4 days 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.
Chimpanzees & Hiking
Mahale Chimpanzees & Ruaha
Chimpanzees in the forest on Lake Tanganyika, then lions in the miombo at Ruaha. Two of Tanzania’s most remote parks in one week.
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At a glance
- Destinations
- Kigoma · Mahale Mountains · Lake Tanganyika · Ruaha
- Best for
- Chimpanzees, Wildlife safari
- Travel style
- Luxury · Fly-in, Ferry/boat
- Activity level
- Moderate — tracking is on foot, sometimes for hours
- Best time to travel
- June to October is usually the best overlap between Mahale chimpanzee tracking and Ruaha game viewing. Forest rain and changing chimpanzee locations can lengthen the walks, while flight and lake-transfer arrangements need confirming for your dates.
- Start and end
- Starts and ends in Dar es Salaam
Why this journey
- Two chimpanzee tracking days at Mahale
- Lake Tanganyika, the deepest lake in Africa, at the camp door
- A full game-driving day in Ruaha
- Groups of two to six only
- Flights on every leg, so no days lost to the road
Day by day
Mahale and Ruaha have nothing in common except that almost nobody goes to either. This route pairs them — two tracking days in the Mahale forest, then a flight east to Ruaha for big game — for groups of two to six.
Day 1 — Dar es Salaam to Kigoma Town
Fly to Kigoma and check in at your hotel. The evening offers a guided city tour through the local market, the Tanzania railway station and the MV Liemba.
Stay Kigoma Hilltop or Mahale Classic Lodge Meals Dinner
Day 2 — Kigoma Town to Mahale Mountains National Park
After breakfast, drive 195 km (about 6 hours) to the Mahale Mountains National Park headquarters, then a 30-minute fibreglass boat ride to your lodging. Evening leisure at the Lake Tanganyika beach and a visit to the hippo pool at sunset. The park features three biotopes: tropical rainforest, savanna and miombo forest wildlife.
Stay Mahale Tanapa Bandas / Chimpanzee Safari Camp / Nomad Camp Meals Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Day 3 — Chimpanzee tracking in Mahale
Morning and afternoon chimpanzee tracking in the forest. Mahale houses 700 to 1,000 chimps in different communities; the habituated Mimikire community has roughly 80 individuals studied since 1965. Evening hikes search for other forest primates including vervet, blue, red-tailed and red colobus monkeys. Over 200 bird species have been recorded here.
Stay Mahale Tanapa Bandas / Chimpanzee Safari Camp / Nomad Camp Meals Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Day 4 — Second chimpanzee tracking in Mahale
Track more chimpanzees after breakfast. The park hosts forest and water birds including crowned eagles, scaly francolins, crested guinea fowl, Ross's turaco, giant kingfisher and the globally threatened Kungwe apalis. Evening swimming at Lake Tanganyika.
Stay Mahale Tanapa Bandas / Chimpanzee Safari Camp / Nomad Camp Meals Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Day 5 — Mahale to Ruaha National Park
Transfer by boat to the airstrip for a light aircraft flight to Ruaha. Lunch at the lodge; the evening offers short game drives or relaxation.
Stay Ruaha Tanapa Bandas / Ruaha River Camp / Ikuka Safari Camp Meals Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Day 6 — Full day game drive in Ruaha National Park
Observe roan and sable antelope, hippo, crocodile, waterbuck, reedbuck and buffalo at the river. Predators including lion, leopard, hyena, wild dog and jackal hunt here, alongside numerous antelope species and migratory birds.
Stay Ruaha Tanapa Bandas / Ruaha River Camp / Ikuka Safari Camp Meals Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Day 7 — Ruaha National Park to Dar es Salaam
After early breakfast, transfer back to Dar es Salaam, arriving late evening.
Meals Breakfast & Lunch
Stay and travel
Premium camps and lodges, chosen for where they sit rather than how many rooms they have.
Light aircraft on the routed sectors, with a road vehicle and guide waiting at each strip.
Camps fill and light aircraft schedules move. Where something changes 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
- Luggage on light aircraft
- Bush flights cap baggage at around 15 kg in a soft bag. Anything else can wait at your first hotel.
- 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.
Related journeys
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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
11 days Northern Safari & Zanzibar — Honeymoon
Six days through the northern parks, then five on the coast. Built for two, with the pace slowed at both ends and the flight between them arranged.
Honeymoon & Wildlife
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.