Banana Experience in Kibale National Park
Enjoy the best banana experience in Kibale National Park! Kibale National Park is located in the western part of Uganda in the districts of Kabarole, Kamwenge, Kyenjojo, and Kasese. The park was first gazette in 1932 by the British as a logged forest area protecting its natural authenticity. The British also used the forest for hardwood extraction and also collected wild coffee from the forest. In 1993 it was gazette officially as Kibale Forest National Park from the Kibale Forest Reserve.
The park is about 315 kilometers from the capital Kampala when the Mubende- Fort Portal route is used and it is 20 kilometers from Fort Portal. Kibale Forest National Park is over 795 kilometers wide with an altitude of about 1160-2607 meters. Kibale National Park has over 67% of Uganda’s fauna with different ecosystems. These range from wildlife habitats, wet tropical forests dry or semi-moist tropical forests along the Fort Portal plateau, and the savannah woodland along the rift valley floor.
Banana experience in Kibale
Banana Experience is a top cultural business native to the people living around Kibale Forest National Park. This banana experience is an activity that takes visitors through the making of banana products like local beer, spirits, and juice. This is the main economic activity of the people living close to Kibale Forest National Park. Bananas are a staple food of the people of this area around the park. Bananas can be used in many ways such as fruits, main course on a meal, and in making local beer, spirits, and juice.
The process of brewing the local banana beer (waragi) as the locals call it, is an interesting experience to watch. The process begins by peeling the reap bananas from their peels and then throwing them in a large open container. The brewer using banana leaves squashes the bananas while adding a bit of water. The banana juice is then boiled and fermented until it turns into waragi, a strong local banana spirit. Visitors get a chance to take part in the brewing process and also taste the products like waragi the local beer, spirits, and juice.
What activities in Kibale Forest National Park can you combine with the banana experience?
Kibale Forest National Park has a variety of activities to combine with a banana experience. The park is vast with diverse attractions that are scattered across the entire area of the park. The following can be combined with a banana experience in Kibale Forest National Park.
Chimpanzee tracking
Kibale Forest National Park is famous for hosting the largest population of chimpanzees in the world with over 1500 individuals. Chimpanzee tracking involves traversing the dense forest canopies searching for the chimpanzees. Upon locating them, visitors are given an hour with these primates in their natural habitat where they observe them play, feed, and roam around with their daily chores. Tracking of chimpanzees in Kibale Forest National Park is done in two sessions morning and evening. A chimpanzee tracking permit is required for any visitor interested in tracking these primates.
Bigodi wetland experience
Bigodi Wetland is a jungle swamp situated in the western region of Uganda within Kibale Forest National Park. This wetland was generally known as the “Magombe swamp” meaning graveyard in the local language due to the number of people that died there while constructing a bridge. Its name was later changed in the 1990s to Bigodi Wetland a name that was derived from a Rutooro dialect “Kugodya” meaning to walk tiredly. The Bigodi wetland experience takes visitors on an exploration adventure where they get to encounter numerous species like birds, primates, and mammals. This wetland is vast giving visitors a chance to fall in love with nature as they walk in the wilderness listening to the sweet melodies of numerous birds such as bronze sunbird, grey crowned cranes, black and white casqued hornbills, black bishop, black-crowned waxbill, white-spotted flufftail, blue-throated roller, yellow-throated tinker bird, double- toothed barbet, etc.
Birding
Birding is one of the top activities in the park with over 370 bird species hosted in the park. Kibale Forest National Park is a top birding destination in the country. The park houses both endemic resident birds and migratory birds which are seasonal to the park. Some of the birds in the park include the following red-chested paradise flycatcher, Rwenzori turaco, Sabine’s spinetail, blue-breasted kingfisher, afep pigeon, dusky crimsonwing, pin-tailed whydah, red-fronted tinkerbird, black-headed gonolek, purple-breasted sunbird, African pitta, black bee-eater, and Abyssinian ground thrush among others.
Culture encounters
Kibale National Park is surrounded by two indigenous tribes the Batoro and Bakiga immigrants. The Batooro and Bakiga are two different diverse cultures with different ways, beliefs, and other cultural aspects. The Batooro are the majority because they are believed to be the indigenous tribe of the area. The Bakiga people are believed to have just migrated to the area in the 1950s. Visitors can explore the two cultures of these two tribes and learn about their different cultures, norms, values, and beliefs.
What is the best time to have a banana experience in Kibale Forest National Park?
Kibale Forest National Park is all year round open for visiting however a banana experience is favorably done in the dry season. This is because the dry season is the time when the bananas are ripe and ready for harvesting. The dry season runs from June to September and December to February. This season is also best for chimpanzee tracking since it is characterized by little or no rainfall thus the tracking trails remain dry and vegetation sparse. Hence easing navigation across the tracking trails and spotting the chimps in the sparse vegetation.
