and it will take a longer time to track them.
Katwe Family – 7 Individuals with 1 silverback (Newer group in Buhoma sector)
Katwe is a newer Gorilla family in Buhoma region having gone about 3 years of habituation. The group was open for regular trekking in August 2018. For a several years, this region has had just 3 habituated gorilla families, hiking the demand for gorilla permits in area. It is closer to Queen Elizabeth Park and offers more luxury lodging facilities in Bwindi. There is now 32 gorilla passes available each in this this region of Bwindi Gorilla Park.
