Gorillas and Chimps

Coming eye-to-eye with an enormous, hairy primate in the wild is one of life’s most memorable experiences, not least for the trek it might take to reach them! The luscious Virunga Mountains (accessible from Rwanda and the DRC) is the gorilla-trekking spot du jour, but snapping at its heels is Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, home to both gorilla and a remarkable concentration of chimpanzee. And in Tanzania’s Mahale Mountains, chimp-trekking is combined with dhow trips on Lake Tanganyika and G&Ts on the beach. Wow! So don’t waste any time (those permits get snapped up quickly!) and start planning your precious hour with these fascinating beasties now.