Primate Lodge

Location

Primate Lodge is located inside Kibale National Park and a 5-minute drive from the park headquarters. This is beneficial as other lodges, who are located much further out of the park, have to leave early morning to get to the park headquarters for early morning. The lodge sits in the middle of the forest so you can hear sounds of the forest from your room which is beautiful.

Layout

The main area has a small restaurant, bar area, a cosy fire pit and a curio shop. Surrounding it are lush tropical gardens that are kept neat and bright, which makes the lodge inviting from the moment you arrive. The rooms are located behind the main entrance, with the standard rooms to a path on the left, and the luxury chalet rooms along a path to the right of the lodge. They are spread out well so all have a good level of privacy.

Rooms

The rooms are simple, bright and clean. We would recommend the luxury chalet rooms as they are larger and have a private veranda facing out to the gardens which is nice. The rooms have en-suites with everything you will need in them and large beds with mosquito nets around them for the evening.

Activities

Obviously being a short 5-minute drive to the park headquarters, a chimpanzee tracking experience is the main attraction for Primate Lodge. There are approximately 1,500 chimpanzees in Kibale. You start the morning in the briefing room at the park headquarters and then after you are assigned your group and guide, you begin walking through the forest to find a habituated chimpanzee group. Once you find them, you are allowed one hour to observe them before you head back.