Gombe is the smallest of Tanzania’s national parks: a delicate segment of chimpanzee living space straddling the precarious inclines and waterway valleys that stitch in the sandy northern shore of Lake Tanganyika. in Gombe Stream National Park,its chimpanzees – habituated to human guests – were made famous by the spearheading pioneering work of Jane Goodall, who in 1960 established a behavioral examination program that now remains as the longest-running investigation of its kind on the planet.The authority Fifi, the last surviving individual from the first group, was just three-years of age when Goodall first set foot in Gombe. It is still frequently seen by guests.
Sharing about 98% of their genes with humans, no scientific expertise is required to differentiate between the individual repertoires of pants, hoots and screams that define the celebrities, the powerbrokers, and the supporting characters. You will probably 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 other mammals that are most visible in Gombe National Park also happen to be primates. A troop of beachcomber olive baboons, which has been 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.
With over 200-odd bird species being recorded, Gombe Park is arguably one of ornithologists paradise. The birds species found in the park range from the iconic fish eagle to the jewel-like Peter’s twinspots that hop tamely around the visitors’ centre. This makes Gombe National Park a must visit for ornithologists.
You will see hundreds of small wooden boats, bobbing on the lake like a sprawling city after dusk, a dazzling night sky is complemented by the lanterns
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 accessible through scheduled flights from Dar and Arusha, it is also connected to Dar and Mwanza by a slow rail service, to Mwanza, Dar and Mbeya by rough dirt roads, and to Mpulungu in Zambia by a weekly ferry.
To reach Gombe from Kigoma town you have to take local lake-taxis that will 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 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).
Accommodation
1 new luxury tented lodge, as well a self-catering hostel, guest house and campsites on the lakeshore.