Follow the CallsInto the Forest.

For a dedicated chimpanzee experience, Kibale National Park is our principal recommendation.

But “best” depends on the journey. Kyambura Gorge can work beautifully for travellers already exploring Queen Elizabeth National Park, and the Budongo and Murchison landscape can be relevant to travellers exploring northern Uganda, subject to current tracking operations.

We choose the forest around the journey you actually want.

Nyungwe National Park is Rwanda’s signature chimpanzee destination.

The forest can be combined with other primates, hiking and a wider Rwanda journey incorporating Lake Kivu, Akagera, Kigali or mountain gorillas.

Western Tanzania offers two extraordinary names: Mahale Mountains National Park and Gombe Stream National Park.

Both combine wild chimpanzees with the remarkable landscapes surrounding Lake Tanganyika, but each offers a different journey and a different history.

There is no fixed total trekking time. Chimpanzees move freely through the forest, so finding them can take more or less time depending on where the community has travelled.

The regulated viewing period after locating them depends on the destination and experience booked. In Uganda’s standard UWA-managed chimpanzee tracking experience, the maximum viewing period is currently one hour.

The total cost depends on the country, the permit or experience booked, accommodation, transportation and everything you choose to combine with the forest.

Official permit fees and regulations can change. Rather than building your journey around an old figure found online, we confirm the applicable current permit cost and availability when planning your trip.

Plan My Chimpanzee Journey →

If chimpanzees are central to your journey — particularly if you want habituation, specific high-end accommodation, or a complex gorilla-and-chimpanzee itinerary — planning ahead gives us greater flexibility.

Availability should always be confirmed before the rest of the itinerary is built around the experience.

Minimum-age rules vary by destination and can change. We confirm the current requirement for the specific park and experience when designing a family journey.

For families with younger travellers, we can build appropriate alternative activities into the itinerary.

Every forest is different. Terrain can be muddy, steep, slippery or uneven, and chimpanzees can move rapidly.

A reasonable level of mobility and appropriate footwear make the experience much more comfortable. Tell us about mobility concerns before you travel.

We would rather design intelligently around you than pretend every trek suits every traveller.

Absolutely. In fact this is one of the great reasons to consider Uganda, or a Uganda–Rwanda combination.

Chimpanzees and mountain gorillas offer profoundly different encounters. Experience both and you begin to understand why a great-apes journey is much more than simply seeing two species.

Design My Great Apes Journey →

Kibale National Park in Uganda is the principal destination we would consider for travellers specifically seeking the Chimpanzee Habituation Experience, subject to current Uganda Wildlife Authority permits and operations.

Because this is a specialised and limited experience, we confirm current availability before designing the journey around it.

Uganda’s current regulated Chimpanzee Habituation Experience permits a maximum of four hours of viewing with the chimpanzees.

That creates a considerably deeper experience than standard tracking.

Choose standard tracking if you want the classic chimpanzee encounter and are combining it with other experiences.

Choose habituation when chimpanzees are one of the defining reasons for your journey and you want considerably more time observing them.

Neither is simply better. They answer different kinds of curiosity.

Help Me Choose →

Chimpanzees are wild animals. There is no stage and no scheduled appearance.

Experienced trackers use their knowledge of the forest and chimpanzee movements to locate habituated communities, but responsible wildlife travel should never pretend a wild animal is performing on demand.

The uncertainty is part of what makes finding them matter.

Remain calm. Do not approach, touch, feed, chase or attempt to interact with it.

Follow your guide’s instructions and allow the chimpanzee to determine its own movement.

The goal is observation. Not interaction.

Yes, subject to the rules governing the destination and trek. Flash photography should not be used.

Forest photography can also be challenging: changing light, dense vegetation, and chimpanzees moving rapidly between canopy and forest floor. Come prepared.

Then remember occasionally to lower the camera.