Western Tanzania
Mahale, Gombe and Katavi
Chimpanzees, remoteness, raw wilderness
RegionWestern Tanzania
Best timeMay to October
Getting thereBy light aircraft, then by boat for Mahale and Gombe
Known forChimpanzees, remoteness, raw wilderness
This is the far west, on and near the shore of Lake Tanganyika, and it is where Tanzania stops being a safari destination and becomes an expedition.
Mahale Mountains National Park has forested peaks rising straight out of a lake so clear you can see the bottom from a boat, and a habituated chimpanzee community that researchers have followed for decades. There are no roads in the park. You arrive by light aircraft and then by boat, and you move around on foot.
Gombe Stream, to the north, is where Jane Goodall began her work in 1960 and where it still continues. It is tiny and steep and the chimpanzees are the entire reason to go.
Katavi, inland, is one of the emptiest major parks in Africa. In the late dry season the floodplains concentrate buffalo in herds of a thousand or more and hippo pack into shrinking pools in numbers that are difficult to describe. Very few people see it.
Itineraries
Built around your dates
Mahale, Gombe, Katavi is a specialist destination, and we build each trip from scratch around your dates and the flight schedules. Tell us when you can travel and what you want to see, and we will put a plan together.
Tell us what you want to see.
There is no fixed menu here. Tell us your dates, how long you have, and what matters most to you, and we will put together a safari built around that. You will have a reply within a day, written by the person who will plan your trip.