All You need to Know About Kibale National Park-Location, Activities, Price
Kibale National Park is one of the best Primates safari destinations in Africa for chimpanzee trekking excursions and the park is home to the highest number and diversity of primates in East Africa. Kibale National Park boasts of 13 species of primates including chimpanzees living within its 795km2 land cover with the most beautiful and most diversified tracts of tropical forest in the whole of Uganda. The Forest cover dominates the central and northern part of the Kibale National park on the raised Fort Portal plateau and it stands 1590m above sea level.
Kibale National Park is rich with birdlife with at least 335 recorded species including numerous rarities and regional endemics. Four of these – Cassin’s spinetail, green-breasted pitta, masked apalis, and blue-headed bee-eater – have not been recorded elsewhere in Uganda. Bird sightings in Kibale Forest are more reliable along the main road through the park and on the boardwalk trail through the nearby Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary a community-run initiative, protects the Magombe Swamp from agricultural encroachment, generates funds for local development and has provided hundreds of birdwatchers with sightings of papyrus gonoleks and other ‘swamp specials’ as well as a decent number of Congo biome birds.
Location Of Kibale National Park
Kibale National Park is located in the western part of Uganda about 348km (5 hrs drive) from Kampala and about 26km south-east of the beautiful Fort Portal town. The park is located close to the serene Ndali Kasenda crater area and it takes a half day’s drive to Queen Elizabeth National Park, Rwenzori Mountains & Semuliki National Parks and the Toro-Semliki Wildlife Reserve. Southern Kibale borders Queen Elizabeth National Park and collectively these conserved areas protect a 180 km long migration corridor for wildlife that stretches from the remote southern sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park in “Ishasha”, to “Sebitoli” in northern Kibale.
Attractions in Kibale National Park
Primates
A large number of primates live in Kibale national park with chimpanzees having the highest density. The national park is blessed with a dense canopy of tall, imposing trees which serves as the monkeys’ home. There are 13 different primate species in the national park including chimpanzees, blue monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys, grey cheeked mangabeys and red-tailed monkeys. Chimpanzee trekking and habituation experiences which take place in Kanyanchu are the most popular in the national park.
Wildlife
Within the dense jungle of Kibale National Park, various wildlife species call it home and these include Elephants, serval cats, buffaloes, peters and Harvey’s duiker, marsh mongooses, warthogs, sitatungas and swamp otters among others.
Birds
The national park is home to more than 375 different bird species, including ground thrush types. The park is home to migratory birds that travel from Queen Elizabeth and the surrounding areas as well as bird species that live in forests. These include among others the little greenbul, the brown illadopsis, the black-eared ground thrush, the yellow-spotted nicator, the African grey parrot, the olive long-tailed cuckoo, the blue breasted kingfisher, and the yellow-rumped tinkerbird.
Ndali-Kasenda Craters
The lakes in the craters, known as Kibale ndali kasenda crater lakes, provide an amazing beautiful picture. The parks are close to the lakes. There are more than 60 freshwater crater lakes in the area, including the lakes Ntambi, Lyantonde, Nyinambuga, Nyabikere, Kuruba, Nyinabulitwa, and Mubiro, among others.
Activities to do In Kiabale National Park
Chimpanzee Trekking
This is the activity that is done most frequently in Kibale National Park(twice daily in the morning and afternoon). Since there are over 120 habituated families in the national park, visitors can only interact with chimpanzees for an hour after finding them.
Chimpanzee Habituation
As with chimpanzee trekking, chimpanzee habituation is a similar process. However, this is referred to as the chimpanzees’ acclimatization to humans before the expedition. It costs money for tourists to spend 6 hours with chimps.
Forest Walk
The 12-kilometer-long “forest walk” in Kibale National Park travels through a variety of landscapes, including swamps, grasslands, rivers, and tropical forests. The Savannah Riverine hike takes roughly 6 hours. The walk is great since it gives visitors a chance to see primates, many bird species, mammals, especially elephants, as well as breathtaking scenery.
Bigodi Swamp Walk
The Bigodi wetland sanctuary, which is also renowned as a birder’s paradise, is located 6 kilometers from Kibale National Park. It takes 1-2 hours to go to Bigodi Wetland between papyrus reeds and palm palms. Tourists can see a variety of primates in the swamp, including the black and white colobus monkey, red colobus, red-tailed monkey, grey-cheeked mangabey, and olive baboon, as well as several bird species, including the African pitta, collared apal, ground thrush, crowned eagle, black-capped apalis, kingfisher, and weavers.
Ndali-Kasenda Tour
Tourists must stop by the Kasenda area, which contains over 50 crater lakes and is surrounded by high volcanic hills, when on a safari in Kibale. Tourists can trek the volcanic slopes in addition to seeing the lakes to get a better view of the crater lakes. These include, among others, Lake Lyantonde, Lake Kifuruka, Lake Nyinambuga, Lake Nkuruba, and Lake Nyabikere.
Amabere Ga Nyina Mwiru
Rocks known as amabere ga nyina mwiru can be discovered in a cave near to the nyakasura school. The captivating waterfalls and the batooro’s deep bond to the rocks welcome tourists. According to legend, a young girl named Nyinamwiru’s father hacked off her breasts to prevent any man from marrying her after she refused to wed the guy he had picked for her. The batooro people therefore think that those are Nyinamwiru’s breasts. Hills with breathtaking views of the crater lakes are located next to the cave.
Accommodation in Kibale National Park
The national park is equipped with a variety of lodging options, from affordable to luxurious lodges both inside and outside the Kibale Forest. The low-cost lodging options include the Dutch-founded Rwenzori Guest House, the community camping and nature reserve at Lake Nkuruba, Nyabulitwa Country Resort, and safari camp, among others. The chimps nest, which is on the outskirts of the Kibale Forest, the chimpanzee forest guest house, the Jerusalem Paradise Hotel Fort Portal, the Kibale Forest Camp, and the Mountains of the Moon Hotel are among the mid-range lodging options. Ndali Kasenda Lodge, Primate Lodge, Kyaninga Lodge, Papaya Lake Lodge, and Kyaninga Lodge are just a some of the luxurious lodges in Kibale. Depending on your safari itinerary, there is a wide variety for you to pick from.
When To Visit Kibale National Park
Although Kibale National Park can be visited throughout the year, the best time to Visit the park is during the dry season when the trails are dry and passable. The dry season runs from December to February and then from June to September. The wettest area in Kibale is the northern area which receives 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.
Cost Of A Safari In Kibale National Park
The cost of a Chimpanzee trekking safari in Kibale National Park is determined by a number of factors like the Kibale National Park entrance fee which is about $40 for foreign non-resident adults and $20 for children, the cost of the various activities that you will be engaging in such as chimpanzee trekking $250, birding at $30 the Bigodi Swamp Nature Walk at $30 and then the type of accommodation you will be staying at ranging from the luxury to budget facilities among which is the Crater Safari Lodge, Isunga Lodge Kibale, Ndali Lodge, Papaya Lake Lodge among others.
CONTACT US for information and Quote for Kibale National Park Tour