4 Days Chimpanzee Tracking in Kibale Forest

After breakfast, embark on a four-hour road trip to Fort Portal in western Uganda. You will travel en-route the Kampala-Mubende-Fort Portal Highway. It is a well paved/tarmacked road with captivating views of rolling hills, tea plantations, banana plantations, tropical forests and traditional Ugandan villages. To make the trip less exhausting, there will be four stopovers at points where you can refresh and mingle with the locals.

Upon arrival at Fort Portal, also known as the tourism city of Uganda, you will have a city tour before proceeding to your lodge in Kibale National Park, which is roughly one hour away. Among the major attractions you will visit include Karuzika, the royal Palace of Tooro kingdom.

Overnight stay at Primate Lodge Kibale, one of the few lodges in the park where wildlife makes surprise visits. This mostly happens as they cross over from one side of the forest to the other in search for food. The lodge boasts of eco-friendly cottages, each of which is tucked in a quiet part of the jungle. There is even a treehouse deep in the jungle if you wish to push your adrenaline glands to the limit.

Dinner will be served at the fireplace at Primate Lodge.

After early morning breakfast, you will be taken to the starting point of chimpanzee trekking where you find a ranger guide ready to brief you on the DOs and DON’Ts of the adventure. Thereafter, the guide will usher you into the forest for 2-4 hours searching for wild chimpanzees, starting at the spot where they nested the previous night. Unlike mountain gorillas that make their nests in the ground due to their heavyweight, chimpanzees make their nests in the canopy. To get better views of them, don’t forget to carry your binoculars. Occasionally, they come down to the floor of the forest, primarily for bonding purposes. The beauty with Kibale is that the terrain is relatively flat, and thus not straining to the knee. This makes the adventure doable even by people with walking difficulties.

Once through with the trek, you will return to Primate Lodge for a lunch break.

In the evening, you will pursue a sightseeing nature walk in a well-conserved community-owned swamped Bigodi Wetland. Bigodi has a thriving population of bird species like the Green-breasted Pitta and Great Blue Turaco. There are also a lot of butterflies.

The tour will be crowned with a visit of one of the communities living in the neighborhood of the park. The biggest highlight is a first-hand experience of the native way of life of the Batoro, a resident kingdom of farmers. Their passion to showcase how they get married, how they cook, and how they initiate their king is infectious. At no point will you feel bored as you will be engaged in every part of the tour.

Overnight stay at Primate Lodge or a hotel of your choice.

After breakfast, you will pursue a two-hour tour of stunningly beautiful crater lakes just outside of Fort Portal. Most of them are found within the same district that hosts Kibale National Park. Carry a good camera as there are so many picturesque scenes to capture and you’re more likely to have your best shots around here.

Once through, you will re-run a four-hour journey back to Kampala ahead of your departure. Upon arrival in Entebbe, you will be checked into a hotel where you can relax as you wait for your flight. Alternatively, you will be dropped off at the Entebbe airport.