Uganda is home to two great apes; the mountain gorilla and the chimpanzee. mountain gorilla is the largest primate in the world while the chimpanzee is the closest relative to man sharing 98.7% DNA with humans.
gorillas and chimps are top attractions for any wildlife safari in Uganda, the major tourist activities are gorilla tracking and chimpanzee tracking.
Mountain gorillas are found in Bwindi impenetrable forest national park a world heritage site recognized by UNESCO for its outstanding biological diversity. Located at the edge of the rift valley in southwestern Uganda, Bwindi is home to 430 gorillas which is half of the world’s mountain gorilla population. there are at least 17 gorilla families that have been habituated for tourism.
Tourists can track these habituated gorillas at 4 different sectors of the Bwindi that include the following;
Buhoma the park headquarters with 3 gorilla families. Buhoma in the north of Bwindi closely located to Ishasha wilderness Queen Elizabeth national park for game drives and boat cruise safaris on kazinga channel.
Ruhija with (4 gorilla families) and Rushaga with 5 gorilla families. These two sectors are in the south of Bwindi and easy to reach from Kigali Rwanda for Uganda gorilla tracking.
Note: Ruhija sector is the highest point of Bwindi at 2607 meters above sea level thus the terrain is steep.
Lastly, Nkuringo sector also in the south of Bwindi has 2 gorilla families. this sector is at nkuringo ridge which offer views of the virunga landscapes.
A gorilla permit is what you need to book in advance for one of the gorilla centers where you shall track gorillas.
Else where mountain gorillas in Uganda are also found Mgahinga gorilla national park which is a section of the Virunga Conservation Area that straddles the borders of Uganda, Rwanda and DR Congo.
Mgahinga park has one habituated gorilla family called Nyakagezi which has 9 members including a Silver back. the park is also open for gorilla trekking safaris.
Chimpanzees in Uganda can be found at four different locations;
Kibale forest National Park known as the primate capital of the world is home to largest concentration of primates in the world. the park has 13 species of primates including a population of more than 1400 chimpanzees.
Kibale is popular for chimpanzee tracking because there are several chimp communities that have been habituated for tourists to track. however it is not like you will see chimps around the park center. You have to go deep into the forest on a guided chimp trek with guides to be able to see chimps.
Other places where you can track chimpanzees are Budongo forest in southern Murchison Falls National park. Kalinzu forest and Kyambura gorge known as the valley of apes, both forest reserves are found in Queen Elizabeth National park.
