Mahale Moun­tains Nation­al Park is arguably the most remote and inac­ces­si­ble of Tanzania’s parks. It’s also prob­a­bly the most reward­ing – the mec­ca for superb wild chim­panzee encoun­ters and a fan­tas­tic lake­side beach expe­ri­ence – offer­ing snor­kel­ing, fish­ing and boat­ing.
The set­ting for your Mahale chimp encounter is quite sim­ply spec­tac­u­lar, with steep forest­ed moun­tain slopes tum­bling down to the sandy white beach­es of Lake Tan­ganyi­ka – Africa’s largest lake and the sec­ond largest fresh­wa­ter lake in the world.
Some of the approx­i­mate­ly 900 chimps that call this par­adise home have been habit­u­at­ed to human pres­ence due to a long run­ning research project con­duct­ed by a Japan­ese pri­mate research team. The result is the most nat­ur­al, most thrilling wild chim­panzee expe­ri­ence in the world. Read this infor­ma­tive arti­cle about chim­panzees.
Although Mahale is the only place in the world to host both wild chimps and lions, you are unlike­ly to see them togeth­er, as the lions occur in remote pock­ets of savan­nah.