Walking Safaris
Walking Safaris are the tours that one takes on foot as they explore the wilderness to see primates, birds, plant species and many other species. Despite being known for chimpanzee trekking, kibale national park walking safaris are on a rising graph among the tourist activities in Uganda as a tourism destination. The visitors to kibale national park show great interest in the nature walks with in the forest and hikes to the crater area, plus the village and cultural walks in kibale and the nearby villages. The kibale walking safaris are favorable in the dry season which is January to February or June through October to December. Besides being just safaris, the kibale walking safaris provide you with an opportunity to try out something new from the tour vehicle safaris; the walking safaris give you an opportunity to straighten your legs a bit and enjoy the beautiful sceneries as well.
Kibale national park is a vast land of about 770 sq.km protecting an evergreen tropical forest. Kibale national park is a home for a lot of animals, but the primate population is the reason for the fame kibale national park has earned on the world tourism destination map. Kibale national park is the best, in both the number of primate species and the total population, on the African continent. As many forests in Africa see the population of chimpanzees goes down day by day, Kibale National Park has stayed the primate capital of the world, with over 1500 chimpanzees. This is enough assurance for fantastic chimpanzee activities in kibale national park.
The Kibale walking safaris start from the starting point which is the visitor Centre at Kanyanchu. The walking safari can either be a hike through the forest or a walk to the crater lakes of Kibale, Ndali Kasenda crater lakes, or the nature walk through bigodi wetland sanctuary. The hiking trail through kibale national park is about 12km long through a number of landscapes such as swamps, open grasslands, thick tropical forests among others.
The hike through the forest is a chance for you to see various wildlife species such as tall trees with big buttress roots and climbing plants as big as giant snakes. You can also spot a number of monkeys in the tress, for example, the blue colobus monkeys are common in the forest, the black and white colobus monkeys and if you are lucky, you can also spot the red colobus monkey. When you take the forest hike in the northern part of Kibale national park, you can spot a lot of chimpanzees and take a number of photos of these human closest friends and likeness; the chimpanzees share about 985 of the human DNA.
The crater lakes hike involves walking to the crater area of Kibale; the Kibale Crater Area has over seven crater lakes in one area, including lake Nyabikere, Lake Kyaninga, Lake Saka among others. The crater lakes provide the best scenic view with lush verdant vegetation which makes a ring around them. From the crater lakes, you have a view over the thick forest of kibale beyond to the mountains of the moon, also known as mountain Rwenzori. The crater lakes of Kibale also provide a tranquil ground for picnics and video shooting. The kibale crater lakes hike gives you an opportunity to spot a number of birds like the weavers, turacos, sunbirds among fowls among others.
Another walking safaris in kibale national park will take you to Bigodi swamp. Bigodi wetland walk can be conducted for two to three and its better done after chimpanzee trekking in kibale national park. Bigodi wetland sanctuary is a project run by the community of bigodi and the money collected from the swamp walk in bigodi is given back to the community for infrastructural development. Bigodi wetland sanctuary is a real-life deal for you to see quite a range of wetland birds; over 200 bird species 6 of which are endemic to bigodi swamp and magombe swamp; this is the reason as to why it is called the birders’ paradise, you can see a number of birds such as the great blue turaco; is also known as the royal lover, purple breasted sunbird, weavers, African pitta, Abyssinia ground thrush, kingfisher, cuckoos, hornbills, papyrus, gonoleks among others.
You can always book for kibale national park walking safaris any time of the year, but the best time recommendable is the dry season; it finds the trails passable and clear forest easy to spot animals and birds. you can book with a local tour company for the best-tailored safaris to kibale national park walking safaris.
