JPS Luxury Safaris

Primate Tracking

Going into the wild forests of Africa with a team of experienced trackers, looking for tell-tale primate foraging signs, and finding them on foot, has a certain magnetic charm to it. There is a deep sense of connection that all humans feel when stepping back into our earliest ancestor’s forests on the verdant slopes of Africa’s equatorial regions.

The most iconic of the primates to track on foot are the chimpanzees and the gorillas, but the enormous diversity of other species encountered in these forests can be equally as interesting. The gorillas can be subdivided in tracking terms, to those inhabiting the cool highlands and those residing in the steamy lowlands, two very different sub-species that clients can observe in very different countries.

Regarding truly wild chimpanzees, spending time with them above Lake Tanganyika and observing their group dynamics is certainly one of the best wildlife experiences in the world. The cognitive intelligence of our closest ancestors is clearly evident and for many clients it is an eye-opening experience of self-reflection. Chimpanzees are more energetic, noisy and fast-paced in behavior than the more sedentary Highland Gorillas.

Tracking the Highland Gorillas in Rwanda or Uganda is a remarkably intimate affair and it is the stunning forest-enveloped volcano environment which really enhances the experience. Moving close to the family group can be incredibly peaceful, sometimes adrenaline-pumping. The tracking can be done also on the Congo side of the border where the adventurous client can often be the only guests within the vast space of the national park.

The Western Lowland Gorillas of the low elevation forests of the Congo can be tracked from two fly-in luxury camps in the heart of the primary rainforest basin. These lodges operate as a wider Congo rainforest experience but offer western lowland gorilla tracking as a highlight activity. See our Congo page for more details.

Mahale Mountains is the best place in Africa to view chimps in the wild due to its remote, beautiful location and the chimps’ more ground-based behavior.

Photo Credits

» Orient Express
» Wilderness Safaris
» Bushcamp Company
» Orion Expeditions
» Odzala Wilderness Camps
» Offbeat Safaris

» Mike Myers, Wilderness Safaris
» Tswalu Kalahari
» Nomad Tanzania
» Churchill Wild
» Lion Sands
» Loisaba Wilderness

» Singita Game Reserves
» Wolwedans
» Lewa Wilderness
» Dana Allen Wilderness Safaris