Hi J
How long will you have in Uganda? It's quite a standard trip to see the chimps and the gorillas in 4-5 days (from Kampala). Chimp walks can be done in Kibale Forest National Park and gorilla tracking in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. There are many local operators doing similar itineraries and you can choose budget, mid-range or luxury accommodation options. You can join a small scheduled tour or create your own itinerary for not much extra. We used Gorilla Tours, this is an example of a five day itinerary: http://www.gorillatours.com/gorilla-tours/our-tours/5-days-gorillas-and-chimps.html

Kibale is a great place to see chimps and one of the best. I'd suggest inquiring about the habituation visit. This has you spending the day with the chimps--watching them wake up, staying with them throughout the day, and then watching them make their nests at night. The Bradt Guide rated this as one of the finest primate activities on the continent and I'd agree. If you are in Queen Elizabeth, Chamburu Gorge has chimp visits. Odds of a sighting are not as good as Kibale. Finally if you make it up to the beautiful Murchison Falls, you can track chimps in the Padabi Forest, at the southern end of the park. I was very impressed with this operation and believe you can arrange the habituation visit as well here.

I've used Mantana and Volcanoes.

Thanks for the info. I will look up those operators.We would hope to get about 19 days in country.

With 19 days you could do a great tour of Uganda and give yourself more than one opportunity to see chimps. As Atravelynn said, Kibale is considered the no. 1 chimp spot, but if you're doing a longer tour then certainly there are other opportunities as Atravelynn suggests in Queen Elizabeth NP and Murchison Falls (we did a chimp tracking walk in the Budongo Forest near Murchison Falls, not sure if that is near Padabi Forest or not, but must be roughly the same area). Also near Entebbe on Lake Victoria you can visit Ngamba Island - home to orphaned chimpanzees, a project of the Chimpanzees Sanctuary and Wildlife Conservation Trust established to provide a home as well as conserve their forest habitat (you can view feeding of the chimpanzees from the visitors platform area). If you have had the necessary medical inoculations you can also do a half day forest walk with the chimps (I think about US$350)
We loved Uganda, hope to get a trip report up shortly! (now I've said it it's motivation to do it!)

I've just seen atravelynn's account of Ngamba island (first hand experience) see the report: 'Sept Private Drive-Fly: # of Cars/Sighting, Budget KWS Bandas, Birds & More' (Dec 16th entry)

Thank you Tockoloshe for that reminder. How could I forget Ngamba? Maybe because these chimps are not truly wild and have been rescued.

Here's the account:

You can get even more involved with the chimps at Ngamba, a Jane Goodall project, on an island off of Entebbe, Uganda. A highlight is doing a chimp walk where you escort young chimps into the island forest,let them roam around for an hour or two, then escort them back to less expansive quarters. I volunteered there for several days and was lucky to go on 3 walks. If you are a paying guest, you are virtually guaranteed a walk. Those walks with two and three chimps hanging on me and a dozen other chimps running along side, grabbing at my ankles, tumbling over each other, and swinging from vines have to be a highlight of all of Africa! To qualify for the chimp walks you must submit extensive medical documentation that can require expensive tests.

Ngamba is definately somewhere we have been looking at. It is what sparked our interest in going to Uganda rather than Tanzania to look for chimps. Atravelynn your description gave me chills! I will have to search for your report. Who did you arrange that part of your trip with? Where can you get info about medical info you have to submit?

Tok we think 19 days would be good(although you always wish for more!!) I hope you do get a trip report up!

Thanks so much to the two of you for your comments so far.

another vote for ngamba. we did the walk (as paying guests) so had to get loads of medical checks done before we welf for Uganda. Ngamba is great to learn about and understand the chimps, but not great for photos as you cannot bring cameras on the walks.
We also trekked in kibale, and that day the chimps stayed high in the canopy of the forest so we did'nt see them up close but that was fine as we saw and heard enough to learn about them.

Here a great series for articles by Paul Waldron on a Uganda safari that includes Chimps and Gorillas.

Maybe of interest to you

http://www.thesafariphotographer.com/uncategorized/2352

http://www.thesafariphotographer.com/uncategorized/2444

http://www.thesafariphotographer.com/destination-guide/2485

http://www.thesafariphotographer.com/destination-guide/2505

Jules, don't search for my report. I posted only this brief description.
http://www.fodors.com/community/africa-the-middle-east/volunteer-at-jane-goodall-chimp-sanctuary.cfm

I used The Africa Adventure Co in Ft. Lauderdale and they set me up with the Peace Corps for the Ngamba part. I don't know if the Peace Corps still oversees volunteering.

Wild Frontiers in Uganda seems to arrange visits.
http://www.wildfrontiers.co.ug/ngambavisits.html

One change that was made right after my volunteering was that volunteers will have the same top notch luxury tent accommodations and food as guests. You could see if staying in staff cinderblock quarters and eating with staff would knock the price down, which is what I was able to do.

It is true you cannot take a camera on the chimp walks as the chimps would likely destroy it. But there are many other opportunities throughout the day for photos of the chimps and other species in the area. Also staff members will take a photo with your camera of you interacting with the chimps. The staff members remain behind a barrier to protect your camera.

The medical requirements can change so you should get the latest info directly from the Ngamba staff--the address is given in my link--or from Wild Frontiers.

I emailed copies of all the medical documentation in advance as attachments then brought the originals with me. They are extremely strict about this to safeguard the chimps' health. While I was there, a professional TV cameraman was denied access to the chimps because his paperwork was not in order. I heard stories of visitors having breakdowns and crying fits because they didn't bring the correct paperwork and couldn't do a chimp walk.

19 days is ample time for chimps, gorillas, other primates, giant forest hogs, Ugandan kob, and much more!