Chimpanzees in Semuliki National Park
Chimpanzees in Semuliki National Park: Chimpanzees belong to the big ape family, which also includes orangutans, humans, and gorillas. They are well known for having 98.8% of the same DNA as humans, making them close relatives. This is one of the reasons visitors travel to Uganda from all over the world to view chimpanzees.
Semuliki National Park is one of the several locations in Uganda where chimpanzees can be found. Semuiliki National Park is situated in the Bundibugyo area, south of Lake Albert, near Uganda’s border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Uganda Wildlife Authority gazetted the 220 square kilometres of land in 1993 to safeguard the park’s various features, including chimpanzees.
Though Semuliki National Park has few chimpanzees, but visitors can trek to see the habituated ones in the rainforest.
Not so many chimpanzees are in Semuliki park but the few that are there can be trekked. Some of the chimpanzees in Semuliki national park have been habituated and are open for chimpanzee trekking activities. Chimpanzees of Semuliki national park live in the lowland tropical rainforest and that is where tourists can find them during trekking activities.
Chimpanzee trekking in Semuliki national park
Chimpanzee trekking in Semuliki park is an activity that involves tourists looking for the chimpanzees and spending some time around them in their natural habitat. The activity is done every day and starts early in the morning at the park headquarters with a briefing from the park rangers.
The briefing involves rangers teaching trekkers the rules and regulations of trekking. Later grouping is done and trekkers are led into the jungle by armed ranger guides who know the best areas to use to locate the chimpanzees and also protect trekkers from animals that could be dangerous.
Chimpanzee trekking in Semuliki national park can take 3 to 5 hours and the time taken depends on the location of the chimpanzees, the nature of trails, and the speed of the trekkers. During the such, trekkers are able to meet different attractions of the park along the way. The moment the chimps are spotted, trekkers are given 1 hour to be around them and this gives them an opportunity to learn about their habits, take photos, and record videos.
What is the cost chimpanzee trekking in Semuliki national park?
To do chimpanzee trekking in Semuliki national park you need to purchase a chimpanzee trekking permit. This can be purchased from Uganda Wildlife Authority offices or Semuliki national park headquarters. A chimpanzee trekking permit costs $30 for foreign non-residents and foreign residents and citizens of East African member states its $20.
Other animals in Semuliki national park
Semuliki national park does not only harbor chimpanzees but also other 8 primates and 53 mammals. All these can be seen when tourists take part in the different activities organized within the park. Animals of Semuliki national park include forest elephants, leopards, Uganda kobs, blue monkeys, warthogs, crocodiles, olive baboons, sitatungas, forest giant squirrels, mangabeys forest buffaloes, de brazza’s monkeys, hippos, side stripped jackals, red colobus monkeys, black and white monkeys, and vervet monkeys to mention but a few.
What is the best time to see chimpanzees of Semuliki national park
Tourists can see chimpanzees of Semuliki national park at any time of the year however some months are better than others. The dry season months from June to September and December to February are the best to see chimpanzees of Semuliki national park. This is because the trekking trails are dry and easier to go through while the vegetation is short with good views of chimpanzees.
Tourists can still see chimpanzees in Semuliki park when they visit during the rainy season. The rainy season happens from March to May and October to November and tourists should know that these months have plenty of rainfall and little sunshine. During the rainy season, the trekking trails are muddy and slippery and the vegetation is tall giving unclear views of some chimpanzees
Accessing Semuliki national park
Tourists can access Semuliki national park using road transport or air transport. The commonly used mode of transport is road where tourists starting from Kampala/Entebbe drive through Mityana, Mubende, Kyegegwa, Kyenjojo, Fort Portal, and Bundibugyo to the park. The journey takes 5 to 6 hours and tourists have a great view of different attractions along the way.
Tourists who want to fly to Semuliki national park can still fly with any of the local airline companies including Bar Aviation Uganda and Aerolink Uganda. These flying companies have flights from Entebbe Airport and Kajjansi Airstrip to Kasese Airstrip. From Kasese airstrip, tourists will have to use road transport for a few hours to get to Semuliki national park.
