This morning enjoy the amazing experience of Chimp Tracking, as you walk through the spectacular Kibale Rainforest with a guide, searching in the high rainforest canopy for these intelligent primates that are our closest relatives.
Kibale is home to 14 different primate species including the chimpanzee, black-and-white colobus, red colobus, red tailed monkey, blue monkey, olive baboon, grey-cheeked mangabey, bush baby, vervet and L’ Hoest’s monkey. Tracking a noisy chimp family is a thrilling experience and is best in the morning, when they come down to the forest floor to forage. The chimps are very mobile, so viewing can be quite unpredictable, but the walk itself is enchanting.
The birdlife is also outstanding, although the dense forest canopy does mean patience is needed. You can hope to see the huge crowned eagle, the black-and-white flycatcher, African grey parrot, black-necked and yellow-mantled weavers, the beautiful blue touraca and maybe the secretive black bee-eater.
Afterwards we travel 2-hours through the scenic crater lakes region to Queen Elizabeth National Park - stopping for a photo opportunity as we cross the equator. This enormous 764 square mile (1,978 square km) wildlife sanctuary is the second largest in Uganda with extensive rolling grass-covered hills, wooded valleys and a series of extinct volcanic craters. The park extends from Lake George in the northeast to Lake Edward in the southwest, with the Kazinga Channel connecting these two great lakes.
Queen Elizabeth National Park is renowned for its river-based game viewing, but it also has a land-based game viewing area about 45-minutes from the river. Game is not plentiful here, especially during the dry season when most animals migrate to the river, but if you are patient you may be rewarded with good lion and leopard sightings. You can also hope to see buffalo, baboon, vervet monkey, warthog, Ugandan kob, waterbuck and the elusive giant forest hog.
Note: Chimp tracking is limited to small groups, with a minimum age of 12 years. Please note the chimpanzees move a lot - sometimes far into the dense forest - so wear good walking shoes and expect to walk a lot today (up to 3 hours). Don’t forget your binoculars, as if the chimps don't come down from the trees you will need these.