Kibale National Park the Primate Capital of the World.

Welcome to the second edition of our series Uganda safari destinations to visit in 2020-2021. In our previous article, we had explored Murchison falls National Park. For today’s article come with me as I take you on a Uganda safari journey to Kibale National Park.

 

What is Kibale National Park?

Kibale National Park is one of Uganda’s incredible parks that has always caught the eyes of many Uganda safari adventurers who visit it to engage in an epic chimpanzee trekking experience. Kibale Park is found in Kibale district and this park is in areas that are covering the rift valley floor and the plateau areas on the eastern escarpment of the western arm of the great east African rift valley. The highest point of Kibale national park is found in the north at an elevation of 1,590m while its lowest elevation is 1,100m located on the rift valley basin.

 

What to see in Kibale National Park?

4 Days Uganda Wildlife Safari in Murchison Falls, Uganda Chimpanzee Trek Safari Kibale Park

4 Days Uganda Wildlife Safari in Murchison Falls, Uganda Chimpanzee Trek Safari Kibale Park

Famously known as the primate capital of the world, Kibale National Park is indeed a primate hotbed as it is home to 13 primate species with the chimpanzees being the most common here as this park is home to the highest concentration of these humans of the wild that number to 5000 individuals. Other primate species that form part of the 13 species include the beautiful black and white colobus monkeys, the L’Hoest monkeys, the grey checked Mangabeys red colobus monkeys, baboons, and many others. Besides chimpanzees, or primates at large, Kibale is still incredibly a good place to be if you’re a birding fanatic on your Uganda birding safari because this park is home to 350 bird species and some of these include  African Pitta, Afep Pigeon, Green-breasted Pitta, White-naped Pigeon, Red-chested Owlet, Crowned Eagle, Black Bee-eater, Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird, Western Nicator, Little Greenbul, Blue-breasted Kingfisher, Brown-chested Alethe, African Grey Parrot, Brown Illadopsis, Scaly-breasted Illadopsis, Black-capped Apalis, Collared Apalis, Blue-headed Sunbird, Dusky Crimsonwing, Red-faced Woodland Warbler, Purple-breasted Sunbird, Yellow Spotted Nicator, Black-eared Ground Thrush Little Green Bul and Abyssinian Ground-thrush. For a person who is interested in Botany, Kibale should really rank high on your places to visit because this park is also home to over 300 tropical tree species.

 

How do I get to Kibale National Park?

Getting to Kibale Forest National Park can be done by the main road, however, if you don’t have the time to ride, you can also opt to fly to Kasese from Entebbe then you drive the remaining 70km or 1-2 hours’ drive to get to Kibale. However, for a typical Uganda tour experience, I recommend that you do a road trip especially if you have the time to do it. The journey to Kibale is an awesome adventure one that is filled with lots of fascinating road sightings during this 5-6 hour journey covering about 300km. As you embark on this 300km journey expect to have several stops such as one at the Mityana local market and this which gives you an opportunity to take your taste buds on a culinary journey as you taste some Uganda’s purely organic tropical fruits that will tantalize your taste buds due to their absolute sweetness. Other things that may come your way is Uganda’s very own KFC version of chicken and this will be a roasted chicken skewered on sticks and if you aren’t a fussy feeder, this is your moment to have a taste of this fire-grilled finger lingering goodness. Your next stop comes around when you meet the sprawling tea estate fields of Mpanga and these will mesmerize you as they will seem nothing like tea plantation but rather expansive playing fields. Make your way to Fort portal where you will have lunch then visit the Amabeere ga nyina mwiru caves before you finally proceed to Kibale national park which is 26km away from Fort portal

 

What to see in Kibale Park?

Chimpanzee trekking in kibale park

Chimpanzee trekking in kibale park

There quite a number of Uganda safari activities you can engage in when you decide to visit Kibale and these include Chimpanzee trekking, visiting Bigodi wetland community, birding, Nature walks, Nocturnal walks for stunning sightings of nocturnal creatures. However, if you want to spend just a single day in Kibale as part of your larger Uganda wildlife safari or Uganda gorilla safari then I recommend you consider engaging in the first 2 activities that I have mentioned above. For you to easily engage in these activities, you need to stay the night before in one of the several of the Uganda safari lodges in Kibale or Fortportal. The morning of this day kicks off with an amazing breakfast that is aimed at energizing for the chimpanzee trek that’s ahead of you. Report to the park center in Kanyanchu where you get to go through a short briefing about the entire chimpanzee trekking experience. From here in a company of park ranger, embark on jungle walk as you search for these great humans of the wild the chimpanzees and when you get to meet these exciting creatures you will be wowed by how much in common we do have with these great apes as they laugh, hug and kiss just like humans do and also look after the young ones. Besides the chimpanzees, you should also not miss out on the sightings of several other primates that call this forest their home and these include the black and white colobus monkeys, L’Hoest monkeys, Grey monkeys. After the chimpanzee encounter which lasts an hour of pure enjoyment return to the park center where your trekking efforts are rewarded with a trekking certificate. From here, have a lunch break then transfer to Bigodi community where you get to engage in a community encounter with the locals and see how they live their daily lives, watch them or even engage in some of their days to day activities such coffee picking, local brew making and as you undertake this community thriller, you will take part in the coffee-making process right from planting process, harvesting red ripe coffee berries, sun drying process, then coffee pounding and finally making your own cup of coffee that is freshly brewed from the coffee that’s grown by these locals and thee end of this activity signal the end of the day.

 

Next time we will visit Queen Elizabeth National Park.

At Wild Gorilla Safaris, we strive to meet all your Africa safari needs as we have got virtually the safari packages that will give you a memorable Africa safari experience. For anyone interested in Uganda wildlife safaris packages we have got you covered with wide range of packages that are tailored basing on the number of days you have and the destination you would like to visit on your Uganda safari tour. If you’ve got only a few days, then choose from our short Uganda wildlife safaris which run from 2 days to 5 days such as 2 days Uganda wildlife safari to Murchison falls or 5 days Uganda wildlife safari with chimpanzees and many more. For those that have got more than 5 days, then I suggest pick from our compressive long Uganda wildlife safaris that run from 6 days to as many as 21 days such as

On top of an epic Uganda safari adventure to many of these savanna parks, you have an opportunity to encounter mountain gorillas. Yes, a Uganda gorilla tour experience is very possible when you visit gorilla trekking Uganda destinations Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park.  A Uganda gorilla safari to any of these parks gives you an opportunity to meet any of the 19 gorilla families that have been habituated to give you nothing but the ultimate Uganda gorilla tours experience, you can ever think of.

If you’re interested Uganda gorilla safaris these are available in both short Uganda gorilla safari packages such as 3 days gorilla tours in Bwindi and 4 days Bwindi gorilla tour and wildlife in Lake Mburo. There are also long Uganda gorilla tours that run from 6 days to as many as 18 days while featuring many other things along the way to the gorillas. After a magical gorilla tour in Uganda, you can always visit Lake Bunyonyi Uganda and enjoy the stunning views of this magical lake. A visit to Lake Bunyonyi gives you an opportunity to experience a boat ride on Africa’s second deepest lake.

Rwanda is also another gorilla destination you wouldn’t want to miss out on, hence if you are planning for a Rwanda gorilla safari package, check out some of our Rwanda gorilla tours packages which also come in form of short Rwanda gorilla gorilla safaris for those that have got only a few days in Rwanda but those that have got more days, then Long Rwanda gorilla trekking safari packages will do you good as they also give you a chance to visit other Rwanda safari attractions.

Congo as well is another gorilla destination and we have numerous Congo gorilla safari packages that will take you on a Congo gorilla tour adventure to either Virunga National Park for an encounter with mountain gorillas or Kahuzi Beiga National Park where you will encounter Eastern lowland gorillas. Besides gorilla safaris and wildlife encounters in Uganda, you can still explore Uganda’s diversity using any of our wide range of day trips that visit other sites that are near the capital city Kampala or Entebbe international airport such as a Mabamba birding day trip to Mabamba island Kampala city tour day tour Jinja day tour and 1 day Ngamba island chimpanzee safari. Check out our great east Africa safari to such as Kenya safari tours and Tanzania safari tour that take you on an Africa wildlife safari adventure to Kenya and Tanzania respectively.

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