How To Go Chimpanzee Trekking For $20
No trip to East Africa is complete without getting to experience the thrill of tracking chimpanzees in the wild. Imagine this: wading through the slopes of a dense jungle to catch a glimpse of our ancestral cousins and hearing their shrieks both up close and in the distance. While it’s an awesome experience, this activity often comes with a hefty price tag – upwards of $250 USD!
Luckily for you, we’ve put in the hard yards and found a great hack to go chimpanzee trekking for just $20 USD! Yep, you read the correctly, $20 USD!
Not to mention, in the process, you’ll get to visit one of the least visited countries on Earth. (Spoiler alert: it’s Burundi).
Interested? We don’t blame you! Read on for our guide on how to go chimpanzee trekking for $20 USD.
Chimpanzee Trekking Overview
Chimpanzee trekking is a popular activity in East Africa and is usually high on most visitor’s bucket list.
While chimps exist in other parts of Africa (central and western), the majority of chimpanzee trekking takes place in East Africa, most notably Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda. This is because these are the regions where chimpanzees are best habituated, making it easy to get up and close with our nearest relatives.
Want more animal hacks? Read: How to See Gorillas in Rwanda for $75
Chimpanzee trekking involves walking through jungles and rainforests in search of the primates. The chimps are often tracked using GPS and the process usually lasts for about 3-5 hours, depending on their location. In places where the chimpanzees are well-habituated, you can get quite close to them, but in others, you’ll see them from more of a distance.
Where to go Chimpanzee Trekking for $20 USD
If you want to go chimpanzee trekking, but don’t want to part with a bunch of your hard-earned cash, then there’s one place to go for budget chimpanzee trekking: Burundi.
Where is Burundi?
Burundi is a small East African nation that borders Tanzania, Rwanda and the DRC. Spectacular Lake Tanganyika runs along the majority of its western edge.
Burundi has a sad history of instability and conflict and for this reason, is one of the least-visited countries on Earth. However, the good news is that it’s on the upswing and is now safe to visit (see more below).
Burundi is also trying to build a tourism industry (which, admittedly, is a long way away) and it now offers chimp trekking in two of its national parks for a bargain basement price of $20 USD per person!
Read next: The Ultimate Guide to Hiking the Congo Nile Trail in Rwanda
Where to go Chimpanzee Trekking for $20 USD in Burundi
While less popular than its East African neighbours, Burundi boasts a healthy population of chimpanzees and beautiful nature to boot. And the best part is, chimpanzee trekking in Burundi is waaayy cheaper than anywhere else!
This compact and lively country offers two different locations to go chimp trekking: Kibira National Park and Bururi Forest Nature Reserve.
From all accounts, Bururi Forest Nature Reserve offers the best opportunities to spot chimps as the park is both small and home to a healthy number of the primates (60+ and growing). This makes it easier to locate the chimps. On the other hand, Kibira National Park is quite large, making their chimps harder to find.
Because of this, we recommend going chimp trekking in Bururi Forest Nature Reserve.
How to Book Chimpanzee Trekking in Bururi Forest Nature Reserve
Okay, so now we’ve got your interest and you want to book chimpanzee trekking for $20. But how?
Well, we’ll say this: Burundi has many wonderful attributes, but great technology is not one of them. To go chimpanzee trekking for $20 in Burundi, you cannot book anything online. Instead, the process is a bit informal, but professional nonetheless.
All bookings are arranged through the Bururi Forest Nature Reserve’s Director, Gerome, who is fluent in both French and English. He can either be called or contacted via WhatsApp on + 257 7931 0474.
Upon making contact, Gerome will walk you through all the necessary details, including:
- The price of the trekking permit. $20 USD pp. to be paid in cash, exact amount only accepted;
- Where to go to pay for your chimpanzee trekking permit; and
- Where to stay in Bururi town (more details on this below).
Once you have made the arrangements with Gerome, you then need to arrive in Bururi town the day before your chimpanzee trek.
Once you’ve arrived, go to the Bururi Forest Nature Reserve office to pay for your permit. Again, it’s $20 USD pp, exact cash only.
What to Expect on Chimpanzee Trekking in Bururi
When you go chimpanzee trekking in Bururi, your guide will meet you at your hotel at 6 a.m. sharp. This is because the chimps are most active in the morning, so it’s the best time to try and find them. After around 10 a.m., they chill out for a while and have a siesta, making it much harder to find them.
In addition to guides, Bururui Forest Nature Reserve has an excellent team of trackers. Their job is to track the chimpanzees day in, and day out. They record their locations, observe their behaviour and spend time with the chimpanzees – this is part of the habituation process (getting chimpanzees used to humans around).
The team of trackers will be ahead, somewhere in the forest. It is their job to find the chimps and communicate their location to the guide. Once they’ve been located, they’ll radio the guide, who will direct you to the right spot.
The chimpanzees in Bururi are usually found somewhat deep in the forest, so expect to deviate from the main trail a bit. But this is all part of the fun!
Important: the chimpanzees in Bururi are not as habituated as those in more well-known locations, such as Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania. What this means is that they’ll likely be further away (such as in the trees), rather than super up close and personal. We thought this added to the experience and made it feel more authentic, but if you’re after a more intimate experience, then you might be disappointed chimpanzee trekking in Bururi.
Our Experience Chimpanzee Trekking in Bururi
On the morning of the trek, our guide Claude met us at our hotel at 6 a.m. – he was right on time! (Side note: if you’ve spent any time in Africa, you’ll know how exceptional this is).
Claude began with a quick intro and briefing for the day. We then started to make our way up the hill behind our hotel and into the forest. After about 45 minutes of steep climbing, we reached a viewpoint overlooking the valley.
From here we continued on a narrow, well-trodden path down the other side of the hill and deep into the forest below.
Claude’s phone then started buzzing; it was the trackers informing him of the location of the chimps.
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After a few minutes, we started to hear the calls of the chimps in the distance. This is when the excitement kicked in!
When we got closer to the chimps, we broke off the main path and started bushbashing towards them. We then situated ourselves in a position where we were able to get a good view of the chimps and observe them.
We ended up spending around an hour observing the chimps as they interacted with one another. We even witnessed some mating and the arrival of another group.
In total, we saw around 15 chimps. The entire time they were up in the trees but we had a pretty good view of them and while we were observing the champs, Claude was telling all kinds of interesting facts about the primates.
After an hour, we decided it was time to head back. We then proceeded to walk back the same way we came and arrived back at our hotel around 10:30 a.m.
Overall, we had a great day! Our guide Claude was very knowledgeable and passionate and spoke English quite well. He was able to explain a lot about the chimps and the process of habituation which was all very fascinating. We also really enjoyed watching the chimps interact with one another.
We also enjoyed staying in the small village of Bururi. It was very peaceful and pretty and the locals were friendly.
How good are your chances of seeing Chimpanzees in Bururi Nature Reserve?
As chimpanzees are wild animals, sightings are never guaranteed.
That being said, chimps are creatures of habit and the rangers and trackers monitor them closely and are excellent at finding them. Therefore, you have a good chance of spotting chimpanzees during your visit.
Best Time to Go Chimpanzee Trekking
The best time to go chimpanzee trekking in Burundi is during one of its two dry seasons. The long dry season is from May to August and the short dry season is from January to February. During this time, you have the best chance of clear weather (although rain can always happen!) and the trail will be relatively dry.
If you end up chimpanzee trekking during the rainy season, expect muddy and slippery conditions. The chimps will still be there though, and that’s what it’s all about, right?
How Difficult is Chimpanzee Trekking
As always, this depends on your experience. We found it relativity moderate, but others we spoke to found it very hard.
For most of the time, you’ll be walking on a network of trails. But once the chimps are located, you bush bash on steep slopes and will be walking through a very dense forest to get to their exact spot.
How to get to Bururi Forest Nature Reserve
To get to Bururi town, it’s best to use your own car. Most travellers to Burundi are either overlanders or are visiting from a neighbouring country where they have rented a car.
If you’re coming from Tanzania (i.e., Kigoma), the following route is best:
Mabanda → Makama → Rutana → Bururi
From Rutana, the road is much better, and once you hit the RN7, it’s brand new. Like brand new. Actually, it’s the best road we’ve seen in all of Africa. While this way is longer in terms of distance, it’s much faster and more comfortable.
If you’re coming via public transport, good on you! It’ll be an adventure. Minibuses ply the route to Bururi town from Bujumbura.
What to pack for Chimpanzee Trekking
- Good shoes. Preferably hiking boots, but at least decent runners.
- Water
- Camera
- Binoculars (very helpful)
- Wear layers. It’s very cold in the morning but it warms up quickly. Plus, when you go deep into the forest, you’ll want your skin covered as you’ll be walking through thick bush.
Is Burundi Safe?
Burundi has gone through multiple periods of instability in its brief history as an independent country. Nowadays, the country is in a relatively stable position and it is safe to visit.
As per usual, petty theft can occur, particularly in the capital, Bujumbura and it’s best not to walk around late at night (after 10 pm).
During our visit, we didn’t have any safety concerns (other than a few crazy drivers) and we felt comfortable walking around and chatting with locals.
Travel insurance, as always, is essential. If something goes wrong, you want to be covered. Our preference is SafetyWing. Trust us, we’ve used a lot of travel insurance and they really are the best.
Where to Stay near Bururi Forest Nature Reserve
The Moonlight Hotel in Bururi is the best place to stay. It’s conveniently located right on the edge of the reserve and Eddy, the manager, is friendly and speaks a little English.
The rooms are very clean and there’s hot water and secure parking. At $10 USD per room, you really can’t go wrong. There is also a basic restaurant onsite.
For bookings, contact Eddy via WhatsApp on: + 257 7665 8509
Important
The fee of $20 USD only covers entry into the reserve and visitors are expected to tip their guide on top. We tipped around $10 USD and our guide was happy with this amount.
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