Mahale & Gombe
Chimpanzee Sanctuaries é Lake Tanganyika

Gombe Stream is the smaller of the two parks é 52 square kilometres of steep forested valleys above Lake Tanganyika é and the more historically significant. Jane Goodall began her groundbreaking chimpanzee research here in 1960, and the chimpanzee community she studied continues to be monitored today, making Gombe's M-community the most thoroughly documented group of wild chimpanzees in the world. The habituated chimpanzees at Gombe have never learned to fear humans é they have been observed continuously for over 60 years é and encounters with them in the forest have an intimacy and a depth that no zoo or sanctuary can replicate.

Mahale Mountains National Park is larger é 1,613 square kilometres é and more dramatic in its landscape. The Mahale Mountains rise directly from Lake Tanganyika to over 2,400 metres, creating a dramatic backdrop for a park that holds the largest chimpanzee population in Tanzania (approximately 800 individuals). The Mimikere group é the habituated community accessible to tourists é is typically found in the forest above the beach camps, and treks to find them can take anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours through spectacularly beautiful montane forest.

Lake Tanganyika itself adds another dimension to both parks. The lake is 673 kilometres long, holds 18% of the world's fresh water, and is home to hundreds of endemic cichlid fish species found nowhere else on Earth. Swimming in the lake é something not available in most of Tanzania's other parks é is possible from both Mahale and Gombe's beaches. Snorkelling reveals an extraordinary freshwater ecosystem of cichlid fish displaying in the shallows at reef-like density. Sunset dhow rides on the lake, with the mountains reflected in the still water, are among the most beautiful experiences in East Africa.