A short boat ride from Entebbe, in the middle of Lake Victoria, Ngamba Island is home to one of East Africa’s most moving wildlife stories. The sanctuary was created to give rescued and orphaned chimpanzees a safe, permanent home, and today its forest is home to a community of 55 chimpanzees, each with a story of where they came from and how they ended up here.
Ten of the chimps were actually born on the island itself (an unplanned but welcome addition to the family). The rest arrived as rescues, most commonly from the illegal pet trade, though their backgrounds vary widely. Sunday, one of the sanctuary’s best-known residents, was rescued from a circus in Russia — a detail confirmed directly by Ngamba’s own caretaking staff. Each chimp’s history has shaped a distinct personality, which is part of what makes spending time on the island so memorable.
Life on the Island
Ngamba Island covers just 100 acres in total. Of that, 95 acres are forest, where the chimps roam and forage during the day, while the remaining 5 acres hold the night enclosures, staff housing, a veterinary facility, and an upmarket lodge for overnight visitors. An electric fence separates the forest from the developed area, keeping the chimps safely apart from staff quarters and guest facilities.
One question visitors often ask: if the chimps live in the forest, why do they sleep elsewhere? The answer comes down to space. In the wild, chimpanzees build a fresh nest from broken branches every single night rather than reusing old ones. With 55 chimps doing this nightly, the 95-acre forest simply couldn’t keep up without being stripped bare. So each evening, the chimps leave the forest for the holding facility, where they sleep in hammocks or, for those who prefer it, beds of dry grass on the ground.
The forest’s limited size also means it can’t provide enough food on its own, so caretakers supplement the chimps’ diet with fruit, tubers, and vegetation four times a day, at 8:00am, 11:00am, 2:30pm, and 6:00pm.
At feeding time, the whole community emerges from the forest into a clearing along the electric fence, where caretakers toss food over to them. It’s the best opportunity to see every chimp at once, and the social order on display is fascinating: the most dominant chimps take the front positions, while lower-ranking members wait further back.
Later, once the chimps have retreated back into the forest, they can still be spotted from the water by boat. Chimpanzees are not swimmers and tend to avoid water altogether, so caretakers call out to draw them toward the forest edge and toss more fruit their way. Some pieces land in the lake, and it’s genuinely entertaining to watch the braver chimps wade into the shallows and fish floating fruit out with a stick rather than get wet.
Things to Do at Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary
Ngamba is open to tourists year-round, with a range of experiences depending on how much time you have and how close you want to get.
Chimpanzee Feeding from the Raised Platform
Watch the chimps gather for one of the four daily supplementary feedings from a raised viewing platform. Visitors can even join caretakers in tossing food over the fence. Day trips run from Entebbe in both the morning and afternoon, making this an easy add-on to a Uganda itinerary.
Meet a Chimp: Feeding from the Forest Edge
For a closer encounter, take the boat out to the forest’s edge, where caretakers call the chimps to the waterline with more fruit, vegetables, and tubers. Because there’s no electric fence here, this is the nearest visitors get to the chimps — and since chimps avoid water, it remains a safe experience for everyone involved.
Volunteer with the Chimpanzee Program
Researchers and committed wildlife enthusiasts can apply to volunteer at the sanctuary, getting hands-on with chimp care, including feeding, enclosure cleaning, food preparation, and veterinary support.
Overnight in the Luxury Cottages
For travelers who want more time on the island, Ngamba offers luxury cottages for overnight stays. It’s a quiet, scenic base for unwinding by Lake Victoria while staying close to the sanctuary’s daily rhythm.
Lake Victoria Boat Cruises
Getting to Ngamba is part of the experience: the roughly one-hour boat cruise crosses Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest lake and the world’s second-largest freshwater lake, passing water birds, local fishermen at work, and the equator line itself. Once on the island, additional cruises can be arranged to nearby fishing villages for a glimpse of local island life.
Plan Your Visit
Ngamba Island makes an excellent day trip or overnight extension to any Uganda safari, easily combined with gorilla trekking in Bwindi or chimp tracking in Kibale for a fuller primate experience.
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