3 Day Kibale Chimpanzee Safaris

Your safari starts with an early morning pickup from your hotel in Kampala or Entebbe.

After meeting your driver-guide, depart Kampala and travel west toward Fort Portal and Kibale Forest National Park.

The journey takes you through Uganda's countryside, passing through towns, agricultural communities, plantations and rolling green landscapes. Depending on your departure time, stop along the way for breakfast or refreshments.

Continue toward Fort Portal, where you can have lunch before proceeding toward Kibale.

As you approach the park, the landscape becomes increasingly lush, with the forest and surrounding tea-growing areas becoming prominent.

Afternoon: Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary

After lunch, continue to the Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary, located close to the southern edge of Kibale.

Take a guided nature walk through the wetland and surrounding forest. Bigodi is particularly rewarding for visitors interested in birds and primates. You may encounter red-tailed monkeys, black-and-white colobus monkeys, baboons and other wildlife, while birders can look for species associated with the wetland and forest edge. UWA specifically recommends combining Kibale Forest birding with Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary.

The walk also provides an opportunity to interact with the local community and learn about traditional livelihoods, farming and conservation around Kibale.

Return to your lodge in the late afternoon.

Enjoy dinner and relax ahead of the following morning's main activity.

Wake up early and have breakfast at your lodge.

You will then drive to Kanyanchu Visitor Centre, the principal starting point for chimpanzee tracking in Kibale.

Arrive at the visitor centre for registration and a briefing from the Uganda Wildlife Authority ranger.

The ranger explains the forest rules, safety procedures and what to expect during the trek.

Enter Kibale Forest accompanied by your ranger and begin searching for a habituated chimpanzee community.

The trek takes you through dense tropical forest, where you may encounter several other primate species, including red-tailed monkeys, black-and-white colobus monkeys, grey-cheeked mangabeys, L'Hoest's monkeys, blue monkeys and olive baboons

You will also have opportunities to see forest birds, butterflies and other smaller creatures.

The trek can take several hours ranging from 2-5 hours because the chimpanzees move through the forest rather than remaining in one location. Standard chimpanzee tracking as beginning at 8:00 a.m. for the morning session, with tracking continuing until visitors return for debriefing

Once your group locates the chimpanzees, you can spend up to one hour observing them.

This is the highlight of the day. You may watch the chimpanzees feeding, grooming, calling, climbing through the trees, playing and interacting with one another.

Your ranger will guide you on where to stand and how to behave around the animals.

After the encounter, begin walking back toward the visitor centre.

Return to your lodge for lunch and some rest.

For visitors wanting another wildlife experience, a guided night walk can be arranged where available in the evening. Kibale's night walks focus on nocturnal species such as bushbabies, galagos and pottos.

Return to the lodge for dinner.

Wake up early and enjoy breakfast at the lodge.

Rather than immediately starting the long journey back, spend the morning exploring the countryside surrounding Kibale.

In the morning, drive through the Fort Portal crater-lake region, one of the most scenic areas of western Uganda.

The area is characterized by volcanic crater lakes, rolling green hills, tea plantations and small rural communities.

Depending on your interests, you can take a short nature walk, visit a viewpoint or simply enjoy the scenery.

After the morning activity, depart the Kibale area and begin your journey back toward Kampala/Entebbe.

Stop for lunch along the way.

Continue east through Uganda's countryside, arriving in Kampala or Entebbe in the late afternoon or evening, depending on traffic and the number of stops.

End of safari