3 days Chimpanzee Habituation Experience Safari in Kibale Uganda is a 3 day Uganda Chimpanzee habituation safari tour in Kibale National Park that starts and ends in Uganda’s capital, Kampala.
This amazing 3 days Uganda Chimpanzee habituation experience trip offers a chance to spend a whole day with the Chimps (our closest known relatives) in a unique Chimpanzee Habituation Experience (CHEX), watching and interacting with these intelligent great apes from dawn to dusk. You’ll accompany researchers into the forest in search of a Chimpanzee community that is less accustomed to human presence than those visited on the chimp trek.
You’ll have a great opportunity to learn a lot more about chimps as you watch them leaving their overnight nests between 6:00 – 6:30 am before feeding, copulating, hunting, breastfeeding, resting, patrolling, and displaying until it is time to build new nests at around 7.00 pm.
The 795km2 Kibale Forest National Park is possibly the best place in the world to see wild Chimpanzees. Some of the trees rise to over 55 meters and provide a majestic canopy within which dwells one of the highest densities of primates on Earth. Besides more than 1,500 chimpanzees, Kibale contains 12 species of primates (including Black-and-white colobus monkeys, Uganda red-colobus monkeys, Grey-cheeked mangabey, Red-tailed monkeys, Vervet monkeys, L’Hoest’s monkeys, Blue monkeys, Pottos, and Bushbabies), a total of 70 mammal species and 375 species of birds including several endemics.
The 3 days Chimpanzee habituation experience Uganda safari Kibale also incorporates the heritage tour to the Amabere caves and the adventure hike to the Fort Portal Crater field and the cycling in Mpanga Tea estates that combine to generate ultimate Africa safari memories.
You can book or customize this unique 3 day Uganda Chimpanzee Habituation Experience Safari at an affordable price.
Whole day Chimpanzee Habituation Experience in Kibale Forest National Park
Cycle in the Mpanga tea estates
Heritage and historical tour to Amabere Caves
An adventurous hike to the scenic Fort Portal Crater Lake Field
Day 1 & 2: Fort Portal Area & Kibale Forest National Park
Day 2: Mpanga Tea Estates
Day 1: Transfer to Fort Portal, visit the Amabere caves, hike the Fort Portal Crater field and drive to Kibale Forest National Park
Day 2: Undertake a whole day Chimpanzee Habituation Experience in Kibale National Park.
Day 2: Do Cycling in Mpanga Tea Estates & transfer back to Kampala
After breakfast at your place of stay in Kampala (at around 6.30 am), we’ll embark on a 300km (5-6 hours) drive to Fort Portal. We’ll drive through the impressive countryside landscapes of Uganda with impressive scenic views including the scenic Mubende inselbergs not forgetting the small towns en route including Mpigi, Mityana, Mubende, and Kyenjojo.
We will reach the town of Fort Portal at around lunchtime. The fort that gave the town its name might not stand anymore, but this is a beautiful town in another scenic area of the country. We will enjoy lunch at one of the best restaurants in town.
After lunch, we’ll visit the Amabeere Caves which are named after the live stalactite formation, Amabeere ga Nyinamwiru (literally, Breast of Nyinamwiru). These breast-like features in the caves are believed to have belonged to Nyinamwiru, the daughter of King Bukuku who is said to have been so beautiful that no man could leave her alone. When Nyinamwiru father King Bukuku became weary of receiving marital requests from unsuitable suitors, he took the extreme measure of cutting off his daughter’s breasts to make her less attractive.
But even this proved to be insufficient to deter Nyinamwiru many admirers, so the king hid her away in the cave now known as Amabere. Here, she was discovered by the Batembuzi King Isaza, who impregnated her with a son. Because Nyinamwiru lacked breasts, she stayed in the cave with her baby, feeding him on the cloudy limestone ‘milk’ that drips from its stalactites.
After visiting the caves we will then embark on the hike to the dramatic Fort Portal Crater Lake field where you traverse the challenging slopes of Kyeganywa hill, surrounded by a range of picturesque crater lakes and crater hollows (some of them over 400 meters deep) presenting one of the beautiful scenic sites in Uganda.
The top of Kyeganywa hill offers spectacular views of the Rwenzori Mountains on a clear day. We’ll retire from the activity and transfer to Kibale National Park, about an hour to the south arriving at the lodge in the evening for relaxation, dinner, and overnight.
The highlight of the day: – A heritage tour to Amabere Cave and a hike to the scenic Fort Portal Crater Lake Field.
Accommodation:-
Luxury/Upmarket: – Crater Safari Lodge/Kyaninga Lodge/Primate Lodge Kibale
Midrange/Standard: – Chimpanzee Forest Guesthouse/Kibale Forest Camp/Turaco Tree Tops
Budget/Basic: – Chimpanzee Forest Guesthouse/Kibale Forest Camp
Meal Plan: – Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Drive distance & time: – Approx. 326km or 6 – 7 hours
Activities & services of the day:-
Optional activities you can choose to do on this day:-
After an early breakfast, we connect to Kanyanchu Visitor Centre to catch up with a briefing by the researcher on how you’re expected to conduct yourself while in the forest when you locate the chimp. This magical full-day Chimpanzee Habituation Experience in Kibale starts from around 6 am when the chimps first get up and last until around 7 pm when they build new nests and settle down for the night.
From Kanyanchu, you will accompany the habituation research team, pushing deeper into the forest in search of our closest known relatives. The chimps are less used to human presence than those visited on the standard Chimpanzee trek.
Following and viewing them is both challenging and exciting involving exploring other forest wonders such as Red-tailed monkeys, Black-and-white colobus, L’Hoest’s monkeys, Red colobus, Mangabeys, Baboons, Vervet monkeys, historical trees that are 55m tall and over 200 years old, as well as a myriad of birds the unique Kibale ground thrush, Green-breasted Pitta, African Pitta, Afep pigeon, African grey parrot, Great blue turaco and much more. Once chimps are located, you’ll see them carry out their day-to-day activities including feeding, hunting, patrolling their territory, resting, and caring for the young ones.
This habituation experience is the best way to get incredible photographs of the chimps. It will allow you to get close enough to identify individuals by their distinct markings and personalities and learn more about their group dynamics. And by taking part in a Chimpanzee Habituation Experience, you’re playing a crucial role in the conservation efforts of the Uganda Wildlife Authority.
Habituating the chimps to the presence of humans is an important way for researchers to learn more about them within their natural habitat, without changing their behavior. The more we learn about these incredible primates, the better we can protect them. The finance obtained from chimp trekking in Kibale is fundamental to the continued conservation and protection efforts of the chimps, and the forest itself.
You retreat from the activity at around 7 pm to connect back to the starting point and then to the lodge for relaxation, dinner, and overnight.
The highlight of the day: – The full-day adventurous chimpanzee habituation encounter in Kibale Forest.
Accommodation:-
Luxury/Upmarket: – Crater Safari Lodge/Kyaninga Lodge/Primate Lodge Kibale
Midrange/Standard: – Chimpanzee Forest Guesthouse/Kibale Forest Camp/Turaco Tree Tops
Budget/Basic: – Chimpanzee Forest Guesthouse/Kibale Forest Camp
Meal Plan: – Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Activities & services of the day:-
Full-day Chimpanzee Habituation Experience in Kibale
Optional activities you can choose to do on this day:-
After a relaxed breakfast at around 8.30, embark on the transfer to Kampala 326km about 7 hours’ drive. You can take a cycling encounter in Mpanga tea estates in the morning. The green tea plantation is spread over a beautiful undulating landscape with endless scenic views which makes it ideal to encounter on your mountain bikes.
On your cycling, you encounter the estate staff plucking tea and you are free to participate in the exercise to gain the exact touch.
Retreat from the activity and continue on the drive to Kampala.
Meal Plan: – Breakfast & Lunch
Activities & Services of the day:-
Drive distance & time: – Approx. 326km or 6 – 7 hours
Activities & Services of the day:-
Optional activities you can choose to do on this day include:-
Chimpanzee Habituation Experience Permit
Full Board Accommodation on Safari
Transportation in either 4X4 Safari Van or 4X4 Safari Land Cruiser all with Pop up roof & AC
Fuel
Professional English Speaking driver guide. Any other foreign language speaking guide can be arranged on request.
Entrance fees to the tourist sites including Protected areas mentioned
Activity fees of the tourist activities mentioned
Bottled water while on safari
Border crossing fees (for cross border safaris)
General tips for the driver guide, site guides and service staff at the lodges
Laundry Services
Other Beverages/drinks of personal nature like Alcohol
International Flights (Arranged on request)
Domestic Flights (Arranged on request)
Visas
Optional Activity fees
Other extras not mentioned in the Itinerary
Airport Transfer (Arranged on request)
Accommodation in Kampala or Kigali unless it is part of the Itinerary (Arranged on request)
Cate
Samuel
Robert
If you're looking for exceptional safari recommendations or require professional assistance, don't hesitate to reach out to us.
