Expedition overview:
Kampala > Entebbe > Lake Victoria > Kibale Nat.Park
The Great Primate Handshake expedition in Uganda offers an exceptional and adventurous opportunity to see the country’s wondrous sights. Working amongst primates at Uganda’s leading wildlife education centre, you will experience supporting local schools and community education projects and also be offered the chance to interact with some of the world’s leading primate handlers.
Beginning on the shores of Lake Victoria, the Handshake will transport volunteers via speedboat to a chimpanzee island sanctuary and its neighbouring island based community. Here we will spend time supporting the Chimpanzee Sanctuary and Wildlife Conservation Trust and support their education initiatives in and around Entebbe. We will also make trips to Kampala to look at educational outreach projects and investigate new ways of supporting the Ugandan Wildlife and Education Centre.
The Handshake will then continue west to Kibale National Park (KNP). KNP is home to a staggering 13 different primate species, including the red colobus monkey (very localised to the area), the L’Hoest’s monkey, and the chimpanzee. Here there is the opportunity to track habituated chimpanzees (an optional extra fee is required to track chimpanzees) as well as meet local primatologists and researchers from around the globe who are studying the many different primate species and gathering important data about them.
Where does the expedition start and end?
The expedition starts in Entebbe before transferring to Kampala for the initial induction & training session. Entebbe is rich in primate conservation organisations, infact, three leading organisations share the same street on the shores of Lake Victoria. It is here that we will set up camp and support the Jane Goodall Institute Uganda, the Chimpanzee Conservation and Wildlife Conservation Trust and the Ugandan Wildlife Education Centre. Travelling west, we will then visit Kibale Forest – one of the richest primate forests in the world – before moving to Queen Elizabeth National Park where it is possible to view hippos, leopards and lions. The expedition then returns to Entebbe and to the Ugandan Wildlife Education Centre (UWEC). Here, we will present the work produced during the expedition to the centre’s staff and local conservationists.
What is the expedition’s itinerary?
The expedition will follow a similar route to the one described below. Due to the nature of the expedition the course may be deviated to accommodate new projects or to focus on current issues described to us by primate sanctuaries and organisations in-country.
- Day 1 | Entebbe (Induction)
- Day 2 | Kampala (Induction)
- Day 3 | Kampala (Induction)
- Day 4 | Entebbe
- Day 5 | Entebbe / Lake Victoria
- Day 6 | Entebbe / Lake Victoria
- Day 7 | Entebbe / Lake Victoria
- Day 8 | Entebbe / Lake Victoria
- Day 9 | Entebbe / Lake Victoria
- Day 10 | Travel to Kibale Forest / Nile River
- Day 11 | Nile River
- Day 12 | Travel to Kibale Forest
- Day 13 | Chimps Forest / Kassisi School / Uganda Wildlife Authority
- Day 14 | Chimps Forest / Kassisi School / Uganda Wildlife Authority
- Day 15 | Chimps Forest / Kassisi School / Uganda Wildlife Authority
- Day 16 | Queen Elizabeth Nat.Park
- Day 17 | Queen Elizabeth Nat.Park
- Day 18 | Chimps Forest / Kassisi School / Uganda Wildlife Authority
- Day 19 | Chimps Forest / Kassisi School / Uganda Wildlife Authority
- Day 20 | Chimps Forest / Kassisi School / Uganda Wildlife Authority
- Day 21 | Travel to Entebbe
- Day 22 | Ugandan Wildlife Education Centre
- Day 23 | Ugandan Wildlife Education Centre
- Day 24 | Ugandan Wildlife Education Centre
- Day 25 | Ugandan Wildlife Education Centre
- Day 26 | Ugandan Wildlife Education Centre
- Day 27 | Ugandan Wildlife Education Centre
- Day 28 | Ugandan Wildlife Education Centre
For more information please view Ugandan expedition’s PDF overview or contact a member of the Great Primate Handshake team at info@primatehandshake.org
