Gorilla VS chimpanzee Uganda experience – Uganda and Rwanda all based in east Africa are gifted with hosting amazing primates on the continent “mountain gorillas Vs chimpanzee”. In Uganda when we you talk about the named primates what comes first are the locations which the primates mates occupy whereby Mountain gorillas occupy thick forests of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga National park located in the south western part of the country inhabiting a population of 480 mountain gorillas which is half of the world’s population of the great Apes. Chimpanzees are located in different sectors of the country with Kibale National park in western having the largest population of over 1500 primates and others are distributed in areas like Kyambura Gorge near Queen Elizabeth National park in the western, Budongo Forest near Murchison Falls National Park in the northern part of the country and Ngamba Island a home for orphaned chimpanzee primates.
The distance to from the airport to tracking points for both chimpanzee and gorillas differ depending on the means used to access the destination whereby to reach Kibale National park can take you about 4-5 hour drive and 5-6 hour drive to Budongo Forest National Park in the northern part of the country and 23km to reach Ngamba Island sanctuary, all these drives are on the estimate from Entebbe airport for chimpanzee trekking whereas Mountain Gorilla destination in Bwindi and Mgahinga can take you 8-9 hour drive from Entebbe through the equator and the thrilling hills and valleys of Kigezi however the area can as well be accessed by flight from Kajjansi to Kisoro which is approximately 2 hours to reach Gorilla trekking zones.
There is quite a big different in chimpanzee permits in relation to tracking points than gorilla permits and their tracking points where both permits for Mountain Gorillas in Bwindi and Mgahinga cost USD600.00 per person per trek and habituation process cost USD1500 per person per trek however this price will increase As of 1ST JULY 2020 under the new Uganda Wildlife Authority guidelines whereas chimpanzee tracking in Kibale National will increase from USD150.00 to USD200.00, habituation process will increase from USD200.00 to USD250.00, Kyambura Gorge and Budongo to remain on the same prices of USD50.00 and USD80.00 respectively
Habituated families between the two families differ as well whereby Habituated families are found in Bwindi and Mgahinga; Gorilla families are more organized living in families with a leader and before tracking rangers are sent to the field to track movements from different families and where they can be located and contact the headquarters so that visitors can easily locate the tracking points however chimpanzee habituation is done in Kibale National Park however they tend to separate from their family to other and regrouping at a different point thus may at times create confusion to clients if they are not briefed very well. Habituation process for chimpanzee is undertake by 6 people while Gorilla experience is done by 4 people.
More often, the mountain gorillas can easily be trekked because they mostly keep themselves on ground and based on the vegetation cover, something different from the chimps that keep themselves on tree, but not all the time. If you are willing to achieve your primatology dreams, look no further than visiting Uganda for reward of amazing world primates you have thought about to encounter in life for gorilla Vs chimpanzee experience. However, come prepared because gorilla trekking adventure is breathtaking and needs you to be fit enough to hike the hills compared to chimpanzee tracking.