Kyambura Gorge

The Kyambura river has cut a gorge about a hundred metres deep and sixteen kilometres long into the savanna of Queen Elizabeth National Park, and the forest growing inside it is invisible from the plain until the edge is reached, which is why it is called the underground forest. A small chimpanzee community lives in it, cut off from the larger forests, and tracking descends into the gorge on foot. The isolation raises real questions about the group's long-term survival.

What you actually see

• The underground forest - riverine forest hidden in a gorge below the level of the plain.
• The isolated chimpanzees - a small community cut off from the larger forest populations.
• The gorge rim - the sudden drop from open savanna into the wooded ravine.
• The other primates - baboons, black and white colobus and vervets in the gorge.

When to go

June to September and December to February are drier. Tracking runs in the morning and afternoon. The descent is steep and slippery after rain.

Honest expectations

The chimp community is small and sightings are markedly less reliable than at Kibale or Budongo. The descent and climb out are steep. The population's isolation is a genuine conservation concern.

Nearby

Queen Elizabeth National Park surrounds it, and Kasese is northwest.