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Mahale Mountains

With peaks towering over 2 kilometres above the world's longest lake, the Mahale Mountains are surely one of the most beautiful places in Africa for your Safari holiday.

It is certainly the most remote reserve in Tanzania, and its deserted sandy beaches, the crystal-clear waters of lake Tanganyika and a backdrop of magnificent forested slopes undoubtedly make Mahale worthy of a visit. Surprisingly however these are not even the main attraction, as together with the smaller Gombe national park, Mahale offers the best chimpanzee tracking in Africa. There are well over a thousand chimpanzees in the park, some of which are so habituated to humans that they may even brush past you as they groom, wrestle, feed and play.

Aside from the chimps, there is plenty of other wildlife too. There are eight other primate species, and lion, buffalo, elephant, roan antelope and giraffe are all found in the eastern reaches of the park.

How to get to Mahale. With the nearest road over 100 kilometres away, the two lodges in the park have to be reached by boat or by air from Kigoma, which is the main town on the Tanzanian shores of the lake. The most exciting and adventurous way is by using a speed boat. This takes between 3 to 10 hours depending on the type of boat and the weather conditions. Travelling by boat beneath the towering hills you get the opportunity to see the spectacular rivers, beaches and fishing villages as you head south along the lake.

The other way to reach Mahale is by air. There is a small airstrip just outside the park where light aircraft can land. A short boat transfer then takes you from the airstrip to your camp.