Kibale Forest National Park

Kibale Forest National Park is Africa’s premium chimpanzee tracking destination. It has one of the loveliest and most varied tracts of tropical forest in Uganda. While many researchers focus on the chimpanzees and other primates found in the park, others are investigating Kibale’s ecosystems, wild pigs, and fish species, among other topics.

Kibale Forest National Park contains one of the loveliest and most varied tracts of tropical forest in Uganda. Forest cover, interspersed with patches of grassland and swamp, dominates the northern and central parts of the park on an elevated plateau.

Kibale National Park Location

Kibale Forest National Park is located in the western part of Uganda about 348km (5 hrs drive) from Kampala and about 26km south-east of the beautiful Fort Portal town – one of Uganda’s most lovely places to explore.

The Kibale – Fort Portal area is one of Uganda’s most rewarding destinations to explore. You can visit the Tooro Kingdom Palace which is only a 40 minutes drive from the park. The park lies close to the tranquil Ndali-Kasenda crater area and within half a day’s drive of Queen Elizabeth, the Rwenzori Mountains, and Semuliki National Parks, as well as the Toro-Semliki Wildlife Reserve.

Southern Kibale borders Queen Elizabeth National Park and collectively these conserved areas protect a 180 km long migration corridor for wildlife that stretches from the remote southern sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park in “Ishasha”, to “Sebitoli” in northern Kibale.

Wildlife in Kibale Forest National Park

Kibale is famously known for Chimpanzee tracking. Almost 1500 chimpanzees inhabit the Kibale forest, making it have the highest density of primates in Africa.

The park is home to a total of 70 mammal species, most famously 13 species of primate including the chimpanzee. The primate species include; vervet, L’Hoest’s and blue monkeys, red-tailed monkey, grey-cheeked mangabey, endangered red colobus, black-and-white colobus, olive baboon.

Other animals in the Kibale forest are elephants, buffalos, golden cats, antelopes (5 species), three species of wild hogs, and many more.

Birds in Kibale Forest

It also has over 375 species of birds. Birding tours are good throughout the year though June to September are optimal because this is a fruiting season. Four of the bird species in Kibale Forest are not found in any other National Park. These are; Masked Apalis, Cassin’s spinetail, blue-headed bee-eater, and Nahan’s francolin.

You can spot most of these birds during guided nature walks in the forest or when you visit the Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary.

Kibale adjoins Queen Elizabeth National Park to the south to create a 180km-long corridor for wildlife between Ishasha, the remote southern sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park, and Sebitoli in the north of Kibale National Park.

Kibale Nation Park Accomodation

There are excellent accommodation and lodge options in the different sections of Kibale national park. The primate lodge is located in Kanyanchu. Others include up-market accommodation, tree houses, and undemanding cottages are discovered at Sebitoli.

Every accommodation has a campsite with a restaurant serving both local and international cuisine. Budget accommodation is also found in Bigodi, Nkingo, and Ndali crater areas. Ndali is well known for its up-market accommodation and other budget alternatives such as Chimpanzee guesthouse along with lake NkurubaFort Portal town also has high standard accommodation.

Activities in Kibale Forest

Chimpanzee tracking
Nature/Forest Walk
Bird watching
Chimpanzee Habituation Experience.
Butterfly and entomology tours.
Night walks.
Community tours in Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary.