What is chimpanzee Tracking?
Chimpanzee tracking, one of the most popular wildlife activities in Uganda, allows you to step into the world of chimpanzees in the wild. Uganda Wildlife Authority Interpretive Rangers lead a small group (maximum of 8) into the realm of the chimps.
The treks last about three hours and include a maximum of one hour with the chimps, during which you can expect to see them from a safe but intimate distance of 8-10 metres. Get up close and personal with the chimpanzees and discover their beauty, intelligence, and social structures.
What is chimpanzee habituation?
Chimpanzee habituation is a fully immersive experience. You can join the researchers of the habituation team for a half or full day excursion deep into the forest. These chimps are less used to human presence and so the experience is more unpredictable.
Whilst it can be challenging to follow the lead of these agile primates, the experience is thoroughly rewarding.
The main difference between the standard chimp treks and the habituation experience is how long you spend with the chimps. The habituation experience allows you to spend much longer in the company of the chimps. Â
Where can I go chimpanzee trekking in Uganda?
Kibale National Park
Home to around 1,500 chimpanzees, Kibale Forest National Park is the main chimpanzee trekking destination in Uganda.
Located in South-West Uganda, the rainforest is easily accessible from Kampala or Entebbe.
The forest has excellent chimp populations, and the park has become synonymous with chimpanzees. The chances of sightings here are at 90% or more, and the park sits along the south-western safari circuit so is easy to combine with other experiences.
The tracking excursions depart twice a day at 08:00 and 14:00 and the morning excursions are busier since many itineraries combine it with an afternoon visit to the Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary.
Tracking permits are required, and they can be booked through the Uganda Wildlife Authority.
Chimp habituation experiences are also available at Kibale. For those joining for the full day, you will join the chimps from when they break nests at about 06:30 until they nest again for the night at about 19:00.
Budongo Forest Reserve, Murchison Falls National Park
Murchison Falls National Park is Uganda’s best safari destination.
The sheer diversity of experiences on offer here is incredible. A single visit can combine game drives, boat cruises, chimp trekking, hikes to epic waterfalls and landscapes, and sundowners at boutique lodges overlooking the savannah.
In the wooded south of the beautiful park, the Budongo Forest Reserve is an excellent location for chimpanzee tracking.
Budongo’s contact rate is about 80% which is higher than that of Kyambura Gorge in Queen Elizabeth National Park. Whilst sighting chances are higher at Kibale, the lower visitor numbers makes the experience more personal. Tracking permits can be booked through the National Forestry Authority.
Sit with the chimps on their turf.
The guiding is particularly good at Budongo, and up to 6 guided groups of 3 people track the chimps each morning and afternoon.
The centre’s historical association with the Jane Goodall Institute means that the interpretive guides are excellent at telling the wider story of the chimps and the forest.
A classic tracking excursion lasts around three hours and contact is usually made after only an hour of walking. A full day habituation experience is also available here for adventurers who seek an extended encounter with the chimps.
Kyambura Gorge, Queen Elizabeth National Park
A delightfully secret cleft in the surface of the otherwise flat savannah bordering Queen Elizabeth National Park, Kyambura Gorge is the third most popular chimp trekking destination in Uganda.
Situated in the far east of the Queen Elizabeth National Park, Kyambura Gorge is nicknamed ‘the valley of the apes’. The product of centuries of erosion by the Kyambura River, the dense forest which covers the gorge sides is a prime habitat for chimpanzees.
As an experienced Ugandan Wildlife Authority guide leads you into this secret forest, you will feel like you have entered another world.
Only 17 chimps inhabit the gorge and the chances of seeing them are about 60%. The sights and sounds of the forest generate suspense and make a sighting even more rewarding. Tracking permits can be booked through the Uganda Wildlife Authority (if you book with us all of this is taken care of for you).
Kyambura Gorge is usually included as an add-on to an existing safari at Queens, as the park has excellent bio-diversity so is usually visited for game drives, boat cruises, and for the tree-climbing lions in Ishasha Sector of the park.
Semiliki Wildlife Reserve
In the western corner of Uganda, the Semliki Valley is home to a small population of chimpanzees.
Don’t expect it to be easy to find the chimps in Semliki. The dry and sparse forest environment means they have to roam far and wide to secure enough food.
The research programme here is on the cutting edge as they try to work out the relationship between the chimps walking on two legs and the evolution of our own species.
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