Mahale Mountains National Park
Africa's best chimpanzee trekking
Well off the beaten path at magic Lake Tanganyika
Sandy beaches and tropical forests
The 1’600 km² Mahale Mountains National Park is situated well off the beaten track on the shores of Lake Tanganyika in western Tanzania. It is home to numerous primates, including the yellow baboon, colobine, various vervet monkey (meerkat) and approximately 1000 chimpanzees.
Visitors can go on organised treks to find and observe chimpanzee. These treks are strenuous and can take several hours; they require a certain level of fitness if they are to be enjoyed. It is less difficult during the dry season (Aug – Oct), when the paths are easier to walk. When rain falls, they become slippery, making the trek more demanding. The park is considered to be one of the most beautiful in Africa, with fine sandy beaches, which give way to tropical jungle and steep mountain cliffs.
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Meeting chimpanzee in the wild is an unforgettable experience – and an expensive one. There are few flights to these parts, and the flight time is around four hours with a stop in Tabora. But it is worth it – the remoteness and beauty of the sandy beaches in front of the steep forested cliffs of the surrounding mountains is a source of endless fascination for the few that visit the park.
Lake Tanganyika is the second largest lake in Africa after Lake Victoria, and at 1470 m it is the second deepest and one of the most bio diverse lakes in the world. The lake supports a large number of fish species, 95% of which are endemic, which means they can only be found in Lake Tanganyika.
Transport on the lake is carried out by MS Liemba. The ship was built in Hamburg and laboriously transported in individual parts to German East Africa, where it was assembled shortly before the outbreak of the First World War. At that time, MS Liemba sailed on the lake as MS Goetzen, but was scuttled by the retreating German troops. Both the Belgians and the British raised the boat, and attempted to get her running again – MS Liemba somehow survived all of this and, after numerous overhauls, still sails on the lake today.
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