Chimpanzee Safaris Uganda

Chimpanzee safaris Uganda take you through unique primate experience with a chance to get close to our closest relatives-the chimpanzees. Booking your chimpanzee safari with Maranatha Tours and Travel offers you a great opportunity to embark on exceptional chimpanzee tracking and chimpanzee habituation experience. Uganda is a blessed with over 5000 chimpanzees and they are distributed in different places-forests and national parks.

Chimpanzee safaris Uganda involve exploring the unique behaviors, body gestures of chimpanzees with a great chance to take as many photos as possible. Chimpanzees share about 98 percent of their DNA with humans making them our closest relatives in the wild. They thrive in groups of 10 to 100 members.

Chimpanzee safaris in Uganda are conducted in places such as Kibale Forest National Park, Budongo Forest, Kyambura Gorge, Kalinzu Forest Reserve, Semuliki Wildlife Reserve, Uganda Wildlife Education Center, and Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary.
Kibale National Park is found in Kabarole district, western Uganda about 4-5 hours’ drive from Kampala capital city. It is by far the best destination in East Africa where chimpanzee tracking safaris are done. More than 1500 chimpanzees are all confined within the pristine jungles of Kibale National Park. Chimpanzee safaris in Kibale National Park also reward you with magical encounters at other primates including red colobus monkeys, baboons, red-tailed monkeys, L’Hoest monkeys as well as birds.

Chimpanzee safaris Uganda in Kibale National Park do not only take you through chimpanzee tracking but also you have opportunity to engage in full day chimpanzee habituation or half-day habituation with gets you 4 hours of magical encounter with chimpanzees while in their natural habitat.

Visitors on Uganda chimpanzee safari in Kibale National Park need $150 (foreign non-resident) to secure your permit, $100 for foreign residents while East African residents require Ug.shs.20,000 and for those who wish to spend the entire day on chimpanzee habituation experience permits cost $200-both for foreign non-residents and foreign residents; for half-day chimpanzee habituation, you need $100 to book a permit and it applies to foreign non residents and foreign residents than for East African Citizens pay Ug.shs.75,000.

Budongo Forest is found in Murchison Falls National Park, northwestern Uganda-about 4 hours’ drive from Entebbe or Kampala capital city. It covers an area of 825sq.kms and inhabits up to 800 chimpanzees with over 100 of them already habituated and set for tracking at Kaniyo-Pabidi. Chimpanzee tracking in Budongo Forest begins at 7:00 am in the morning with a briefing on the set rules and regulations and 2:00 pm in the afternoon. Chimpanzee tracking permits in Budongo Forest cost $80 per person per trek.

Kyambura Gorge is in Queen Elizabeth National Park and features as the best site for visitors on Uganda chimpanzee safaris to trekking chimpanzees in this particular part of the country. It is 16 kilometers long and 100 meters deep, comprising of dense rainforest. Embarking on chimpanzee safari to Kyambura Gorge also gets you a chance to look out for other primates including the vervet monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, colobus monkeys, baboons, and others. Over 30 chimpanzees thrive within the Kyambura Gorge and because of its strategic location; visitors on chimpanzee safaris are in a position to also explore the pristine Queen Elizabeth National Park. In Kyambura Gorge, chimpanzee tracking permits cost $50 for both foreign non-residents and foreign residents whereas the East African residents pay Ug.shs.30,000. Kalinzu Forest Reserve lies just outside Queen Elizabeth National Park and incredibly one of the best sites to track chimpanzees in Uganda.
Other destinations to visit for you to see chimpanzees in Uganda include Uganda Wildlife Education Center, Semuliki Wildlife Reserve, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, and Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary.

What is amazing about chimpanzee safaris in Uganda is that visitors can also supplement them with other thrilling activities for instance nature walks, bird watching, butterfly watching, mountain gorilla trekking, cultural tours, game viewing safaris, golden monkey tracking, hiking, filming and many others.

Best time to go for chimpanzee safari in Uganda

Chimpanzee safaris in Uganda are ideal all year round but the dry season which starts in June, July, August, September and December, January, February is preferably the best for you to see chimpanzees. However, the wet/rainy season is also good but the disadvantage with it is that heavy rainfall is usually received during this period which makes the ground to be muddy thus making it also a bit challenging for you to hike while in search for these creatures. Besides, they normally spend much of their time on top of trees, unlike the dry season where they can easily be spotted on the ground. There are two wet or rainy seasons in Uganda-the first phase starting in March, April, May, and October, November.

What to pack on chimpanzee safari in Uganda

For any plans to embark on chimpanzee safari in Uganda, make sure that you have packed appropriately starting with waterproof hiking boots/shoes, daypack, clothing, stocking, insect repellents, a camera with no flashlight, binoculars, bottled water, energy snacks, and others.