A shout out from your closest relatives, the chimpanzees, who extend an invitation to you to drop by their neck of the woods next time you’re in town. The length of visit is entirely up to you, taking part in a two to four-hour organized tracking tour or a day-long

habituated visit which offers the greater rewards of having spent quality time with relatives whose DNA is about 98% like ours. Such visits are a particular brand of peacemaking for chimpanzees who have suffered so much at the hands of human beings, who have brought them to near extinction. Theirs is a great lesson in forgiveness that they allow us to see them, let alone get this close to them. In Uganda, humans can visit chimpanzees at Queen Elizabeth National Park or Kibale National Park.

Chimpanzee tracking at the Kyambura Gorge in the Queen Elizabeth National Park is a morning affair, and similarly so with the Kanyanchu’s chimpanzees at Kibale National Park. Kibale NP also offers a full-day habituation exposure to a chimpanzee community. What does habituated mean? It is learning to become accustomed to be in the presence of humans. Possibly, we could all do with a little habituated-ness and get to know our neighbors whose DNA is 100% like ours. First things first, the costs are: US$150 for Tracking Tour $220 for Habituated experience Photo by Michael Nichols, featured in National Geographic.