Kibale Forest National Park is a famous park in Uganda that is located in the western part of the country in Kabarole district. The park is well known and is considered the best place to see chimpanzees in the entire country. The safari destination is also famous as the world’s primate capital because it is home to 13 out of the 20 primates in Uganda. It boasts the highest number of chimpanzees and thus offering the grand chimpanzee trekking safari. The area covered by Kibale Forest National Park is 795 square kilometers. Uganda Wildlife Authority is the one that manages and runs the park.

Attractions in Kibale Forest National Park.

Primates.

Because primates normally live in dense forests with tall trees, Kibale Forest National Park is the perfect habitat for primates. This park holds more than 1,450 chimps. It is also a home to 13 different species of primates such as; the black and white colobus monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, grey-checked mangabey, Vervet monkeys, L’Hoest’s monkeys, olive baboons, red-tailed monkeys, Central African Monkey, amongst others. Besides, the park is the habitat of nocturnal primates like pottos, bush babies, and others who generally move around during the night in the park.

Animal species.

Kibale Forest national park is a very attractive game safari destination as it is the home of numerous animal species. Some of the animals that you can find in the park include golden cats, leopards, elephants, lions, buffaloes, bush pigs, mongooses, warthogs, bushbucks, duikers, sitatungas, etc. In addition to these animals, the park is home to numerous bird species and many other types of animals that you can encounter on a Uganda safari in the park.

Bird species.

Kibale Forest national park is well-known as a major birding paradise because of its forested nature and hence has a large variety of bird species. There are over 375 gorgeous and colorful bird species in the park, some of which are Albertine Rift endemics. Some of the bird species that you can be lucky to see in Kibale National Park are Afep pigeon, Black-capped apalis, Black-eared ground thrush, Blue-breasted kingfisher, Olive long-tailed Cuckoo, yellow-rumped Tinker bird, black bee-eater, Abyssinian ground thrush, Brown illadopsis, Cassin’s spintail, tabelack-eared ground thrush, African pitta, black-capped Apalis, purple-breasted sun bird, white napped pigeon, Masked apalis, Nahan’s francolin, Ruwenzori apalis, Scaly-breasted illadopsis, Western nicator, Yellow-rumped tinkerbird among ​‍​‌‍​‍‌others.

Activities​‍​‌‍​‍‌ to do in Kibale forest national park.

Chimpanzee trekking.

Chimpanzee trekking is undoubtedly a safari activity in Kibale Forest national park that not only attracts lots of holidaymakers, but also witnesses such synergy among one another to conduct the safari together. Before morning, those travelers who want to go chimpanzee trekking adventure in the park will have a park ranger meeting at the park gate where they will be given instructions on the dos and the don’ts during the chimpanzee trekking. When the briefing is over, the participants will be separated into small groups of 6 to 8 people. Each group will be assigned a chimp family to track, and a park guide who is conversant with the park’s trails will accompany each group.

Depending on where the chimps are moving around to forage, chimpanzee trekking in Kibale Forest National Park may take from 30 minutes to 5 hours. On the way, you will meet other primates such as black and white colobus monkeys, red-tailed monkeys that are also inhabitants of the park and thus you will be able to see them as well along your walk. Besides animals and birds, plants of the forest offer a spectacular and sober environment of the beauty of nature. After spotting the chimpanzees, the trekkers have a maximum period of 60 minutes with the animals during which, the chimpanzees’ behaviors such as feeding, hunting, playing, and grooming are observed and photographs or video recordings taken.

Chimpanzee habituation experience.

Another fascinating safari activity in Kibale National Park is chimpanzee habituation experience whereby the primates are trained to become familiarized with human beings in readiness for trekking. The chimpanzee habituation in the park takes more time, that is, four hours, than chimpanzee trekking during which it is only one hour. The chimpanzee habituation safari activity starts with a briefing at the Kanyachu Park head center. After the briefing you are a given a park guide and start trekking through the forest to spot the chimpanzees. As soon as you locate them, you spend four hours with them in their natural habitat, where you can observe, learn and interact with them through taking pictures and videos among other activities.

Bird watching.

Kibale Forest National Park is a fascinating safari place to visit for doing bird watching while looking at different bird species because the park is the natural habitation for more than 375 different bird species. Among these bird species are the migratory ones, forest bird species, endemics to the Albertine Rift, resident species, and others. Tourists take bird-watching safaris in the company of highly knowledgeable bird guides who assist them in identifying the different bird species and mark their behavior. The bird species that you will see include Western nicator, Red-chested owlet, Slender-billed Weaver, Purple-breasted Sunbird, Little greenbul, Black Cuckoo, Black-faced Rufous Warbler, Ruwenzori Apalis, Black-eared Ground Thrush, Blue-breasted Kingfisher, Masked Apalis, Chubb’s Cisticola, Masked apalis, Grey parrot, Dusky crimsonwing and many more.

Guided Nature walks and hiking.

Guided nature walks and hiking are two most interesting safari activities through which one can have a very close encounter with nature when in Kibale National Park. Besides having nature walks, tourists can also hike in the park guided by skilled and well-armed Park Rangers who will in addition be primarily the source of answers to your questions and information on the various things you will see and come across during the walks and ​‍​‌‍​‍‌hikes.

With​‍​‌‍​‍‌ the help of guide, the nature and hiking tourists can explore the unreachable parts of the park by vehicle where they can be able to see different kinds of primates, birds, mammals, plants and trees thus tourists will have a chance of capturing beautiful pictures while they are in nature. 

Cultural tours.

The most fascinating safari activity in Kibale National Park is a culture tour, which makes it possible for travelers to get to meet the local people such as the Batoro and Bakiga. During cultural tours, the tourists can get to know about the local people’s culture through going to their houses, farms, and ways of life and even watching them dance and among others. Best time to visit Kibale national park. Kibale National Park can be visited any time of the year, but the best time is from June to September and from December to February, the dry seasons. During such periods, chimpanzee trekking and nature walk trails will be dry and easy for walking.

Where to stay in Kibale National Park.

Kibale national park offers a wide range of accommodation facilities suitable for the visitors of the park that can be categorized into budget, midrange and luxury accommodations such as Chimpanzee Forest lodge, Nyankuruba nature reserve and community campsite, Turaco treetops, Chimpundu lodge, Primate Safari lodge, Isunga lodge and among others.

How to get to Kibale Forest national park.

From the capital Kampala to Kibale national park, it can be accessed by various means both road and air transport. By Road means. From Kampala via Mubende, Fort Portal, or Mbarara, Kamwenge, you can drive to Kibale Forest National Park. After that, you can get to the park offices, which would take about 6 to 7 hours. By Air transport. Flying to Kibale Forest National Park is possible from Entebbe International Airport or Kajjansi Airfield. After that, you can drive to the ​‍​‌‍​‍‌park.