Are chimpanzee sightings in Kibale forest national park guaranteed?

Are chimpanzee sightings in Kibale forest national park guaranteed?: We are often asked if you are guaranteed to see chimpanzees of Kibale forest national park on a trek. Tourists or travelers need to know that chimpanzees are completely wild and are free to wander as they choose. This means that a 100% guarantee in Kibale forest national park cannot be given. However, the chances of sighting them are very high.

Are chimpanzee sightings in Kibale forest national park guaranteed?:

The chances of sighting chimpanzees in Kibale forest national park are very high because the national park has armed ranger guides that keep tracking and monitoring chimpanzees every day so they know where to find them. The armed ranger guides are so many in the forest that if any of them meets them he informs others on radio calls about the location.

The chances of sighting chimpanzees in Kibale forest national park are higher than in any other area in Uganda because the park has a high population of these chimpanzees. Kibale forest national park has over 1500 chimpanzees making it the area with the highest population in Uganda. Over 13 chimpanzee families are found within Kibale forest national park.

2 chimpanzee families are open for tourism activities in Kibale forest national park and these have over 200 individuals. Tourists with a help of armed ranger guides will always see chimpanzees while on a trek in Kibale forest national park. The morning hours have a high chance of seeing chimpanzees within Kibale forest national park because they would have slept near the starting points.

Tourists can still sight chimpanzees in the evening hours in Kibale forest national park but they will take longer. This is because by evening the chimpanzees would have moved a very long distance looking for what to eat. When it’s not a fruiting season within the park, the chimpanzees tend to move very far from the starting points looking for what to eat and getting satisfied before the day ends.

On a chimpanzee trekking safari in Kibale forest national park, you won’t leave the park minus seeing these chimpanzees because the rangers are always ready to take you to where they usually eat food from. On bad days like afternoon hours, if you trek for long hours and fail to see the chimpanzees, you will be asked to join the morning trekkers the following day and search for the chimpanzees again.

A morning trek will always give you a high chance of seeing chimpanzees in Kibale forest national park and this is because the armed ranger guides move very early in the morning in the jungle and search for where the chimpanzees slept the previous day. Chimpanzees walk from the time they walk up until evening so searching for them in the morning hours reduces on the time of trekking because they would have moved a little distance.

For several years we have not seen tourists who have done chimpanzee trekking in Kibale forest national park and left the jungle minus seeing the chimpanzees. We thank the Uganda wildlife authority for having well-trained ranger guides who keep monitoring the movements of chimpanzees. The trackers are the first in the jungle before trekkers to see where these chimpanzees last nested. They use radio callers to communicate with the armed ranger guides about the location of chimpanzees on that day.

Best time to trek chimpanzees of Kibale forest national park

Chimpanzees of Kibale forest national park can be trekked all throughout the year however certain months are better than the rest. The dry season months from June to September and December to February are the best to trek chimpanzees of Kibale forest national park. This is because the trekking trails are dry and a little easier to navigate, vegetation is short with good sightings of chimpanzees and the roads leading to Kibale are in good condition.

Tourists especially budget travelers can visit the chimpanzees of Kibale forest national park during the rainy season of March to May and October to November. This period is when a few tourists visit the park due to bad weather conditions so lodges and tour operators reduce the prices. The rainy season is never good for chimpanzee trekking because the trekking trails are muddy and slippery, vegetation is tall with unclear views of wildlife, and roads leading to the park are in very poor conditions.

How much are chimpanzee permits in Kibale forest national park

For any travelers to see chimpanzees in Kibale forest national park, they must have a chimpanzee trekking permit. This is a document issued by the Uganda Wildlife Authority to allow tourists to be part of the chimpanzee trekking activities once they reach the park. A single chimpanzee trekking permit in Kibale forest national park costs $200 for foreign non-residents, $150 for foreign residents, and UGX150,000 East African citizens.

Getting to Kibale forest national park

Tourists that want to visit Kibale forest national park can access the are using road transport or air transport. The national park can be accessed by air transport from Entebbe International Airport or Kajjansi airstrip to Kasese airstrip. From Kasese airstrip to Kibale forest national park takes less than 2 hours by road. To fly to Kibale forest national park for chimpanzee trekking you must book your seat with Aerolink Uganda or bar aviation Uganda.

Travelers using road transport can access Kibale forest national park in 6-7 hours including stopovers. The national park is 300km away from Kampala and getting there you go through Masaka, Mbarara, Bushenyi, and Kasese to the park. You can also drive through Mityana, Mubende, Kyegegwa, Kyenjonjo, and Fort Portal to the park