Best Places for Primate Safaris in Uganda
Uganda is one of the best destinations in Africa for travelers who want to see primates in the wild. From mountain gorillas moving through the forests of Bwindi to chimpanzees calling from the trees of Kibale, there is a lot more to a primate safari than one wildlife encounter.
Different parks offer different experiences. Some are ideal for gorilla trekking, others are better known for chimpanzees, while places such as Queen Elizabeth National Park allow you to combine primate viewing with traditional game drives and boat safaris.
Choosing the best place therefore depends on what you want to see and how much time you have. Here are some of the top places to consider when planning a primate safari in Uganda.
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
Bwindi is the destination to consider if mountain gorillas are at the top of your list. The UNESCO-listed forest in southwestern Uganda is home to a large population of mountain gorillas, and gorilla trekking is the main reason most visitors come here.
The trek can be physically demanding because Bwindi is a mountainous forest with steep slopes, thick vegetation and muddy sections, especially after rain. However, the experience of finding a gorilla family in the forest makes the effort worthwhile.
You normally spend a limited amount of time observing the gorillas once you find them, while trained guides and trackers help visitors follow the rules and maintain a safe distance.
Bwindi works especially well for travelers whose main goal is seeing mountain gorillas. If you also want chimpanzees or other primates, you can combine it with another destination.
Our guide to [Gorilla Trekking in Uganda] → Existing article provides more information about what to expect.
Kibale Forest National Park
If chimpanzees are your main interest, Kibale Forest is one of the strongest choices in Uganda. The park is famous for its chimpanzee population and is also home to a variety of other primates.
Chimpanzee trekking takes visitors into the forest with guides and trackers who look for signs of the animals and follow their movements. Chimpanzees can be quite active, so you may see them feeding, climbing, calling, grooming or moving between trees.
Kibale is also interesting because you are not only searching for chimpanzees. Red-tailed monkeys, black-and-white colobus monkeys, blue monkeys and other primates can also be encountered in the forest.
For travelers who want to spend more time observing chimpanzees, Kibale also offers a chimpanzee habituation experience.
You can read more about the experience in our guide to [Chimpanzee Trekking] → Blog #61.
Mgahinga Gorilla National Park
Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is another excellent choice for travelers interested in mountain gorillas. It is located in southwestern Uganda, close to the borders with Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The park is smaller than Bwindi, but that does not make the experience less interesting. Mgahinga forms part of the larger Virunga conservation landscape and has dramatic volcanic scenery, dense forest and mountain habitats.
Gorilla trekking is one of the main activities, but visitors can also take part in golden monkey tracking. This makes Mgahinga particularly attractive to travelers who want to experience more than one type of primate.
The volcanic setting also gives the park a different atmosphere from Bwindi. Instead of simply thinking about which park is “better,” it is worth considering which landscape and activities fit your safari.
For more information, see [Mgahinga] → Blog #52.
Queen Elizabeth National Park
Queen Elizabeth National Park is better known for lions, elephants, buffaloes, hippos and other wildlife than for primates, but it can still be a useful stop on a primate-focused itinerary.
The Kyambura Gorge is the main place to consider if you want to track chimpanzees in the park. The gorge is covered by a riverine forest and provides a very different chimpanzee trekking environment from Kibale.
The advantage of choosing Queen Elizabeth is that you can combine chimpanzee tracking with a much wider safari experience. After exploring the forest, you can go on a game drive or take a boat trip along the Kazinga Channel.
This makes the park particularly useful for travelers who do not want their entire safari to focus on primates. You can have a morning forest experience and spend another part of the trip looking for Uganda’s larger wildlife.
Other Places to Consider
Uganda has several other forests where primates can be encountered, although they may not have the same level of international recognition as Bwindi and Kibale.
Budongo Forest, within the wider Murchison Falls area, is another destination associated with chimpanzee tracking. It can be a good choice for travelers who already plan to visit Murchison Falls National Park because it allows a forest experience to be combined with game drives and other activities.
Other forest areas also provide opportunities to see monkeys and other primates while on guided nature walks. These experiences may not involve the same dedicated trekking programs as gorilla or chimpanzee tracking, but they add another dimension to a safari.
This is why [Uganda Primate Safaris] → Blog #69 can be planned in different ways depending on the species you want to see.
Which Primate Destination Should You Choose?
There is no single best primate destination for every traveler.
If your biggest goal is mountain gorillas, Bwindi and Mgahinga should be at the top of your list. If you are mainly interested in chimpanzees and different monkey species, Kibale is a strong choice.
If you want to combine chimpanzee tracking with a traditional wildlife safari, Queen Elizabeth National Park makes a lot of sense. And if Murchison Falls is already part of your itinerary, Budongo Forest can provide an additional forest experience without requiring a completely separate safari route.
For travelers with enough time, combining two or more destinations can make the trip much more rewarding. You could track chimpanzees in Kibale, continue to Queen Elizabeth for wildlife viewing and then finish with gorilla trekking in Bwindi or Mgahinga.
The important thing is to plan the route carefully. Uganda’s parks are spread across different parts of the country, so allowing enough time for road travel will make the safari more enjoyable.
