UGANDA 2025: NGAMBA ISLAND CHIMPANZEE SANCTUARY

 July 19, 2025

After our trip to Mabamba Swamp, we returned to the lodge for lunch and then split up for our afternoon activities. Bob's plan was to spend the rest of the day birding on the property with Wilson as his guide, and Ella and I had booked a trip to Chimpanzee Island. To get there, we had to drive all the way back to Lake Victoria, take the motorized canoe across the finger of the lake to Entebbe, take another drive through Entebbe to another part of the lake, then take a 45-minute speedboat ride to the island. 

For what it looks like to drive through Entebbe, see this video I took from the back seat of the car. It is almost as interesting to watch the driver's video screen as it is to watch the street!

Before our final segment (the speedboat ride to the island), we had to wait over an hour for another large group of 19 people to arrive, which made all the rushing we had done to get to the dock pointless. However, we were at least waiting in a nice resort. Ella spotted a red-headed Finch's agama basking on one of the concrete squares. It looks like it had an unpleasant encounter with someone or something and lost part of its tail:

Photo by Ella

The group of 19 that joined us was an American mission group that was in Uganda doing spine surgeries. They were friendly and fun, and on our way over to the island we were all singing along to Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" and other songs from the 70s. I included a map of Lake Victoria just to show how large the lake is. Uganda is the upper left portion, Kenya to its right, and Tanzania below.

Ngamba Island, home of the Chimpanzee Sanctuary, is about 100 acres of rainforest 14 miles southeast of Entebbe. To get there, we crossed the equator. More on that later.  Since 1998, the island has been managed by the Chimpanzee Sanctuary and Wildlife Conservation Trust, a nonprofit organization. Its purpose is to care for orphaned and rescued chimpanzees from various parts of East Africa.

After we went ashore, a Ugandan man walked us up to a long platform overlooking the chimps' field and told us about the operation. It was just before the second of two feeding times, and the chimps were  coming out of the forest, ready for dinner.  My best video is in portrait mode and can be seen here.

Here's another, not quite as good, video:

For $5, we got a bucket of avocado halves, big chunks of pineapple, and whole onions. We had fun throwing them into the enclosure, trying to get food to as many different chimps as we could. The competing chimps were loud and very agressive.

Anyone who spends much time with these cuties would be able to easily identify them by name. They are as different from each other as humans are.

Each chimp actually does have a name--from Becky and Eddy to Kyewunyo and Maisko--and can be "adopted" for a fee by a tourist.

My favorite photos are these two by Ella:

We learned a lot about chimpanzees, such as that they are hunted and poached for multiple reasons, including to sell as pets, to sell to zoos, and as part of the bushmeat trade. (In Central and West Africa, chimpanzee meat is a priced delicacy.) These animals at this sanctuary have all been rescued from people or groups who had them illegally. One was intercepted by Interpol on its way to Russia! Anyway, they were brought to Ngamba Island to live out the rest of their days in a safe communal environment.

There are only about 4,900 chimps remaining in Uganda, and 200,000 in all of Africa, significantly lower than the 2 million that existed at the beginning of the 20th century. Besides poaching, they are also greatly affected by habitat loss/deforestation. They are now considered highly endangered.

After all the food had been eaten, the chimpanzees scavenged around to make sure it was truly all gone.

Next, we were taken on a tour of the rest of the facility. We started with a few light snacks, then moved on with the rest of our group to view the chimpanzee hospital. Since our group was mostly doctors and nurses, they were especially interested in the operating room.

Something like 20% of the rescued chimps have injuries when they arrive on the island, many from traps set for other animals.

Now who could pass up this photo op?

On our way back to the mainland we tried really hard to catch the exact moment we crossed the equator (0 degrees) on our phone compass. It took multiple screenshots and exact timing, and we finally did it!