Gombe Stream is best known as the place where Jane Goodall did her pioneering studies on chimpanzees, beginning in the 1960s and continuing until this day
Gombe Stream is best known as the place where Jane Goodall did her pioneering studies on chimpanzees, beginning in the 1960s and continuing until this day. It's one of the two places in Tanzania for a chimpanzee safari, although our own feeling is that if you've come this far, Mahale Mountains National Park, about 100kms further south, offers a far more interesting experience and is one of the best locations in Africa for a chimpanzee safari.
Gombe is an oblong strip of rugged, mountainous terrain dominated by many steep-sided ridges and valleys. This is somewhere you're going to be on your feet if you're there to see the chimpanzees and you need to be prepared for some steep and reasonably arduous walking. The scenery in Gombe is stunning, with most of the 16 major valleys containing swift streams that flow all year. The streams provide the larger mammals with drinking water, which is of great importance during dry months because some of the local fauna do not frequent the lake shore.
The area is covered by a complex mosaic of vegetation types, with rolling grasslands on the ridge crests, open semi-deciduous woodlands on the steep slopes, and thick evergreen forests along the valley floors. The park survives as a natural habitat because it is a small, isolated ecosystem surrounded by distinct boundaries. Lake Tanganyika, which lies 772m (2,532 ft.) above mean sea level, forms the western boundary. The high wall of the rift escarpment, which rises another 750m (2,460 ft.) and more above the lake, forms the eastern boundary. These days, human encroachment on the park boundaries is blatantly obvious (and is particularly sobering if viewed from the air) with a hard cut line between the park on one side and village land on the other.
Can't find the place you're looking for? Just let us know and we will be sure to help.
Catherine's long experience of, and enthusiasm for Africa, makes her a mine of travel information. Add to the mix her vivacious character and inscrutable attention to detail and there are few people you'd rather have plan your holiday.
At Natural High, we've had long experience putting together trips in Africa that really work. Whether it's intimate bushcamps in out of the way places, or a private lodge in one of Africa's top-billing wildlife areas, light mobile camping or remote island escapes, we know there is a lot to choose from. We're absolutely confident that we can recommend the right places for you.
