Gombe Stream National Park

There are truly wild places in Tanzania, Gombe National Park is one of them. The nature value of Gombe was noticed in 1943 when it was designated as a game reserve. Gombe gained its popularity after the pioneering research activities of Dr Jane Goodall in 1960 which is believed to be the longest running study of primates in the world. Conservation status was upgraded to that of a National Park in 1968 and opened for tourism in 1978 after chimpanzee habituation by a human visitor.

Gombe is the second smallest National Park located 16 km north of Kigoma town on the shores of the world’s second deepest Lake Tanganyika in western Tanzania with an area of 56 square kilometres cantered at 35M 0791840, 9486915. The arboreal slopes of the Great Rift Valley and the evergreen forests standing in the local valley bottoms support a wonderful diversity of wildlife and is a fragile habitat for chimpanzee.

 

Transport to the Park

Drive, schedule or charter a flight from Dar Es Salaam, Mwanza or Arusha or take a slow or fast train from Dar Es Salaam or ferry along the shore of Lake Tanganyika from Burundi or Zambia to Kigoma. To reach Gombe you must travel by boat from Kigoma. Depending on your budget, there’s an option of speed boat, which takes much less time- or passenger’s boat, which takes longer about 4 hrs. Boat ride is an amazing trip.

 

Visiting Time

Gombe wilderness worth a year-round visit; enabling you to cruise along part of the historical inquisitiveness way back in the 19th century when Livingstone and Stanley searched the source of River Nile. Rainy season is the best chimpanzee sporting while the green vegetation blooms providing an astonishing scenic view and waterfalls are at the best (November to Mid- May) while dry season provides a chance for best photo taking, short and long hike (May to October).

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