Located not far from Fort portal, Kibale Forest National Park is referred to as Uganda’s primate capital. Most of its northern and central parts are dominated by forest covers interspersed with patches of grasslands and swamps.
Kibale adjoins Queen Elizabeth National Park to the south creating a 180km long corridor for wildlife between the Ishasha sector and Sebitoli. This Park has the highest diversity of primates in Africa. Out of the 70 mammal species in the Park, 13 are primates.
Among these primates, chimpanzees are the most famous and a major reason for most of Safaris to this Park. The total number of chimps in Kibale is estimated to 1450 individuals.
Kibale is also home to the red colobus, L’Hoest’s monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, blue monkeys, olive baboons and grey-cheeked mangabey.
Apart from that, over 500 elephants reside in the park together with leopards, buffalos, warthogs, bush pigs and duikers. Some migrate from the nearby Queen Elizabeth National Park. About 375 bird species and 250 species of butterflies breathe life in the Park.
You can easily get to this Park by road transport means. It is about 310 km and takes about 5-6 hours to drive from Kampala to Kibale Forest National Park. From Kampala or Entebbe you drive via Kampala –Mityana – Mubende – Fort Portal highway.
Top Activities in Kibale.
Chimpanzee Tracking and Habituation
Without doubt, chimpanzee tracking and habituation are the main reasons for most of safaris to Kibale national park. For chimpanzee tracking, a specified group of tourists are allowed to meet Chimpanzees in the Jungle.
Only one hour is allowed while in their presence, then for habituation experience you are allowed to be with them for four hours or full day in the Jungle.
Kanyanchu primate walk is the trail head followed during the tracking. You can see other primates on the way.
Chimpanzee tracking in Kibale is offered in three sessions including morning, afternoon and late noon. The first one usually starts at 8:00 am.
Birding in Kibale
Kibale is a wonderful spot you should consider for bird safaris in Uganda. It has a lot of species including the rare ones. All the excursions start at Kanyanchu tourism Centre, you are advised to book in advance.
The main spots for bird watching in Kibale include sebitoli, kihingami and bigodi wetland. During the expeditions in Bigodi, travelers walk around via boardwalks heading to multiple viewing points.
You see species like Papyrus canary, olive back canary, papyrus gonolek, white-winged warbler, yellow-spotted barbet, hairy-breasted barbet, yellow-billed barbet, western nicator, grey-winged robin-chat, brown-backed scrub-robin, and more.
Nature Walks
These are fantastic for those who are after sighting lots of bird species and also come close to nature. Walks are arranged both during day and at night
At night, a guided nature walk through the forest brings you close to nocturnal species like nightjars, tree hyrax, bush babies, civets and serval cats. These walks start at 7:30 pm and last for about one to two hours.