Primate national parks in Uganda.

Explore Uganda the pear of Africa is the best destination for primates compared to other countries. Primate parks in Uganda include kibale national park, Bwindi impenetrable national park, mgahinga national park, murchison falls national park. while on Uganda safari, visitors are advised to make primate national park to be on their bucket list. while on Uganda safari, visitors are advised to visit savannah parks as well. Uganda is an amazing destination that every visitor wish to visit as a solo visitor, or family vacation or couples and friends.

What are the national park with primates in Uganda?

Kibale national park.

chimpanzee tracking in kibale national park

Kibale national park is located in western part of Uganda covering an area of 766 square kilometres in size and ranges between 1,100 metres and 1,600 metres in elevation. The park was gazetted in 1932 and formally established in 1993 to protect a large area of forest previously managed as a logged forest reserve. The park is a tropical forest famously known in the whole world as the best destination for highly populated chimpanzees over 1500 individuals. chimps in kibale park costs $300 for chimp habituation, $250 foreign non-resident, UGX 180,000 East African.

Besides chimpanzees in kibale park, there are other more 13 primate species including black-and-white colobus, red colobus, L’Hoest’s monkey, blue monkey, baboons and many more. While in park, visitors will spot various butter flies species, bird species, wildlife species like forest elephants during nature walks in forest.

It takes about 5 hours to reach the kibale national park from Kampala taking mubende- fort portal route. Visitors may use private or public vehicles or buses to reach the park however on the way they will have stop overs as they explore beautiful sceneries of mount Rwenzori and local communities. Although the park is visited annually, there is always the best time to visit. Uganda experiences two seasons that is wet and dry season but the best season to track chimpanzees is dry season however during wet season, visitors can still spot chimpanzees only that the trails be slipperly due to rain.

Bwindi impenetrable national park,

Bwindi impenetrable national park lies in south western part of Uganda neighboring Virunga national park in Rwanda and volcano national park in Congo. Bwindi is the best destination for endangered mountain Gorillas which are located in four sectors that is Ruhija, Nkuringo, Buhoma, and Rushaga totaling 449 individuals in population census. However, gorillas are spotted in mgahinga as Nyakagezi gorilla family adding up to 5 gorilla sectors leading to 25 gorilla families in Uganda unlike volcano and Virunga national park.

While in the park, visitors are first briefed before trekking for them to know dos and don’ts of gorilla trekking. However, the park can be reached out through by air or road transport. It takes about 9 hours to reach the park depending on which location the visit would like to be where as the distance from Rwanda is shorted than that of Uganda.

The best time to trek gorillas in Bwindi is in dry season although visitors in wet season can still track endangered mountains. While in dry season visit in month from June to October and January to February and december.

Murchison falls national park

Murchison falls national park is the largest park in Uganda covered an area approximately 3,893 km² (1,503 sq mi). The park is a home of notably blessed with over 144 mammals,556 bird species,51 reptiles, and 51 Amphibians. Murchison falls national park is not only for savannah but also primates where chimpanzees are spotted in budongo forest. The park is surrounded by water bodies of River Nile where cruising on Nile takes about 2-3 hours.

Chimpanzee tracking in budongo forest can be tracked during morning hours and afternoon hours which takes about one hour to be with chimpanzees keeping 8m distance from them. The chimpanzee permit of chimps in budongo costs 130 USD per person for foreign non-residents, 120 USD per person for foreign residents and 85 USD per person for East Africa citizens.

Although the park be visited annually, dry season is the best time to visit the park in months of June to October and January to February and december. While in Kampala, it takes about 6 hours using masindi route to the park although the park also can be accessed via lira-Gulu route through pakwach.

Queen Elizabeth national park.

Queen Elizabeth national park is a second largest park from murchison falls national park. The park is located in western part of Uganda covering an area of 1873sqkm and 3873sqkm respectively. Despite the fact that the park is known as savannah its also known for primates in kalinzu forest and kyambura gorge in the park. The park is a home of over 95 mammal species and over 600 bird species. Kalinzu forest neighbors kyambura gorge and all in common are homes of 10 primates including chimpanzees, red tailed monkey, black and white monkey, L’Hoest monkey, and many more.

Chimpanzee tracking permit in kalinzu and kyambura gorge costs increased from $50 to $100 per person per trek for foreign non- residents however Foreign residents track them at $80 per person and East Africans track them at UGX 50,000. The best time to track chimpanzees in kalinzu and kyambura gorge is during dry season which is in months of June to October and January to February and december.

Mgahinga national park.

Mgahinga national park is located in south western part of Uganda covering an area of 33.7km² above the seas level. The park is a home of one endangered gorilla family called Nyakagezi however the park is a birding paradise for birding over 115 bird species recorded. For visitors to track mountain Gorillas, it is a must to issue gorilla permits from Uganda Wildlife Authority at a cost of $1500 for gorilla habituation, $800 for foreign non- residents, $500 for rest of Africa, UGX 300,000 for East Africans.

Mgahinga national park is the only park in Uganda lies in Virunga conservation area with another park in Rwanda volcano national park and the other in Congo Virunga national park which all are known for inhabiting endangered mountain gorilla. According to researchers, population census for gorillas in Virunga conservation area and in Bwindi impenetrable national park is about 1067 individuals in the whole world however the park is the only park in Uganda with special primate called golden monkey unlike other parks. visitors are advised to include this activity on bucket list while on Uganda safari.

What to pack for tracking?