Ngamba Island is one the island that was established under Jane Goodall as part of the protection against problems facing the chimpanzees in Africa. The island is located 23 km south of Entebbe on Lake Victoria Africa’s largest freshwater body and home to the famous Nile perch species of fish. Currently, Ngamba island chimpanzee sanctuary is home to over 40 chimpanzees that have been rescued from trafficking, sneers, and others who are born on the island. The island is about 100 hectares which are shared between the chimps and the caretakers 70% of the forest is for the chimpanzees to and 30% is for the operations. Chimpanzee is considered to be one of the closed related species to humans at a DNA od 98.7 humans though bonobos are slightly closure.
Apart from chimps, Ngamba island has a range of other activities which you can experience while at the island Support conservation of Chimpanzees should be the main reason you should visit the island as there are threatened species due to loss of habitat and increased ape trafficking business that is on the rise globally, by visiting the island you will be Following the footprints of Jane Goodall who is an inspiration to wildlife together with likes of Dian Fossey who was killed by unknown poachers in Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park
Overnight stay
The island has a tented lodge that all rooms overlook the lake and an overnight experience can be great as you hear the chimps sounding loud in the morning and evening
Abundant birdlife
This is a true bird sanctuary and the breeding site as the nearby islands are overtaken by local fishermen Ngamba has become a breeding site and good birdlife can be seen
The communities
There are community projects the island is involving the locals in the nearby islands and you could visit these projects while at the island
Fishing safaris
Fishing around the island for Nile perch is great and you can have a very successful fishing safari while at Ngamba Island
Volunteering
Those interested in volunteering can do so by participating in the day by day conservation of the endangered chimpanzees
There are two ways to get to the island either by a speed boat that takes 1 hour depending on the weather or a traditional canoe which takes 3 hours or you can charter a helicopter to the island.
There are two feeding times for the chimpanzees and this is when you view the chimpanzees on a platform the first feeding at 11 am for those visiting in the morning and 2:30 for those visiting in the afternoon.