Chimpanzee trekking in Budongo is a proud experience of finding and spending an hour with the chimpanzee primates. Uganda continues to demonstrate incredible power in the realm of chimpanzee trekking, announcing its dominance among destinations like Budongo. Trekking chimpanzees is a very popular activity that is highly sought after by many visitors across the world.
Achieving the ultimate goal of making it to the hour in the presence of the chimpanzee primates takes a whole groundbreaking process. Since chimpanzee trekking is not similar to heading into a zoo behind a protective wire, visitors have to first be engaged. Encountering these primates and having an hour in their habitat is fun and adventurous, but can also be timid and scary.
As it is with any safari tour, safety is not a question but a priority. Therefore, this is why chimpanzee trekking kicks off with a pre-trekking briefing. When trekking chimpanzees, the safety of the primates and visitors is taken into account. This is the main reason for carrying out an assessment through the briefing.
Pre-trekking briefing
The pre-trekking briefing is a detailed engagement of the Budongo Forest staff with rangers talking about chimpanzee trekking in this forest. This briefing entails the rules and regulations of chimpanzee trekking in Budongo. These regulations emphasize the need for visitors to operate in the presence of the chimpanzees.
Every chimpanzee community marked for trekking it had passed through a habituation process. This process lasts about 2-3 years before a community is accustomed to human presence. With all this in mind, chimpanzees are very intelligent but at the same time still wild. This is among the reasons why visitors are cautioned to follow the highlight rules. The code of conduct is also very important and often talked about. This means the conduct of visitors in the presence of the chimpanzees.
The grouping of visitors in groups of 8 people is done for the allocation of chimpanzee communities. Like most primates, chimpanzees live in designated social groups called communities. The alpha male leads a community, and just like the social arrangements and politics in human communities, it is similar in primates. The recent chimpanzee civil war in Kibale Forest further affirmed this fact. This shows how close they are to humans, after having 98% DNA similarity. A chimpanzee community can have over 30-40 members under one rule, with multiple females and males that often work as scouts.
Chimpanzee trekking in Budongo takes about 3-5 hours, given the exact location of the assigned community. This also includes the hour spent with them. The limitations of having only 8 visitors trekking a chimpanzee community are to reduce the large crowds that could potentially stress the chimps.
Trekking sessions
Chimpanzee trekking in Budongo is done in two sessions: the morning one and the afternoon/evening session. The morning chimpanzee trekking session in Budongo begins as early as 7:30 am with cultural performers taking the stage for 30 minutes. Briefing begins by 8 am and lasts for about 30 minutes. Visitors receive their assigned chimpanzee communities with guide rangers to assist and guide them to the primates. The trekking begins at 8:30 when the visitors head into the forest. The morning session offers an incredible experience as the chimps are actively feeding. They may be spotted in the treetops and also a few on the ground.
The afternoon chimpanzee trekking sessions in Budongo begin at 2 am with a short briefing. Visitors then head straight for the forest to traverse the canopies for a chance to encounter the chimpanzees. An hour is, of course, allocated to visitors once the chimpanzees are found. The afternoon session is a more intimate experience. This is because the chimpanzees are usually found resting on the ground as the infants and juveniles play.
About Budongo Forest
The Budongo Forest Reserve is a designated forest situated in the Murchison Falls Conservation Area. This conservation area is one of Uganda’s most sought-after destinations that attracts visitors from far and beyond. This is because this conservation area covers Murchison Falls National Park, which is a powerhouse wildlife protected area in the country.
Budongo Forest is the largest natural forest in the country, hosting some of the largest mahogany trees in East Africa. It is situated on the northeastern side of the Albertine Rift Valley. This forest is among the oldest forests in the country. It was gazetted in 1932 as a forest reserve and is managed by the National Forestry Authority.
This forest stretches for over 826 square kilometers, hosting about 600 chimpanzees. Chimpanzee trekking in Budongo starts at the Budongo Eco Lodge visitors’ center, where a briefing is given. These chimpanzees are found on the northeastern side of the forest of Kaniyo Pabidi. This is where chimpanzee trekking basically unfolds, though there are other areas of the forest.
Costs for chimpanzee trekking in Budongo
Trekking chimpanzees in Budongo Forest requires a visitor to have a chimpanzee permit. This chimpanzee permit is a document that allows visitors to access these primates in their habitat for an hour. It is purchased at a fee through a reputable local tour operator like Epic Uganda Vacations. The costs for chimpanzee trekking in Budongo are categorized by the origin and nationality of the visitor.
For example, international visitors or foreign non-residents pay USD 130, foreign residents USD 120, and East Africans and citizens pay USD 85. The money collected from the sale of chimpanzee permits helps in the conservation of the chimps and their habitat. This conservation involves funding protection efforts for the chimp habitats, paying the rangers, and supporting community projects like building schools and health centers.
The best time for chimpanzee trekking in Budongo
Chimpanzee trekking in Budongo is best done in the dry season. The dry season is a time of dry weather and humid temperatures. This is attributed to the prolonged sun and little or no rainfall. These particular conditions favor the chimpanzee trekking experience because the forest is clear and the trails are dry. Such clear weather increases visibility, and the dry trails make navigation across the forest easy. The dry season runs from June to September and December to February.
However, chimpanzee trekking in Budongo in the wet season is also possible. From the climate calendar, the wet season is a period of relatively prolonged rainfall throughout the season. The wet season, just like the dry one, also has two periods: the short wet season that runs from October to November and the long one from April to May. The climate in Uganda is very unpredictable, as it can rain or shine at any time of the year. This is why it is very common to trek chimpanzees in this season.
