How to Plan The gorilla Trekking Safari and Chimpanzee Trekking in Uganda

To plan for the gorilla and chimpanzee trekking safari in Uganda, you must have dates when you hope to be part of this adventure. Identify the eligible persons who hope to join you during the gorilla safari and chimpanzee trekking adventure in Uganda. This helps to ease checking gorilla or chimpanzee permit availability from the list of Uganda Wildlife authority.

Booking the Uganda gorilla and chimpanzee trekking permits is key in confirming this adventure. In Uganda, the Uganda Wildlife Authority has the mandate to sell and regulate the gorilla and chimpanzee permits. The number of these Uganda primates permit cards is restricted to reduce in the effects of mass tourism to the environment where the mountain gorillas and chimpanzees survive.

Reserve accommodations to use during the gorilla trekking and chimpanzee trekking safari in advance because finding availability of space is quite hard especially in the high tourism season. Besides when the gorilla permit is booked especially the gorilla trekking permits for Bwindi, they are reserved according to the four areas under which the park was divided so even accommodation has to be according to these areas.

Select additional Uganda safari destinations you would love to visit before or after the gorilla trekking and chimpanzee trekking tour as Uganda is a country bestowed with nature.

3 day Gorilla Trekking in Uganda

4 day Gorilla Trekking in Uganda

5 Day Gorilla and chimpanzee Trekking in Uganda

6 day Gorilla Trekking and Tour in Uganda

7 day Gorilla, chimpanzees and Wildlife Tour in Uganda

3 day Gorilla, Chimpanzee Trekking in Rwanda

10 day Uganda Gorilla, Chimpanzee and Wildlife Tour

Where To Go For Gorilla Trekking Safari And Chimpanzee Trekking In Uganda

The Gorilla trekking safari destination in Uganda

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is the largest gorilla trekking safari destination in Uganda. This pristine forested park is a biosphere reserve that has a long list of flora and fauna a position owed to its age of over 25000 years. The mountain gorillas in Bwindi are amongst the few leftover in the world sharing them with Rwanda and D.R.Congo.

At the moment, Bwindi impenetrable National Park is home to approximately 19 gorilla trekking families in four areas that is Buhoma, Rushaga, Ruhija and Nkuringo. It is under these four areas of Bwindi that gorilla trekking permits for this park are booked.

Because of the vast size of Bwindi forest, crossing from one area to another is quite challenging and even the nature of the topography of Bwindi forest is composed of several highlands which are quite hard to drive or walk through.

Other than the mountain gorillas, Bwindi impenetrable National Park has an impressive list of species of which includes 200 tree species, 310 butterflies, 120 mammals, 88 months and others. The list of other residents primates of Bwindi is unbelievable some of them including wild chimpanzees, l’hoest, black and white colobus, blue monkeys, grey cheeked mangabey, olive baboons and others.

Chimpanzee Trekking safari Destination in Uganda

Kibale National Park

Kibale National Park is one of the major chimpanzee trekking destinations in Uganda. In terms of numbers, Kibale National Park hosts the largest chimpanzee population in Uganda with over 1500 chimpanzees recorded. At the moment about 12 chimpanzee communities in Kibale National Park are open to the public.

Other than the chimpanzees, Kibale National Park is home to other 12 primate species including pottos, bush babies, L’hoest, black and white colobus, red-tailed monkeys, olive baboons and others. A rich bird life has been recorded in Kibale National Park with over 325 bird species including Albertine rift endemics.

Some wild animals usually cross from Queen Elizabeth National Park via the 180 kilometers long migration corridor situated in the northern point of Kibale National Park. This is one reason why before entering Kibale for rest for any activity, you must be in company of a ranger guide.

Other than chimpanzees trekking in Kibale National Park, you may do chimpanzee habituation experience too where tourists accompany a team of researchers to have four hours with a semi-habituated community of chimpanzees.

When Is The Best Time To Do The Gorilla Trekking And Chimpanzee Trekking Tour

The best time to do the gorilla trekking and chimpanzee trekking safari in Uganda is the dry season even though any time is safari time in Uganda. The destinations where gorilla trekking and chimpanzee trekking safaris happen are known to be moist all year but the dry seasons are quite different. There is more sunlight allowed through the dense canopy so the ground is drier and comfortable to walk over.

Most of the day, the mountain gorillas and chimpanzees spend more time closer to the ground because they have to find what to eat as there is scarcity of food in the dry season. The dry season is normally June to October and December to January and this is the high tourism season in Uganda too.

Since this is the high tourism season of Uganda, ensure to reserve the necessary logistics that support the gorilla trekking and chimpanzee trekking safaris in Uganda such as accommodations, transport and others.

The wet season that is normally March to May and November is not bad timing to plan the gorilla trekking and chimpanzee trekking safari in Uganda. No matter the season, be sure to find the mountain gorillas and chimpanzees in the wilderness.

How much is the cost of gorilla trekking safari and chimpanzee trekking in Uganda

The cost of the gorilla and chimpanzee trekking safari varies with the package of the safari you choose from luxury, mid-range or basic. The cost of the gorilla or chimpanzee trekking permits supersedes other costs and at the moment the cost of the

Gorilla trekking permit cost  in Uganda is $800 for international nonresidents, $700 for foreign residents, $500 for other African and 300000shs for East Africans. The cost of the gorilla trekking permit includes park entrance fees, ranger guide fees, security, conservation fee and others.

Chimpanzee trekking permit cost in Uganda for Kibale National Park is $250 for international nonresidents, $200 for Foreign residents and 180000shs for East Africans.

The cost of other related logistics necessary for gorilla and chimpanzee safaris vary according to budget that is the cost of accommodation, means of transport to the destination and others.

At Arch safaris and tours, we have a team of safari consultants who work with our clients to build the most suitable safari itinerary and avail a quotation that is affordable, convenient, flexible and within your budget. Contact Us

What to Expect During the Gorilla trekking and chimpanzee Trekking Safari in Uganda

Expect to share the gorilla trekking and chimpanzee trekking safari with other tourists unless you decide to close off the rest of the gorilla or chimpanzee permits so that you can exclusively have these primates to yourself and the people travelling with.

On gorilla trekking or chimpanzee trekking day, every tourists must report to the ranger station atleast before 0700 hours for briefing and document verification.

The criteria used to allocate the gorilla trekking families and chimpanzee trekking troops is quite hard to determine so you may find yourself having this adventure experience with others rather than the people travelling with. Open your mind to this adventure because this provides a wide scope of the experiences in the forest.

On the way, you may spot some other forest dwellers especially the monkeys, birds, butterflies that may interest you but donot take long around them because you have a major mission to find the mountain gorillas or chimpanzees. It is quite hard to determine when to find the mountain gorillas so keep moving. You may also participate in in tracing the mountain gorillas or chimpanzees using the clues they live behind.

When you trace the mountain gorillas or chimpanzees, try to behave according to the guidelines given at the ranger station. Even when the mountain gorillas or Chimpanzees try to reach out to you, behave in a calm manner so as not to cause any suspension.

Only one hour is allowed with both mountain gorillas or chimpanzees during the trekking adventure even though more time would be desired. The presence of humans interrupts the daily life of these primates and so you need to give them ample time to go on with there activities.

Can Mountain Gorillas Or Chimpanzees Get Aggressive During Gorilla And Chimpanzee Trekking Safari

Both mountain gorillas and chimpanzees are not violent primate unless provoked. Before opening the gorilla or chimpanzee troop, they are first habituated for a period until proved ready for public viewing. During the habituation process, the mountain gorillas or chimpanzees are helped to get used to the presence of humans without altering there nature.

Even though in nature, the mountain gorillas and chimpanzees are calm primates, they can charge when provoked. When you notice some odd behaviors amongst these primates including chest thumping, pulling grass around them, throwing fruits, hooting and much more, donot rush to run a way. This may antagonize even the rest of the primates in the wilderness.

Keep calm as the ranger guides try to read the cause of this situation, follow the leads he or she uses to try and calm the situation even when it means trying to pretend eating some foliage. Only one hour is permitted with the chimpanzees or mountain gorillas during gorilla trekking or chimpanzee trekking adventure.

Which accommodation to book during the gorilla and chimpanzee trekking safari in Uganda

The accommodations to book for gorilla and chimpanzee trekking safari in Uganda are categorized into luxury, mid-range and basic.

Bwindi Accommodations include Clouds lodge, Gorilla Forest Camp, Nkuringo Gorilla lodge, Nshongi Camp, Bwindi View Bandas, Gorilla Nest, Engage lodge, Silverback lodge

Kibale National Parks accommodations include Primates lodge, Ndali lodge , Chimpanzee Guesthouse, Chimps Nest, Kibale Safari lodge

What Else To Do On Uganda Safari Other Than Gorilla And Chimpanzee Trekking

Game safari in Uganda

A number of game parks are open in Uganda and can be accessed from the gorillas and chimpanzee trekking destinations. Queen Elizabeth National Park, Murchison Falls National Park, Lake Mburo National Park, Kidepo Valley National Park are home to a variety of wild animals.

During a game drive on the tracks of these Uganda game parks, you may spot a wide range of these wild animals even though some are special to particular parks. While on the game drive in Uganda, you may encounter animals including lions, waterbucks, bushbucks, leopards, zebras, impalas, giraffes, buffaloes, elephants, warthogs and others.

The dry season is most interesting time for game safaris in Uganda when there is generally shorter grass in the plains where these wild animals survive creating better visibility.

Water activities on Uganda safari

Uganda may be landlocked with no sea or ocean line but there is no water activity that cannot be done from the several fresh water bodies in the country. Some of the notable water activities to do during the Uganda safaris include sundowners on the lakes, white water rafting, launch trips in Murchison Falls National Park and Queen Elizabeth National Park, scuba diving, kayaking, sports fishing, boat trips, bungee jumping at the river Nile cliff and others.

Birding in Uganda

Uganda is a prime birding destination in Africa with over 1000 bird species recorded as residents. The long bird list is attributed to the different vegetation zones in the country where they can thrive. Some of the birds you may spot on Uganda birding adventure include Shoebill Stock, saddle bill stock, handsome Francolin, Egyptian Geese and others.

Some of the Uganda birding destinations include Bwindi forest, Kibale forest, Mabamba swamp, Musambwa Island, Mpanga forest, Kidepo Valley National Park and others.

Mountain climbing on Uganda safari

While on Uganda safari, you may decide to test your fitness level by hiking some of the mountains within the boundaries of the country. Mountain Rwenzori is the tallest massive in Uganda which is snow capped, mountain Gahinga, mountain Muhavura, Mountain Elgon and others.

Even though hiking some of these Uganda mountains may take some days, some can be climbed within a day and back to the land.

Cultural experience on Uganda safari

The diverse cultures of the people of Uganda are amazing as each tribe has something that distinguishes it from another. The presence of the traditional institutions in the country including Buganda kingdom, Busoga Kingdom, Tooro kingdom and others show how cohesive people of the country are toward there traditional leaders.

In case you wish to learn more about the culture of the people of Buganda, you need to use the assistance of the people on ground especially the local guides and be respectful of their norms.