Chimpanzee Trekking

Chimpanzee trekking brings you face to face with our closest living relatives, sharing around 98 percent of our DNA. The day begins with an early briefing before you set off into the forest with expert guides and trackers who have been following the community since dawn. Trekking through the trees to the sound of drumming on buttress roots and pant-hoots echoing through the canopy, you spend one thrilling hour observing the chimps once they're found, watching them feed, groom, play and squabble in a fast-moving, endlessly social world. Uganda's Kibale Forest is the finest chimpanzee destination in Africa, with around 1,500 individuals and success rates above 90 percent, while Nyungwe Forest in Rwanda and the remote shores of Lake Tanganyika offer equally rewarding encounters. Because chimps move quickly and spend much of their time high in the canopy, patience pays off, and the reward is one of the most dynamic and joyful primate experiences in the wild.