Kibale National Park or Kibale Forest National Park is one of the top chimpanzee trekking destinations in East Africa. Located in Western Uganda (Kabarole District), Kibale was declared a National Park in 1993 and currently spans over 795 sq. km. It is lying at the altitude of 1200 to 1650m. Kibale National Park features a scenic tract of tropical forest, and to the Northern section, it is largely the raised Fort Portal plateau.
Kibale National Park is largely a moist-evergreen and tropical forest. It also has a section of savanna and woodland along the Rift Valley floor. Kanyanchu is the Central part of Kibale and has a mix of deciduous and evergreen trees.
In Kibale, the tallest of the trees grow to the height of 55m and form a semi-closed canopy. The Park has a composition of 351 species of trees that can survive for up to 200 years. Kibale Forest National Park lies in the Western circuit and is bordered by Queen Elizabeth National Park, Rwenzori, and Semuliki National Parks.
Attractions in Kibale –Best Explored on Uganda Safari
The Wildlife to Encounter on Kibale trip
In Kibale, there reside over 13 primate species that make it the Primate Capital of the World. The 13 species of primates comprise 1500 chimpanzees thriving harmoniously with the red-tailed monkeys, pottos, blue monkeys, vervet monkeys, l’hoest monkeys, grey-cheeked mangabeys, and bush babies. Kibale also shelters primates such as olive baboons, black & white colobus monkeys. The diverse primates share the same habitat with other animals, including the forest elephants, warthogs, bush bucks, giant forest hogs, golden cats, leopards, duikers, sitatungas, and buffaloes.
The Birds –Kibale
Kibale is a birder’s haven to over 375 species of birds. The park contains Albertine rift endemic and resident species of birds. While in Kibale National Park, expect to find birds such as papyrus canary, purple-breasted sunbirds, blue-headed sunbirds, Northern puffbacks, Abyssinian ground thrush, black-billed weavers, black-headed oriole, black-eared ground thrush, brown twin spot, cisticola, blue-shouldered robin chat, Zebras waxbill, and papyrus gonoleks. The park also shelters birds such as Cameroon Sombre greenbul, grey-headed olive back, dusky crimsonwing, African green-breasted pittas, yellow spotted nicator, and Nahan’s francolins. Little greenbul, scarly-breasted illadopsis, and African fire finch.
Activities to do on Tour in Kibale
Chimpanzee trekking or tracking (guided)
Kibale National Park is most popular to offer the most thrilling trek with chimpanzees. The Park currently consists of about 4 main chimpanzee communities, and treks begin from the Kanyanchu Visitor Centre. You can begin your adventure with a briefing at the visitor centre in Kanyanchu. In Kibale, visitors can enjoy the morning and afternoon chimpanzee trekking sessions. But the overall trek with chimpanzees takes at least 2-5 hours, which includes 1 hour. The rewarding part is that you can enjoy up close and personal encounter with Kibale chimpanzees.
Chimpanzee trekking permit is an essential tool you require to visit Kibale to interact with chimpanzees. A single permit for the Kibale chimpanzee trek costs USD 250 per person. This cost applies to international tourists. USD 200 per person for all foreign residents and Ugandans | East African citizens can get permits at UGX 180,000 per guest.
The Kibale chimp habituation (special primate adventure)
Get a chance to enjoy longer hours with semi-habituated chimpanzee communities. A guided walk during the habituation mainly focuses on exploring more about the behaviours of chimpanzees and taking pictures. A normal habituation can take half a day or a full day, and guests are led by experienced experts –conservationists or trackers. Permits for Kibale chimpanzee habituation cost USD 300 per guest travelling as an international resident, USD 250 –the cost that applies to the foreign residents, and UGX 250,000 for East African citizens.
Birding/nature walks.
Nature walks and birding excursions involve immersing yourself in the rainforest. These excursions offer you a great deal to explore a variety of birds, primates, and other species. In terms of birds, the park has a record of 375 species of birds, including Cassin’s hawk, Afep pigeon, forest robins, Double-toothed barbets, red-bellied paradise, yellow-billed barbet, and blue-breasted kingfishers.
Experiences to enjoy around Kibale National Park
Besides the unique activities enjoyed inside Kibale National Park, you can also have add-on experiences in the surrounding area. These include Bigodi swamp walk, Amabere G’nyina Mwiru cave, Crater Lake, and community visits.
Best time to go tour of Kibale
Kibale National Park is open for you to enjoy holidays at any time of the year. However, the peak dry season offers suitable conditions for visitors to engage in chimpanzee tracking, forest walks, and other safari activities. Visits can be made during the long dry months, June to September or December to February. These are peak dry months with long sunny days and low rainfall amounts received.
Visitors can also participate in the trek with chimpanzees or engage in other safari activities. The dry season is the most preferred period of the year for tourists to have excellent safari activities in Kibale compared to the wet or rainy season.
The rainy or wet also referred to as the off-peak season, occurs in March, April, May, October, and November. These off-peak months receive a lot of rain, and the chimpanzee habitats often becomes muddy and slippery, posing a challenge to walk through.
Accommodation Alternatives to Stay in Kibale
Kibale National Park comprises budget, midrange, and luxury accommodations. To enjoy your holiday in Kibale, expect to stay for a night in lodges such as Crater Safari Lodge, Papaya Lake Lodge, Kibale Forest Camp, Ndali Lodge, Primate Lodge, and Kyaninga Lodge. Other accommodation alternatives include Chimpanzee Forest Guesthouse, Turaco Treetops, Chimpundu Lodge, and Isunga Lodge.
Getting there –by road or air transportation
Travel from Entebbe or Kampala through Mityana to Mubende –Fort Portal and reach Kibale along the Kamwenge route. Before you reach Kibale National Park, expect to enjoy an en route lunch in Fort Portal tourism city. Still in Fort Portal, you can enjoy magnificent views of the Rwenzori Mountain ranges and the lush tea farms. In addition, expect to appreciate the scenic Crater Lakes and which can be viewed while you head to the Park.
Other road connection options include Queen Elizabeth National Park to Kibale via Kasese, which can take about 2 to 3 hours’ drive or Bwindi to Kibale, approximately 6-7 hours’ drive. From Kampala, you can connect to Kibale via the Masaka-Mbarara-Bushenyi-Kasese route.
By air transportation. You can depart from Entebbe International Airport (EBB) for Kasese Airstrip. Visitors can be picked up from Kasese and dropped off at Kibale National Park.