Kibale Forest National Park- Chimpanzee Tracking: Car Rental Congo.
Believed to have the highest density of primates in Africa, Kibale is lush tropical rainforest. This 795-sq-km national park is home to 13 primate species, including the rare red colobus and L’Hoest’s monkey. The stars of the show are the chimpanzees, three groups of which have been habituated to human contact.
Larger but rarely seen residents include bushbuck, sitatunga, buffaloes, leopard, and quite a few forest elephants. While on the smaller side, Kibale also has a great bird list over 375 species, but keen birdwatchers may want to bypass it and concentrate their time in Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary and Kihingami Wetland where open-canopy and wetland species can be seen alongside most of the same forest species living in the national park. There are also an incredible 250 species of butterflies that live here.
The park visitor center is at Kanyanchu, 35km southeast of Fort Portal. Kibale is among the most visited parks in Uganda and its diversity is compared to Rwanda’s Nyungwe national park. Nothing is so exciting like tracking chimpanzees in their natural environment.
Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary
It is a subsection of Kibale national park. Located 6km south of the Kibale Forest National Park visitor center at Kanyanchu; Bigodi was established by the local development organization Kibale Association for Rural and Environment Development to protect the 4 sq km Magombe Swamp. It’s home to around 200 species of birds, as well as butterflies and eight different species of primates, including grey-cheeked mangabey. Three hour guided walks including binoculars and gumboots depart from the visitor center on demand and some of the guides are birding specialists who can help you find papyrus gonolek, white-winged warbler, and great blue turaco. At the visitor center is also village walks, Saturday-afternoon basket-weaving demonstrations, dance and drama performances, and fun interpretive meals you book in advance your hosts share the stories behind the local food they serve you.
Among the accommodation facilities in Kibale national park include, primate lodge, chimp nest, Kibale forest camp, Ecolodge, and many more. so a visitor cannot are guaranteed the sleeping places in and around the park.
How to get there
It is located in western Uganda, 22km southeast of Fort Portal town. Kanyanchu River Camp, the primary center for tourism activities, can be reached from Kampala either from the north, via Mubende and Fort Portal, or the south through Mbarara and Kamwenge. The northern approach is shorter and quicker, with a 290km tarmac road running to Fort Portal followed by 32km on gravel to Kanyanchu.
ACTIVITIES IN THE PARK
Chimpanzee tracking
Kibale Forest National Park is undoubtedly the most popular place to track chimpanzees in Uganda. Chimp tracking takes place twice per day, in the morning and afternoon, and while there are plenty of hills along the trails, the walking isn’t difficult if you’re in shape. Children aged 12 and under aren’t permitted. Regular trackers get just one hour with the playful primates, but those on the Chimpanzee Habituation Experience can spend the whole day with them. If you want to join the experience, you must spend the night before at Kanyanchu, since you head out to the nests around 5.30 am.
Nature Walks
You’ll be very lucky to see chimps on a nature walk but, since nearly 1500 dwell here, you never know your luck, and there’s a good chance you’ll hear some scamper off through the treetops. Nature walks are also offered at the seldom-visited Sebitoli sector, 12km east of Fort Portal. This is the place to come if you want to see blue monkeys and some chimpanzees are in the process of habituation here. With frequent sightings of owls, civets, and the 12cm-long Davidoff’s dwarf galago, night walks can be very rewarding.
Chimpanzee habituation.
This activity is a bit more expensive than chimpanzee tracking, and here visitors spend the whole day with the gorillas from when they wake up until when they make their nests for sleeping. This is a very good activity and so rewarding compared to tracking because you learn a lot concerning the apes, how they interact, care about the babies, how they eat, how they play and so many other habits.
Birding
This is a very good important birding area and it is home to more than 375 species of birds. Kibale specials include the African Pitta, Green-breasted Pitta, Afep Pigeon, White-naped Pigeon, Crowned Eagle, Red-chested Owlet, Black Bee-eater, Western Nicator, Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird, Little Greenbul, Brown-chested Alethe, Blue-breasted Kingfisher, African Grey Parrot, Scaly-breasted Illadopsis, Brown Illadopsis, Black-capped Apalis, Blue-headed Sunbird, Collared Apalis, Dusky Crimsoning, Purple-breasted Sunbird, Red-faced Woodland Warbler, Yellow Spotted Nicator, Little Green Bul, Black-eared Ground Thrush, and the Abyssinian Ground-thrush.
