Chimpanzee trekking :Morning vs afternoon

Chimpanzee trekking :Morning vs afternoon : Chimpanzee trekking can be done anytime of the day. Whatever time you hit the forest to see these play creatures you’re sure, you will see groups of the chimpanzees in various locations. Chimpanzees stay in rain forests or in rain forested areas. In Uganda we have about 4 to 5 chimpanzee habitats with the biggest or the one with the most chimpanzees being the Kibale forest in Kibale National park.  Hence for the sake of this article we are going to concentrate on Kibale National Park.

Kibale National Park has the highest number of chimpanzees in Uganda and in East Africa that’s why most chimpanzee trekkers visit Kibale National park for their chimpanzee trekking experience.

In Kibale National Park chimpanzee trekking is done in the morning between 7am and 12pm and in the afternoon between 2pm and 6pm. The time you trek, is entirely based on your choice, whether morning or afternoon it’s up to.

So morning and afternoon which one is better?

The main issue is on all trekking experiences you get to see the chimpanzees but below we are going highlight some major similarities and differences of both times and from there you will decide what you feel is a better experience.

Similarities.

• On both times you will see the chimpanzees on your trek
• The trails are the same
• Follow the same rules of chimpanzee trekking
• You get a ranger for both treks
• Your briefed before the trek for both
• On both treks you go into the forest in groups of 10 to 12 people

Differences

Morning

On the morning chimpanzee trekking experience you will:-

• Be up early by 6am to get ready and make it to the briefing by 7am
• Enter the forest early when it still have the morning dew
• Usually the mornings are cold
• The forests is quiet with mostly the birds singing, so you get to enjoy the morning vibes of the forest
• The chimpanzees in the morning hours are just getting up for the day activities so you are likely to find them in their sleeping area as a full group
• Also in the morning hours the chimpanzees are hunting for their food so you will get a chance to see them in their day to day life action
• Because the chimpanzees are active in the morning hours you have high chances of finding them on the trail walks in the forest.
• Also in the morning the sun is just coming out so the weather is quite favorable for a trek.

Afternoon

On the afternoon chimpanzee trekking experience you will:-

• You don’t need to be up early, though you need to be at the briefing point by 1pm.
• Usually the sun is pretty out in the afternoon so its hot meaning you will endure the heat on your trek; however, the forest is usually cool so you won’t be that hot.
• In the afternoon the chimpanzees have moved away from their sleeping area so you may have to walk deeper into the forest to find them.
• Because they have been moving up and about, these primates are usually scattered in the afternoon so you may not get to see in the big groups but rather in smaller groups. Chimpanzees play and eat in smaller groups compared to the bigger groups you find at the sleeping points.
• The forest is dry in the afternoon so you don’t have to worry about the dew.

Generally those are the similarities and differences between chimpanzee trekking in the morning and afternoon in Kibale National Park. Chimpanzee trekking at this park is done all year round at a fee of 150 USD for a trekking permit.