Lake Fish Tanganyika Mahale Mountains

Lake Tanganyika, the largest of the Great African Rift valley lakes, forms the extreme western border of Tanzania. It's over 500 miles from Arusha, and a four hour flight. To the South it's bordered by Zambia, to the west by the Congo and to the North by Burundi.

For our money Lake Tanganyika rivals pretty much any of the best beaches on the east African coast - clear warm water and white sandy beaches. What's more this is a place where you can also see some very unusual wildlife, from the chimpanzees on the shores to the cichlid fish beneath the surface.

The lake is the oldest and largest of the African rift lakes. It stretches north to south a distance of 420 miles and is regarded as one of the most biologically unique habitats on earth. It's also an evolutionary showcase due to its great age and stability; ninety eight percent of the lake's beautiful coloured cichlid fish are unique to Lake Tanganyika. What's more many of these fish are only found at the mouths of specific rivers in the lake.

These fish resemble the brightly coloured fish found on coral reefs, but are totally unrelated. (Many of these are the species most commonly seen swimming morosely around fish tanks in dentists waiting rooms). Spend half an hour with a snorkel swimming around any of the rocky points along the shore at the foot of the Mahale Mountains National Park and you quickly get an idea of the huge variety of species that live here.

The lake is essentially a landlocked sea, but in years of heavy rain it overflows into the Lukuga River, which in turn feeds the Congo's Lualaba River. In places it's immensely deep, reaching depths of close to a mile.

Undoubtedly one of the most rewarding parts of Tanzania to visit, the sweet waters of the lake are so clear that to swim in it's like bathing in bottled water. About three quarters of the way up Lake Tanganyika is Gombe Stream National Park, made famous by Jane Goodall's chimpanzee research and some 100 miles further south are the staggeringly beautiful, but much less known Mahale Mountains the best place in the world to see wild chimps.

where to stay - Greystoke Camp in Mahale is the best place to stay and combine chimpanzee tracking in the Mahale mountains with swimming snorkeling and boating on Lake Tanganyika.

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