Kibale Forest National Park is found in the southern part of the country in the districts of Kabarole and Kamwenge, about 320 kilometers, by road west of Kampala, Uganda’s capital and biggest city.
The National Park is a lavish tropical rainforest, believed to host the highest density of primates in Africa. It’s most popular for being one of the best destinations in the world to track wild chimpanzees, with five chimpanzee groups habituated to human contact. It’s home to 13 primate species, with the rare red colobus and L’hoest’s monkeys the other highlights.
Larger however seldom seen residents of the forest include bushbuck, sitatunga, buffalo, leopard and some forest elephants. There are additionally an incredible 250 species of butterfly that live here. While on the smaller side, Kibale Forest also has an incredible bird list with over 372 species, however, keen birdwatchers may want to bypass it and spend their time in Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary or Kihingami Wetland where open-canopy and wetland species can be seen alongside most of the same forest species living in Kibale Forest National Park.
The Kibale Forest National Park is also home to over 70 species of mammal, most famously 13 species of primate including the chimpanzee.
The Kibale-Fort Portal region is among Uganda’s most interesting and amazing destinations to visit. The national park is located close to the serene Ndali-Kasenda crater region and within half day’s drive of the Queen Elizabeth National Park, the Rwenzori Mountains and Semuliki National Park, and in addition the Toro-Semliki Wildlife Reserve.
Getting There, Kibale Forest
Kibale Forest National Park is found in the western part of the country in about 310kms by road from Kampala. The shortest trip from Kampala to this park is always a 3 days safari since it takes 5hours drive and so the first day is for driving from Kampala to the park then the second day is for chimpanzee tracking and then the last day you will use it for driving back to Kampala.
Why Visit Kibale Forest
The national park is the best destination to track wild chimpanzees in Uganda; perfect birding in nearby Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary.
