A trip to Ngamba Chimpanzee Island is one of the most amazing activities that you can include in your itinerary. It is one of the places you can visit if you have a day or two in Kampala, in Entebbe before your start or after your long safari up country. A trip can be a one day activity but it can also lust more than a day. A 2 days trip to Ngamba may include a number of activities like;
Day 1; Transfer from the Mainland to Ngamba Chimps Sanctuary
After your breakfast at the hotel, you will meet your driver who will drive you to the pier located in Entebbe and from there you will board a boat and it will take you 90 -120minutes to get to the island in Lake Victoria. You will be welcomed by the staff upon your arrival to the home of about 49 chimpanzees. They will give you a summary of the what they have to offer and about the whole sanctuary for example its history and why it was set up.
By the time you get there, it will be feeding time therefore you will participate in the feeding activity of these great apes. Feeding time is the best time you will get to witness firsthand how these primates behave especially during feeding time. You will have a lunch break and then rest a little by the lake shores and you watch the different bird species at the island. Monitor lizards are also commonly seen at the shore of the lake. Later in the afternoon, you can work together with the care takers to prepare the gorilla food which may be millet porridge, or posho, fruits, among others that they will be having in the afternoon and in the evening after they return to their cages for an overnight. Alternatively, you can choose not to do the feeding in the evening and instead go for the sunset cruise on Lake Victoria and later return to the island for dinner and an overnight in the Ngamba Tented Camp.
On day 2: the Ngamba Forest Walk and Community Integration
There are various activities that you can choose to be apart of on this day. The options include taking a forest walk but this decision has to be made the day before since you have to get up early if you are to do this walk.
Forest walk experience has to begin very early in the morning before the chimpanzees are let out into the forest. Originally, forest walk was more of a nature walk done together with a group of some juvenile chimpanzees but that is no longer the case thus the reason the walk has to be done early and it lasts just about an hour. As you walk through this forest, you will see lots of bird species and various tree species. About 4 visitors are allowed go in to the forest at a time and there is always a well trained ranger / staff of CSWCT to accompany you to make sure you are safe and also help with the interpretation. This forest is a home and source of food to a number of chimpanzees which range from a year to 8 years old and the younger ones are kept in a separate space where they can be carefully monitored by the care givers. All guests who intend to go for the forest walk need to look at hiking guideline like the clothing, the nice cameras to carry, sun glasses and this is just so you can enjoy this beautiful adventure. After this short walk, you will walk out of the jungle before the chimpanzees are let out of their cages into the forest.
From the forest walk, you will go have your breakfast and then you will go for the community Integration of the infant chimpanzees. Chimpanzees just like humans live in social groups called communities. The orphaned, the little ones and the new chimpanzees have to be integrated into this community so that they are treated as members of the group by the rest of the group members. This integration is done from a separate well fenced piece of land that uniquely set up for just that purpose as it is easier to monitor them there. The kind of chimpanzees that need integration include the new chimpanzees that have just been brought to the sanctuary, the sick/weak ones and also the baby chimpanzees. These need some help to cope with living with the larger group and once they are ready, they joined the other chimpanzees in the big forest. This is a great opportunity for a visitor to get closer to these apes at Ngamba Sanctuary.
After the integration stage, they are then ready to join the rest group and walk in the big forest on their own. Normally two visitors are allowed in every session and it takes an hour both in the morning and evening every day. Everyone is welcome to the sanctuary to have a closer look at these great apes and learn more about their behavior which is more like humans’ since they are our closest relatives.
Later that afternoon you will have a lunch , you will participate in the afternoon chimpanzee feeding. Sometimes guests are allowed to have close contact with the chimpanzee but to this, you have got shots of Hepatitis A and B too, you must have been vaccinated against diseases like measles, Polio and tetanus as well as yellow fever so that the chimpanzees are safe. After that afternoon feeding, you get on your boat and get back to the main land. This marks the end of your 2 days adventure at the Ngamba Island.
For more information on Chimpanzees, visit gorillas-safaris.com
