Half-day excursion to Jane Goodall’s Chimp Eden

Leakey’s Angels, or the Trimates as they are sometimes also called, are three world-renowned primatologists whom the anthropologist Louis Leakey selected to study primates in their natural environments in the 1960s. Dian Fossey studied gorillas, Biruté Galdikas studied orangutans and Jane Goodall studied chimpanzees.

Jane Goodall’s career began in Tanzania in 1960, where she studied the chimpanzees of Gombe National Park. She documented and concluded through her ground-breaking studies of the primates that – like humans – they have both emotions and intellect. She saw how they both cared for each other and used tools in everyday life.

In 1977, she created the organisation the Jane Goodall Institute. The purpose of the NGO was to increase understanding of these large primates and preserve their natural habitats through cooperation with the local communities around the chimpanzees’ habitats.

In 2006, Chimp Eden saw the light of day in South Africa. Part of the Jane Goodall Institute, Chimp Eden is South Africa’s only sanctuary for these endangered animals. Chimp Eden provides rescued chimpanzees with a natural habitat. The animals have been rescued from various parts of Africa, where they lived in deplorable conditions as pets or entertainment animals – or were bred for the purpose of selling their meat!

The hope is that Chimp Eden will provide researchers with even more knowledge about the primates, help inform everyone about how important it is that we preserve the endangered animals – and, of course, generate an income so that Chimp Eden can continue to take in endangered animals and give them a home!

On this half-day excursion, you’ll visit Chimp Eden, meet the residents and learn a lot more about our closest relative.

Please note that the tour is private and the price applies when there are 2 people.

If you book and pay for it from home, you’ll get a private excursion on the day you want it. You can also choose to wait to book the excursion until your arrival in South Africa. The excursion is also available as a group excursion in a minibus, where the price depends on how many people are on the excursion on the day in question. You cannot choose which day you want to go on the excursion if you opt to book it in South Africa rather than from home.

If you want to be absolutely certain of being able to visit Chimp Eden – and would like to enjoy the freedom offered by a private tour – we recommend that you book and pay from home.