Chimps and Kyambura Gorge

One of the draws to come to Kyambura Gorge is to see the chimps - there is a group of 20 in the area, disruption to the land has prevented them from moving around to other communities, and they have started to inbreed - there are talks of planting fig trees to create a channel that they can travel through. 

I had read a bit about the tracking in Kyambura prior to coming, the chances are 50/50 that you'll see them, so I came with no expectations. A day earlier we met with a team from Departures magazine who raved about the experience with the chimps, that they saw them from the road and didn't even have to trek into the gorge to look for them. This got my hopes up, but should have known if they saw them the day before, what we could expect. 

An early morning start we drove to the starting point, registered and sorted the permits - must plan in advance as they can be hard to obtain on arrival.

Getting out the car at the side of the gorge, we start our decent, about 70 meters, STEEP steps...pretty crazy, I think I hugged the ground crawling on all fours getting down. 

Once you're at the bottom its like a scene out of fern gulley - absolutely magical, the trekking fairly flat and follows the channel, monkeys swinging from the canopy above...beautiful. We walked for about 2 hours in search of the chimps, our guide calling back to reception where they'e been hearing their calls, they are on the cliff near the highest point of the gorge, about 100 meters. Too hard to reach, it would be impossible, and dangerous to keep going. We're all super bummed, somber and pouting. 

This fueled another reason to return. I have to see them now. 

Tip - if you have a couple days planned here, book the permits for both days (only $50 each), that way if you don't see them the first day, you have another chance. 

For anyone wanting to experience the chimps, there is a rescue center in Kampala where you can have a hands on experience, Brian, in our group did this on arrival and said it was amazing. You can also go to Kibale (Uganda), and also into southern Rwanda...both areas well known for chimps. 

Aside from not seeing them, the hike was awesome, and the afternoon would soon make up for it.