Kibale Forest National Park in Uganda is famous for the Chimpanzee tracking and Chimpanzee Habituation Experience. This gives the park a common slogan of the primate capital of the world.
Kibale National Park is located in western Uganda protecting moist evergreen rain forest. The park was established in 1993 to protect a large area of forest previously managed as a logged Forest Reserve (gazette in 1932). The park adjoins with Queen Elizabeth National Park and is an important eco-tourism and safari destination, popular for its population of habituated chimpanzees and 12 other species of primates.
Kibale forest is dominated by primates, 13 species live in the forest. The park protects a well-studied habituated population of Common Chimpanzee, as well as several species of Central African monkey including the Mangabey, Red Colobus and the L’Hoest’s Monkey.
The park’s population of forest elephants travels between the park and Queen Elizabeth National Park, and other large animals that live in the park include leopards, bush pigs, three species of duiker. Bird life is also prolific, particularly noisy hornbills, two species of pittas (African and Green-breasted) and African Grey Parrots. .
Kibale Forest National Park is located in the districts of Kabarole and Kibale, approximately 320 kilometers (200 mi), by road, west of Kampala, Uganda’s capital and largest city. Fort Portal in Kabarole District is the nearest large city to the national park.
Activities in Kibale National Park
Kibale Forest Hikes | Walking Trail
The Kibale Forest walk trail is 12km long and the hike is usually done in the dry season from the month of June to September are mid-November to February, taking between 5 and 6 hours. Hiking Tours offer you an opportunity to discover the park’s assorted habitats such as river line forest, swamp, grassland and tropical rainforest.
Birding in Kibale
The park is a home to 325 different bird species, including 6 that are native to the Albertine Rift area like the dusky crimsonwing, black-capped apalis, blue-headed sunbird, collared apalis, red-faced woodland warbler and purple-breasted sunbird. Other Kibale specials are the green breasted pitta, African pitta, black bee-eater, Abyssinian ground thrush, yellow spotted nicator, little greenbul, black-eared ground thrush, brown chested alethe, yellow rumped tinker bird, blue-breasted kingfisher, along with the crowned eagle.
The Bigodi nature walk offers the best birding safaris opportunities in the park as the swamp alone has approximately 138 bird species. It’s also famous for wildlife such as chimpanzees, red colobus, black and white colobus, red tailed monkey, bushbuck as well as mongoose.
Cultural Tours around Kibale
Led by a local guide, you will get a chance to meet the native Batooro people as well as the Bakiga immigrants (from the densely populated southwestern part of Uganda) who stay around this park. During the Kibale Cultural Tours you will visit a traditional village to see the traditional lifestyle of the Batoro, visit the local church, primary school, traditional healer and get a closer encounter with these natives. You will also enjoy some energetic traditional dances and songs by the Bakiga.
Crater Lakes Tour
The Kasenda area found in Fort Portal is home to more than 50 different crater lakes which are surrounded by steep sided volcanoes. a visit to this picturesque are will give you an opportunity to appreciate the unique landscape of this area.
Cultural Trails
The nature walk begins from Kanyanchu or Sebitoli and it takes about 2 to 6 days. The enroute will help discover the forest and late rest in the community-run campsites close to the villages of Kikoni, Nyakalongo and Nyaibanda.
Accommodation in Kibale National Park
- Chimps nest
- Kibale forest camp
- Rweterera safari park
- Primates lodge
- Chimpanzee forest camp
When to visit
Although Kibale National Park is accessible throughout the year, the Best time to Visit the park is during the dry season when the trails are dry and passable. This runs from December to February and then from June to September. The wettest area in Kibale is the northern area, receiving an average annual rainfall of approximately 1700mm, mainly during March to May and September to November. The climate is usually pleasant with an average annual temperature range of 14C to 27C. The southern part of the park experiences the maximum temperatures and lower amounts of rains where the terrain drops onto the hot rift valley floor and forest provides way to open grassland.
