A tracking walk.
One walk to one Kibale community: two to five hours, with up to an hour beside the chimpanzees.
ONE WALK · ONE COMMUNITYCHIMPANZEE TREKKING
THE EXPERIENCE / CHIMPANZEE TREKKING
Follow the calls
into the forest.
Listen for the calls overhead. Chimpanzee trekking is a forest walk to find a wild community and watch it go about its day.
Begin your journeyYOUR AFRICA, BEAUTIFULLY TOLD.Discover the experience ↓
THE CANOPY CHAPTER
Quiet feet,
a busy canopy.
A ranger-led search through the forest, then time beneath a wild community.
Rangers or guides lead a small group along forest trails towards a chimpanzee community. Most days they find it (the Uganda Wildlife Authority, UWA, reports over 90% at Kibale), but no sighting is promised. Kibale groups hold at most six.
Chimpanzees feed and rest in the trees, so you follow their pace and often look up.
SMALL GROUPS
Six at Kibale, eight at Nyungwe
ONE HOUR
The time allowed in Uganda
TWO KINDS
Tracking walk or habituation day
A MORNING AT KIBALE
Walk softly,
look up.
Tracking leaves Kanyanchu at 08:00, 11:00 and 14:00, and the chimpanzees decide the rest.
- BEFORE
The briefing.
Arrive early to register. Rangers explain how to behave; anyone with a cold stays behind.
- DURING
The hour.
Once they are found, you stay one hour, ten metres back, without flash or imitating their calls.
- AFTER
The walk out.
Kibale holds 13 primate species, so the way back out may bring more to watch.
THREE WAYS TO GO
Choose your
kind of day.
Most start with a tracking walk at Kibale. The other two are park options: ask us.
A habituation day.
A full day at Kibale or Nyungwe, with about four hours beside the chimpanzees at Kibale.
PARK OPTIONBeyond Uganda.
Nyungwe's high forest in Rwanda, or Mahale and Gombe on Lake Tanganyika, reached by boat.
PARK OPTION · RWANDA · TANZANIAFIND YOUR SETTING
Where chimpanzees
are at home.
Uganda and Rwanda track all year, trails firmest June to August and December to February; Mahale and Gombe peak June to October.
UGANDA / THE MAIN SITEKibale National Park
UWA counts more than 1,500 chimpanzees in at least 12 communities.
RWANDA / A HIGH FORESTNyungwe National Park
Home to three semi-habituated chimpanzee communities, each limited to eight visitors a day.
TANZANIAMahale
Mahale's forested mountains fall directly into Lake Tanganyika in remote western Tanzania, reached by light aircraft and boat.
UGANDAQueen Elizabeth National Park
Queen Elizabeth National Park brings savannah, forest and water together between the Rwenzori Mountains and Lake Edward.A GOOD PLACE TO BEGIN
Ideas to make
your own.
Two journeys with chimpanzees: Kibale built in, Nyungwe as an extension.
THE DETAILS MAKE THE DIFFERENCE
A little thought.
A better journey.
Where, when, how hard, how much.
Last checked: October 2026
Where and when
Kibale and Kyambura Gorge (Uganda), Nyungwe (Rwanda), Mahale and Gombe (Tanzania). Uganda and Rwanda are driest June to August and December to February.
How long and how fit
Kibale walks last two to five hours. Nyungwe rates tracking Difficult, at 1,600 to 2,950 metres.
Who it suits
Fit walkers; minimum age 15 at Nyungwe. In Uganda UWA's tariff says 12, its Kibale page 16, so plan on 16. Not for anyone wanting long, still views: chimpanzees often stay high.
Cost
Kibale US$250 in 2026, park entry included; US$200 in the wetter April, May and November (not reschedulable); US$300 from 1 January 2027. Nyungwe US$150 plus park entry (2025–26 list). Confirm for your dates.
BEFORE YOU GO
Good questions.
Straight answers.
Is there a lower chimpanzee permit rate in Uganda?
Yes: in 2026, US$200 instead of US$250 at Kibale in April, May and November, the wetter months. Those permits cannot be rescheduled.
Do chimpanzee permits include park entry?
Kibale's permit does, with a guide and that day's nature walk. Nyungwe's entry is extra: US$100 for one night.
What is a chimpanzee habituation experience?
A full day with a community still learning to accept people: about four hours beside the chimpanzees at Kibale (US$300; US$400 from 1 January 2027), at most four adults at Nyungwe (US$200).
Is chimpanzee trekking safe?
UWA requires visitors to follow its chimpanzee rules "for your own safety and the protection of the Chimpanzees". In October 2026, for Uganda, UK advice carried no warning and the US said Level 4, Do Not Travel; for Rwanda, the UK's only warning covered parts of Rusizi District near the DRC border and the US said Level 3, Reconsider Travel. Advice changes: read the current pages, Tanzania's too.
EXPERIENCES
Your kind
of extraordinary.
The way you like to travel is a good place to begin. Connect the places after that.
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