Tracking Apes in Uganda

You're looking at humanity's closest relative – the chimpanzee, which shares about 99% of our DNA.

While studying their human-like

features and mannerisms,











it's easy to understand why we have so much in common

with the animals.

These chimps live in Kibale Forest National Park in the mountains of southern Uganda.

This isn't a fenced-in zoo. The chimps roam freely across the 296-square mile park.

It's possible to follow the animals for two or three hours or through an all-day habituation experience. I had the thrill of tracking the primates for 11 hours. 

The park contains about 1,500 chimpanzees, the largest population of the primates in Uganda.

Humanity's second-closest relative is the gorilla, which shares about 98% of our DNA. The endangered mountain gorilla is found in just two spots in Africa. About half of the world's remaining 800 mountain gorillas live in Uganda's Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. The rest are spread out over the Virunga mountains bordering the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, and Rwanda.

I decided to visit Bwindi. The permits aren't cheap. It costs $600 in Uganda, while the Democratic Republic of Congo charges $450, and Rwanda just raised its fees to $1,500.

But I took comfort in knowing that the fees go toward conservation, and if it weren't for tourism, the gorillas would have been wiped out years ago.

The hike isn't easy. It can take a few minutes or even hours to locate the animals. It took us almost two hours; however, it was worth the effort to witness the magnificent primates firsthand.

Because humans can pass diseases to gorillas, visitors are only able to spend one hour with the apes. Also, guests are not allowed to get any closer than seven meters (22 feet) from the animals; however, sometimes, the gorillas take matters into their own hands.

While I was standing on a trail in thick foliage, a young male decided he wanted to walk down the same path I was occupying.

A nearby tracker calmly told me, "Don't move, and whatever you do, don't run." The gorilla slowly crawled up to me and just worked his way around, leaving me untouched.

If you're interested in seeing the gorillas, it's best to book well in advance because daily permits are limited. 

Both Uganda and Rwanda suffered through long years of political and economic strife; however, now  the countries have turned things around for the better, offering wildlife encounters unavailable anywhere else on Earth.