Tracking wild chimpanzees in Uganda’s tropical forests.
Why trekking chimpanzees in Uganda is one of the best summer adventure experiences in Africa?- Chimpanzee trekking adventures in Uganda
Tracking wild chimpanzees in Uganda’s tropical forests. The thrill of tracking our snobbish cousins in the middle of an ancient rainforest jungle is one of the most endearing adventures on the African continent.
These intelligent, curious, noisy, and social apes live in small communities in equatorial Africa, with about 172,700 to 299,700 individuals thought to be living in protected rainforests. Uganda houses almost 5000 of these chimps with a couple of groups habituated for tourism. Observing a troop of habituated chimpanzees in their natural habitat is one of Africa’s top bucket list experiences that any adventurer shouldn’t miss.
One of the best places to encounter chimpanzees in the wild is in Kibale National Park the primate’s capital of the world in western Uganda, home to five habituated groups within easy walking distance.
Chimpanzees are members of the great ape family with gorillas, humans, and orangutans. Chimps are intelligent, curious, social, and very noisy. They live in loose communities of about ten to more than 100 individuals sharing a home range that they protect from intruders. They have complex behavior patterns, many of which they progressively learn. They can solve problems, plan for anticipated events, and make and use tools. Scientists have also observed them utilizing medicinal plants for a variety of ailments.
The idea that we have much in common with chimps, including more than 98 percent of our genetic code, is why so many travelers flock to Uganda and other parts of central Africa to watch these fascinating primates. Thanks to Jane Goodall’s long-term research, which has contributed to a comprehensive study that identified significant cultural variations in chimpanzee communities. Now we can relate to how our ancestors lived and make relevant adjustments.
Chimpanzees have been observed using tools, target throwing, and nest building. We’ve watched them grooming, rain dancing, and engaging in courtship rituals, and behavior scientists trace to multi-generational social learning and customs — in other words, culture. Imagine locking eyes with a primitive humanoid and seeing two million years into primate evolution; they are just like us.
On a chimpanzee-tracking adventure in Uganda’s thick rainforest jungles, tourists watch chimps regularly hold hands, touch and groom each other and sometimes kiss when they meet.
An adult chimp often has a special buddy with whom it spends a lot of time, with the most potent relationships within a troop between adult males. Male chimps tend to spend a lot of time together and groom each other, almost four times as much as females. Females give their young a great deal of attention and help each other with babysitting chores.
The band’s older chimps are usually reasonably patient with active youngsters — watching over them as grandparents do with human kids. A crucial social activity in chimp societies is social grooming. Not only does grooming help remove ticks, flakes of dead skin, and dirt from the hair, but it also helps create and maintain social bonds. Walking with chimpanzees in Kibale National Park feels like walking with sugar-high kids. Still, it is when they come down from the canopy to the forest floor that tourists get the closest to them and observe their intricate social structures.
Tracking wild chimpanzees in Uganda’s tropical forests
Kibale forest National Park’s Chimpanzees
Located in the shadows of the Rwenzori mountains in western Uganda, Kibale forest National Park beams with an enchanting combination of scenic landscape scenery and forest creatures. Kibale has the highest concentration of primates in Africa; 13 primate species make it home but the most prominent is the 1500 chimpanzees swinging its canopy.
Visitors can track any of the five habituated troops and spend an hour or the entire day following their energetic antics. The best chimpanzee tracking excursions in Uganda happen twice daily from the Kanyanchu visitor center in Kibale.
At a Kanyanchu, expert local guides escort small groups to meet one of the most enthralling chimpanzee troops of about 120 individuals. Early morning excursions set off at bout 8:00 and typically last about four hours, and all you need to join the party is a tracking permit. With a regular chimpanzee trekking permit ($200 per person), visitors can spend up to one hour observing the chimps. Alternatively, visitors can spend the entire day walking with and observing wild chimps undergoing the habituation process on a Chimpanzee Habituation Experience (CHEX) for a permit price of $250 per person.
However, the habituation experience is physically demanding; prepare for a fair bit of fast-walking in the jungle with unmarked and sometimes damp trails. Kibale chimpanzees are boisterous and move fast, only stopping for a few minutes to listen out for enemies, breathe, feed, a socialize; the rewards during these moments are always worth the sweat.
Other destinations for Chimpanzee trekking in Uganda.
Tracking wild chimpanzees in Uganda’s tropical forests
