Get the latest travel guide to Kibale National Park with Superfine Safaris Limited. Explore everything about Kibale Forest National Park on your Uganda safari from attractions, experiences/activities, best time to visit, accommodation options, and how to get there. Kibale National Park is amazingly the leading destination where tourists can visit to explore the highest concentration of primates. Kibale is largely dominated by the lush rainforest and other vegetation types where its abundant wildlife and bird species live.

The scenic Kibale National Park is set in Western Uganda. The park lies in the Kabarole district and is surrounded by the districts of Kamwenge, Kibale, and Fort Portal Town. It was designated National Park status in 1993 and today, it sits on a land area of about 795 sq. km. Kibale Forest National Park sits on the altitudinal range of 1100 to 1600 meters. The general landscape of Kibale comprises of an extensive tract of moist evergreen rainforest and also other habitats like savanna, woodland, and more.

The Main Attractions in Kibale

Diverse wildlife to explore

Kibale National Park is endowed with a total of about 70 species of mammals including 13 species of primates, 375 species of birds, many colorful butterflies, reptiles, and floral species. A huge profusion of primates resides in Kibale National Park making it the primate capital of the world. The diverse primates to encounter on the Uganda tour in Kibale National Park include red-colobus monkeys, chimpanzees, blue monkeys, l’hoest monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, Uganda mangabeys, olive baboons, black and white colobus monkeys.

 

Kibale National Park also supports other wildlife including sitatunga, duikers, forest elephants, giant forest hogs, warthogs, African golden cats, serval, mongoose, buffaloes, and otters.

The bird species

Kibale shelters up to 375 species of birds and these comprise mainly endemic and resident species. The 4 unique birds to Kibale include blue-headed bee-eaters, green-breasted pittas, Cassin’s spiny-tailed, and masked apalis. Additional bird checklist in Kibale Forest National Park include black bee-eaters, black-capped apalis, red-faced woodland warblers, Dusky crimsonwing, papyrus gonoleks, African grey parrots, Great blue turacos, red-headed bluebill, double-toothed barbet, yellow-spotted nicator, papyrus canary, red-fronted tinker birds, pied kingfishers, blue-shouldered robin-chat, little greenbul, Rwenzori apalis, white-winged warblers, Zebra waxbill, crowned eagle, slender-billed weaver, African emerald cuckoos, speckled mouse birds, Nahan’s francolin, cinnamon-chested bee-eaters, helmeted guineafowl, ross’s turacos, brown-eared woodpeckers, rameron pigeon, piapiac, western nicator, blue-throated rollers, African fire finch, and green-tailed ground warblers.

Kibale Forest National Park also protects birds such as whistling cisticola, yellow-vented eremomela, buff-bellied warblers, white-chinned prinia, zitting cisticola, banded prinia, tawny-flanked prinia, olive-green camaroptera, Chubb’s cisticola, Carruthers’ cisticola, black-crowned waxbill, black-bellied seed eaters, brown twin spot, purple-breasted sunbirds, orange-cheeked waxbills, Sulphur-breasted bush shrikes, yellow-fronted canary, streaky seedeaters, western citril, leaf-love, honey guide greenbul, Cabanis’s greenbul, and African dusky flycatchers.

Top 4 Activities to do in Kibale National Park

Chimpanzee tracking adventures

Chimpanzee tracking features as the main tour highlight on any Kibale National Park safari. Chimpanzee trekking in Kibale takes you deeper into the jungle to have a close interaction with a chimpanzee community. Treks to see chimpanzees in Kibale occur twice a day with the first session which starts at around 8:00 am up to about noon. The second chimp trek session begins at around 2:00 pm till 4:00 pm. All the Kibale chimpanzee tracking excursions start with a briefing at the Kanyanchu Tourist Center.

The briefing session is when you get to know the guidelines to follow during the actual chimpanzee trekking adventure. Visitors are also expected to clear with the authorities and the official from Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) allocates experienced park ranger guides to accompany you on the entire excursion.

Kibale National Park is where the highest concentration of chimps lives in Uganda and the entire East Africa. A total of about 1500 chimpanzees are confined in the moist rainforest of Kibale with currently 4 habituated communities fully available for trekking.

In addition to captivating chimp encounters, expect to also come across a wide array of other primates and birds. The common primates that you are likely to spot on Kibale chimp trek include the grey-cheeked mangabeys, black and white colobus monkeys, red-colobus monkeys, olive baboons, blue monkeys, bush babies, and more.

Guests interested in tracking Kibale chimpanzees require valid chimpanzee permits and the cost varies depending on the visitor categories. The foreign non-residents obtain chimp permits at USD 250 per person, foreign residents USD 200 per visitor, and East African Citizens purchase permits at UGX 250,000 per person.

Chimpanzee Habituation (best for researchers).

Chimpanzee habituation experience is perfect for primate adventure seekers with a desire to spend more time with chimpanzees. During chimp habituation, visitors embark on a search for the semi-habituated community of chimpanzees in Kibale. This adventure can take half a day or a full day with an experienced guide leading you. Visitors who opt for the full day are required to have a packed lunch and adequate bottled water.

The beauty of chimpanzee habituation is that you have a great time following chimpanzees while observing their daily behaviors. It is an adventure whereby the unhabituated chimpanzee communities are made accustomed to human presence. It is normally done for about 1-2 years and once chimpanzees become familiar with human presence, then that community is officially opened for tracking.

Visitors can engage in the Kibale chimpanzee habituation experience provided they have permits. A single permit for this adventure costs USD 300 per person for foreign non-residents, and foreign residents obtain permits at USD 250. The East African Citizens interested in chimpanzee habituation purchase permits at UGX 250,000. Like chimp trekking permits, even habituation permits or tours can be booked through a reliable tour operator on the ground.

Birding

Kibale has a record of about 375 species of birds that make it a treasured birding destination in Uganda. A guided birding excursion through the Kibale Forest allows you to spot a range of bird species including the African green-breasted pitta, Afep pigeon, Sabine’s spine-tail, red-faced woodland warblers, collared apalis, dusky crimson wing, African grey parrots, great blue turacos, pin-tailed whydahs, blue-headed bee-eaters, masked apalis, and Nahan’s francolin, etc.

Nature walks 

If you plan to visit Uganda with children, then consider visiting Kibale. As adults embark on a chimp trek, children can be accompanied on short nature walks. Nature walks for children are available at USD 5 for both foreign non-residents and foreign residents while East African citizens (including Ugandans) pay UGX 10,000.

The Best time to travel to Kibale National Park for a tour

The dry season is the best time of the year to travel to explore Kibale National Park. The dry season in Kibale occurs twice a year with the first session commencing from June to September. The short dry season in Kibale Forest National Park begins from December to February. These are the months of the year when Kibale experiences favorable weather conditions, perfect for chimpanzee tracking.

Kibale is also open for tourists to explore during the wet or rainy season (March to May and October to November. The challenge with the wet/rainy months is that the trails tend to be slippery or muddy thus making it hard for you to have a smooth trek.

Accommodation choices in and around Kibale

The 5 popular lodges to stay in and around Kibale National Park include Primate Lodge, Kyaninga Lodge, Ndali Lodge, Papaya Lake Lodge, and Kibale Lodge.

How to get to Kibale for a vacation

Kibale is best accessed by road whereby you can set off from Kampala through the Mityana-Mubende-Fort Portal-Kamwenge route. Traveling through this route can take you about 5 to 6 hours and en route, you can have a lunch stopover at Fort Portal Tourism City. You can also opt for a domestic flight which involves departing from the Entebbe International Airport and landing at Kasese Airstrip. From Kasese, you can drive to Kibale National Park in a 4×4 safari vehicle.