Chimpanzee Encounter

A full day in Katavi — arguably the most dramatic game-viewing in all of Africa during the peak dry season (June to October). During this period the rivers and floodplains shrink to isolated pools that concentrate hippos in numbers up to 1,500 animals, alongside enormous buffalo herds of 1,000+, elephant families, topi, puku and the predators that follow them: lions, leopards, wild dogs and spotted hyena. Morning and afternoon game drives with picnic lunch in the bush. The absence of other vehicles and the raw, unmediated quality of the wildlife encounters make Katavi unlike any other Tanzania park. All meals and overnight at Katavi camp.

Morning game drive in Katavi before flying to Mahale Mountains National Park by light aircraft — a spectacular flight over the Rift Valley escarpment and down to Lake Tanganyika. Transfer by boat to your lakeside lodge. Afternoon acclimatisation walk in the Mahale forest and detailed briefing from the expert chimpanzee trackers on the M-group's size, hierarchy and current territory. Dinner and overnight at Greystoke Mahale or Kungwe Beach Lodge.

First day of chimpanzee trekking in Mahale Mountains National Park. Trek with expert trackers in search of the M-group — approximately 60 habituated individuals that represent the world's largest habituated chimpanzee community. The forest trek itself is extraordinary — ancient mahogany and fig trees, colobus monkeys in the canopy, forest birds calling through the moss-draped branches. Spend one hour with the chimpanzees observing the full complexity of their social life at close range. All meals and overnight at lodge.

Second day of chimpanzee trekking following a different route through the forest, often finding the group in different terrain and observing different behaviours. The second trek frequently yields the most intimate and memorable observations as you begin to recognise individual chimps and understand their social relationships. Afternoon snorkelling in the crystal-clear waters of Lake Tanganyika among the extraordinary diversity of cichlid fish found nowhere else on Earth. All meals and overnight at lodge.

A free day at Mahale to enjoy the extraordinary setting at your own pace. Optional guided forest walks looking for smaller primates and forest birds. Snorkelling, kayaking, or simply relaxing on the beach looking out across Lake Tanganyika — 673 km long and bordered by Tanzania, Congo, Burundi and Zambia, it is the world's longest freshwater lake and one of the deepest on Earth. Sunset boat safari along the lakeshore. All meals and overnight at lodge.

After a final breakfast on the lake shore, boat transfer to Mahale airstrip for the return light aircraft flight to Dar es Salaam or Arusha for your international connections. Seven days, two extraordinary western Tanzania wildernesses — an experience that very few travellers ever reach.