Trackers Safari Lodge Bwindi: Log Chalets and a Pool in Buhoma

Trackers Safari Lodge is a small, high end lodge of eleven log chalets in the Buhoma sector of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, about five minutes by car from the park gate where Buhoma gorilla trekking starts. It is open, publishes current rates and is booked mostly through safari operators. Its swimming pool and health club are unusual for Bwindi, where most lodges offer a fire and a view.

Where Trackers Safari Lodge Sits for Buhoma Gorilla Trekking

Trackers stands on the hillside at Buhoma, close to the Uganda Wildlife Authority gate and the sector headquarters where every Buhoma gorilla trek is briefed. The lodge quotes about five minutes by car to the park office, and one operator puts it nearer four. Either way, trek mornings are relaxed: breakfast, a short drive and you are at the briefing by 7:30.

Buhoma is the oldest trekking sector in Uganda, opened to visitors in 1993, and it sits lower and warmer than the southern and eastern sectors. Habituated families include Mubare, Habinyanja and Rushegura. Which one you visit is decided by the rangers on the morning.

From the chalet balconies you look over the forest edge and the hills beyond. Birdsong starts well before dawn, and butterflies drift through the garden through the warmer hours.

Log Chalets and Room Types at Trackers

All eleven chalets are built from logs with grass thatched roofs and wooden floors, each self contained with its own bathroom, hot water, rain shower and a private balcony. Beds are king size with orthopaedic mattresses where the layout allows. One older listing still quotes seven rooms; the lodge itself now says eleven, so go by that.

Evenings at Buhoma’s altitude can turn cool, and staff slip hot water bottles into the beds after dinner. Guest feedback on the rooms is warm overall; one or two older reviews mention a roof leak in heavy rain, which is worth knowing in the wet months but is not a recurring theme.

Food, Pool and Health Club Facilities

Meals follow what the lodge calls a farm to fork policy. Produce comes from farmers around Buhoma and a small vegetable garden on site, and the restaurant has an open kitchen where guests can watch the cooks or help out. Breakfast runs from six, which suits trek day, and a packed lunch is provided for every gorilla trekker. Afternoon tea comes between 3:30 and five, dinner from 6:30. Tell the lodge about allergies or dietary needs when you book.

The bar has a wine cellar and balconies facing the forest, and there is a second bar beside the pool. House wine, local beers and spirits, soft drinks, tea and coffee are included on the full board rate; bottled wine and top shelf spirits cost extra.

Then the part that sets Trackers apart. A swimming pool is rare in Bwindi, and here it comes with a health club holding a sauna, steam room, small gym and jacuzzi, plus a massage room. After a muddy six hour trek, that matters.

Other services include high speed Wi Fi (included in the rate), laundry, an outdoor fireplace, a craft and souvenir shop, room service, airstrip transfers, secure parking and 24 hour security. A standby generator backs up the electricity.

Gorilla Trekking Day from Trackers Safari Lodge

The lodge drives you to the briefing at no charge. There, rangers split permit holders into groups of up to eight, try to match fitness to the family that slept nearest, and set off with trackers who have already located the gorillas.

A Buhoma gorilla trek can take an hour or most of the day. Once you reach the family you have one hour with them, staying at least 10 metres away under UWA rules, and nobody under 15 may trek. Visitors with a cough or cold are asked to stay behind. Sightings are very likely in Buhoma, though never guaranteed. Our guide to gorilla safaris in Bwindi compares the four trekking sectors.

Porters wait at the gate and are hired separately. Take one: they carry your bag, help on wet slopes and earn a real income from the park. Gloves for nettles, gaiters and a rain jacket are on our gorilla trekking packing list. Since permits are issued per sector, make sure yours reads Buhoma; our guide on booking gorilla permits explains how.

Nature Walks, Batwa Visits and Other Activities Near Buhoma

Trackers lists a long menu of walks, most run with UWA or community guides. The Munyaga waterfall walk is a gentle half day trail inside the park that suits families. The Rushura Hill walk runs about three hours along a ridge on the Congo border, with views toward Lake Edward and the Rwenzori on clear days. The Habinyanja trail follows a forest stream, and the Buhoma to Nkuringo hike crosses the park on foot in four to six hours, with your vehicle meeting you on the other side.

Outside the park, Buhoma village walks visit farms, a healer and banana beer brewers, and the Batwa cultural experience introduces the people who lived in Bwindi before it was gazetted. Birders can spend a morning on the forest edge looking for Albertine Rift species; see our guide to birding in Bwindi. An unexpected extra: the lodge can arrange a round of golf at the course near Kihihi, about an hour and a half away.

Who Trackers Suits on a Gorilla Safari

Trackers fits travellers who want resort comforts close to the Buhoma gate: a pool, a sauna and a gym after the trek, plus inclusive drinks, laundry and Wi Fi so the bill holds few surprises. Couples and honeymooners like the superior chalets. Families can use the triple and family chalets.

It suits less well if you want a wilderness camp feel, since the pool and health club give it more of a hotel character. And the rates sit well above the Buhoma midrange, so budget travellers will get better value at the community camps by the gate.

Trackers Compared with Other Buhoma Safari Lodges

For a quieter, more classic feel, Buhoma Lodge sits right on the park boundary and Gorilla Forest Camp is inside the park itself. Bwindi Lodge is the luxury benchmark in Buhoma, while Engagi Lodge, Mahogany Springs and Buhoma Community Haven Lodge all cost less. Budget options include the Buhoma Community Rest Camp and the CTPH Gorilla Conservation Camp. All sectors are covered in our Bwindi lodges guide.

Getting to Trackers Safari Lodge in Buhoma

Flights from Entebbe reach Kihihi airstrip in about an hour. From there it is roughly 60 kilometres, an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half by road, and the lodge offers airstrip transfers. By road from Entebbe or Kampala, Buhoma is around 435 kilometres and eight to ten hours, so many itineraries break the drive in Queen Elizabeth National Park or after chimpanzee tracking in Kibale. All routes, including from Kigali, are on our getting to Bwindi page.

June to September and December to February are the busy months. The rainier months bring lower lodge and permit rates; our guide to the best time for gorilla trekking in Uganda weighs them up. Longer trips often add a Masai Mara safari for a gorillas and big game combination.

Trackers Safari Lodge FAQ