01 · The experience
Tanzania’s chimpanzees live on the shore of Lake Tanganyika, a long way from the safari circuit, and reaching them takes a deliberate decision.
Two places: Mahale Mountains and Gombe Stream. Both are reached by air and then by boat, and neither has roads. What you do there is walk uphill in humid forest until the trackers find the group.
Time with the chimpanzees is limited to an hour and masks are worn, because they are close enough to us biologically to catch what we carry.
02 · What it involves
What the trek involves
Trackers go first
They leave at dawn to find the group. You follow when they radio a position, which may be twenty minutes away or three hours.
Steep, humid forest
There is often no path. Reasonable fitness is a genuine requirement, not a formality.
One hour, then out
The cap is strictly enforced and it goes very quickly.
Afternoons on the lake
Swimming, kayaking and snorkelling over endemic cichlids in extremely clear water.
03 · Safari packages
Packages that trek chimpanzees
04 · Practical
