Gombe Stream National Park

As the result of Jane Goodall's research, Gombe Stream has long been renowned for its chimps. Gombe is much closer to Kigoma (the local town with a small airport) than Mahale and hence it's easier to reach. You'll usually spend a night in Kigoma, perhaps at the Hilltop Hotel,and then travel with your own guide by boat from Kigoma to Gombe. Gombe Stream is much smaller (only 52km²) and less dramatic than Mahale, but otherwise its environment is similar: a sandy beach with a backdrop of vegetated mountains. There are three groups of chimps here. One of these, the large Kasekela community, is habituated in the same way as M-group in Mahale.

Here the Gombe Stream Tented Camp was opened in 2002, close to the park headquarters. This has large Meru-style tents on low wooden platforms, all clustered in a patch of forest beside the shore. You'll visit the chimps along with travellers staying at the (exceedingly basic) resthouse nearby.

Gombe offers a more economic way of seeing chimps in the wild than the Mahale Mountains, but it lacks the atmosphere and, vitally, the expert guiding ofGreystoke. It's best visited as a two- or three-night side-trip from Kigoma. There are scheduled flights between Dar es Salaam and Kigoma.