5 days Mahale in Five Days, from Dar
The same two tracking days at Mahale and an early trek on the last morning, with the flights from Dar and every transfer arranged for you.
Chimpanzees & Hiking
Mahale in Four Days
The shortest way to Mahale: two tracking days on a mountain that falls straight into the lake, for groups of two to seven and nobody else.
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At a glance
- Destinations
- Mahale Mountains National Park · Lake Tanganyika
- Best for
- Chimpanzees, Hiking
- Travel style
- Chimpanzee tracking · On foot, with road and boat transfers
- Activity level
- Moderate — walking days on forest and mountain paths
- Best time to travel
- May to October is usually the preferred window for Mahale chimpanzee tracking, with drier forest paths. Rain is possible in any month, and the chimpanzees choose their own location; boat transfers depend on Lake Tanganyika conditions.
- Start and end
- Starts and ends in Kigoma
Why this journey
- Two days tracking the Mimikire chimpanzee group
- A park with no roads and no vehicles at all
- Lake Tanganyika at the door, for an evening swim after the tracking
- Groups capped at two to seven people
- Forested mountains rising to over 2,000 m straight from the shore
Day by day
Mahale is a range of forested mountains rising out of Lake Tanganyika, with no roads and no vehicles anywhere in the park. Everything happens on foot or by boat, and the chimpanzee community here is one of the largest habituated groups in Africa.
Day 1 — Kigoma town to Mahale Mountains Park
Pickup from Kigoma town with a 6-hour drive to the Bilenge headquarters, then a fibreglass boat transfer to the Kasiana area accommodation, with evening relaxation at the Lake Tanganyika beach.
Meals Dinner
Day 2 — Chimpanzee tracking in Mahale Mountains National Park
Morning and afternoon chimpanzee tracking featuring the habituated Mimikire community (roughly 80 individuals, studied since 1965). An evening mountain hike seeks vervet, blue, red-tailed, red colobus and the Angolan black-and-white colobus. Over 200 bird species documented.
Stay Mahale Tanapa Bandas / Chimpanzee Safari Camp / Nomad Camp Meals Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Day 3 — Another chimpanzee tracking day in Mahale
More forest chimpanzee tracking, with chances to see crowned eagles, scaly francolin, crested guinea fowl, Ross's turaco, giant kingfisher and the globally threatened Kungwe apalis. Evening swimming at the Lake Tanganyika beach.
Stay Mahale Tanapa Bandas / Chimpanzee Safari Camp / Nomad Camp Meals Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Day 4 — Mahale Mountains National Park to Kigoma town
Boat transfer to the headquarters, meet the driver, and return to Kigoma Town, ending at your hotel, the airport or the railway station.
Meals Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Stay and travel
Three nights inside Mahale at the TANAPA bandas, Chimpanzee Safari Camp or Nomad’s camp, as listed in the programme. Which one is confirmed when you book.
A six-hour drive from Kigoma to the park headquarters at Bilenge, then a boat along the shore to your camp. There are no roads or vehicles inside Mahale, so the tracking is on foot.
Camps fill, and roads change with the rains. Where something has to change we substitute at the same level and tell you before you travel, not after.
Included and excluded
What is included
- Every activity named in the day-by-day
- Accommodation as listed, or a similar alternative if a camp is full
- Meals as noted against each day
- Transfers between the agreed pick-up and drop-off points
- Park, reserve and conservation area fees
- An English-speaking Tanzanian driver-guide
- A 4×4 with a roof hatch, or the vehicle the route calls for
- Drinking water through the day
- Government taxes
- Boat safari and transfers
- TANAPA armed ranger where the park requires one
Not included
- International flights, airport taxes and visa fees
- Travel, medical and baggage insurance
- Personal spending — drinks, laundry, telephone
- Tips for your guide and crew
- Anything not listed as included
Practical information
- Activity level
- Walking days on forest and mountain paths, some of them steep and often wet underfoot. Ordinary walking fitness is enough.
- Chimpanzee trekking
- Tracking is on foot, on the animals’ terms, and can mean several hours of steep forest walking. Minimum ages and group sizes are set by the park — we confirm both when you book.
- Visas, insurance and tipping
- A visa is arranged before travel or on arrival. Travel and medical insurance is a condition of booking. Tipping is customary and we will suggest a range rather than set one.
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Every route here can be changed
Tell us what you would keep, what you would drop and how long you have. We will send back a version that is yours.