Kalinzu Chimpanzee Tracking Experience

 5 Reasons I Prefer Kalinzu Chimpanzee Tracking To Kibale

A lot has been said about chimpanzee tracking in Uganda. Many times, all recommendations are likely to put Kibale forest national park to the forefront. But regardless of the countless reviews about how wonderful chimpanzee tracking in Kibale forest national park is, I beg to differ on the following grounds.

Here are some of the main reasons I prefer Kalinzu forest chimpanzee tracking to Kibale forest national park chimpanzee tracking.

Cheaper Chimpanzee Tracking Permits

Uganda offers several chimpanzee tracking locations including but not limited to Budongo forest, Kyambura gorge, Kibale forest national park, among other locations. However, most of the locations have been overshadowed by Kibale forest national park which offers chimpanzee tracking permits of US$200 per person.

Chimpanzees in Kibale National Park

When you compared the chimpanzee tracking permit rates of Kalinzu forest and the 90% chances it offers to spot the chimpanzees on any given day at US$50 per permit, this would obviously be one of the reasons you should opt for Kalinzu against Kibale forest national park.

Closer To Ishasha Sector

Kalinzu forest reserve is located on the edge of Queen Elizabeth national park. It is within a 40 minutes drive from Ishasha wilderness camp. Its strategic location grants you extra time to track the tree climbing lions in the Ishasha sector, have your lunch, and then transfer to Kalinzu forest reserve for Chimpanzee tracking.

Tree climbing lion tracking is one of the activities that are a must-have on any Ugandan itinerary. With chimpanzee tracking in Kalinzu, your itinerary will be further enriched than expected.

Availability Of Chimpanzee Tracking Permits

Kalinzu forest reserve only has 12 chimpanzee tracking permits a day. 6 of these 12 chimpanzee tracking permits are for the morning chimpanzee tracking in Kalinzu forest reserve while the other 6 chimpanzee tracking permits are for the afternoon chimpanzee tracking just like the policy goes in Kibale forest national park.

Even though Kibale forest national park has more chimpanzees, I still prefer the Kalinzu forest reserve because only a few people consider it for their chimpanzee tracking which makes it very unlikely for the permits to be depleted.

Less Crowded Than Kibale Forest National Park

On any given day, the first thing to consider in nature safaris is how virgin the environment is. Because of the limited number of visitors in the Kalinzu forest reserve, it is obviously a more virgin environment than Kibale forest national park.

One of the easiest ways to identify a destination that is no longer virgin rotates around the number of pathways or trails in that same location. Kalinzu offers a more virgin off the beaten path experience than Kibale forest national park.

Nature walks in the Kalinzu forest reserve are likely to be as rewarding as Kibale forest national park considering other primates such as the black and white colobus monkeys, red-tailed monkeys, baboons among several other monkeys that are readily available in the same park.

True African Camping Experience

Tourism in Kalinzu forest is still a virgin, even the camping sites still offer you some of the wilderness camping experience that offers has to offer. At the moment, even the available grounds for camping are not really well developed. It will require you to carry all the necessary camping materials which in turn will enrich your camping experience.

Luckily; you can hire a car with camping gear. The camping gear usually includes;

Tents

There are several tents to consider for your camping safari to the Kalinzu forest reserve. These include but not limited to;

Land cruiser GX with a rooftop tent

• Rooftop tent (Only available for Land cruisers)
• Bush tent (Only available for Land cruisers)
• Ground dome tent (available for all self-drive cars).

Beddings

• Mattresses

The camping mattresses often come in three categories; press mattresses, rooftop tent mattresses (custom made for rooftop tents), and the normal ground mattresses.

• Pillows

Most of the camping gear does not come with pillows; however, you can ask your service provider to get you a pair of pillows as part of your camping gear.

• Sleeping Bags

Whenever you hire a car with camping gear for your Kalinzu forest chimpanzee tracking safari; you should never worry about sleeping bags since they come as part of the package for camping gear.

However, those who feel uncomfortable using sleeping bags that are not new can always carry their own new sleeping bags.

Kitchen Ware

Camping gear comes stocked with kitchen wear including but not limited to;

• A pair of cups
• Plates
• Forks
• Chopping board
• Grater
• A pair of teaspoons
• Spoons
• Spatula
• Serving tongs
• Frying pan
• Pair of saucepans/cooking pot
• Knife
• Ladle
• Gas cylinder /Gas cooker
• Plastic Water Jug

Other Camping Equipment

45 liter Fridge

• A pair of camping chairs
• 1 camping table
• Electric cooler box/ non electric cooler (upon request)
• Electric camping light
• Empty 10L Jerry can (for water)
• Fuel Jerry can (upon request)
• 45 Liter fridge at US$5 per day (24v or 12v)