Kibale forest national park
In Uganda when you talk of chimpanzee, then most likely you mean the primate destination of the Kibale forest national park also known as the capital of primates there are 13 species within the ecosystem( Chimpanzee, L’hoest monkeys, black and white colobus monkey, red tailed monkeys, blue monkeys, pottos, bush babies, vervet monkeys, grey checked mangabey,olive baboons, to mention a few), it was as gazette as a way of protecting the amalgamation of species ranging from mammals, birds, amphibians, and reptiles the forest is one of the few remaining tracts of the tropical rain forests present today, situated in the Kabarole district in the western part of the pearl of Africa, occupying the largest forest cover of the district approximately 795square kilometers , elevated between 1,160m-2,607m above sea level surrounded by crater lakes, overlooking the fort portal plateau, it is managed under the Uganda wildlife authority.
This region of the western Uganda between the Kibale-Fort portal to the outskirts of the Queen Elizabeth national park is one of the most angelic areas of the country stretching to the Toro Semliki national reserve area, the biological diverse environment is best known for the chimpanzee other mammals like elephants, buffaloes, antelopes, bush pigs, which are rare to see while here the most reason to visit the national park is Chimpanzee tracking there are very high chances of seeing the primates, the primate walk commences at the Kanyanchu visitor center, the very first chimpanzee to be tracked was done in the 1993 following a research that was conducted, the tracking is done in sessions, in the morning and afternoon time following a briefing from the Uganda wildlife park rangers it takes 2-3 hours doing the activity in groups of 6 members per chimpanzee troop an hour is allowed while enjoying the presence of man’s closets relation, they have been scientifically proven to share up to 98% of the human DNA, communicable with their cooing sound, given a chance you will be able to hear them even at distance.
The Bigodi swamp walk is amazing, it presents an opportunity to see more of primates and the many birds of the forest, there are around 370 species of birds in the conservation area 23 of which are endemics of the albertine rift valley region example species include the Nahans Francolin, piapiac, greater blue turaco, sunbirds, green breasted pita. The chimpanzee habituation process is one of the many things to do while in the national park a team of guests is allowed to follow a group of researchers to study primates all day long, it is a great experience for researchers, photographers and students, it begins quite earlier than the tracking at 6:30 am from the park headquarters following a morning briefing from the Uganda wildlife park rangers. Guided nature walks through the beautiful forest routes of the Kibale, night walks will enable you to see some of the nocturnal species of the park like pottos and bush babies.
Kibale forest national park can be visited all year round and accessed in +/-6 hours drive passing through the beautiful small villages and towns of Kagadi district and Fort portal city which is bout an hours drive to the park for this town, there is available accommodation ranging from the best budget to Luxrury.