In East Africa, Uganda offers the best chances for chimpanzee tracking and other chimpanzee activities, such as chimpanzee habitat experience. More than 5,000 chimpanzees live in Uganda, both in protected and unprotected areas. The five primary locations in Uganda where chimpanzees can be found in their natural habitats are Kibale National Park, Budongo Forest, Kalinzu Forest, Kyambura Gorge in Queen Elizabeth National Park, and Toro-Semliki Wildlife Reserve.
Chimpanzee Trekking Experience
The chimpanzee group goes through a full day of activities known as “chimpanzee habituation experiences.” Meeting your guide, having an early breakfast, and packing a packed lunch (to be purchased from your lodge) are all part of the everyday Chimps Tracking & Habituation Experience. You depart from here and head to the chimps’ nesting locations from the previous evening. The remainder of the day will be spent with chimpanzees, from when they wake up till bedtime. The process of acclimating chimpanzees to human presence is known as chimpanzee habituation, and it can take up to two years for a group of chimpanzees to be deemed safely habituated.
Every day around 7:30 am, small groups of carefully selected trekkers take off over the forest floor, arriving about thirty minutes later at a raucous chimpanzee population used to human visits. The local trackers who lead the chimpanzee trekking excursions follow the chimps’ partially digested fruit, dung, and knuckle prints as a trail. Viewing them from a 7-meter distance is allowed as long as visitors don’t scream, move quickly, stand motionless, shake branches, or direct their gaze directly at them. Nevertheless, if you give in to the temptation of staring into the eyes of a wild animal that bears 98.4% of your genetic makeup, it will change your innermost thoughts and feelings regarding the enormous African apes.
Where to go for Chimpanzee Tracking in Uganda.
Kibale National Park
Kibale Forest National Park, which has five habituated chimpanzee tribes within short walking distance of the Kanyanchu trailhead, is the ideal location in Uganda for chimpanzee trekking. Seeing Kibale’s chimpanzee tribes here is a unique experience, as they are rather dramatic and serene around visitors. There are about 1,500 chimpanzees in Kibale Forest, distributed among 13 communities. A few of these groups have been able to successfully acclimatise to human presence. Some are set aside for scientific research, while others, like the Kanyanchu group are utilised for hiking excursions. In Kibale, chimpanzee trekking trips take place twice a day in the morning and afternoon. They normally run three to four hours, during which time visitors may spend up to an hour with the apes.
You wouldn’t come here for the chimps alone—the park has one of the greatest diversitys of primates in all of Africa. On a chimpanzee trekking adventure, you can’t miss seeing a few of the thirteen species that jump in the canopy. The red-tailed, blue, and black-and-white colobus monkeys are frequently encountered by hikers. On nighttime nature excursions, it’s also common to see a number of nocturnal species, such as the eastern needle-clawed bush baby and the potto.
To view chimpanzees in Uganda, you must obtain a chimpanzee permit from the Uganda Wildlife Authority. A chimp permit for Kibale costs $200 USD per person per day. For foreign citizens (with work permits), UWA offers a discounted chimp permit of $150 per person, whereas East African nationals must pay 150,000 Uganda Shillings (UGX).
Kyambura Gorge
Kyambura Gorge is a protected reserve in southwest Uganda that provides great chimpanzee trekking experiences. It is situated in the far eastern region of Queen Elizabeth National Park. The incredibly expansive savannah grasslands, rift valley craters, and the gloomy Rwenzori Mountains around the 300-foot-deep and 1-kilometer-long “Valley of The Apes” gorge. Although there is less of a chance of sighting chimpanzees here than in Kibale, the breathtaking environment is still a major draw. It will feel like you’re in an underground forest as you go among the gigantic fig trees and vines that cover the steep slopes of the ravine. This activity is less strenuous than it sounds. Once you locate the chimpanzee tribe, you may spend an amazing hour witnessing them eat, interact, play, and go about their everyday activities. You’ll be crossing rivers and hopping over streams on your quest to locate them. It seems like witnessing Homo sapiens from two million years ago through a time mirror. For visitors to Kyambura, chimpanzee permits cost USD 50 per person; foreign residents and EA nationals receive a discount of $40/UGX 30,000. There’s an afternoon and a morning chimpanzee tour with a guide every day.
Budongo Forest
Unless you’re travelling to the northern safari circuit, Budongo Forest, which is located just outside the main entrance to Murchison Falls National Park, isn’t quite as attractive for a multi-day safari in Uganda as Kibale Forest. It’s a great fit with Kidepo Valley National Park and Murchison Falls, but getting to the mountain gorillas will need a cross-country journey. The most well-liked safari activity is probably what drew your attention to Uganda as a potential travel destination. The National Forestry Authority and a private concession jointly manage Budongo Forest. A chimpanzee permit costs USD 90 per person.
While the likelihood of seeing the apes is low, chimpanzee trekking in Budongo is distinct and more engaging than in Kibale. For the cost of six movie tickets, you can have a private experience because there aren’t many other patrons. Truly, you might be walking through an evolutionary jungle beside a group of contented hooting apes, your guide, and yourself. Real chimpanzee tracking is done in Budongo, where participants dig for excrement, determine what the chimps have been eating, and listen for telltale noises to identify the chimps. During the hikes, intrepid hikers, trained by Kenyan wildlife guides, provide participatory experiences. From the start until you actually see the chimps, they will build up the anticipation.
Semiliki National Park
Semliki Valley, located in the Rwenzori Mountains, is home to a small chimpanzee population. Since this population of chimpanzees inhabits a drier habitat than those in Kibale, Budongo, or Kyambura, it is of special scientific interest. It indicates to scientists that chimps go farther foraging, leading to more accurate observations. Scientists have occasionally seen chimpanzees in Semiliki travel short distances on their rear legs.
Semilki’s study program is state-of-the-art as experts investigate the connection between unusual behaviour and the evolution of Homo sapiens. Even while it may sound exciting, gorilla trekking in Semiliki does not ensure chimpanzee encounters. The chimps swing in far and broad canopies to forage sufficiently for food because they have very little to go by in the same area because to the dry and scant woodlands. You can accompany the researchers on a primate walk as part of a long-term initiative called Chimpanzee Habituation, but don’t go expecting to meet chimpanzees. Alternatively, unwind and learn more about an intriguing species while taking in the stunning surroundings. Instead, spend the $30 on a nature walk, and who knows? You might strike it lucky and see some chimpanzees.
Kalinzu Forest Reserve
The Kalinzu Forest Reserve is situated close to Queen Elizabeth National Park and the Maramagambo forest in the Bushenyi area of southwest Uganda. The reserve headquarters is around a 6-hour trip away, or roughly 375 kilometres away. The average elevation of the woodland is roughly 1400 meters above sea level. The 414 species of trees and shrubs in the reserve are well-known, and among them are Parinari and Prunus African Ficus. Six distinct primate species, including chimpanzees, black and white colobus monkeys, blue monkeys, L’hoest guenon, vervet monkeys, and baboons, are also well-known for living in the jungle.
In addition, 378 different species of birds, including sunbirds, black-and-white caskets, cuckoos, and the Great Blue Turaco, may be found in the reserve. There are also 262 different kinds of butterflies, 97 moths, flowers, and reptiles. Kalinzu Forest offers sanctuary to savannah grassland species like leopard, lion, wild pig and duiker, waterbuck, giant forest hog, buffaloes, and elephants, to name a few, because of its proximity to Queen Elizabeth National Park.
Best Time to go for Chimpanzee Tracking in Uganda.
While year-round chimpanzee safaris are offered, January and February and June to September are the two dry seasons in Uganda, which are the ideal times to go chimpanzee trekking. During the dry season, there are intermittent downpours, fewer rainstorms, and dry, more comfortable routes. But keep in mind that the dry season is the region’s busiest and most expensive tourist time, so suitable lodging may be hard to come by.
There are often fewer tourists during the March–May and September–November wet seasons. It’s easier to obtain a permit for gorilla and chimpanzee trekking, and lodging is less expensive. But chimpanzee hiking in Uganda during the rainy season means enduring the unpleasant conditions of heavy downpours, impassable routes, and challenging photography. Because of the alluring nationwide safari discounts, some tourists opt to visit during the rainy season.
The greatest times to go gorilla trekking and see wildlife in Uganda’s savannah parks are in February and March, as well as in September and early October, when the wildlife is gathered around water sources, marking the end of the dry season. Although it’s great all year round, migratory species make for the best viewing between November and April. April and May are excellent months to travel to Uganda and see the gorillas, despite being known as the rainy season. Beautiful vistas abound, and the rain mostly falls in the afternoon for an hour without interfering with activities.