Kibale Forest National Park: East Africa's Primate Capital

East Africa’s primate capital - Kibale forest national park is situated in Western Uganda’s district of Kabarole. The 795km² park was established by the Uganda government in 1993 to protect its multiplicity that consists of primates, mammals, birds, insects, reptiles and different vegetation covers among others.

Making your journey to Kibale forest national park

Your journey to the park by road is roughly six hours on an average speed. It’s about 300km from the capital – Kampala to Fort Portal town which is also the nearest big town to the park. Roughly 36 km South East of this town lies the Kibale forest national park. There other routes that can to get to you to this park however the Fort Portal road is an easier, quicker and better option if driving from Entebbe or Kampala. On a standard drive, it’s approximately 6 hours on a paved and smooth road all the way. You may opt to take a lunch break in Fort portal town before doing the last part of your journey about 45 minutes away.

Exploiting Kibale forest park and surroundings

The tropical rainforest park is said to be among the richest in terms of diversity in the whole of Africa with 13 different species of primates including man’s closest relative - the chimpanzee, 375 bird species, 250 types of butterflies, 20 reptile species, nocturnal such as bush baby, serval cat, common genet, and African civet among others. The park is also home to over 200 different tree types recorded some of which are over 200 years old and others are endangered.

Kibale forest national park also links to South of Queen Elizabeth Park formulating a 180km corridor for wildlife between Sebitoli – North of Kibale Park and Ishasha in Queen Elizabeth Park. Other resident mammals in Kibale national park are forest elephant, buffalo, bushbuck, sitatunga, forest hog, and duikers.

This kind of diversification of the park and surroundings gives you a range of activities to take part in such as;

Chimp trekking, CHEX, birding, night walk, swamp walk, and crater walk among others.

Tips on how to engage in the activities of Kibale National Park

Chimpanzee trekking; Kibale forest national park is most recognized for its abundance of chimpanzees. It’s estimated that the park has over 4000 individuals of which 4 communities have been habituated meaning these are accustomed to human presence much as they are still wild and living in their natural habitat.

For a visitor to go chimp trekking, you need an advance booking (we do book this and other activities for you) to acquire what is known as a chimp TRACKING PERMIT. Depending on availability, the park offers 2 chimp trekking sessions; morning (referred to as AM) starting at 8am and the afternoon (referred to as PM) nwhich begins at 2pm.

The activity starts off with a pre briefing at the park offices – Kanyanchu Visitors Centre from the park guide taking you through on how to conduct oneself during the trekking exercise. After the briefing, visitors are allocated into groups of six and then set out with their armed park guide for forest the excursion.

Chimp trekking exercise takes on average 5 hours of which you are limited to 1 hour with the chimps once you find them. During this excursion you are advised to dress in long pants, long sleeve shirts, closed water proof hiking boots, carry some drinking water, rain gear and insect repellent.

CHEX; this is chimpanzee habituation experience – a pre booked expedition (we book this and other activities for you) that lets the visitor join the research and habituation team into the rainforest for either a full or half day experience with the chimpanzees. This activity starts very early in the morning around 6am and  gives the visitor a chance to observe our closest relatives leave their nests and kick start their daily activities such as feeding, breeding, hunting, nurturing, patrolling and finally at dusk when they make new nests for the night.

Birding; Kibale forest is home to over 375 bird species recorded giving a birder a possibility to spot some of the wetland and forest bird species during your forest birding trip all year round. The forest bird watching excursion starts at the park Visitor’s Information Centre and is guided and paid for. Prior arrangement is required so as to provide you with an experienced birding guide.

Outside the park, you can also go birding to a community managed Bigodi wetland sanctuary. This area is home to approximately 135 recorded bird species. The wetland has a good network of board trials and experience community bird guides to take you on a private birding tour that lasts about 3 hours.

Night Forest Walk; Kibale national park offers guided night forest walks as part of their activities. During this activity, you may see some of the night life such as common genet, African civet, bush baby, serval cat; hear the sounds from crickets among others. The activity takes about 2 hours.

Crater community walk; this is a locally guided walk offered by the community and it lasts for about 3 hours. The walk takes you through the local communities, farm lands, crater lakes, coffee plantations, tea plantations among others. The walk is so colorful with many children along the path waving and chanting at you, the scenic views and the fresh breath form the greenery around you.

The highlight of the crater walk is getting to the Top of the World – here you have magnificent and amazing views from the top. On a clear day you may see the mountains of the moon, several crater lakes, green covered hills and different kinds of birds drifting in the air. There’s a hotel set up here where you can relax, have yourself a drink or snack as you enjoy the beauty of the top of the world.

Where to stay

While planning your trip to Kibale national park, accommodation should not be a challenge to you. There is quite a variety of accommodations to choose from ranging from the budget, midrange and high end facilities such as;

• Kibale forest camp - https://naturelodgesuganda.com/kibale-forest-camp/
• Isunga lodge - https://isungalodge.com/
• Primate Lodge - https://ugandalodges.com/primate/
• Ndali lodge - https://www.ndalilodge.com/

This article was submitted by Robert Kimbugwe.
Robert is a freelance tour driver-guide with extensive guiding experience in Uganda, Rwanda, Eastern Democtratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, and Tanzania