Chimpanzee trekking in Kibale National Park is one of the biggest game activities that are done in Uganda’s tourism industry, as many tourists come to Uganda to engage in this activity.
Kibale National Park is an evergreen moist forest filled national park located in the western region of Uganda, covering an area of 776 square kilometers. Kibale National Park is one of the remaining ecological areas in Africa containing both montane and lowland forest trees. Kibale National Park’s canopy influences the life of the rare primate chimpanzees, making the park a very prominent destination for chimpanzee tracking.
Kibale National Park is a marvelous spot for both flora and fauna, and it was declared a national park in 1993 primarily to protect various species of flora and fauna from poaching and deforestation, which were practiced by neighboring communities of Batooro and Bakiga. Kibale National Park is found in the center of the Toro kingdom, with Fort Portal as the nearest town neighboring Queen Elizabeth National Park, the Rwenzori Mountains, and Semiliki National Park.
The park is gifted with over 325 bird species, including dusky crimson-winged, black-capped apalis, blue-headed sunbird, collared apalis, red-faced woodland warbler, and purple-breasted sunbird, primates including red colobus monkey, black and white colobus, red-tailed monkey, Blue monkey, Olive baboon, bush baby, potto, chimpanzees, and numerous animals, including elephants with colourful butterflies.
Chimpanzee trekking in Kibale is the tracking down of chimpanzees in their natural habitat, which is amidst the forest in their habituated form. Chimpanzees in Kibale National Park are habituated, which basically means a process of getting the primates comfortable with human presence, making them less rebellious to human beings and their presence.
Chimpanzees are close relatives to human beings, sharing up to 98% of DNA composition, which makes them variable to human diseases. They are omnivorous creatures feeding on leaves, fruits, roots, and insects. Adult chimpanzees’ weight ranges from 34 to 70 kilograms for males and 20 to 50 kilograms for females. They have a height of 3 meters for males, 2-4 feet for females, and their life span is 40 years for free chimpanzees and 60 years for chimpanzees living in cages. Female chimpanzees are tasked with taking care of the young chimpanzees for a period of 4 years, and all chimpanzees make new nests every day.
Kibale National Park creates a 180-kilometer wildlife corridor with Ishasha, the southern sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park, and Sebitoli in the north of Kibale. This national park is home to approximately 1,450 individuals of chimpanzees with four Chimpanzee families, that is, the Sebitoli community, the Kanyawara group of 50-60 individuals.
The Kanyanchu group, which is the easiest group to track and has been tracked since 1993, is another Chimpanzee group found in the middle of the park with about 200 Chimpanzee individuals. Chimpanzee trekking in Kibale is approximately a 12-kilometer trek, and it starts at about 8 am from the Kanyanchu visitors center, where a professional guide is assigned to trackers, and it lasts about 2 to 5 hours, depending on the location of the previous day.
Chimpanzees are trekked throughout the year, even during the low season in the months of March, April, May, and November. For tourists going for a chimpanzee tracking experience, only 6 people are allowed in a group on a chimpanzee tracking adventure, and to be authorized to participate in it, you need to have a chimpanzee tracking permit.
A chimpanzee permit is purchased at the Uganda Wildlife Authority at different costs according to your citizenship status. A single chimpanzee tracking permit for foreign non-residents is priced at US$ 150, US$ 100 for foreign residents with valid work permits, and for all East African citizens, the permit goes for 100,000 Uganda shillings (Ugandans, Kenyans, Tanzanians, Rwandese, and Burundians).
With this permit, you will be allowed to spend only an hour with the chimpanzees. Given that chimpanzee permits are very competitive, it is advisable to book a chimpanzee tracking permit 5 months before your actual day of tracking, especially if you are trekking in a peak season when the demand for permits is high.
For a wonderful chimpanzee trekking in Kibale, there are a couple of rules and regulations that were designed by the Uganda Wildlife Authority, which are advisable to be followed for conservation and animal behavior. Some of these rules include;
- Ill/sick tourists are not allowed to participate in trekking as they may infect the chimpanzees
- Tourists below the age of 15 are not allowed to go tracking
- Minimize your noise and movement while in the park
- Do not eat in front of the chimpanzees, as they might attack you to take what you are eating
- Only 6 people are allowed in a group for tracking
- Restrain from provoking or mimicking chimpanzee actions
- Use of flashlight cameras is strongly prohibited as the flashes irritate the chimpanzees
- Always stay at a distance of 8 meters from the chimpanzees
- Always stay in a group, avoid leaving your group mates behind or them leaving you.
These are some of the trekking gear necessary for the chimpanzee trekking in Kibale National Park
- A pair of binoculars
- A rain jacket and a sweater in case the weather changes
- Long-sleeved shirts
- Tough fabric pants
- Strong hiking shoes to help you to walk through the slippery trails
- A camera for taking pictures
- Insect repellents
- Sunscreen and sunglasses to prevent you from getting too much sunshine and from getting insects into your eyes
- Drinking water and energizers
- Packed launch, as you might return late from the expedition
Kibale National Park is approximately a 4-hour drive from Kampala, the capital city of Uganda, and it can be accessed by both air and road. Kibale National Park is 22 kilometers southwest of Fort Portal town, and on the road, you can use the Kampala route via Mubende and Fort Portal to get into the park from the north.
From the south, it can be accessed using the Kampala route via Mbarara and Kamwenge. By air, the park can be accessed via Kasese airstrip and a 150-kilometer drive to Fort Portal, where you connect to the park and Toro airstrip, which is 86 kilometers from Kanyanchu.
Kibale National Park accommodations vary depending on the visitor’s budget. Lodges vary in budget, mid-range, luxury, and up-market. Some of the Up-market lodges include: Kyaninga lodge and Ndali lodge. Luxury lodges include Primate lodges and Crater safari lodge.
Mid-range accommodations include Chimpanzee guesthouse, Isunga lodge, and Kibale forest Camp, budget lodges include: Rweteera safari park, Kanyanchu river camp, Sebitoli camping ground, to mention but a few.
