Toro-Semliki Wildlife Reserve

Where Chimpanzees and Shoebills Reside

Situated in the heart of the Albertine Rift and bordering majestic Lake Albert, this reserve lies well off the beaten track. Wildlife numbers are generally still low, but elephant sightings are fairly reliable and I have enjoyed my best ever shoebill viewing here. Keen birders will surely twitter when they hear I once saw 13 shoebills in a single day boating through the reeded islands of Lake Albert. The park also offers energetic safari enthusiasts a chance to join researchers as they track semi-habituated chimps. But, be warned, it’s a long, hard day of walking and you seldom get much more than a glimpse of the elusive primates before they take off deeper into the forest. In summation, I would say that Semliki is a park for the African explorer rather than the wildlife enthusiast.