Chimp Trails Of Gombe

Morning pick up from Arusha and transferred to Arusha Airport for your onward shared charter flight to Kigoma Airport

Arrive at Kigoma Airport, upon arrival you will be met and transferred to Kigoma Hilltop Hotel

After the breakfast at the hotel, transfer to the lake for boat departure to Gombe. Pick up on arrival and transfer to Gombe Forest Lodge

Enjoy your lunch at the lodge and after lunch proceed for chimpanzee tracking in the forest

After your breakfast at the lodge, enjoy your chimpanzee tracking in the forest.

After your breakfast at the lodge you will be transferred to the lake for boat departure to Kigoma. Upon arrival at Kigoma you will be met and transferred to the Airport with picnic lunches for your shared charter flight to Arusha Airport

Upon arrival at Arusha Airport, you will be met by the Wild Trails Safaris representative and transferred to Arusha

Gombe is the smallest of Tanzania's national parks: a fragile strip of chimpanzee habitat straddling the steep slopes and river valleys that hem in the sandy northern shore of Lake Tanganyika. Its chimpanzees – habituated to human visitors – were made famous by the pioneering work of Jane Goodall, who in 1960 founded a behavioural research program that now stands as the longest-running study of its kind in the world.

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.

The most visible of Gombe’s other mammals are also primates. A troop of beachcomber olive baboons, under study since the 1960s, is exceptionally habituated, while red-tailed and red colobus monkeys - the latter regularly hunted by chimps – stick to the forest canopy.

The park’s 200-odd bird species range from the iconic fish eagle to the jewel-like Peter’s twinspots that hop tamely around the visitors’ centre. After dusk, a dazzling night sky is complemented by the lanterns of hundreds of small wooden boats, bobbing on the lake like a sprawling city.

About Gombe Stream National Park
Size: 52 sq km (20 sq miles), Tanzania's smallest park.
Location: 16 km (10 miles) north of Kigoma on the shore of Lake Tanganyika in western Tanzania.

What to do
Chimpanzee trekking; hiking, swimming and snorkelling; visit the site of Henry Stanley's famous “Dr Livingstone I presume” at Ujiji near Kigoma, and watch the renowned dhow builders at work.

When to go
The chimps don't roam as far in the wet season (February-June, November-mid December) so may be easier to find; better picture opportunities in the dry (July-October and late December).

Situated on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, Gombe Forest Lodge has been designed with every comfort in mind, whilst minimizing the disturbance and impact on such a stunning environment.

The camp’s spacious tents, set on wooden platforms, are shaded by huge mango trees along the lakeshore, each tent featuring a writing desk and en-suite facilities with hot and cold running water. Chimpanzee trekking is generally conducted in the mornings, returning to camp for lunch. Afternoons are determined by how energetic you feel.

You can choose between further chimpanzee trekking, swimming in the crystal waters of the lake, fishing, snorkelling or just relaxing. For the more adventurous there are two spectacular waterfalls in the area, Kakombe, an easy thirty minute walk away from camp and Mkenke, a little further for the more energetic.