5 Days Chimpanzee and Gorilla Habituation in Uganda

Mum and baby chimpanzee on a chimpanzee habituation safar in Kibale National Park — Mum and baby chimpanzee in Kibale National Park

Buckle up for a well and carefully assorted 5 days chimpanzee and gorilla habituation safari in Uganda. Here, you will spend a full day with the great chimpanzees, learn their behaviors and how they relate in society, offering you quality time to enjoy other primates in Kibale Forest National Park. You will then head to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park – a well known place for gorilla trekking, but this time round, you will go for a gorilla habituation safari in Bwindi forests, meeting with the mountain gorillas for up to 4 hrs.

This Uganda safari is more informative on all what you need to know about chimpanzee trekking, Gorilla trekking and habituation, while sharing lots of information on other primates in Uganda.

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Itinerary:

Day 1: Kampala – Kibale National Park:

You’ll leave Kampala after breakfast for a fascinating drive through papyrus swamps and thick jungle of the Nile delta to Kibale National Park, just below the Rwenzori Mountains. Get on an afternoon guided walk in the crater lakes area for outstanding views.

Meals and overnight stay at Kyaninga Lodge (luxury facility) or Primate Lodge/Forest Cottage (mid range) or Chimpanzee Guest House (budget facility). All with stunning location overlooking a dramatic crater lake and the fabled “Mountains of the Moon”. Meal plan: L & D

Other Optional Activities:

Tea Estate Walk
Villa Farm Visit
Canoe ride on Crater Lakes
Cycling around the Craters
Community and orphanage center visit

Day 2: Kibale Chimpanzee Habituation Experience

As part of this chimpanzee and gorilla habituation, today is dedicated for chimpanzee habituation experience. Start the day with an early morning breakfast and packed lunch and then you are off to the forest, before dawn breaks.

You will meet your guide for briefing and then set off to where the chimpanzees built their nests the night before. Dawn is just breaking, and the chimpanzee community you are going to be with the rest of the day is rising from their sleep in the nests.

Your day will be full, so your camera may fill up with quality pictures of the chimpanzees as you get to learn to identify them as individuals by their markings, sometimes scars and other unique features that separate each one of them from rest.

Besides everything described, there are the most colorful butterflies, plenty of bird species, plants and trees that will amaze you, because the forest setting is simply awesome.

Meals and overnight stay at Kyaninga Lodge (luxury facility) or Primate Lodge / Forest Cottage (mid range) or Chimpanzee Guest House (budget facility). Meal plan: B, L & D

Note: For visitors that wish to do Chimpanzee habituation will need to add US$ 70.00 per person. Chimpanzee habituation gives you an opportunity to spend the whole day with the Chimpanzees

Day 3: Kibale – Bwindi Drive

Begin your morning with a visit to the Nyakasura Falls (Amabeere ga Nyinamwiru) in Fort Portal, and thereafter, drive to the south into Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. This is the lushest highland rain forest on earth, filled with primates and exotic birds, valleys, hilltops and papyrus swamps.

Dinner and overnight stay at Clouds Gorilla Lodge (high end lodge) or Chameleon Hill Lodge (mid range) or Gorilla Valley Lodge (budget facility). Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Day 4: Bwindi Gorilla Habituation Experience

Begin the day with an early morning breakfast, as you get ready for gorilla trekking, which begins at 8:00 am with briefing from the Uganda Wildlife Authority. Ensure to carry along with you rain jacket, drinking water, snacks, jungle boots etc.

Join the researcher and guides who will lead you inside the jungle to see the shy primates for a group you have been booked for. Do not forget to take your lunch boxes and all the necessary gear to track the rare mountain gorillas. Meet the gorillas for up to 4 hours, perhaps one of the most exciting wildlife experiences on earth.

The habituation experience will take a day but it’s well worth the effort.

Dinner and overnight stay at Clouds Gorilla Lodge (high end lodge) or Chameleon Hill Lodge (mid range) or Gorilla Valley Lodge (budget facility) Meal plan: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Day 5: Bwindi-Kampala/Entebbe

After your morning breakfast, drive back to Kampala using Mbarara – Masaka highway. Make a first stop over at for a lunch break, proceed to the Equator crossing before driving to Kampala where you will be dropped off at a hotel of your choice or at Entebbe International Airport, for your outbound flight home. Meal Plan: B, L

Note: You may also opt to fly from Kisoro at an additional fee of US$ 340.00 per person to Entebbe Airport, in just 2 hours.