Why You Must Visit Bigodi Wetland, Kibale and Fort Portal (Uganda)

16th October 2012 |

Magombe Swamp, Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary

We visited the Bidogi Wetlands for a swamp walk, which is a home for 8 species of primates and many birds close to Kibale forest (where you can see the Chimpanzees). The project main goal is to protect the Magombe Swamp, a haven for 200 bird species. The Bigodi Wetlands Sanctuary features 8 primate species, numerous other interesting mammals, many reptiles, and uncounted varieties of trees, shrubs and vines.
Guided walks $30 depart from the visitors centre on demand and take three hours. The sanctuary is just off the road between Fort Portal and Kamwenge, about 6km southeast of Kanyanchu, Kibale National Park’s HQ Office.

A Weaverbird in Bigodi Wetland

Birds are everywhere in the Sanctuary. Perhaps the favorite of visitors is the great blue turaco, shown above. Also frequently seen are varieties of papyrus gonoleks, hornbills, waxbills, weavers, cuckoos, kingfishers, flycatchers, and many, many others.

Great blue Turacco

Bigodi Wetland project was initiated by a man who understood that to sustain the wetlands you need to involve the local people in the tourism. The benefits of the guided tours go directly to the local people so this village was already able to build a school and a health center.

What I liked about the tour:
The enthousiastic guide with a lot of knowledge since he lives in the village
The beautifull swamp with primates and birds incl. the great Turacos
We asked for a combination with a village walk, this was quickly arranged so we visited the local medicine man, really interesting

Since your feet might get wet, they offer you rain boots

We were told not to buy souvenirs from the children in the village. The project has a little shop and they can bring their stuff there, so they can go to school instead of waiting for tourist.

On your tour, you will likely see several kinds of monkeys including black and white colobus, red colobus, mangabey, red tail, vervet, and L’Hoest. Other wetlands mammals include baboons, sitatunga (an increasingly endangered swamp antelope), bush pigs, civet cats, mongooses, bush bucks and an occasional chimpanzee.

Black and White Colobus Monkey you may encounter

We did the tour on the same day as our Chimpanzee tracking in the morning. Since this tour is very easy it’s a good combination. The tour takes about 3 hours.

Over all: a win-win situation and a must visit!

Bring water and a hat as protection for the sun because it’s hot!

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2 Comments

Vijay kumar on 2nd January 2013 at 4:31 pm

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so it will be a better information’s for me. Try to post best informations like this always