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A chimpanzee sitting in the branches of a Kibale forest tree with an infant beside it

Experience

Chimpanzee Trekking

An hour with a chimpanzee community in Kibale Forest, mostly spent walking fast and looking up. Nothing about it is as composed as a gorilla trek, which is the appeal.

Plan this experience
At a glanceOn land
How longOne trek, one hourOne hour with the community; a morning out
How hardActiveFlat but fast, you move when they move
SeasonYear-roundThe drier spells are easier underfoot

You hear them long before you see them, and then the whole forest moves at once: branches swinging, a scream picked up by three others, a body dropping to the ground twenty metres away and running past you.

Kibale Forest is where most of this happens. The ground is flat compared with Bwindi, so the walking is not steep, but you move fast: a chimpanzee community travels, and the guides walk you after it. Your hour with them starts when the trackers stop, and much of it is spent with your head tilted back while somebody in the canopy eats figs and ignores you.

It is not the composed, sit-down encounter a gorilla trek is. Photographs are hard, the light under the canopy is poor, and the animals rarely hold still. People come out of it grinning anyway.

Good to know

  • Permits are dated and limited, and the wildlife authority sets both the price and the daily numbers. We confirm current terms in writing with your permit.
  • Trackers find the community before you set off, which is why sightings are usual, but it is wild forest and no one guarantees one.
  • Expect to walk quickly rather than far, and expect wet feet. A morning trek is the norm; a full-day habituation option exists and we check its terms for your dates.
  • Kibale sits well for a route that continues to Queen Elizabeth National Park, so the trek rarely needs a day of its own.

Chimpanzee permit prices, daily permit numbers, minimum ages and the habituation-experience terms in Kibale are set by the Ugandan wildlife authority and change without notice. We confirm what applies to your dates in writing before you pay anything.

You hear them long before you see them, and then the whole forest moves at once.

Where to do it

Where we arrange chimpanzee trekking

Start from the destination, and we will build the days around this.

Or browse every itinerary andthe rest of the experiences.

Questions we are actually asked

Where is the best chimpanzee trekking in Uganda?
Kibale Forest, primarily. It holds the largest habituated communities and is the trek most itineraries build around. Other forests offer chimpanzees too, but Kibale is where we send people who have one shot at it.
How does it compare to a gorilla trek?
Faster, louder and much harder to photograph. Gorillas sit and eat; chimpanzees travel through the canopy and along the ground and you walk quickly to stay with them. The ground is flatter than Bwindi's, so the effort is pace rather than gradient.
Will I actually see them?
Usually, since trackers locate the community before groups set out, but it is wild forest and nobody promises it. Seeing them well is a separate question: they are often high in the canopy, and a clear ground-level view is luck rather than schedule.
How much is a chimpanzee permit?
The wildlife authority sets it, it sits well below the gorilla permit, and it has moved before. We quote the current figure in writing when we secure your permit rather than publishing a number that goes stale.
Is there a longer version?
Kibale runs a full-day habituation experience alongside the standard hour, which puts you with researchers from before dawn. Numbers are limited and the terms change, so we confirm what is available for your dates rather than promising it here.

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