The Chimpanzee Habituation Experience is one of the most popular activities in Kibale National Park. Kibale is special because it is one of the few places where tourist can do both the standard chimpanzee trekking and the Chimpanzee habituation experience. Chimpanzee habituation refers to the process of making chimps used to human beings around them. It takes 2 years to complete the process. Chimpanzee Trekking allows tourists only one hour with the chimps after locating them. During the chimpanzee habituation process, tourists spend 4 hour after finding the chimps. The Chimpanzee habituation experience and tracking takes place all year round. However the best time to track them is during the rainy season despite the mud. During the dry season, chimpanzee like to move deeper into the forests looking for food. The forests are green and full of fruit during the rainy seaon reducing the mobility of the chimpanzee communities. 
Visitors can easily locate them without having to trek for long distance. It is always recommended that visitors book their chimpanzee permits months in advance. There is a limit to how many people can track a particular chimpanzee community each day and this depends entirely on which place you go tracking in Uganda or Rwanda. However in most cases, it’s 6 people per community in a single session. Chimpanzee tracking usually starts in the morning with briefing from the Park Rangers. Visitors cannot go out to the forest by themselves and must be led by a Park guide or Ranger. The rangers know where to find the chimp communities by following clues left behind. Moreover, habituated chimpanzee can identify the familiar faces of the guides which make them reassured. In Kibale National Park, Chimpanzee Trekking is done in two sessions (morning and afternoon). The chimps are more active during the morning session as they head out feeding and hunting. In the afternoon, many of the members are resting and grooming each other as they try to find shelter to avoid the suns heat. The Chimpanzee habituation experience takes longer and there is only one session in the day
While on a chimpanzee trekking or habituation session, expect to be escorted by armed rangers/guards. The Rangers scare off other wild animals like Buffaloes and elephants that may pose a danger to visitors by shooting in the air. The guides start by looking for them around the area that they built their last night nest. Tracking chimpanzee can go on for hours depending on the season and which park you are going to. However getting their exact location isn’t difficult like mountain gorillas that are relatively quiet with an occasional bark from the dominant male.
Chimpanzees are very stubborn, unruly and noisy. Trackers locate them by their hoots and loud barks. Once you locate a community, prepare to continue following them for a long time through hills, dense forest and vegetation, often at high speed. Be careful of falling fruit and urine from the chimps. Be patient because the chimps may take a while before descending from the trees and settling down on the ground. Once they are on the ground, you will get several opportunities to take good photos and observe their individual behavior and character well. How do gorillas and chimps compare or differ? You can learn more from the highlighted link.
Chimpanzee habituation Experience in Uganda
Chimpanzee habituation is the process of allowing wild Chimpanzee get used or accustomed to the presence of human. This is made possible through prolonged/continuous and sustained visits led by experienced Researchers or park Rangers. According to information from the Wildlife Conservation Society, the habituation process can take up to two years before the chimpanzees completely get used to people around them. Wild chimpanzee will flee away or treat humans suspiciously.
Cost of Chimpanzee Habituation Permit
The cost of a chimpanzee habituation experience permit is $300 for foreigners, $250 for foreigners living in East Africa and 250,000 Uganda shillings for citizens of East Africa. The price includes Ranger fees and park entrance. This only slightly higher than normal chimpanzee trekking which costs $250 and hence provides better value for money. Unfortunately chimpanzee habituation experience is currently not possible in Rwanda. In East Africa, It can only be done in Kibale National Park in Uganda , Budongo forest in Queen Elizabeth National Park and Kalinzu forest in Uganda. The chimpanzee Habituation experience is also possible in Tanzania. You can read more about chimpanzee trekking in Tanzania.
Unlike normal tracking of chimps, during chimpanzee habituation experience, visitors spend a longer time with these amazing creatures. Chimpanzee Habituation Experience is more demanding and visitors are involved in all habituation related activities unlike the 4 hour trekking where visitors remain distant. Visitors must wake up before the break of dawn to meet the guides and go looking for the chimpanzees before they leave nests. In this way, you will be able to watch them wake up and prepare for the day’s activities like feeding, resting, taking care of their young, protecting their territories and finally building their nests on top of trees. By the end of the experience, you should be familiar with all the individuals including their body markings and personalities. The exercise ends once the chimps go into their nests for the night. Please check out our 3 days Chimpanzee Habituation Experience in Kibale tour package.