Gombe Stream National Park: Chimpanzee trekking in the footsteps of Jane Goodall
Facts Gombe Stream National Park:
- Founded in 1968
- Made famous by Jane Goodall, who first visited the park in 1960 to study chimpanzees
- There is only park-owned accommodation and one luxury Tented Camp, in Kigoma there are private lodges of varying degrees of comfort
- Size: 32 km2 = 1.5 times the size of Frankfurt Airport
Best time to visit:
- Possible all year round
- In the dry season from July to October and late December to January, you may have to cover longer distances on a Tanzania chimpanzee trek than in the rainy season from February to June and November to mid-December. However, you can take the best photos in the dry season.
Highlights Gombe Stream National Park:
- Chimpanzee trekking, of course
- Swimming in Lake Tanganyika
Getting here from Arusha:
- The distance to Kigoma is 1,067 km = 2 days by safari car or bus
- Alternatively by plane via Dar es Salaam (approx. 7-13 hours, depending on transfer time) or by charter flight (4 hours)
- From Kigoma by boat to the park in approx. 1.5 hours (20 km)
The second smallest national park in Tanzania covers an area of just 32 km2 and is therefore only one and a half times the size of Frankfurt Airport. However, it is home to an impressive Tanzanian chimpanzee population with a well-known background. Jane Goodall first visited what is now Gombe National Park in 1960 and began observing and studying the chimpanzees living there. Today she is considered a leading expert in chimpanzee research. In Gombe, you can still marvel at parts of Jane Goodall’s legacy today, such as her former home – but above all the chimpanzees, of course. Arriving by plane from Dar es Salaam or by bus or safari car from Arusha (part of the journey by plane is also possible), you first reach the town of Kigoma. From there, it’s a one to three-hour boat trip on Lake Tanganyika to Gombe National Park, where you set off on foot with a guide in search of the great apes. In addition to chimpanzees, there are also baboons, red-tailed monkeys and Uganda colobus monkeys as well as many different birds to see. To increase your chances of seeing chimpanzees in Tanzania and make the trip worthwhile, we recommend spending at least two nights in the park. Then you can also have enough time to admire the great view of Lake Tanganyika after returning from the chimpanzee trekking or swim a lap to cool off in it.
