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Western Tanzania is the least visited part of Tanzania but perhaps the most interesting for travelers with a sense of adventure. Western Tanzania is also where you can see chimpanzees in their natural habitat. There are two parks you can see chimpanzees (see below) but note that children under 12 are usually not allowed to track these primates.
Gombe Stream National Park
The smallest of all Tanzania’s National Parks, measuring 52 sq kilometers, Gombe Stream is a thin strip of ancient forest set in the mountains and steep valleys on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, made famous by the pioneering British researcher Jane Goodall, who spent many years observing the park’s chimpanzees.
The chimpanzees are the main attraction at Gombe Stream, these remarkable mammals are as individually unique as humans and the opportunity to observe them going about their daily lives in their natural habitat is certainly an experience not to be missed.
Although the majority of wildlife to be found at Gombe Stream is primates, in addition to the famous chimpanzees, you may see olive baboons as well as vervet, blue and red-tail monkeys. Leopard and bushbuck are also residents in the dense forest, along with fish eagles and palm-nut vultures that are often seen flying overhead. Gombe Stream is the perfect place for a walking safari, allowing you to cool off along the way with a dip in one of the many streams that criss-cross the park.
Mahale Mountains National Park
Set deep in the heart of the African interior, inaccessible by road, Mahale Mountains, like its northerly neighbour Gombe Stream, is home to some of Africa’s last remaining wild chimpanzees: a population of roughly 800, habituated to human visitors by a Japanese research project founded in the 1960s. Trekking the chimps of Mahale is a magical experience.
The area of 1,613 sq kilometers is also known as Nkungwe, after the park's largest mountain, held sacred by the local Tongwe people, and at 2,460 metres (8,069 ft) the highest of the six prominent points that make up the Mahale Range.
And while chimpanzees are the star attraction, the slopes support a diverse forest fauna, including readily observed troops of red colobus, red-tailed and blue monkeys, and a kaleidoscopic array of colourful forest birds.
You can trace the Tongwe people's ancient pilgrimage to the mountain spirits, hiking through the montane rainforest belt – home to an endemic race of Angola colobus monkey - to high grassy ridges chequered with alpine bamboo. Then bathe in the impossibly clear waters of the world’s longest, second-deepest and least-polluted freshwater lake – harbouring an estimated 1,000 fish species - before returning as you came, by boat.
The Itinerary for Gome Stream National Park
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