Gombe National Park
Description: The smallest of Tanzania’s national parks, Gombe is a narrow strip of chimpanzee habitat on the shore of Lake Tanganyika. Its chimpanzees – habituated to human visitors – were made famous by the pioneering work of Jane Goodall’s studies. The matriarch, Fifi, the last surviving member of the original community, only three years old when Goodall first set foot in Gombe, is still regularly seen by visitors. Tracking the chimps is a fascinating experience.
It’s likely that you will observe them grooming each other in small groups, squabbling noisily, or bounding from tree to tree swinging on vines. Watching a mother chimp with her offspring is truly remarkable. Difficult to reach and relatively expensive, Gombe has few visitors each year.
Location: Just north of Kigoma, on the shore of Lake Tanganyika. Usually requires flight with Precision Air from Dar es Salaam (daily) or a shared charter flight from Arusha that flies on Tuesdays and Fridays only. A train (takes 2-3 days) from Dar might be possible.
Things 2 Do: Chimpanzee tracking, hiking, swimming/snorkeling, night walks
Time: Set aside at least 4 days (1 to get there, 1 to return and at least 2 nights actually in the park).
Animals: Chimpanzees, baboons, red-tailed and red colobus monkeys, more than 200 bird species.
Accommodations
$
TANAPA bandas
$$$
Kigoma Hilltop
“Access2Tanzania did a great job planning our trip to Rwanda and Tanzania. Very knowledgeable, good guides, etc.
Overall everyone had a great time and this will be a vacation we will all remember forever!
We almost always plan our own trips and it was nice to have someone else plan. There were a few surprises that we didn’t love, though, Zanzibar itinerary being the main one, and too many game drives in Tanzania – see more feedback below. Had we done our own research and planning we would have likely discovered these things ahead of time but did choose to rely on the experts.
There were a couple of accommodations that could have been better. Would have been nice to have options like for another $200/pp you could stay at x hotel in this place, etc.”