Kalinzu Forest Reserve

Expert Reviews (2)

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Expert

Philip Briggs –

Visited: Wet season

Philip is an acclaimed travel writer and author of many guidebooks, including the Bradt guides to Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya and South Africa.

Great Chimp Tracking In One Of Uganda’s Largest Forests

Overall rating

4/5

Wildlife:

Bush Vibe:

Scenery:

Birding:

Kalinzu and the contiguous Maramagambo Forest (Queen Elizabeth NP) together form one of the largest rainforests and most important chimpanzee strongholds in Uganda. Unlike Queen Elizabeth, however, Kalinzu is not a national park but managed by the National Forest Authority, and tourism there is run as a local community project. The most popular activity in Kalinzu is chimp tracking. I did this here for the first time in 2023, when it definitely lived up to its reputation as one of the best places to look for our closest genetic cousins in the wild.

An impressive feature of our excursion was the informative and enthusiastic guide. In most places where I've tracked chimps, the emphasis has been strongly on locating and seeing these creatures, rather than experiencing the forest interior as a whole. At Kalinzu, by contrast, we enjoyed a relaxed walk with plenty of stops to look at plants and other wildlife. Indeed, as we hiked through the forest, our guide pointed out four different monkey species (black-and-white colobus, red-tailed, blue and L’Hoest’s), along with a host of forest birds including black-and-white-casqued hornbill and black-billed turaco.

No two chimp experiences are exactly the same. But our extended encounter with two males and a female, all eating jackfruits low in the canopy, was very enjoyable, not least because there were no other tourists around. From this point of view, Kalinzu is very different to the more popular Kibale National Park, where it's not unusual for three or four trekking parties to converge chaotically on one chimp sighting. In terms of effort, the hilly terrain on the escarpment above Queen Elizabeth NP means that Kalinzu can be somewhat harder work than other Ugandan chimp tracking sites such as Kibale and Budongo, but not hugely so, and it won't be a problem if you are reasonably fit.

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Expert

Charlotte Beauvoisin –

Visited: November

Charlotte lives in Uganda and is a writer, blogger, volunteer and promoter of birding, conservation and responsible tourism. She writes for Fodor’s, Horizon Guides and Bradt, and runs an award-winning blog.

Excellent-Value Forest Experience

Overall rating

3/5

Wildlife:

Bush Vibe:

Scenery:

Birding:

This less-visited primate forest is approximately half an hour’s drive from Queen Elizabeth National Park. The 141km² Kalinzu Forest Reserve can be a more reliable option than Kyambura Gorge (where the small chimp population may be a long hike from the entrance). What’s more, chimp tracking and chimpanzee habituation are cheaper here than in Kyambura or Kibale Forest.

I see chimps regularly from my home in Kibale Forest so what interested me about Kalinzu was the overall forest experience. Our guide Deborah listened for birds, pointed to trees and stinky fungus. She interpreted everything we heard and saw (although getting the right guide can be hit-and-miss). Our young female porter really looked after us too. Five of us (plus rangers) spent an hour with the chimpanzees. We had good sightings of three individuals.

Next time I’ll just go to watch birds: 378 species have been identified in Kalinzu (but tracking in a group means there’s too much disturbance for serious birding).
Although the visitor centre is next to a main road, after a few minutes’ walk, we barely heard passing traffic. Kalinzu is managed by National Forest Authority who have acquired funding to develop the tourism facilities so you can expect this to become a more consistent good experience.

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