The Budongo Forest Reserve is a natural located in the northwest of Kampala near Murchison fall national park but some part of it lies within the park reserve area. Budongo forest is situated about 3-4 hours away from Kampala, it occupies a space of about 825 square kilometers and today, this forest is the largest mahogany forest there is in Uganda and in the whole of East Africa.
Budongo Forest has variety of forest trees, it is composed of the woodland forest, there is the high forest kind, and also the grassland type which encourage the survival of a huge diversity of wildlife species. There are also those two main tourists’ sites which have been developed within the forest mainly for tourism purposes and these sites include the famous Kaniyo Pabidi ecotourism site and the Busingiro ecotourism sites. Both these are located along the boundaries of Murchison Fall Park.
Within this forest lives about 360 different bird species, there are over 95 mammals among which are the lions and leopards although these make rare visits to the forest therefore seeing them there is pure luck. There are also about 29 amphibian species that have so far recorded living in Budongo forest, there is variety of butterflies, lots of insect species, so many different trees and the shrubs. If you are interested in watching the forest animals, you need to go have an early morning nature walk as that is the only way you will be able to find them and you might find them at the salt lick area which is found in one of the forest’s open spaces. Animals in this forest get water from river Waiga while they hunt for food from all over the forest and outside it.
Apart from the south side of Murchison fall where Budongo forest is located, you can always visit the northern side of Murchison, the side of the part with more spectacular views because of the fact that this is where you will find most of the wildlife. It is this side of the park that game/ wildlife viewing is done. You will have to drive around that warm, vast and really open savannah park if you are interested in viewing a huge number of different savannah animals like the antelopes, giraffes, the elephants, among others.
Besides visiting Busingiro ecotourism site and Kaniyo Pabidi which is situated along the Southern edge of the Park while Busingiro is on the western part of the forest, you can always for other amazing activities like.
Chimpanzee tracking at Kaniyo Pabidi
In Uganda, there are several places were Chimpanzee trekking is done and one of the place is Murchison fall’s Kaniyo Pabidi- Budongo forest. This is where you will find groups of habituated Chimpanzees which are accessible to both the tourists and the researchers when they have to carry out their various studies. Chimp tracking starts with a briefing from the information center located at Budongo Eco Lodge and then together with your ranger, you head into the jungle to search for them. Sometimes, they can be really near that you can hear them making noise from the information centre. There are however times when food is very scarce that they have to move out their close by territory and wonder fur deep into the forest to search for enough food and water therefore during search times, chimpanzee tracking can be very hectic since it takes more time to find the chimpanzees. Chimpanzee tracking is done both in the morning and in the evening so the choice is always yours depending on your itinerary of the day but whichever time you choose to go tracking, you will still get the one hour you have to spend in the jungle with the chimpanzees after you meet them. Only people are allowing to go tracking in every session which means every day, only 16 people get to track the chimpanzees. You can opt for chimpanzee tracking as your additional activity after a wildlife hunt in Murchison falls national park.
Take a nature Walk
You can always go for a guided nature walk. You will have ranger to guide you around the different trails that you have to fall, this walk takes you places like the Kaniyo Pabidi and the Busingiro eco sites. As you walk following the different trails, you will have the opportunity of seeing other attractions like the different tree species, shrubs, lots of amazing and unique wildlife like Cicada, the monkeys, so many types of birds and you may also be luck and see the chimpanzees.
To some bird watching
Budongo forest is one of the best sites that those 
who love birds should visit because this forest is a home to more than 360 species. This Forest is among the best destination that you can never miss visiting if you are on your birding safari in Uganda especially since it has one of the most known birding trails in Uganda called the Royal Mile.
There are so many other trails that you can follow when birding trails and these trails are shared by those doing a nature walk and also chimpanzee tracking. During your birding adventure, you can expect species like the Guinea. Budongo’s main specie is Puvel’s Illadopsis which is not commonly seen anywhere else across East Africa. Other birds that are commonly seen include the Yellow-footed Flycatcher, the kingfisher, the Nahan’s Francolin, the black-winged Pranticole, there are also the Brown Twinspot, also the Blue-breasted Kingfisher, there are the Black-eared Ground thrush, there are also Ituri Batis, the White-thighed Hornbill, also the Cassin’s Hawk Eagle may be seen, chestnut-capped Flycatcher and many more others.
Participate in the chimpanzee habituation exercise.
Chimpanzee habituation exercise is one of the amazing activities that you can go for especially if you want to spend longer hours with chimpanzees. The habituation exercise is a whole day activity compared to the 1 hour that you are given when you go chimpanzee trekking. Habituation starts very early like at 5 am so that you get the chance to watch the Chimps as the wake up from their nests, hit the jungle to start their daily activity of food hunting. You should note however that chimpanzee habituation is not done through the year but rather during the low season periods in the tourism business especially in April and November. During the peak seasons, only Chimp trekking is allow in Budongo.
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