It is a thin strip of ancient forest set in mountainous cut with steep valleys clinging to the shores of Lake Tanganyika.
The park’s major attraction is obviously the Chimpanzees that live protected within its boundaries.
Tourists to this area will be able to do chimpanzee trekking, hiking and go to the waterfall, and guided walk in the forest or along the lakeshore
WELCOME TO GOMBE STREAM-NATIONAL-PARK
It is a thin strip of ancient forest set in mountainous cut with steep valleys clinging to the shores of Lake Tanganyika. The park major attraction is obviously the Chimpanzees that live protected within its boundaries. Tourist to this area will be able to do chimpanzee trekking, hiking and go to the waterfall and guided walk in the forest or along the lakeshore The park is dominated by many steep sided ridges and valleys. This is where you will be on foot if you have come to see the chimpanzees The scenery of Gombe is stunning with most of the 16 major valleys containing swift steams, which flow all year. In this park you can meet the stars of the world famous chimpanzee community. Jane Goodall’s pioneering chimpanzee research began in 1960. The Gombe Chimps are one of the most closely and continuously studied populations Sharing more than 98 percent of our genes, it’s a look of recognition from our closest animal relative. The majority of the mammals in this National Park are primates, most of them forest species. Likely to be seen, in addition to the famous chimpanzees are the colorful red-tail and blue monkeys.
GOMBE STREAM NATIONAL PARK An excited whoop erupts from deep in the forest, boosted immediately by a dozen other voices, rising in volume and tempo, and pitching to a frenzied shrieking crescendo. It is the famous ‘pant-hoot’ call: a bonding ritual that allows the participants to identify each other through their individual vocal stylizations. To the human listener, walking through the ancient forests of Gombe Stream, this spine-chilling outburst is also an indicator of imminent visual contact with man’s closest genetic relative: the chimpanzee.
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 behavioral 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.
Chimpanzees share about 98% of their genes with humans, and no scientific expertise is required to distinguish between the individual repertoires of pants, hoots, and screams that define the celebrities, the powerbrokers, and the supporting characters. Perhaps you will see a flicker of understanding when you look into a chimp’s eyes, assessing you in return – a look of apparent recognition across the narrowest of species barriers.
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’ center. 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.
Getting there
Kigoma is connected to Dar and Arusha by scheduled flights, to Dar and Mwanza by slow rail service, to Mwanza, Dar, and Mbeya by rough dirt roads, and to Mpulungu in Zambia by a weekly ferry. From Kigoma, local lake taxis take up to three hours to reach Gombe, or motorboats can be chartered, taking less than one hour.
What to do
Chimpanzee trekking; hiking, swimming, and snorkeling; 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).
Accommodation
1 new luxury tented lodge, as well as a self-catering hostel, guest house, and campsites on the lakeshore.
NOTE
Strict rules are in place to safeguard you and the chimps. Allow at least 2 days to see them – this is not a zoo so there are no guarantees where they’ll be each day.
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