Morning Vs Evening Chimpanzee Trekking Experience in Kibale Forest

Morning vs Evening Chimpanzee Trekking in Kibale

This pristine wilderness is a remarkable primate destination that draws visitors from across the world, with over 1500 chimpanzees, compared to any other destination in Africa. The chimpanzee trekking experience in Kibale Forest National Park is strictly conducted in two sessions, that is, in the morning and evening sessions. During these two sessions, visitors have a better chance to meet the endangered chimpanzees in their natural setting. Kibale Forest National Park, commonly known as the primate capital of the world, has the highest concentration of primate species, with over 13 resident species and about 1500 chimpanzees; therefore, the chances of encountering these majestic primates are over 80%.

During these sessions, the morning chimpanzee trekking experience begins at 7:30 am, and evening trekking starts at 2:00 pm at the Kanyanchu visitor centre. The two sessions start with a briefing to sensitise visitors about the rules and regulations concerning trekking. All this is done purposely for conservation, safety, and sustainability, especially for trekkers and the chimpanzees. To participate in any of these sessions, you need a chimpanzee trekking permit issued by the Uganda Wildlife Authority.

Similarities between morning and evening chimpanzee trekking

Chimpanzee trekking permits for both morning and evening sessions are the same. This applies to all travellers or trekkers, whether you trek in the morning or evening sessions. The Uganda Wildlife Authority is the governing body responsible for monitoring, managing, and issuing chimpanzee trekking permits. These permits go for $250 for non-foreign residents, $200 for foreign residents, and UGX 180,000 for East African citizens.

Encountering chimpanzees in Kibale Forest National Park is guaranteed, and the two sessions of morning and evening plenary trekking safaris in Kibale Forest National Park offer you an opportunity to encounter chimpanzees. Chimpanzee trekking in Kibale Forest takes about 2-6 hours, depending on the location of the chimpanzees and the speed of the trekkers. No matter the duration, whether short or long, you will still see the chimpanzees.

The park authority has put in place conservation efforts such as training rangers, conservationists, and researchers and armed ranger guides who keep monitoring the jungle and the movement of chimpanzees. These trackers go first in the jungle to locate the gorillas since they are well versed with the jungle. These armed ranger guides lead trekkers into the jungle while coordinating with trackers about the location of chimpanzees so that they can use the easiest and shortest routes to the allocated group. With the support of this team the armed ranger guides, trekkers are assured of seeing chimpanzees on your trek in Kibale Forest National Park.

These armed ranger guides conduct both the morning and evening chimpanzee trekking sessions in the park and are led by armed ranger guides who lead the trek because they know the best routes to use when searching for chimpanzees and they protect you from any dangerous animals within the jungle.

After the briefing you are allocated a chimpanzee gorilla family in a group of 6 to 12 trekkers, among others. The armed ranger guides will lead you into the jungle to search for chimpanzees.  Similar rules are followed during morning and evening trekking sessions which are taught at the briefing center, among which include maintaining a distance of 7 meters away from the chimpanzees, avoid making noise, flash cameras, feeding and smoking around chimpanzees.

While in Kibale Forest, a maximum of 12 people trek a single family, since chimpanzee trekking in the park is done by a maximum of 72 people though not at the same time. The 12 people in a group use various routes when searching for these primates and this means that different chimpanzee groups are encountered at different times and in different locations since these primates scatter in the morning and gather in the evening unlike mountain gorillas, which maintain their family groups. Upon seeing these chimps, trekkers are given a maximum of one hour to stay with the chimpanzees as they study their daily activities, such as feeding, hunting, nurturing, grooming, carrying babies, among others.

Differences between morning and evening chimpanzee trekking sessions

Early morning chimpanzee trekking sessions begin at 7:00 am, where trekkers will find the vegetation covered with dew while the evening session which begins at 3:00pm, a time where the vegetation will be dry unless when it rains. During the morning session, the weather is always colder compared to the afternoon session, so trekkers are advised to carry their sweaters and rain coats because of the unpredictable weather conditions. However, in the dry season, there is a big difference in terms of both morning and evening sessions while in the rainy season the difference is very little because Kibale Forest receives heavy rainfall almost every day.

Searching for Chimpanzees in Kibale Forest National Park in the morning is much easier because it takes a shorter period of time since chimpanzees are just leaving their nesting locations and may not be far compared to the evening session where chimps move longer distances in search for food.

In the morning visitors don’t always get tired easily since they cover shorter distances compared to the evening session where trekkers travel long distances to locate these intelligent chimps in their natural setting.

During the dry season, visitors who trek in the evening sessions will get enough sunshine and warmth compared to those trekking in the morning. This is attributed to the pretty sun out in the afternoon hours than compared to the morning hours. During the rainy season, the weather is always cold and cloudy hence making a difference in the day.

During the nesting time at night, chimpanzees nest in the same area so in the morning they are still together in the group before disseminating to search for food. Therefore, trekkers have higher chances of seeing a large chimpanzee family during morning hours than in the evening when they have already scattered searching for food.