Mahale Mountains National Park

Mahale Mountains National Park (1985), Home Of About 800 Chimpanzees Including The Habituated M Group Studied By Japanese Researchers Since 1965, And A Tanzanian National Park On The Clear Waters Of Lake Tanganyika. Visits Are By Lodge Package, Trekking In Small Groups With Rangers, With Dry Season Viewing From May To October. · Kigoma, Kigoma

Mahale is a forested mountain range that drops straight into Lake Tanganyika, in far western Tanzania south of Kigoma. It holds about 800 chimpanzees, and you can walk to them with a ranger. The M group has been watched since 1965 by Kyoto University researchers led by Toshisada Nishida, so the apes ignore people. There are no roads: you arrive by small plane to the airstrip, by a day-long lake boat, or on the old MV Liemba steamer. Camps sit on white pebble beaches, and the water is clear enough to snorkel. The honest picture: it is REMOTE and among the MOST EXPENSIVE trips in Tanzania, with a park fee of roughly USD 80-100 per adult per day before flights and camp. Treks can be steep, hot and muddy, and sightings are not guaranteed, though the dry season from May to October is best. Gombe is cheaper and easier to reach, but Mahale is wilder, quieter and has far fewer visitors. Bring patience, a good level of fitness and a flexible plan, because flights and boats run late.

Forested mountain range rising from the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika about 130 km south of Kigoma, reached by chartered boat from Kigoma or by small plane to the Mahale airstrip, Kigoma, Kigoma, Tanzania

The park is open every day of the year, with treks leaving in the early morning from the camps after a ranger briefing. You may stay with the chimps for ONE hour only. Camps often CLOSE in the wettest months, roughly March to April; confirm dates, and the weekly boat and flight days, when you book.

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