Cost Of Chimpanzee Trekking In Kibale National Park

The cost of the chimpanzees' trekking safari in Kibale National Park includes purchasing the chimpanzee's permit from Uganda Wildlife Authority. At the moment, the cost of the chimpanzee trekking permit for Kibale National Park is $250 for international nonresidents, $200 for international residents, and 180,000shs for East Africans. The entire chimpanzee trekking safari package to Kibale National Park includes other costs like accommodations, transport and others.

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Kibale National Park is a pristine tropical rainforest situated in the eastern part of Uganda. The park area covers approximately 795 square Kilometers one of the most varied tracts of tropical forest in Uganda. Kibale National Park is home to more than 1500 chimpanzees out of the population of approximately 5000 chimpanzees in Uganda. At the moment, the forest hosts about 13 primate species out of the 18 primates that Uganda is known to host.

To do chimpanzee trekking in Uganda, you need to choose between the morning or afternoon session. The chimpanzee trekking sessions in Uganda start from the briefing centers that is at the headquarters of the park in Kanyanchu or at Sebitoli the secondary quarters.

When booking accommodations to use for the chimpanzee trekking safaris in Kibale National Park, it is best to choose facilities that are within or near the park to enable one to get to the briefing point.

Brief Details about Kibale National Park

As mentioned prior, Kibale National Park is a lovely tropical rain forest which is home to the largest population of chimpanzees in Uganda. The park also hosts others 12 primates species including black and white colobus, vervet monkeys, grey cheeked mangabey, blue monkeys, pottos, l’hoest, bush babies and others

At the moment, Kibale National Park is home to approximately 12 chimpanzee communities that are habituated and opened to the public. Chimpanzees habituation experience is also part of the activities you can do on safari in Kibale National Park but with semi-habituated chimpanzees and 4 hours with them.

Keen birder on Uganda safari to Kibale National Park have chance to spot a wide range of bird as the forest hosts more than 325 bird species including Albertine rift endemics. The Park hosts about 6 bird species that are endemic to the Albertine rift region.

What Is Included and excluded In The Cost Of The Chimpanzee Trekking Permits For Kibale National Park

The cost of the chimpanzees trekking safari to Kibale National Park includes park entrance fees, ranger guide fees, security, one hour of chimpanzee trekking, chimpanzee conservation support and others.

The cost of the Kibale National Park chimpanzee permits excludes tips, accommodation costs and other personal expenses.

There are other logistics that support safaris in Uganda including accommodations, transport and much more. These are added to the entire safari package to form the different tour categories that is luxury, mid-range and basic. It is better to carry some cash when packing for the chimpanzee trekking safari in Uganda in order to make on ground purchases especially personal expenses that are excluded in the Uganda tour package.

When Is The Best Time To Book A Uganda ChimpanzeeTrekking Safari To Kibale National Park

The best time to book the chimpanzee trekking safari to Kibale National Park is in the dry season although this activity is open throughout the year. The dry season around Kibale National Park is normally June to September and December to January. The climate of Kibale National Park in the dry season is generally pleasant with mean annual temperature range of 14 degrees centigrade to 27 degrees centigrade.

During the dry season in Kibale National Park, most the primates in this forest feed closer to the ground and are quicker to identify even from a far while in the forest. The chimpanzees spend most of there time near to the ground because there is scarcity of food in the forest in the dry season since even other primates, birds have to have a share of it sometimes. Note that the chimpanzees tend to spend more time in the deeper ends of the forest.

There is generally less moisture in the forest enabling tourists to move faster when searching for the chimpanzees in Kibale National Park. The undergrowth is more trimmed enabling faster movement as you traverse the forest and rivers flow within normal course in the dry season.  

The demand for chimpanzee trekking experience is high in the peak season so late comers my have no availability of the necessary permits. Even accommodations and other logistics that support tourism are on high demand in this season.

The low season must not be ignored when planning the chimpanzee trekking safari in Kibale National Park because be sure to find these primates. During the wet season, the chimpanzees normally spend time up in the canopy and the forest is wet most of the time.

How Safe Are Chimpanzee Trekking Safaris In Kibale National Park

Doing chimpanzee trekking safaris in Kibale National Park is very safe because they are first habituated so that they can get used to the presence of humans a process they go through for an unknown time. Gorilla habituation in Kibale National Park is done by researchers and information about each chimpanzees community is noted down for reference during chimpanzee trekking.

Each chimpanzee trekking adventure is led by a well trained ranger guide from Uganda Wildlife Authority.  The ranger guides have the responsibility to protect the inhabitants of Kibale National Park and visitors who tour the park. The ranger guides and park wardens routinely patrol the park premises as a security measure. On ground are other Uganda security agencies that work closely with the ranger guide on ground to keep law and order.

Chimpanzees trekking in Uganda has rules to be followed and these are passed to the visitors in details during the compulsory briefing before each session of the adventure. No matter how many chimpanzees trekking sessions you hope to attend, you must be present for briefing.

For safety, every chimpanzee trekking session is conducted by a ranger guide and tourists are requested never to move in the forest without them. Kibale forest has other forest dwellers that may be quite harmful as the park shares a migration corridor of about 180 kilometers with Queen Elizabeth National Park. In case you are alone, you may encounter some of these forest dwellers such as the forest elephants, solitary buffaloes, leopards and others. The ranger guides always carry a machete or a rifle.

Security starts with you so every tourists is required to protect their belongings from public access especially the precious valuables that you are afraid of losing. Try not to deal on unlawful activities while on Uganda safari because you may end in prison or pay a hefty penalty.

What Is The Age Limit For Chimpanzee Trekking In Uganda

The age limit for chimpanzee trekking safaris in Kibale National Park is 12 years and over. The nature of this activity involves traversing the forest which is rough at times and children below this age may not with stand the forest conditions.

Chimpanzee trekking in Uganda has rules which may be hard to abide by for children below 12 years like no shouting when with the chimpanzees as this may seem suspicious to them. Time of finding the chimpanzees is hard to determine because it depends on conditions prevailing in the forest yet a child below this age may be unable to withstand the long time searching for the chimpanzees.

What Accommodation To Book For Chimpanzee Trekking In Kibale National Park

Accommodations to book during chimpanzee trekking in Kibale National Park are categorized into luxury, mid-range and basic. These accommodations offer cost packages including full board, half board, Bed and Breakfast, Bed only. It is best to know the inclusions and exclusion in the cost of accommodations so that you can plan accordingly.

Kibale National Park accommodations include Primates lodge, Ndali lodge, Kibale Safari Lodge, Chimpanzee Guesthouse, C.V.K

How To Get To Kibale National Park For Chimpanzee Trekking Tour

From Kampala or Entebbe two route can be used to get to Kibale National Park that is via Mubende to Fort Portal which is about 336 Kilometers away which is the northern route. An alternative route to Kibale National Park is via Masaka Mbarara road and this is regarded as the southern route.

Both routes have enroute stopovers where you can break the journey. The drive time from Kampala to Kibale National Park is about 5 to 6 hours.

Alternately, scheduled domestic flights from Entebbe or Kajjansi to Kasese airstrip are available but prior booking is necessary. Charter flight services are available for more exclusive safaris to the western part of Uganda.

Why visit Kibale National Park for Chimpanzee Trekking experience and is it worth

A visit to Kibale National Park for chimpanzee trekking is worth every penny and time invested. Chimpanzees are the closest human relatives in the animal kingdoms with about 98% human genes. Being with the chimpanzees in their free space without being under human instructions is exceptional because most chimpanzees elsewhere in the world are kept in exhibits or zoos or circus.

Other than the chimpanzees, Kibale forest offers chances to spot other forest dwellers such as other primates, birds, butterflies and so many others. A visit to Kibale forest opens more chances to see such a rich biosphere. Kibale forest is untamed providing an original experience of the wilderness which is hard to find in the world.

By purchasing the chimpanzees trekking permit, you contribute to the conservation of these highly endangered primates in the world whose habitats are being encroached on by humans. Children on a visit to Kibale National Park has a special program that teaches them about the ecosystems as parents head for the chimpanzee trekking tour.

When you hire a porter to assist with carrying your gear during chimpanzee trekking, it is one do the way to give back to the local community. The porters are from the community and they earn a living by being porters for tourists on safari. it is one of the conservation measures that people from the community appreciate so when community outreaches are done, the people understand the importance of co-existing with the chimpanzees.

What are the Guidelines of Chimpanzee Trekking Tours in Kibale National Park

• Avoid eating when near the chimpanzees because they may be tempted to grab and share it too.
• No feeding the chimpanzees because they are wild animals that need to search for their own food.
• Dumping garbage in the forest during chimpanzee trekking is forbidden because this changes the nature of the environment which these primates depend.
• Follow the instructions from your ranger guide
• Never enter the forest without arranger's guide even if you are familiar with it. The forest also has other forest inhabitants that may view you as another prey.
• Ask your ranger guide to ding about 30 meters deep hole in case you wish to do a long call and cover up beyond recognition.
•  Do not enter the forest without a ranger guide during chimpanzee trekking because you may encounter other forest dwellers that are not habituated to human presence like the forest elephants.
• Never provoke the chimpanzees because this may irritate them causing them to rage.
• Volunteer stay behind in case you catch or have signs of a communicable infection like flu, covid 19 and more.
• Only one hour is allowed with the chimpanzees when you trace them. This is to minimise on the effects of humans' presence in the wilderness.
• Imitating the mountain gorillas is forbidden as you may not know what you are communicating.
•  The age limit for chimpanzee trekking is 12 years and over as it is quicker for a child of this age and over to withstand the presence of these primates. Even walking in the jungle may be tiresome to a child below this age.
• Avoid using the flashlight on the cameras when with the chimpanzees because this may scare them pushing them into hiding. Chimpanzees are very sensitive to unfamiliar occurrences in their presence.

For more information about chimpanzee trekking costs in Kibale National Park, Please contact us for more information.