Busingiro Tourist Site is a haven for bird lovers found within Budongo forest. The forest is known as the biggest home for mahogany trees in the whole of the East African region. The site was used by the famous of Bunyoro kingdom – King Kabalega, as a relaxation place, and that’s why it bears its name as ‘Busingiro’ which means relaxation.
The site has increased the number of visitors who visit the area due to numerous attractions within Busingiro Tourist Site. This makes it among the top tourist attractions within the western part of Uganda.
Busingiro Tourist Site is part of the Budongo Forest Ecotourism Project that was set up in 1992 by the Uganda Forest Department. This was aiming at conserving the forest by working closely with the surrounding communities, in order to preserve and protect for the generations to come.
The site is home to several primate species including chimpanzees, olive baboons, black and white colobus, and red-tailed monkeys among others. Mammals, reptiles, bird species, and butterflies are also found within Busingiro Tourist Site.
The Site has various tree species that grow up to 80 meters tall, including mahogany, fig-trees, ironwood, and stranglers. There is a Royal Mile which stretches one mile, with a collection of all tree species found in Budongo Forest Reserve.
The reserve is popular for its resident population of 750 to 900 chimpanzees that live in various groups. Currently, Budongo Forest Reserve harbors six habituated chimpanzee groups that are ready for trekking every day, all year round. Tourists who opt to do chimpanzee trekking in Budongo forest are welcomed in Busingiro Tourist Site.
Attractions and activities around Busingiro Tourist Site
Busingiro site is known for its great bird species and nature walks are the key attractions within this site. In addition, there is also the Royal Mile site, which offers extraordinary birding sights for the bird lovers and can easily be reached with the help of the tour guide via the Busingiro site.
Some of the bird species you can spot while here include Sabine’s Spinetail, Cassin’s Spinetail, Pygmy Crakes, Kingfishers (chocolate-backed, Blue-breasted, Dwarf), and White-spotted Flufftai. There is also Ituri Batis, Puvell’s Illadopsis, Brown Twinspot, Cameroon Sombre Greenbul, Cassin’s Hawk-eagle, Crowned Eagle, and Yellow-crested crane among other species.
The site is running an environmental education course for local schools where the Children benefit from visiting the forest to personally see and discover its use to the area. Exhibits found at the center assist the guests to discover the secrets of this forest as well as discover its intricate ecosystem. When you visit the Wildlife Education Center at Entebbe you will experience the Budongo Forest since displays of the forest are based around the eco-tourism project conducted in Budongo.
Murchison Falls National Park remains as Uganda’s most spectacular wildlife park. Visitors with plenty of time are advised to compliment the Park with Bwindi Impenetrable National Park for a lifetime gorilla trekking safari, one of the unique experiences in Africa. In Rwanda, one can track mountain gorillas in Volcanoes National Park which is just a few hours’ drive from Kigali city, the capital of Rwanda.