Chimps Trekking in Mahale National Park
Mahale Mountains National Park, an isolated mountain on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, is famous for one thing, chimpanzee. Due to extensive research over the last 40 years, the chimpanzee populations in Mahale are habituated, as a tourist you can just sit there and let them walk around you. A fantastic experience, literally time spent with our closest relative. The chimp populations in Mahale number a few hundred and in Gombe National Park further north, perhaps only 80 remain in this isolated park.
For those who enjoy remoteness, beautiful landscapes, and wildlife Mahale mountains national park is surely one of the most spectacular places to visit in all of Africa. This is not idle sales talk. Some would argue that this is one of the most spectacular traveling destinations in the whole world. Distance and cost notwithstanding, you owe it to yourself to somehow drum up the budget to get there at least once in a lifetime.
Lake Tanganyika is the world’s longest lake (673 km) and is about one and a half kilometers deep and contains about 16% of the world's freshwater it is second only to Lake Baikal in Russia in volume. It is the purest fresh water on the planet. The lake is home to hundreds of species of fish including bright-colored fish known as cichlids. Hippo and crocodile are common across its full extent.
The chimpanzee may be the main draw, but they are by no means the whole picture. Pristine forested mountains tower up behind intimate sandy beaches and bays and rocky promontories of the eastern shores of Lake Tanganyika.
What animals are found in Mahale National Park?
The forests at Mahale have a wealth of wildlife besides the 1000 or so chimpanzees. There are 6 species of monkeys ( yellow baboon, vervet, blue red-tailed, Angolan colobus, and red colobus), duikers bush pig, leopard, bushbuck, myriads of birds, etc.
what Can I do in Mahale Mountain national park?
Chimp Trekking. To get to the only habituated group of chimps, the M group, one climbs up through the mountain forest on a network of simple cleared paths to get into touch with the chimps and when one does the experience is extraordinary to the point of being bizarre.
Is it safe to stay closer to Chimpanzee?
The chimpanzees go on with their lives- walking, sleeping, fighting politicking eating, etc as if they are not there. They take virtually no notice of visitors this is perfect because you never feel like you are intruding.
After spending the strictly controlled 1 hour with chimps you return to your accommodation facility to wash off the sweat, have delicious lunch, and spend the rest of the leisure; or perhaps one of the numbers of the activities.
- Kayaking
- Fishing
- Swimming and snorkeling
- Cultural activities can be arranged to border communities
What is the Safari idea for the Mahale Mountains National Park?
Mahale is often combining with the nearby Katavi national park. Most of the regularly scheduled flights to and from Mahale have the option of routing via Katavi. There is also a road from Mpanda to Mahale about 180km 3-4hrs drive. This makes it easy to combine chimp viewing with watching the big game heartland of Katavi plus the many wildlife options in northern Tanzania.
