Gorilla Habituation And Chimpanzee Habituation Experience Safari In Uganda 5 day

Gorilla Habituation And Chimpanzee Habituation Experience Safari in Uganda 5 day

The gorilla habituation and chimpanzee habituation experience safari in Uganda is one of the unique and special African primate adventure. Compared to gorilla and chimpanzee trekking where one hour is allowed with these primates, gorilla and chimpanzee habituation experience allow four hours with the primates.

In Uganda, gorilla habituation experience is currently happening in southern part of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park with currently four gorilla families open to the public. During chimpanzee habituation experience in Uganda four hours are allowed with the chimpanzees. At the moment, Kibale National Park and Budongo forest are the chimpanzee habituation destinations. enquire

For both gorilla and chimpanzee habituation safaris in Uganda, you must reserve a permit that allows you to be part of this adventure. Note that the maximum number of gorilla and chimpanzee habituation experience permits are open to the public is four. The gorilla and chimpanzee troops under habituation process are semi-habituated so still posses there natural traits.

5 Day Gorilla Habituation And Chimpanzee Habituation Experience In Uganda

Highlights

Day 1 Drive to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

Day 2 Gorilla Habituation experience in Uganda

Day 3 Drive to Kibale National Park

Day 4 Chimpanzee habituation experience in Kibale National Park

Day 5 Departure

Details Of 5 Day Gorilla Habituation And Chimpanzee Habituation Experience In Uganda

Day 1 Drive to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

Drive to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park early morning with enroute breaks and lunch. The distance to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is about 530 kilometers and time taken is about 8 to 9 hours. On the way, you may stop at the equator for a photoshoot standing on both sides of the equator at the same time.

Bwindi forest is dense with an amazing history that dates back to over 25,000 years, rich fauna and flora, stunning scenery and much more. For better administration, Bwindi forest was divided into four areas that is Buhoma, Ruhija, Nkuringo and Rushaga. Most safari activities in Bwindi Impenetrable National park are done according to four areas. Even accommodations to use during safaris in Bwindi are reserved according to the four Bwindi areas.

Check in your lodge

Bwindi accommodations Gorilla Safari lodge, Nshongi Camp, Clouds lodge, Bwindi Backpacker’s Camp

Day 2 Gorilla Habituation Experience in Uganda

Rise up early for breakfast and report to the ranger station for briefing. Donot forget to carry the necessary gorilla habituation experience gears. Present all necessary documents for verification and listen carefully to the rules of gorilla safaris. Later each tourists is allocated a gorilla family to trek.

By using the trail head leading where the gorilla family was last seen the previous day, explore and search for the mountain gorillas. Finding the mountain gorillas may take some time, but open yourself to seeing other inhabitants.

Upon finding the mountain gorillas, watch the family go about there day today activities, take photos or film every moment as it unfolds. The mountain gorillas may show some cowardly signs but try not to push so hard because they are still not used to human presence. The researchers may request you to assists with collection some samples, take notes and much more.

Remember four hours are allowed with the mountain gorillas during the gorilla habituation experience. Get back to the lodge to relax.

Day 3 Drive to Kibale National Park

Get up for breakfast and drive to Kibale National Park. The distance from Bwindi Impenetrable National Park to Kibale National Park is about 368.5 kilometers with drive time of about 6 to 7 hours. You may choose an option of a stopover in Queen Elizabeth National Park for a game drive enroute in case you use the road via Ishasha sector.

Kibale National Park is a tropical rain forest and hone to 13 primate species including the chimpanzees. In Uganda, the largest population of chimpanzees is found in Kibale National Park with a population of over 1500 of the more than 5000 chimpanzees that Uganda has. The headquarters of Kibale National Park is in Kanyanchu and a secondary center in Sebitoli.

Beyond the chimpanzees, Kibale National Park is home to more than 325 bird species including Albertine rift endemics. Sometimes other wild animals cross into Kibale forest via the 180 kilometers migration corridor the park shares with Queen Elizabeth National Park. A number of fully grown tree species can be seen during the chimpanzee habituation adventure in the park.

Day 4 Chimpanzee Habituation Experience In Kibale National Park

Rise up early for breakfast and carrying your chimpanzee habituation gears, report to the Ranger station for document verification and briefing. After allocating tourists a chimpanzee community, they follow a team of habituators to begin the search for the chimpanzees. Remember these chimpanzees are semi-habituated and may present some odd traits.

Before finding, the chimpanzees, on the way, you may spot other primates including black and white colobus, olive baboons, vervet monkeys, grey cheeked mangabey, bush babies, pottos and many others. Keen birders have a double opportunity to identify a number of bird species that the forest hosts.

As you get closer to the chimpanzees, you may hear them murmur and grumble but they may continue doing what you found them doing. Enjoy the presence of the chimpanzees and watch them groom, nurture, feed, discipline, play and so much more. Try to avoid staring into the eyes of the chimpanzees because this may seem suspicious and cause them to go into hiding.

Four hours are allowed with the chimpanzees during chimpanzee habituation experience in Kibale National Park however be at your best behavior and per the rules. Take as many photos as you can and film the chimpanzees in there natural setting where they are the masters of there daily activities. When in confinement the life of the chimpanzees is partially dictated.

Get back to the lodge to have a recap and relax.

Day 5 Departure

Gorilla and chimpanzee habituation experience in Uganda gets you extra time with the primates. You get to watch both primates in there natural setting without panicking. Depart to catch up with your homebound flight.

Note

Flying gorilla and chimpanzee safaris can be arranged on request.  There is availability of both scheduled and charter flights on Uganda safari.

How Much is The cost of 5 day Gorilla And Chimpanzee Habituation experience in Uganda

The cost of 5 day gorilla habituation and chimpanzee habituation experience Uganda safari is categorized into luxury, mid-range ad basic. The cost of the habituation permits is across all categories. Currently the cost of the gorilla habituation experience permit is $1500 per person.

The current cost of chimpanzee habituation experience permit for Kibale National Park is $300 per person.

Inclusions in the cost of gorilla and chimpanzee habituation experience permits are four hours of either gorilla or chimpanzee habituation, park entrance fees, ranger guide fees and others.

Transport costs to the safari destinations including

• Gas or fuel
• Vehicle hire
• Driver guide fees
• Vehicle maintenance

Accommodation costs for the Uganda safari including

• Room reservation
• Meals
• Laundry service

What Are Requirements For The Chimpanzee And Gorilla Habituation Experience On Uganda Safari

Book both Uganda Gorilla and chimpanzee habituation experience permits

Reserve a gorilla and chimpanzee habituation experience permits as early as you can because there supply is limited that is 4 permits per day. This requires advance booking especially in the peak tourism season when multitudes of tourists reserve the permits. Some tourists secure their gorilla and chimpanzee habituation permits as early as a year upfront.

The availability of gorilla and chimpanzee permits narrows down as the season unfolds and for last minute bookers, it may be hard to find permit availability.

Bear Some level of fitness before gorilla and chimpanzee habituation safari

Having some level of fitness is recommended before the gorilla and chimpanzee habituation experience in Uganda. This is because of the nature of the topography of Bwindi forest which is quite steep from the serious volcanic activities that affected the Virunga area. Sometimes the mountain gorillas spend time on the slopes or deep in the valleys so you have to catch up with them.

No need to do vigorous exercises in preparation for the gorilla habituation experience safari in Uganda but do simple exercises that can stretch your muscles beyond normal. Check with your fitness instructors for extra exercises you wish to add.

Reserve accommodations for the gorilla and chimpanzee habituation adventure

Both Kibale National Park and Bwindi impenetrable National Park have different categories of accommodations you can choose to use during this primate safari. Note the accommodations for Bwindi Impenetrable National Park are better to reserve within or closer to the area where it was booked. Gorilla habituation experience in Bwindi is currently happening in the southern part of the park.

Ensure to know the inclusions in the cost of accommodation you choose to use on the gorilla and chimpanzee habituation safari so that you can plan before. When you spend the night before the either the gorilla or chimpanzee habituation adventure within or close to the destination, it is time saving. Both gorilla and chimpanzee habituation experience in Uganda start very early morning with compulsory briefing.

Book Transport to use on the gorilla and chimpanzee habituation experience safari in Uganda

Road transport is the main means to use to get to the Uganda safari destinations. It is more comfortable to travel with a 4×4 wheel drive vehicle in good condition. The roads in the country are very messy sometimes and bumpy too.

Flying gorilla and chimpanzee habituation safaris can be arranged on request. Ensure to hire a transfer vehicle from the airstrip to your lodge. For Bwindi Impenetrable National Park the planes land at Kisoro airstrip or at Kasese airstrip for Kibale National Park.

Additional Uganda safari requirements

• Pack the right gorilla and chimpanzee habituation experience gears.
• Carry extra hard cash to use during gorilla and chimpanzee habituation experience
• The age limit for gorilla and chimpanzee habituation experience in Uganda is 12 years and over.

What To Expect On Gorilla And Chimpanzee Habituation Experience On Uganda Safari

The gorillas and chimpanzees are semi-habituated

During the search for both mountain gorillas and chimpanzees expect them to show some odd behavior. These primates still posses there wild traits and are still very suspicious of human presence. Not all the gorilla or chimpanzees get to adopt to human presence at the same time so expect some to be timid. You need to bear extra patience and abide by the rules of gorilla or chimpanzee safaris.

At times the mountain gorillas or chimpanzees may run into hiding while watching them. Do have some level of patience all this time. Four hours are allowed with either the mountain gorillas or chimpanzees and this time was set to cover up for such an occurrence.

Other Tourists on Gorilla and chimpanzee Habituation Safari

Expect to share the gorilla and chimpanzee habituation experience with other three tourist maximum with a team of habituators and ranger guides. Even though time of finding the chimpanzees or mountain gorillas is hard to determine, some level of patience is necessary. Donot slow down the rest of the group even though the ranger guide follows the pace of the slowest tourist. Donot get away from the rest of the group as you may be forgotten in the wilderness.

Change on the mood or the mountain gorillas or chimpanzees

During the gorilla and chimpanzee habituation experience, even though a rare occurrence, expect these primates to have mood Swings. The mountain gorilla are normally known to be calm and shy primates. These primates can charge when provoked but incase you notice some abnormal behavior, donot panic.

Some of the odd behaviors that the chimpanzees or mountain gorillas may show include, hooting, chest thumping for gorilla, throwing fruits or pulling the foliage and much more.

Try to control your anxiety when you notice such behavior in order not to seem suspicious before these primates. Wait for the ranger guide to establish the route case of the matter and follow the new instructions he or she may give to control the situation. You may be required to show submission, imitate chewing foliage, make some sounds and others. Such moments are what puts both gorilla and chimpanzee habituation experiences on the top tier of the African Safari.