Chimpanzee trekking in Uganda can also be done in Murchison falls national park in budongo forest. Budongo forest is the largest natural rainforest in East Africa. Chimpanzees are intelligent endangered apes that only survive in the natural rainforests and tropical savannah of Africa. There are 1500 chimpanzees in East Africa and Budongo forest host over 800 chimpanzees. This has been opened to tourists for chimpanzee trekking and chimpanzee habituation that has boosted the tourism sector in Uganda. However, there are also other small primates like the white colobus monkeys, olive monkeys, blue moneys and red monkeys. This means that during your chimpanzee trekking activity in budongo forest you will be able to see all these amazing monkeys in the forest.
The forest covers 500sq.km and it is also part of the Murchison falls conservation area. Budongo forest is before Murchison falls and has the most mahogany trees in Uganda and East Africa at large. Kindly note that Budongo forest has the biggest number of chimpanzees and the habituated chimpanzees are found at Kaniyo Pabidi. chimpanzee trekking is an incredible activity that starts in the morning. Before the activity, tourists will first go for a short briefing about the rules and regulations of chimpanzee trekking then you will be given a ranger for guidance when navigating through the tropical rainforests of Budongo.
Chimpanzee trekking takes approximately 30 minutes to 7 hours in the wild. once chimpanzees are found the ranger will recommend only one hour with our close relatives. While with the chimpanzees you will observe how they carry out their day-to-day activities such as feeding, grooming and playing. During this moment a ranger will tell you when it’s appropriate to take the photos and when he does ensure that the flash lights are off to avoid any aggression from the chimpanzees. kindly ensure to follow the instructions from the guide or the range because they are very experienced and trained by the Uganda wildlife Authority to carry out such activities to ensure safety of the chimpanzees and safety for visitors as well.
In Uganda, for one to access or carry out chimpanzee trekking, a visitor or tourist should be the age of 15 years and above. This is because children below 15 years have communicable diseases which can easily be transmitted to the chimpanzees. Kindly note that chimpanzees share 98% DNA with humans and any exposure to such diseases can be deadly to our relatives in the wild.
In summary chimpanzee trekking is an incredible activity in Budongo forest call it East Africa’s largest natural rainforest. Tourist are free to book their trip during any season of the year with any trusted tour agent though I would recommend Ganyana Safaris for your bookings. Your chimpanzee permits come with nature walks in Budongo forest and sightings Budongo forest during the trail.
