African Travel is partnering with TravelStore, the Los Angeles-based retail travel agency, to offer a single departure program called Once-in-a-Lifetime Africa, which will be accompanied by primatologist and conservationist Dr. Jane Goodall, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and UN Messenger of Peace, and National Geographic magazine contributing photographer and author Joel Sartore. The 22-day safari will depart July 8, 2013, with a maximum 20 participants.

The safari is designed as an opportunity to track and photograph gorillas, chimpanzees and other primates, and other species. Goodall will speak at a special luncheon about the Goodall Institute and its projects for helping to protect chimpanzees. The trip will provide an opportunity to experience rarely visited parts of Africa.

In Brazzaville, Congo, members of the group will see the rare lowland gorillas; visit the site of Goodall’s chimpanzee behavioral research in Gombe, Tanzania; and visit the Selous Game Reserve in southern Tanzania, named for the hunter and conservationist Frederic Courteney Selous, a guide to President Teddy Roosevelt on his safaris into the interior of Africa.

“This is an unforgettable opportunity not only to experience more of Africa, but also to meet Dr. Jane Goodall,” said Jonathan Alder, co-creator of the program from TravelStore. “Mr. Sartore will also be speaking with the group about his adventures and providing photography advice to each member throughout the tour.”

Founded in 1977, the Jane Goodall Institute continues Goodall’s pioneering research on chimpanzee behavior from more than 50 years ago, which fundamentally changed scientific perceptions of the relationship between humans and animals. Today, the institute is a leader in the effort to protect chimpanzees and their habitats. It also is widely recognized for establishing innovative community-centered conservation and development programs in Africa, and Jane Goodall’s Roots and Shoots, the global environmental and humanitarian program for youth of all ages, which has groups in more than 120 countries.

In addition to the work he has done for National Geographic, Sartore has contributed photographs to Audubon Magazine, Geo, Time, Life, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated and many books. He has been the subject of several national broadcasts, including “National Geographic Explorer,” the “NBC Nightly News,” NPR’s “Weekend Edition,” and an hour-long PBS documentary called “At Close Range.” He is also a contributor on the “CBS Sunday Morning Show” with Charles Osgood.

The itinerary includes Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, including a visit to the remains of Lucy; two different camps in Odzala-Kokoua National Park in the Republic of Congo; and seldom-visited areas of Tanzania, including Kigoma, Gombe National Park and Katavi National Park, the third-largest national park in the country, and one of the least visited. Gombe National Park on Lake Tanganyika near the Burundi border was created to protect the resident chimpanzees. The park is set in the Mahale Mountains.

The flight from Addis to Brazzaville is in business class on Ethiopian Air. After that, all flights are exclusively by private planes. All five-star or four-star camps and lodges used are the best available in these remote locations, with flush toilets and hot running-water showers. Once-in-a-Lifetime Africa is priced at $59,990 per person double occupancy, and is inclusive of internal airfare within Africa, as well as a tax-deductible donation of $2,500 per person in support of the Jane Goodall Institute. African Travel is part of The Travel Corporation. The employee-owned TravelStore is a member of the Signature Travel Network established in 1975 by Wido Schaefer.

For more information on Africa, visit Sell Africa Travel.