Every now and then, people must take a vacation in order to separate from the busy working life and enjoy some leisure time. For adventurous people, there is nothing like undertaking Uganda safaris to witness some of our closest relatives - in the evolution chain - in action. Many historians believe that human kind started and evolved in East Africa. Because of that, it is not surprising that Uganda, a destination in this part of Africa, is home to a very high number of great primates.

Primates are very similar to humans, sharing with them flexible arms and legs, skilled fingers and relatively big brains. Primates include many species of apes, monkeys and lemurs. The closest living relative to humans is the chimpanzee. From the low number of mountain gorillas still alive around the world, you can see about half of them when undertaking Uganda safaris.

Uganda has a significant popularity, apart from other countries in East Africa, as an attractive destination for people who want to undertake gorilla safaris. The climate in this country is moist and the forests are rich and dense, enabling it to become a home to these species. The number of mammals that live here exceeds 300, 20 of which are primates. They are both diurnal and nocturnal. You can observe all of them when you go on gorilla safaris, even the nocturnal species, because there are tours set up for nighttime.

The threat of destruction that the primate inhabited forests are under is very high. This is due to the large number of species that live in tropical forests, which makes it harder for primates to survive. If you want to include Uganda safaris in your vacation options, you will have the chance to see great apes, chimpanzees, mountain gorillas and some species of monkeys.

The rarest primate you can see is the mountain gorilla. This is the largest of all primates. The chimpanzee is smaller and shares 98% of human DNA. They are very intelligent, understand, and peak sign language. Western Uganda is where most of these creatures live. 

The species of monkeys found in Uganda are colobus, guenons, baboons, patas and mangabeys. Some guenon species have a grey coat and live all over the country, apart from those that live in the forest. Patas can be distinguished by their reddish brown coat and live in the northern parts of Uganda.

You can identify other species, like baboons, due to their size and long canine teeth. They are easily adaptable, which makes them the most widespread primates in Africa. The river woodlands and the forest strata are home to the black and white colobus monkey. There are also some nocturnal species of primates. Among them are the bushbaby and the potto, which tourists can hardly ever see. Because they are nocturnal, they sleep during the day and perform their activities during the night. Some Uganda safaris include guided night walks to the places these species live.

Due to the increased number of primates and the threats that they are under, a lot of wildlife parks and forest reserves have been setup. The intention of all these actions is the increase of the chances of continued existence for these animals. In addition, we are looking to help travel operators to organize gorilla safaris for tourists to enjoy an experience with the great primates. Some of these parks are the Mgahinga National Park, Kibale National Park, Murchison Falls National Park and the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Other sanctuaries for these primates include Kuniyo Pabidi forest and Ngamba Island chimpanzee Sanctuary on Lake Victoria. Uganda gorilla safaris may include each of these destinations.