Sanctuary Gorilla Forest Camp

Once-in-a-lifetime encounters with Uganda’s endangered gorillas await when you stay in one of these only ten private luxury tents in the heart of the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.

Ecologically respectful, contemporary-yet-classic in style, Sanctuary Gorilla Forest Camp blends in sensitively with the dramatic African mountain landscape and, situated uniquely inside the national park, you are only minutes away from the start of your gorilla trekking adventure.

WHY SANCTUARY GORILLA FOREST CAMP

• Frequently visited by gorilla families due to its unique location
• Exclusive camp with ten tents
• This is the perfect base for a once in a lifetime trip to track mountain gorillas
• Opportunity for community interaction, including the local Batwa Pygmies
• Specially customised sedan chairs with support and harness allows less able guests to be carried into the rainforest to track the gorillas in their natural habitat
  An established philanthropy project at Bwindi Community Hospital which guests can visit

Sanctuary Gorilla Forest Camp’s unique interpretation of camp living offers unrivalled seclusion and space in the ancient rainforest in one of Africa’s most remarkable landscapes.

Due to its location, it’s not unusual for the gorilla families to visit the camp itself.

GETTING THERE & AWAY
Sanctuary Gorilla Forest Camp is nestled deep inside Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. Kihihi airstrip is the closest airstrip which is 1 hour and 15 minutes from the camp. The camp can also be reached by vehicle from Kampala; and there is also the option of a scenic road transfer from Kigali, Rwanda.

EATING, DRINKING AND BEING MERRY
Sanctuary Gorilla Forest Camp’s communal area stars a comfortable lounge with a well-stocked bar and elegant dining area, bestowing great views over the verdant rainforest.

Come dusk, under star-strewn skies, and accompanied by the night-chorus, guests gather around the central campfire and swap stories of that day’s adventures.

Mealtimes lend a taste of the destination: expertly prepared dishes promise simple flavours and showcase fresh local ingredients — try traditional smoked beef in peanut sauce served with Kalo (millet bread). Candlelit alfresco dining is also available on your tent’s private deck.

HIGH-DRAMA ACCOMMODATION FOR A HIGH-DRAMA LOCATION
Located in one of the remotest areas of Africa, these comfortable canvas spaces are dressed with indigenous prints and furniture made from natural materials.

Beds are draped in neutral-toned linens, and local artefacts set a scene that ensures memorable moments both inside and out the accommodation. Each tent has a spacious, stone-walled bathroom with private sections, and a free-standing bath for a relaxing soak after a day’s trekking.

The trees around the camp light up in the morning when the sun starts shining, and thanks to there being so few tents, the camp retains an intimate, exclusive feel, enabling you to experience Africa’s magic with the lightest of footprints yet with practically every mod con.

DINING
Sanctuary Gorilla Forest Camp prides itself in the personalised service we are able to offer our guests. Please let us know if you have any special requests and or dietary requirements.

A bar and dining cottage overlooks the rainforest, while open air-dining under the stars by the roaring campfire is available in front of the camp.

SILVER SERVICE
The bar and dining cottage overlooks the rainforest and a raised natural platform is built for open air-dining. A full English and continental breakfast is served before your morning activity.

Trekking gorilla’s today? The camp will pack you a scrumptious lunch including fresh fruit, sweet and savoury delights to take with you. Once back at the camp, enjoy drinks under the stars by the roaring campfire as you discuss your amazing adventure.

All meals are à la carte and served in the bar and dining area overlooking the rainforest. Chef Medard serves a silver service dinner with three courses each evening. One of the mains might even include his favourite dish – black pepper beef with stir fry noodles.

Celebrating a special occasion? We are able to offer romantic private dinners.

SPA
The mini spa Sanctuary Gorilla Forest Camp offers the perfect way to end a long day of gorilla trekking.

The spa seems a natural enhancement of the gorilla experience and a chance for your mind to fully absorb the magnitude of your wonderful spiritual encounter; allowing your body and mind to blend with the natural surroundings, whilst recalling those magical moments in the Bwindi Impenetrable forest.

Quiet and peaceful, even the small spa breaths the spirit of the forest. Treatments by the specialist therapist, Precious, include herbal massages, hydrating facials, foot massages and manicures, and use luxury, eco-friendly products created with pure natural ingredients. There are also yoga kits in all the tents.

SPA PRODUCTS
AfricologyTM uses healing essences of some of South Africa’s indigenous plants, Rooibos, Aloe Ferox, Marula and African Potato. They are a natural, organic range, chemical free and allow nature to fragrance their products naturally and select actives that bring balance and harmony to the skin.

They practice fair trade and show a great social responsibility to empowering the people of Africa. They are dermalogically tested to EU standards, not tested on animals or use any animal products.

GORILLA TRACKING
The gorillas are completely wild but have become used to seeing a few humans after years of habituation. Many of the expert guides have been involved in this process since the beginning and are able to explain the complicated etiquette involved in meeting a giant silverback.

This is an opportunity afforded only to a select few, as just eight visitors are allowed to view each group every day. Tracking through dense forest with steep slopes means that participants do need to be physically fit to enjoy the track.

Once the gorillas are located, spend a maximum of one hour with them before returning back to camp. Please note only children aged 15 and above can track gorilla. A tracking permit must be bought in advance in person in Bwindi. We are happy to purchase your permit on your behalf, please contact us for more details.

BATWA TRIBE EXPERIENCE
Learn about and interact with the local Batwa People. This full day activity involves a three hour walk followed by about an hour spent with the Batwa. The walk back to camp is two hours.

The visit includes a music performance, visitation by the goddess, hunting and gathering demonstration and an opportunity to see how they live. The Twa tribe who are also known as the Batwa are the oldest inhabitants of the Great Lakes region of Central Africa.

They speak the same language as the Hutu and Tutsi groups of Rwanda. Like most of the tribes in Africa, they have moved from place to place and are now found in Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and eastern portions of the DRC.

Statistics show that by the year 2000 their numbers were approximately 80,000 people, making them a significant minority group in these countries. The first records of the Batwa were made by the Egyptians over 4,000 years ago.

They described them as short statured people living near the “Mountains of the Moon” extolling their abilities as dancers and story tellers.

BIRDING WALKS
Bwindi boasts over 350 bird species, including 24 that are endemic to these highlands straddling Uganda, Rwanda and the Congo – the so-called the “Albertine Rift Endemics”. For keen birders, we can arrange for a local expert to guide you on a fascinating 2-3 hour walk through the park.

FOREST WALK
Bwindi is a UNESCO World Heritage site and a spectacular place to visit. In addition to the gorillas, Bwindi is also home to rare forest elephants, giant forest hogs and eleven kinds of primates, such as red tailed and blue monkeys, black and white colobus, baboons and chimpanzees.

You can also find forest duiker antelopes, bush buck antelopes and over 200 species of butterflies. We can offer a guided forest walk on the Munyaga waterfall trail.

This trail starts from the Park office and ends at the magnificent Munyaga waterfall. The walk to and from the waterfall takes about three hours and is a good way to practice or cool down a day before or after the gorilla tracking.

QUEEN ELIZABETH NATIONAL PARK DRIVES
While staying at Gorilla Forest Camp guests are able to venture out on game drives to Ishasha, located in the south of the well known Queen Elizabeth National Park popular for its tree climbing lions, savanna elephants, buffaloes, topi, hippos, various bird species, warthogs and the occational leopard.

The Ishasha Sector is famous for its population of tree-climbing lions. The Lions are normally seen lazily lying within the branches of the huge fig trees staring down at the numerous Uganda Kobs grazing in the open Ishasha plains.

This is usually a full day outing where guests are able to stop for lunch at the hippo pool. Departure is 6:30 in the morning.

COMMUNITY WALK
Bwindi is surrounded on the Buhoma side by the Bakiga community and the Batwa people community. The walk takes about two hours and begins with a stroll through a small tea farming project. Here you can stop to meet the tea pickers and perhaps even learn how to pluck tea leaves along the way.

Then visit a local beer brewery and see how they mash bananas to make a fermented brew which is mixed and distilled to make banana beer – a popular local drink in the area. From here walk a short distance to the local hospital which Sanctuary Gorilla Forest Camp supports through various projects.

Learn about how it started and the work they do for the community. Continue your walk to a nearby village and visit a traditional medicine man.

The knowledge of using herbs for healing has been passed on from generation to generation and he will show you some of the herbs that grow in the forest and talk about how they are used. Later, relax and enjoy a performance by the Batwa community before returning to the camp.

GAME VIEWING AND GORILLAS
DAY 1
On arrival at Kenya’s Jomo Kenyatta Airport you will be met by a Sanctuary representative who will transfer you to Wilson Airport for your connection to the Masai Mara. Your Sanctuary Olonana guide will meet you at the airstrip and drive you to the camp with some great game viewing en route.

On arrival relax and freshen up in your tent before lunch is served. The tents are very spacious and have floor to ceiling mosquito netting, en-suite bathrooms with hot showers, flush lavatories, solar lighting and large, river view verandahs.

The main dining room and veranda commands a dramatic stretch of the Mara River providing the perfect setting for afternoon tea and after dinner star gazing. As your afternoon game drive comes to an end, drive to a specially chosen vantage point overlooking the Mara plains.

Enjoy drinks as you take in the beauty of the rapid sunset coloring the acacia dotted plains before returing to the camp for a delicious dinner.

Meals Included: Lunch and Dinner
Overnight: Sanctuary Olonana

DAY 2
This morning after breakfast at the camp venture out led by our expert guides to explore the Mara. The Mara is a fabulous place for seeing big cats and all of the big five, a variety of plains game and over 300 bird species.

The plains offer a rich variety of food for the dominant predators: lion; leopard; hyena and cheetah. Elephants browse amongst the large herds of wildebeest and topi, eland and buffalo, Thomson’s and Grant’s gazelle.

In the Mara River, hippos submerge to snort and grumble while crocodiles sunbathe, mouths agape, on the riverbanks. From around July to October, there’s the greatest show on Earth – the wildebeest migration.

Mid-afternoon high tea will be served before your next activity. During your stay there are a variety of activities that can be booked on request such as a balloon safari.

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Overnight: Sanctuary Olonana

DAY 3
Today you might like walk with our naturalist and learn about plants, trees, insects and even how to approach animals on foot, as your guide shows you how to spot animal signs which are everywhere but not that easily noticed.

Or choose from one of the options above. On your last evening drive out into the bush where a private and secluded clearing has been prepared for an elegant dinner in the middle of the wilderness.

The table setting is as sophisticated and elegant as found in the finest restaurants. Candles flicker in the darkness, throwing golden lights on the table cloth as smiling waiters serve a delicious dinner.

After dinner retire to the warmth of the campfire where brandies and liqueurs are served as guests relax and absorb the peace and beauty of an African night.

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Overnight: Sanctuary Olonana

DAY 4
After breakfast your guide will transfer you to the airstrip for your flight to Nairobi’s Wilson Airport. On arrival you will be met by a Sanctuary Retreats representative who will drive you the short distance to Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport where you will be able to enjoy lunch.

Depart late afternoon for your flight to Entebbe, Uganda. On arrival in Entebbe you will be met by a Sanctuary Representative who will transfer you to your Entebbe/Kampala hotel.

Meals Included: Breakfast and Dinner
Overnight: Overnight in Entebbe

DAY 5
This morning after breakfast you will be picked up and transferred to Entebbe airport for your scheduled flight to Kihihi airstrip where a Sanctuary representative will meet and transfer you to the camp.

The transfer time is approximately 1 hour 30 minutes. Gorilla Forest Camp is located within Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is the perfect base for a tracking experience as it offers luxury in the heart of the rainforest.

Lunch is served at camp. In the afternoon you can just relax and take in the fresh air or take a forest walk, which is a nice way to warm up before the Gorilla tracking. Birders come thousands of miles to see the more than 350 species that live within the area.

There are also rare forest elephant, giant forest hog and eleven kinds of primates, such as red tailed and blue monkey, black and white colobus, baboons and chimpanzee.

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Overnight: Sanctuary Gorilla Forest Camp

DAY 6
Early breakfast this morning before a briefing from your guide. Tracking commences every morning from the park headquarters at 8.30 am. The gorillas we track belong to one of the ‘habituated’ family groups in Northern Bwindi.

For several years each group has undergone an extremely delicate process that has gradually made them used to the presence of humans. Experienced guides will accompany the tracking, many of who have been involved in the habituation process themselves.

Once the gorillas are located, the group will be allowed a maximum of one hour with them. Return to camp for dinner.

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Overnight: Sanctuary Gorilla Forest Camp

DAY 7
Today relax at camp or visit a local village and meet the villagers to learn about their day to day lives. On this walk you can visit a honey production site, a traditional medicine man, a traditional blacksmith, a local school when in term and even attend a Batwa dance performance.

The walk is organised with the local community as part of our community support. Or you could take a bird walk. Bwindi boast over 300 bird species, including 24 that are endemic to these highlands straddling Uganda, Rwanda and the Congo – the “Albertine Rift Endemics”.

There are also over 200 species of butterflies found in the park. A local expert will guide you on this fascinating walk. Lunch and dinner at the lodge. After dinner simply relax and sip a drink as you listen to folk tunes played on the traditional Bakiga guitar.

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Overnight: Sanctuary Gorilla Forest Camp

DAY 8
This morning you will enjoy breakfast at the camp, before your transfer to Kihihi airstrip for your shared scheduled flight back to Entebbe International Airport.

Meals Included: Breakfast

Website: www.sanctuaryretreats.com

Rooms: 8

Price: from 459 EUR per night