Kibale chimpanzee trekking in the rainy season

Kibale chimpanzee trekking in the rainy season: The main tourist activity done in Kibale forest national park is chimpanzee trekking. This is because the national park is a habitat for endangered chimpanzees in western Uganda. Kibale forest national park is the most visited national park when it comes to chimpanzee trekking and this is because it has the highest population and number of chimpanzee families.

Chimpanzee trekking in Kibale forest national park can be done all throughout the year. The activity is done in the rainy season by tourists who have free time during those months and those that love discounted things especially budget travelers. The rainy season in Kibale forest national park happens from March to May and October to November

Tourists should know that trekking chimpanzees in the dry season is the best thing to do but again it can be done in the rainy season because the chances of seeing chimpanzees are 100%. There are so many benefits and challenges faced when one treks chimpanzees in the rainy season which you will read below before making a final conclusion on the time to visit the park.

Benefits of Kibale chimpanzee trekking in the rainy season

There is less crowd in the park and this is a good opportunity for tourists who hate overcrowded areas. A few people visit the park because of the weather conditions which are full of rainfall and very low temperatures. During the rainy season, the number of people trekking a family is always few because the few people are divided to trek all families in the park.

The lodges are very cheap during the rainy season and this is good for budget travelers. The lodges do reduce prices in the rainy season to attract the few travelers that are within the park. Budget travelers can afford mid-range accommodation and mid-range travelers can afford luxury lodges in the rainy season,

There is availability of chimpanzee permits in Kibale forest national park during the rainy season. The fact that a few travelers visit the park means that a few permits will be sold. It’s from here that travelers that are traveling to Kibale forest national park during the rainy season don’t have to rush months or years to book the permits because they will be available.

Challenges of trekking Kibale chimpanzees in the rainy season

There are different challenges of trekking Kibale chimpanzees that various trekkers encounter while on their safari to kibale and these include:

Trekking chimpanzees in Kibale forest national park during the rainy season has the challenge of too much rainfall all throughout the day. During the rainy season, almost every day of the month has plenty of rainfall and this means that you will have a bad trekking experience.

some other challenges of trekking Kibale chimpanzees in Kibale forest national park is that the trekking trails are muddy and slippery. The trails are made slippery and muddy by too much rainfall which rains almost every day. When trails are slippery, it slows the speed of trekkers in that even if the chimpanzees are close to starting point meeting them takes longer.

Tourists who will trek chimpanzees in Kibale forest national park vegetation very tall during the rainy season. There is only rainfall and no sunshine to dry them up a reason as to why they become tall and thicker. When the vegetation is tall and thick it means that the trekkers will have unclear views of the chimpanzees as well as unclear photography.

Getting to Kibale forest national park during the rainy season tends to be somehow challenging. The roads leading to the park especially those from the main tarmac road to the park tend to be in poor condition because they are not well constructed. These roads are of marram so any time it rains, they become muddy and slippery which makes some cars get stuck and at times you have to get out of the car and push.

Chimpanzee trekking experience in Kibale forest during the rainy season

Chimpanzee trekking in Kibale forest national park starts early in the morning at the park headquarters. The briefing is done at Kanyanchu headquarters and it’s done to enable tourists get to know the rules and regulations of the activity before meeting the endangered chimpanzees.

After the briefing, trekkers are grouped not exceeding 8 people and each group is given ranger guides to lead them in the jungle. These ranger guides know where the chimpanzees could be and the right trails to use. Searching for the chimpanzees in the rainy season takes 2-6 hours like the dry season.

Trekking chimpanzees can take longer even though the chimpanzees are said to be close to the starting point due to plenty of food. The chimpanzee trekking takes long in the rainy season simply because the trekking trails are slippery and muddy because of the plenty of rainfall.

After meeting a fully habituated family in the thick vegetation cover, trekkers are given 1 hour to be around them and this enables them to learn about their habits, take photos and watch them do daily activities like hunting, nesting, coupling, feeding, and much more. During the rainy season, trekkers should expect plenty of rainfall at any time of the year so they need to move with a rain jacket, and long-sleeved clothes.

What to pack for Kibale chimpanzee trekking in the rainy season?

While planning for your trekking safari you’ll need to know what to pack for Kibale chimpanzee trekking.

Here we discuss what to pack for Kibale chimpanzee trekking include; long-sleeved shirts, long-sleeved pants, a sweater, a rain jacket, long cotton stocks, waterproof hiking shoes, a pair of gaiters, a camera, a pair of binoculars, drinking water bottle, insect repellents, sanitizer, facemask, and first aid kit to mention but a few.

Cost of chimpanzee trekking permits in the rainy season?

The cost of chimpanzee trekking permits in the rainy season is the same as in the dry season. Each chimp trekking permit costs $200 for foreign non-residents, $150 for foreign residents, and the cost of chimpanzee trekking permits for East African citizens UGX150,000. The price of the permit includes park entrance fees, ranger guide fee, and community development fee.

There are those tourists who would love to come and spend more than 1 hour with the chimpanzees and these ones must pay for the chimpanzee habituation permits. Each chimpanzee habituation permit in Kibale forest national park costs $250 for foreign non-residents, $200 foreign residents and UGX200,000 East African citizens.