Meet The Relatives - Uganda Primate Safari 2026

“Watching our closest living relatives, the chimpanzees, is like reading the first chapter of human beings’ story in this universe.”

— Mehmet Murat İldan

This nine-night itinerary is built around one focus: extended chimpanzee tracking across three distinct regions of Uganda. Kibale Forest, and the northern and southern sectors of Queen Elizabeth National Park, each place you in front of the same species in a different environment — and the differences are real. Kibale's chimps move through dense, closed-canopy forest, communicating constantly through calls that carry across the trees. In Kyambura Gorge, a steep-sided riverine gorge cutting through open savannah, the same species behaves differently again, ranging along a narrow forest corridor hemmed in by grassland. Budongo, one of Uganda's largest remaining forests, adds a third context and a habituation experience, giving guests extended time with one community.

You'll start in Entebbe, then move to the northern sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park, staying at Elephant Plains Lodge — a base for game drives across the park's open plains and crater lakes, with tree-climbing lions among the more distinctive sightings in this sector. From there you continue to Kibale Forest and Primate Lodge Kibale, before finishing in the park's southern sector at Mazike Valley Lodge, near the Kyambura Gorge trek and the Kazinga Channel, where boat trips bring you close to hippo pods and large concentrations of waterbirds.

A gorilla-tracking extension in Bwindi can be added for those who want to combine chimpanzee and mountain gorilla encounters in a single trip.

This is a November 2026 departure, priced from $8,000 per person sharing, and runs ten days including private vehicle transfers, domestic flights, and all park fees. It's a trip for travelers who want to understand one species properly, seen across the range of environments it actually lives in.