There are several ways to reach Kibale Forest National Park, the forest is located in the western part of Uganda in the Kabarole district, it is a known home of the chimpanzee, with over 1,500 individuals living in the forest, it is among the last few remaining tropical rain forests of Uganda boasting trees that rise up to 55m tall. The vast vegetation cover of the park includes a lush green forest, swampy marshy areas, grasses, thick undergrowth, towards the north of Kibale is an escarpment around which are dotted crater lakes. The differed biodiverse environment hosts 13 primate species (chimpanzees, black and white colobus monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, pottos, bush babies, blue monkeys, vervet monkeys, l’hoest or white-cheeked monkeys to mention a few.
How to reach Kibale Forest National Park is by road or by Air,By road, the transfer is done using safari land cruisers, super customs, Safari drones, or private vehicles. It takes approximately 6 hours to drive from the Entebbe International Airport, the scenic drive is worth to do as you willhave views of the rolling mountains past small village, guests can pass via the Kampala-Mubende fort portal road or Kampala-Hoima fort portal road, from fort portal town is a 45 minutes’ drive to arrive at the national park.
It is possible to drive from Murchison Falls National Park to Kibale Forest National Park. The drive is almost a day’s exploration from north to west, it takes 8 hours to drive to the national park, passing through the amazing villages of Kagadi district. It can be reached from the southern sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park. The connecting route continues to Bwindi impenetrable national park home to Mountain gorillas.
To reach Kibale Forest National Park can be done by flying to the nearest airstrip, the Kasese airstrip or the Semliki airstrip, we will then proceed to respective lodges, flights take about an hour to land at the airstrip, Inter- Park transfers are done to the Kihihi Kisoro airstrip for those connecting to Bwindi and to Kidepo airstrip. Flights can be arranged as charter or scheduled flights from the Entebbe International Airport and Kajjansi Kampala.
Kibale Forest National Park is one of the most accessible conservation areas, the main reason for the visit is chimpanzee tracking, there are 90% chance of seeing these primates while here compared to other destinations the primates live in communities and have been habituated for a guest visit. It is a great birding destination over 300 species of birds have been recorded here to date Examples of species include sunbirds, African green pigeons Rwenzori turaco, these are sighted in the forest and around the Bigodi swamp sanctuary, it is placed around 6 Kilometers away from the park and is visited alongside the chimpanzee or guided nature walks in the forest.
Kibale Forest National Park can be visited all year round but the best during the dry season between December -February and June -September the trails are less slippery and easier to access.