Budongo forest in Uganda

Budongo Forest is about 3 hrs drive north west of Kampala en route to Murchison falls national park.It is the largest Mahogany forest in East Africa and home of the largest population of chimpanzees in Uganda.

The main tourist sites are Kaniyo Pabidi Ecotourism site and Busingiro Ecotourism site

Kaniyo Pabidi Ecotourism site:

Lies within the boundaries of Murchison Falls National Parks composed of Mahogany trees and Iron wood. The 115 km area is an isolated block from Budongo forest.Iits remoteness ocassionally provides a sanctuary for the Lion, Leopard and Buffalo.Early morning is the best time for touring as you will meet forest creatures licking salt in the forest glades. The River Waiga provides for refreshment of the species of the forest.

This forest reserve is a semi-decidous rain forest located in western Uganda district of Masindi. It covers a total of 435sq km of mostly forest woodland, savanna and riverine swamps. It ranks as one of the most important birding eco-regions in Uganda and is highly conserved for this purpose. The forest is drained by four small rivers -Sonso, Waisoke, Wake and Bubwa which drain their waters into Lake Albert.

Eco-system

The forest reserve is divided into three important eco-systems particularly formed to protect the chimpanzees and endemic species within the reserve. Sonso, located on the banks of river Sonso and near a former saw mill is the most important part of the reserve home to some 53 groups of chimpanzees that are not visited by tourists but used to do field research. Busingiro and Kaniyo-Pabidi make the other section with many habituated chimpanzees for tourist activity

Wildlife

The reserve is home to a recorded 280 species of birds such as the yellow footed flycatcher, Ceratogymna fistulator, Smithornis rufolateralis, Ixonotus guttatus, Neafrapus cassini, Sylvietta denti, Batis ituriensis and Zoothers camaronensis

There are also mammals like chimpanzees which are the main tourist attraction in the forest reserve beside the gigantic mahogany tree species. More than 600 of these primates are found in Budongo forest and are protected by the local administration of Budongo Conservation Field Station (BCFS). Other animals in the forest include duikers, forest pigs,

Accommodation

You can stay at Budongo Forest Lodge owned by Great Lakes Safaris. There is a tourist site and accommodation located at Busingiro off the road from Masindi to Butiaba and another camp site at Kaniyo-Pabidi.  A camp at the Conservation Field station also offers basic accommodation to tourists with several rooms, running water, meals and conservation education seminars