Uganda’s western area is home to Kibale National Park. The 795 km2 moist evergreen forest is preserved within the park. At 1,100 to 1,590 metres above sea level, it is located. Kibale is one of the few national parks in East Africa that still contains a substantial portion of pre-montane forest, consisting of both lowland and montane forest.
Thirteen primate species including chimpanzees, Olive Baboons, Bush babies/Demidoff Galago, Black and White Colobus, Potto, Vervet monkeys, Blue monkeys, and Grey Cheeked Mangabey are among the seventy mammal species that call the park home. With 375 different bird species, including the African and Green-breasted pittas, Abyssinian groundthrush, Crowned eagle, Dusky crimsonwing, Black-capped and Collared apalis, Purple-breasted sunbird, Black bee-eater, Yellow-spotted nicator, Little greenbul, Black-eared groundthrush, Brown-chested alethe, Yellow-rumped tinker bird, and Blue-breasted kingfisher, it is also a popular spot for bird watchers.
The best place to go chimpanzee tracking in East Africa and throughout Africa is Kibale National Park, which is well-known for having more chimpanzees than any other park in the region—over 1500 total. Kibale National Park is home to one of Uganda’s most exquisite natural forests, characterised by a lush tropical rain forest and an amazing array of species. Kibale Forest National Park, one of Uganda’s most famous tourist sites, is home to a wide variety of primates. It is particularly well-known for chimpanzee tracking trips, which allow visitors to see chimps in huge groups in their natural habitat.
Kibale National Park is located in Western Uganda, 20 km southeast of Fort Portal town and 24 km east of the foothills of the Rwenzori Mountains. Four districts make up the park: Kabarole, Kyenjojo, Kamwenge, and Kasese. Travellers to Kibale from Kampala must go through Fort Portal on the Mubende or Kasese routes. An alternate, albeit seldom taken route from Mbarara goes through Ibanda and Kamwenge.
Tourism Activities in Kibale National Park
Chimpanzee Tracking
The briefing for chimpanzee tracking takes place at the Kanyanchu Tourist Centre at 8 a.m. and lasts for two to four hours. Visitors find the activity, which highlights the variety of monkeys in the forest, to be quite popular. You have a better than 90% probability of seeing the chimpanzees, though this cannot be guaranteed. There can only be 12 participants per group for this walk. There are morning and afternoon classes held. The ranger guides will accompany you, and after they locate the chimpanzees, visitors are required to spend an hour with them. You will thus become familiar with their behaviours, particularly with regard to playing and eating habits.
Chimpanzee Habituation Experience
When compared to chimpanzee tracking, the experience of chimpanzee habituation is very distinct. The experience begins with a briefing at the Kanyanchu Tourist Centre. Unlike chimpanzee tracking, when tourists are just escorted by guides, this experience involves people being escorted into the forest by a group of ranger guides and researchers. You meet the chimpanzees where they made their nests the night before and spend the next four hours interacting with these closest of all animals to humans. You depart between 6:00 and 6:30 in the morning. Just as dawn is breaking, you will spend the remainder of the day with the chimpanzee group as they awaken from their slumber and prepare to build their nest in the evening.
Guided Nature Walk
It’s possible that you’ll spot a range of birds, monkeys, and even duikers and bush pigs. The hike starts in Kanyanchu at 8 a.m. and ends at the elephant wallow at about 2 p.m. When you go back, plan to have lunch at the Community canteen and pack some snacks. At this time, a black and white Colobus monkey was observed there. In addition to hiking, Kibale National Park is a popular destination for day and nighttime nature walks. It exposes customers to wildlife and plants. During the daytime and nighttime nature excursions for the nocturnal, the ranger guide will describe the numerous plant types and their purposes, especially medicinal herbs. numerous bird species will also be noticed.
Visitors to Bigodi Wetland Nature Walk can view distinctive plants and animals. It is situated in the Magombe Swamp and is a fascinating area. Numerous primates species, including the red colobus monkey, baboon, black and white colobus monkey, blue monkey, grey cheeked, mangabey, vervet monkey, red-tailed monkey, and L’Hoest monkey, are known to exist in this area.
Bird Watching
Kibale National Park is home to 375 bird species, including 138 bird species at the Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary. Among the many rare bird species found here are the White-collared Oliveback, Papyrus Gonolek, and Papyrus Canary White-winged Warbler. The park is also home to large numbers of primates. The morning bird viewing excursion departs from Kanyanchu at 7:00 a.m., and the evening tour departs at approximately 3:00 p.m. Black Bishop, Grey-winged Robin-chat, White-breasted Negrofinch, Yellow-spotted Barbet, Hairy-breasted Barbet, Yellow-billed Barbet, Western Nicator, Brown-throated Wattle-eye, Superb Sunbird, Brown-crowned Tchagra, White-tailed Ant-thrush, Brown-backed Scrub-robin, White-spotted Flufftail, Yellow-spotted Barbet, and Yellow-billed Barbet are a few more amazing bird species to see at Kibale National Park.