Spend a day with chimps

 By Titus Kakembo
If you have never heard of CHEX, let me introduce you: Chex is the funky way to refer to the Chimpanzee Habituation Experience, a new treat where one can be with chimpanzees in the forest, all day long.  The expedition takes place in Kibaale National Park, the world’s most popular primate tourism destination.

Visitors can spend the whole day with the 1,500 chimpanzees and 12 different types of primates there. The Chex package involves seeing chimpanzees that are in the process of being familiarised with the presence of humans.

According to sources from Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), the habituation process takes up to two years. As tourism switches attractions, one can now be part of that process for one memorable day in the forest. Chance of seeing chimpanzees in the recent past, stood at 20%, but it has shot to 90% thanks to the habituation process.

DESTINED THERE?
An early breakfast and packed lunch should set you off for the tracking that begins before dawn breaks in the forest. A guide takes the tourists on the walks and can even shows you where a chimpanzee built a nest the night before. Guides identify the chimpanzee community to be visited for the rest of the day.

 If you have a camera, you will be advised to keep the flash off when shooting. The treat is a captivating experience. Prepare though for the rough and tough as you have to stalk them fast enough to keep them in sight.  Chimps live in groups of 10 to 100 members. They babysit each other’s young, kiss, groom one another and even hold hands. The young chimps become independent at the age of four.
 
Nonetheless, they can be aggressive and unsociable, if disturbed. Although they spend some time on the ground, they normally feed and do make their sleeping nests up in the trees. Their diet comprises of leaves, seeds, fruits and flowers. Every one of them has a physical identity. They too have scars acquired from their battles fought in life.

 The forest usually turns into a concert of loud pant hoots in the morning and the mood dims when they are nesting at night. Their dramatic days end with them climbing into their nests for the evening.  The Chex package also allows visitors to accompany researchers and habituation groups to interact with the chimpanzees during their daily activities. Visitors might come across the chimps de-nesting (in their nocturnal nests) between 5:30am and 6:30am until they make   new nests for the night, around 7:00pm.

WHEN IS IT BEST?
The habituation experience is best in the months of March, April, May and November, when there is less tourist congestion. In a small group (a ranger plus a maximum of four people), you get much closer to the chimps than during chimp tracking in larger groups.  The adventure costs $220 (sh572,000) for foreign non-residents, $150 (sh390,000) for foreign residents and $70 (sh182,000) for East Africans.