Ngamba Island, Lake Victoria, Uganda
Roughly 23 km southeast of Entebbe, Uganda's chimpanzee sanctuary founded in 1998 provides a semi-natural environment for the primates to recover and thrive over their lifespan of up to 60 years. Its mission is "to sustainably conserve chimpanzees in their habitats and provide captive care to those who can't survive in the wild."
My BFF and I arrived at the island by speedboat. The half-day tour organised by African Adventure Travellers charges US$160.00 (~S$217.95) per person for a group of two people, which includes return transportation between your accommodation and Entebbe, return boat trip between Entebbe and Ngamba Island, entry permit, guide fee, lunch and mineral water.
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| The place is managed by The Chimpanzee Sanctuary and Wildlife Conservation Trust (CSWCT). |
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| Have you ever been on such a boat before? |
First of all, we were welcomed by one of the island guides who proceeded to explain the history of the sanctuary.
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| Those are partner organisations that have been supporting the sanctuary. |
On designated Sundays, the island is open to local communities living at nearby islands. It happened to be one of those Sundays when we visited the island.
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| In addition to partner organisations, there are quite a few corporate supporters. |
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| 20 years and counting! :) |
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| Do you know what fruits are those? The answer is somewhere in this post. |
Accommodation is available at Ngamba Island. They may look like traditional huts from outside, but the interior is modern. As we walked past the huts, we saw a rather huge monitor lizard, but I didn't manage to snap a photo of it.
We were shown some common tools that poachers use to capture chimpanzees. How cruel!
You can be a friend of the sanctuary by donating for a good cause. With a minimum of US$50.00 (~S$68.10), you can choose to 'adopt' a chimpanzee for a year.
The sanctuary offers 95 acres of natural forest for the chimpanzees to roam and forage during the day. In the evening, they have the freedom to stay in the forest or return to the enclosures and enjoy another meal. We were told that most, if not all, would go for the latter every night.
Prior to seeing the chimpanzees, we were warned that occasionally some would try to throw rocks not out of malicious intent, but because they'd be excited to see human beings.
At the point of writing, the sanctuary is home to 49 orphaned chimpanzees.
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| "Do you like my ass?" xD |
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| The chimpanzee up there apparently isn't very social. |
Their diet is supplemented multiple times a day, much to the delight of visitors who can observe the chimpanzees devouring their fruits from the viewing platform.
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| Serving a bucketful of cut watermelons and jackfruits! :D |
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| The little one was eating happily with its parent. |
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| Feeling so full! :P |
Take a look at the following video clip that shows a nice throw by the caretaker and a nice catch by the anti-social chimpanzee.
I also recorded another video clip via Instagram that shows a chimpanzee asking for its share of fruits.
We had a quick look at the night-time enclosures.
Besides that, we also had the opportunity to talk to the doctor-in-charge and look at the on-site clinic for the chimpanzees.
Finally, we had our late lunch at the small eatery with only a few tables. Read the review in my
food blog.
Did you know that the sanctuary offers a 3-day honeymoon package? I'm sure it's going to be an unusual, yet truly memorable one with the chimpanzees.
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