22 Nov Is Kibale forest national park worth visiting Is Kibale forest national park worth visiting: Yes, Kibale forest national park is worth visiting the fact that it hosts more than a half of the chimpanzee population in the world. Kibale forest national park is one of the national parks that should be visited while on a tour in Uganda especially by tourists that want to face chimpanzees in their nature habit. More than 1500 chimpanzees are living in the tropical rain forest of Kibale forest national park and can be seen during trekking activities. Kibale forest national park is a 776 sq. km piece of land that does not only harbor chimpanzees but also 12 primates, 60 mammals, and 370 bird species. A safari in Kibale forest national park would be worth it because tourists get to see the different wildlife and other attractions of the park while on a safari. The different tourism activities arranged there make the park worth visiting and they include the following below. Reasons to visit Kibale forest national park You can go chimpanzee trekking in Kibale forest Kibale forest national park harbors the highest population of chimpanzees in the whole world. Any tourists that ever do chimpanzee trekking in Kibale forest national park should count themselves lucky because that is a once in a life time experience and a dream come true for many people in the world. Kibale forest national park is worth visiting because tourists get to meet chimps in their natural habitats. Chimpanzees are said to be close relatives to human beings with 98.8% human DNA. Over 1500 chimpanzees live in Kibale forest national park and some of them have been habituated and are used to human beings around them. chimpanzee trekking in Kibale forest is the activity that can get you close to chimpanzees in the Kibale forest national park. The activity starts with a briefing and later armed ranger guides lead the trekkers into the jungle. They start searching for different areas where the chimpanzees could be by using different walking trails. During the search, tourists get an opportunity to see different attractions within the park among which include animals, primates, mammals, and vegetation to mention but a few. After 3 to 5 hours or even more, tourists get to meet the chimpanzees and 1 hour is given to be around them which allows one to learn about their habits, watch them play, and taking photos. Bird watching Kibale forest national park is one of the best bird destinations in West Uganda with over 375 bird species. On a safari in Kibale forest national park, tourists can carry out bird watching to see the different species that have been recorded here. Bird watching is a guided activity done with an armed ranger guide that takes you around the park using different bird watching trails. Bird watching in Kibale forest national park will give you an opportunity to see species such as blue-headed bee-eater, cassin’s spinetail, masked apalis, nahan’s francolin, yellow-rumped tinkerbird, African pitta, black-tailed oriole, African pied wagtail, great blue turaco, green-breasted pitta, Abyssinian ground thrush, green-breasted pitta, blue-headed sunbird, brown chested alethe, blue headed bee eater, black-capped apalis. While on Bird watching Kibale forest expect to see more species such as White-naped pigeon, scaly-breasted illadopsis, masked apalis, Cameroon sombre greenbul, papyrus canary, papyrus gonolek, African wagtail, zebra waxbill, black-crowned tchagra, chubb’s cisticola, African emerald cuckoo, piapiac, doherty’s bushshrike, African grey woodpecker, Narina trogon, African pipit, African firefinch, brown-backed scrub-robin, piping hornbill, chestnut wattle eye, bare-faced go-away-bird, swallow-tailed bee-eater, and chocolate backed kingfisher to mention but a few. You can go for nature walks Kibale forest national park has nature walk activities that enable tourists to get close to nature. Using different nature walk trails, tourists are able to access most of the park areas and see the attractions hidden there. Nature walk in Kibale forest national park will give tourists an opportunity to see different tree species, birds, mammals, and primates. Kibale forest has over 13 primates among which include olive baboons, vervet monkeys, blue monkeys, patas monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, Uganda red colobus, black and white colobus, and l’hoest monkeys to mention but a few. Bigodi community tour Bigodi community tour is one of the activities you shouldn’t miss while on a safari in Kibale forest national park. Bigodi community tour is led by a guide from within the community who takes you to different homes around the village. Here you can visit the local medicine man, coffee making home, or the place where wine-making is done. A visit to the coffee-making home will give you an opportunity to see how coffee is made from seeds to powder. A visit to the wine-making home is going to give you an opportunity to see how wine is made from bananas, and lastly, a visit to the traditional man will give you an opportunity to know how plants are of different use when it comes to having some diseases. Getting to Kibale forest national park Tourists can get to Kibale forest national park by using road transport or air transport in a single day. Air transport is the fastest way to get to Kibale forest national park but it’s used by only luxury travelers. Flights to Kibale forest national park are available from Entebbe International Airport to Kasese Airstrip which is the closest to the park. From there tourists use road transport for a few hours and get to the park. Tourists who use road transport start from Entebbe or Kampala and drive through Mityana, Mubende, Kyegegwa, Kyenjonjo, and Fort Portal to the park. The journey to Kibale forest national park takes 5 to 6 hours including stopovers and tourists get to have great views of different attractions along the way. The best time to go to Kibale forest national park Tourists can go to Kibale forest national park at any time of the year however some months are better than others. The dry season months from June to September and December to February are the best to visit Kibale forest national park and this is because they are characterized by little or no rainfall and plenty of sunshine which leaves the walking trails passable and the vegetation is short with good views of wildlife. Budget travelers can visit Kibale forest national park during the rainy season from March to May and October to November. During this period they do get discounted tour packages because a few tourists are traveling and so the lodges reduce prices. The rainy season is however characterized by too much rainfall that makes the walking trails muddy and slippery and the vegetation is tall with unclear views of wildlife. 0 news