Background Information …
Kibale Forest National Park is located in western Uganda about 5-6 hours drive from Entebbe International airport. This low land tropical rain forest is considered to be one of the few pristine rain forests remaining on the continent of Africa. Kibale National Park has the largest chimpanzee population standing at approximately 1500 individuals and is the best place to trek habituated wild chimpanzees in the whole of Africa. Kibale forest covers an area of 795 square kilometers and is home to wild chimpanzees and other twelve popular primates making it one of the best national parks to visit while on your Uganda Safari. There are a total of 13 species to be found here which, aside from our close relatives the chimpanzees, includes the grey-cheeked mangabey, endangered red colobus, black-and-white colobus, blue monkey, olive baboon, potto, bush baby, red-tailed monkey, and the, rarely seen, Hoest’s monkey. The fascinating chimps tend to be heard before they are seen and their screams pant hoots and barks are used by our local tracking experts to bring you even closer to them. Once you locate the animals you can usually spend up to one hour with them before the forest walk continues in search of other primates. For kin birder, Kibale National Park boasts of several forest birds some of which are endemic to this forest. It has several other animals like elephants, leopards that are rarely spotted.
Where to see Kibale National Park
What to see and do at Kibale National Park
Kibale’s 795km2 National Park contains one of the most beautiful and with the most varying tracts of tropical forest in the whole of Uganda. This is a place for a number of forest wildlife, most especially 13 species of primate coupled with chimpanzees. The Forest covering predominates in the central and northern parts of the park on the raised Fort Portal plateau. At the park’s northern tip, Kibale is highest and stands 1590m above sea levelKibale Safari. You can enjoy a half-day chimpanzee trekking either in the morning or the afternoon or decide to do a whole day chimpanzee habituation experience. Kibale has three habituated communities that can be trekked but in order to reduce food competition, these communities that are composed of 50-150 individuals tend to break up into smaller parties of 10-20 individuals. They will only rejoin in the evening to make their nest. For those interested in birding, Kibale is one of the few places where you can spot over 350 birds. In the nearby Bigodi village, there is a swamp walk that can supplement your chimpanzee trekking and all proceeds from this walk goes to community development projects. You can as well visit the crater lakes region as this area was affected by volcanicity. Located just outside the park itself, the Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary is a highlight of the area, a community-run reserve that provides a great example of how tourism and local communities can work hand-in-hand to benefit the environment. The sanctuary has over 335 bird species and at least five primate species.
