Budongo Forest Reserve in northwestern Uganda is a tourist hub thanks to the numerous activities it offers. If you are looking for both leisurely and thrilling activities in the heart of Africa, Budongo Forest is your ideal destination. Below are some of the activities you might find too captivating to miss in Budongo Forest,
Chimpanzee trekking
This is a guided tour that takes you into Budongo Forest to track and explore a habituated chimpanzee community. The Kaniyo-Pabidi community, comprising approximately 100 individuals, is the ideal troop to trek with. A chimp trek here takes a duration of 1 to 4 hours. One hour is spent close to them as you observe how they forage, play, nap, groom, mate, and do other things. You are guided by an experienced chimp tracker and armed forest rangers.
As usual, all chimpanzee trekking tours start with a briefing at the Kaniyo-Pabidi Eco-tourism site. You must get information about what to do and not do during a chimp trekking tour. The briefing is conducted by a representative from Budongo Forest. You will need a chimpanzee trekking permit to enjoy this activity in Budongo Forest. This chimp permit costs only $120 per person for each chimp trek.
Birdwatching
Some of the most colorful bird species live in Budongo Forest Reserve. Most birders and ornithologists on guided birding excursions in Budongo consider the Royal Mile in Busingiro as the perfect spot for this. Up to 360 bird species, including forest species and endemics, live here. The birds found include speckled tinkerbird, little green sunbird, yellow-spotted barbet, yellow-crested woodpecker, dusky long-tailed cuckoo, and western black-headed oriole, etc.
Other bird species to find include Jameson’s wattle-eye, yellow-footed flycatcher, olive-green camaroptera, crown eagle, black and white casqued hornbill, blue-throated roller, black headed paradise flycatcher, brown twin-spot, black kite, Sabine’s spinetail, Ituri batis, olive-breasted greenbul, and African shrike flycatchers, etc. The cost of birding tours in Budongo Forest is $30 per person, minus the $45 for entrance through Murchison Falls National Park.
Nature walk
A serene ecosystem like Budongo Forest is one of the best destinations to do day or night nature walks in Uganda. Start your 2.5-hour guided nature walk from Kaniyo-Pabidi eco-tourism site to see at least 464 tree species, including mahogany. There are more than 24 mammal species, with 9 of them being primates. Primates include olive baboons, red-tailed monkeys, grey-cheeked mangabeys, black and white colobus monkeys, pottos, blue monkeys, chimpanzees, and forest galagos.
Budongo Forest mammals include the forest giant squirrel, bushbuck, waterbuck, elephant, and duiker, among others. The forest is also inhabited by some 300 species of butterflies. There are also numerous species of moths, amphibians, and reptiles, including the gaboon viper. During the guided nature walk along cool trails, you will take multiple memorable pictures of your sightings. The cost of a nature walk in Budongo Forest is $40 per person, excluding entrance.
Chimpanzee habituation tour
This is a guided activity to experience what it is like to familiarize a semi-habituated chimpanzee troop with human presence. You get to enjoy spending time with them for up to a day. You can observe or even study their behavior in the wild before they are introduced for chimp trekking tours. Chimpanzee habituation experiences are done with primatologists as they study the specific behaviors of the chimps. This experience costs around $160 per person.
Brief information about Budongo Forest?
Budongo Forest is the largest of all the natural forests in Uganda, with a size of approximately 825 km2. Budongo Forest is part of the larger Murchison Falls Conservation Area. However, Budongo is dominated by moist semi-deciduous medium altitude tropical rainforest with patches of woodland and grassland savannah. Situated on the southern side of Murchison Falls National Park, and occupies an undulating landscape that slopes to the Albertine Rift Valley.
Budongo Forest is situated near the northern tip of Lake Albert. It experiences an equatorial type of climate. This implies that the rainfall patterns are bimodal and annual totals range from 1,300 to 1,500 mm. The temperature patterns are relatively uniform throughout the year, with lows of 14 degrees Celsius and highs of 28 degrees Celsius during the day. There are distinct dry and wet seasons, with the former occurring from June to August and December to February.
Historically, Budongo Forest was used as a hunting ground for the Bunyoro Kings (Omukama). This was until the forest’s protection status became critical. Now it is protected under the National Forestry Authority. Currently, Budongo is comprised of 6 forest blocks: Kaniyo-Pabidi, Siba, Nyakafunjo, Waibira, Biiso, and Busaju. Through Budongo Forest, 4 rivers flow into Lake Albert. These are the River Kamirambwa, the River Sonso, the River Siba, and the River Waisoke.
Budongo Forest has over 600 chimpanzees living in different communities. Besides the Kaniyo-Pabidi community, others include Waibira, Sonso, and Busingiro. To see the Kaniyo-Pabidi Community, you will travel 234 km from Kampala via Luwero and Masindi along the Gulu road. You will enter the Masindi gate of Murchison Falls National Park, then proceed to Kichumbanyobo. The trip takes 4 to 5 hours.
