Kibale National Park is one of the popular homes of chimpanzees in Uganda. The park is dominated by evergreen forests and is known for protecting both lowland and montane forests. The park was gazetted in 1932 and officially launched in 1993.
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Kibale National park is known for keeping a variety of chimpanzees and so chimpanzee trekking is the major tourist activity here. Chimpanzee trekking involves walking in the jungle to encounter habituated chimpanzees in their natural environment.
It should be noted that not all chimpanzees in Kibale forest national park are available for tourism. It is only a few have been habituated and can be tracked throughout the year.
A chimpanzee tracking permit in Kibale national park goes for $200 for foreign none residents and $150 for foreign residents.
There is also chimpanzee habituation where you get a chance you encounter chimpanzees that are still undergoing the process of getting familiar with human beings in their environment. The habituation permit is $250 for foreign none residents.
Birding
Birding is another activity in Kibale National Park, a variety of birds are found in Kibale National Park. Both indigenous and foreign.
The popular sites with a variety of birds include Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary, located just outside the park, which is home to 138 bird species that may be seen during guided walks along the boardwalk trail and viewing platforms.
Chimpanzee Habituation in Kibale National Park
The one unique activity in Kibale National Park. Here, tourists view the chimps in detail. Full-day viewing of the chimps starts early morning at around 6:00 – 6:30 am before feeding, copulating, hunting, breastfeeding, resting, patrolling, and displaying until it is time to build new nests around 7 pm.
The guests need to monitor the daily activities of the chimpanzees from the time they leave their nest to the evening when returning to their nest.
Nocturnal walks
Night forest walks enable visitors to see the night-moving mammals and birds. The rangers accompany guests with spotlight touches for clear viewing of the night-moving animals like bush babies, potto, galago, tree hyrax, and cricket among others. Birds like owls and so on.
Nature walks in Kibale National Park
The activity begins at the Kanyachu visitors center after the briefing. Thereafter, the guests move into the forest to see animals up close. While on nature walks, tourists are expected to see elephants, Duiker, bushbucks, black and white colobus monkeys, blue monkeys, Grey-cheeked Mangabey, red tailed monkeys among others.
Cultural encounters in Kibale National Park
Meet the Batooro people. Explore villages, and meet local herbalists, storytellers, and fortune tellers among others. You will learn about the role of women in the village and traditional ceremonies, and the history of Bigodi is told through the story of the “Village of Two Tribes”, describing when the indigenous Batooro were joined by migrating Bakiga from southwestern Uganda in the 1950s.