Gombe Stream National Park

GOMBE STREAM NATIONAL PARK

Gombe Stream National Park

We organize excursions to Gombe Stream National Park as tailor-made-tours only. Please contact our travel consultants for a bespoke itinerary.

The tiny Gombe stream national park with a size of only 52 sq km is located on the north-eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika near the border with Burundi. The park established in 1968. Even though it is the second smallest park in the Tanzania, it has become world-famous through the pioneering work of the passionate

Dr. Jane Goodall who came to study the behaviour of chimpanzees.
The landscape of the park is made up of steep valleys, streams and rivers. The vegetation changes from tropical rainforests, alpine bamboo to grasslands.

Air charters land in Kigoma. Flights from Arusha take 4hrs (Distance from Arusha is 1.020km). Access into the park is limited to boats departing from Kigoma town which is 16 km far from Gombe.

Gombe is famous for a population of chimpanzees live within the park.

These incredible primates habituated to humans can be seen on a walking safari through the forests. Other primates seen in the park include vervet monkeys, beachcomber olive baboons and red tailed monkeys.
Bushbucks and bush pigs can also be seen foraging on the forest floors from time to time.
The park is home to over 200 species of birds, amongst the most commonly seen are fish eagles, palm nut vultures, tropical boubous and trumpeter hornbills.

Lake Tanganyika with is clear water is home to over 100 cichlid species as well as hippos.

Walking safaris to see the chimpanzees and forest is the main attraction at Gombe. These intelligent and sophisticated animals share over 98 percent of the same genetic code as humans, and the similarities are evident in their unique personalities and family interactions. Once you find the troop, you can spend up to an hour watching them play, bicker, feed, and groom one another.

Lake Tanganyika is also a wonderful place to go snorkelling and swimming, or just relax on the white sand.

Hippos and crocodiles tend to keep their distance from Gombe which means visitors can take a dip in the lake without having to worry about sharing the water with wild animals.
While at Gombe a visit to the Goodall Foundation’s old feeding station should be on the list of things to do as well the waterfalls and the view point up the hills for a breathtaking view over the Tanganyika Lake. There should be a half day trip in your plan to explore the nearby village of Ujiji where Henry Stanley met Dr Livingstone in 1871.

The best time to visit Gombe national Park for the Chimpanzee tracking is between November and August.