Frequently Asked Questions about Chimpanzee safaris in Kibale National

Overview

The frequently asked questions about Kibale National park in Uganda and answers bring in-depth details about this chimpanzee haven. How to book chimpanzee trekking permits for Kibale National park is one of the commonest questions and the answer is select a date, find availability and reserve the permit as immediately. Contact Us

Kibale National Park is the foremost primate haven in Uganda hosting 13 primate species including chimpanzees, black and white colobus, potto, L’hoest, bush babies, olive baboons, vervet monkeys, red tailed monkeys and others. Over 1500 chimpanzees have been recorded as residents of Kibale National Park.

As a rain forest, Kibale National Park has an astounding vegetation cover with more 315 tree species rising to over 55 meters and a dense canopy.   Chimpanzee trekking and chimpanzee habituation experience CHEX are the top activities to do in Kibale National Park. Chimpanzee trekking is an activity where tourists spend one hour with a fully habituated chimpanzee troop. For chimpanzee habituation experience tourists accompany a team of researchers to have four hours with a semi-habituated chimpanzee community.

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Brief Details About Kibale National Park

Kibale National Park is located in western Uganda covering an area of about 795 kilometers covered by tracts of tropical rain forest. Kibale National Park forest cover is predominantly in the north and central parts on the elevated Fort Portal Plateaus. The main headquarter of Kibale National park is in Kanyanchu and a secondary tourism center at Sebitoli forest

The southern part of Kibale forest is neighbored by Queen Elizabeth National Park with a 180 kilometers migration corridor and this extends from Ishasha to Sebitoli to the north of Kibale. At times the wild animals from Queen Elizabeth National Park cross into Kibale forest. Kibale National Park is situated close to Ndali Kasenda crater area.

Over 1500 chimpanzees have been recorded as residents of Kibale forest and about 12 chimpanzee communities have been recorded as residents of the park. More than 325 bird species including over 6 Albertine rift endemics are part of Kibale forest.

 Kibale National Park being a rain forest receives mean annual rain fall of about 1700mm with the intense rains likely to fall in March to May and September to November. The average temperatures of Kibale National park is 14 degrees to 27 degrees centigrade

How To Book Chimpanzee Permits For Kibale National Park

Choose a date when to do chimpanzee trekking or chimpanzee habituation experience in Kibale National Park.

Check availability of the chimpanzee permits for Kibale as per your choice of date. At Arch Safaris And Tours, we can assist with checking Uganda chimpanzee permit availability when you contact us.

Book the chimpanzee permits as soon as possible because there status changes any time without Warning.

It is best to purchase in full the chimpanzee permits to avoid chances of forgetting to top up. The Uganda chimpanzee permits can also be purchased in instalments that is 30% and 70% respectively. To qualify for this, you must purchase the chimpanzee permit before 90 days to the chimpanzee trekking or chimpanzee habituation experience date. You must remember to top up the chimpanzee permit before 90 days to the Uganda chimpanzee safari date. Forgetting to top up may end in reopening the chimpanzee permit to the public without notifying you.

What Is The Cost Of Chimpanzee Permits For Kibale National Park

Currently, the cost of chimpanzee trekking permits for Kibale National Park is $250 for international nonresidents, $200 for foreign residents, 180,000shs for east Africans.

Inclusions in the cost of chimpanzee trekking permits for Kibale National Park are: one hour with the fully habituated chimpanzee troop, perk entrance fees, conservation support and others.

At the moment the cost of chimpanzee habituation experience permits for Kibale National Park is $300 for internal nonresidents, $250 for international residents and 300,000shs for east Africans.

Inclusions in the cost of chimpanzee habituation experience permits for Kibale National park are: four hours with semi-habituated chimpanzee community, park entrance fees, conservation support and others.

How To Get To Kibale National Park

To get to Kibale National park from Kampala, you get to Mubende to Fort Portal. The distance to cover is about 336 kilometers from Kampala to Kibale National Park via Mubende or Northern approach.  An alternative route from Kampala or Entebbe to Kibale National Park via Mbarara and this is the southern approach.

Air transport from Entebbe Airport or Kajjansi Airstrip to Kasese Airstrip then Kibale National Park is available too. There are domestic scheduled flights and charter flight services can be arranged on request. Do not forget to hire a transfer vehicle to your Lodge.

What Accommodation To Book For Chimpanzee Trekking Or Habituation Experience Safari In Kibale National Park.

Kibale National Park has a variety of accommodation options you can book during chimpanzee trekking or chimpanzee habituation experience. It is best to spend the night before the date of your chimpanzee trekking or chimpanzee habituation experience within or close to Kibale National Park. The accommodations in Kibale National park are categorized into Luxury, Mid Range and basic.

Accommodations in Kibale National Park include Ndali Lodge, Primates Lodge, C.V.K, Chimps Net, Kyaninga Lodge, Kibale safari Lodge, Chimpanzee guesthouse

More Kibale National Park accommodations are situated in Bigodi village and Nkingo village. There are other accommodation options in Fort Portal town which is about 36 kilometers away from Kibale National park.

Are Chimpanzees In Kibale National Park Dangerous Or Aggressive

The chimpanzees in Kibale National Park are not aggressive because they are first habituated a process that helps them to get accustomed to human presence without changing there traits. Chimpanzee habituation takes a sometime until proved ready for public viewing and this is done by professionals.

Chimpanzees in Kibale forest are quite shy especially those that have not gone through the process of habituation and are likely to rush into hiding when humans approach. This is why tourists must attend briefing before chimpanzee trekking or chimpanzee habituation experience to get the most recent information about these primates.  

Even though they are shy primates, the chimpanzees can charge when provoked. When charged, the chimpanzees may hoot, pull grass around them, through fruits and much more. Do not panic upon noticing such odd behavior but stay calm and wait for the ranger guide to find the root cause. Participate in the new ideas that the ranger guide may come up with to calm the chimpanzees.

When you run away, the chimpanzees may rage and cause a stampede in the forest which may disrupt other activities in Kibale Forest National park.

What Is The Cost Of Chimpanzee Trekking Or Chimpanzee Habituation Experience Safari In Kibale National Park.

The cost of chimpanzee trekking or chimpanzee habituation Experience safari to Kibale National Park varies with tour package you choose. The least number of days for chimpanzee trekking or chimpanzee habituation experience safari in Kibale National Park is 3 day Uganda chimpanzee safari. 

The cost of chimpanzee safari to Kibale National Park is about $1300 and beyond. The cost of the chimpanzee safari for Kibale has the price for chimpanzee permit as one of the top expenses.

When costing for chimpanzee safari in Uganda addition of the cost of logistics that support the moments on safari must be considered. These include

• Accommodation expenses
• Transport expenses that is gas or fuel, vehicle hire, driver guide fees, maintenance and others
• Meals have to be considered
• Additional Uganda safari activities to consider chimpanzee trekking

Do not forget to include personal expenses so carry some hard cash to spend as credit cards are not a common means of exchange.

How Long Is The Walk To Chimpanzees Trekking Or Chimpanzee Habituation Expereince In Kibale National Park

The starting time for chimpanzee safaris in Kibale National park is about 0800 hours but you need to report to the ranger station earlier for document verification. After allocating each tourists a troop of chimpanzees to trek, the ranger guides leads them via the trail leading where these primates were last seen.

Time to take to find the chimpanzees in Kibale forest may be hard to determine as some say it may last 2 hours to more depending on prevailing factors in the forest including:

• Food location
• Chimpanzee community mood
• Weather conditions prevailing
• Pace of tourists E.t.c

Note that for chimpanzee trekking only one hour is allowed with them and four hours are allowed with the chimpanzees during chimpanzee habituation experience (CHEX).

Best Time To Do Chimpanzee Habituation Experience Or Chimpanzee Trekking In Kibale National Park

The dry season that is June to October and December to Mid February are most preferred times for chimpanzee trekking in Kibale National park. For chimpanzee habituation experience in Kibale National Park, the wet season is most preferred March to May and November.

During the dry season, the chimpanzee trekking adventures in Kibale National Park are exciting since the trails are quicker to explore. There is generally less undergrowth protruding over to obstruct the way. Even the chimpanzees in Kibale National Park spend most of the time closer to the ground in search for a meal to take them through the day and night.

For chimpanzee habituation experience in Kibale National Park the wet season is normally characterized by fewer visitors in the park so you get more time with the chimpanzees with less disruption. Even those wishing to take chimpanzee photographing or filming safari, this may provide the best moments.

If you want to share the chimpanzee trekking safari with less people, the wet season may offer that opportunity. Even those with a limited budget but wish to do chimpanzee safari in Kibale National Park can take advantage of the wet season.

What Is The Age Limit For Chimpanzee Trekking In Kibale National Park

12 years and beyond is the age limit for chimpanzee trekking in Kibale National park. The children of this age are able to abide by the rules of chimpanzee safaris because violating them may end in agitating these sensitive primates.

Since time of finding the chimpanzees may be hard to determine, patience is necessary which children below 12 years may be incapable of bearing.

At a glance, the chimpanzees may stimulate some adrenaline which is hard to contain for a child below 12 years. This may end in the community of chimpanzees running into hiding.

What guarantees seeing the chimpanzees in Kibale National Park during chimpanzee trekking or chimpanzee habituation Experience

There are about 99% chances of seeing the chimpanzees during chimpanzee trekking and chimpanzee habituation experience in Kibale National Park.

The chimpanzees in Kibale National Park are first habituated to get accustomed to human presence a process that helps them get used to human presence. This is why the chimpanzees are able to withstand humans for atleast one hour during chimpanzee trekking. Although during chimpanzee habituation experience, these primates are semi-habituated and may run into hiding any time, they show up.

Each day a team of ranger guides follows up a chimpanzee community to establish where they may have spent the night, and possible hangout spot for the day. Its these clues that the ranger guide with tourists are able to find the chimpanzees.

As part of the fun of chimpanzee trekking and chimpanzee habituation experience, you may be requested to assist with searching these primates. The chimpanzees may leave behind foot prints, freshly chewed foliage, fresh dung and much more. You can use these clues to locate the chimpanzees. The ranger guide also uses the trail where the chimpanzees were last seen the day before.

How Easy Or Difficult Is Chimpanzee Trekking Or Chimpanzee Habituation Experience In Kibale.

The chimpanzee trekking and chimpanzee habituation experience in Kibale National Park are quite challenging but exciting too. The nature of the topography of Kibale Forest is quite flat so you may move faster in search for the chimpanzees however, there are vines draping down the tree trunks that may obstruct the way.

During the dry season, the chimpanzees are other forest dwellers may spend more time closer to the ground providing better chances of viewing them at a closer range. The wet season keeps the mountain gorillas and other primates up in the canopy so you may require to have a pair of binoculars to get a closer view.

Wear the right gears for chimpanzee trekking or chimpanzee habituation in Kibale National Park to avoid rubbing your skin on some rough surfaces that may cause skin irritation.

Why Do Chimpanzee Trekking Or Chimpanzee Habituation Experience In Kibale National Park

By doing chimpanzee trekking or chimpanzee habituation experience in Uganda Kibale National Park, you get to spend time with these endangered primates in there natural home. Chimpanzees elsewhere in the world live in confinements and there life is influenced by humans. The chimpanzees in Kibale National Park have full control of there day to day activities