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Way out west in
Katavi & Mahale

EXPLORE
  • 7 Nights
  • June – November
  • Tanzania
  • From £7,550 pp
  • Luxury

Trip Overview

Combine remote Katavi with the ultimate chimpanzee experience in the awe inspiring Mahale Mountains – book early as this is not one to be missed.

Five hundred miles west of Arusha, next stop the Congo. This part of Tanzania offers vanishingly few tourists and unrivalled wildlife, including arguably Africa’s best chimpanzee experience and two of Tanzania’s most pioneering camps.

Were it not for the inaccessibility of this part of Tanzania, Katavi and Mahale would doubtless be among the best known parks in Africa, so rich and complementary are their offerings.

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Unexpected Highlights of this itinerary

Often the best safaris involve looking beyond the obvious highlights. It’s about the myriad exhilarating encounters that will make your heart sing. These are encounters that nobody could ever predict, but that make your safari genuinely unique.

Trip Itinerary

Way out west in Katavi & Mahale

Katavi National Park (4 Nights)
4 Nights

Katavi National Park

The dry savannah of Katavi is home to legendary herds of buffalo and myriad other plains game that graze in constant motion in the shimmering heat of Katavi’s plains. Its fragile rivers seem too small to be of significance at first glance, but attract bewildering concentrations of hippopotami, not to mention lion and other carnivores drawn to natural ambush spots.

Meanwhile, elephant are frequent visitors while staying at the wonderful Chada Camp, with its timeless and stylish campaign tents under deep shady trees.

The real attraction is of course the wilderness, and given the logistical challenges and expense of operating and getting to such a remote part of the country Katavi remains wonderfully unsullied by mass-tourism and you’re unlikely to encounter many other folk (the Serengeti has receives more visitors in a day than Katavi in a year).

Sleep out under the stars

Fly-camp if you can and certainly jump at any offer of an all day expedition to the far reaches of the park.

Due to the bi-weekly scheduled shared charter in to Katavi it is likely that your fellow guests will be travelling with you on to Mahale which gives the safari a distinctly expeditionary feel.

Accommodation

Chada Camp

Chada Camp in Katavi is a place to touch the heart of the wild. Located in the remote wilderness of Katavi, Chada is a small, stylish and yet traditional safari camp.

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Chada fly-camp

To sleep under the stars with a camp fire burning nearby and night noises – whooping hyena, roaring lion and hooting owls – for company is undoubtedly special.

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Parks & Areas

Mahale Mountains National Park (3 Nights)
3 Nights

Mahale Mountains National Park

Contrast all of this with the crystal turquoise waters of Lake Tanganyika and the rich green of the Mahale Mountains a short flight away.

You’ll be met at the lakeside landing strip by your guides, not as is customary in a jeep but rather uniquely a dhow. There are no roads whatsoever in Mahale so access is by foot or on the water. Lunch aboard en route to Greystoke.

This is home to not only the habituated chimpanzees of the M group but eight other species of primate and countless other forest inhabitants.

Experiences

Accommodation

Greystoke is a magical place and would be well worth a visit even without the chimps. A secluded beach with crystal clear water there’s a fine mix of the familiar safari fixtures (hippos, fish eagles, bushbuck and warthogs) with the more exotic. Swim in the bay and there are a couple of canoes to take yourself out on, along with fishing on a catch a release basis. Across Lake Tanganyika, far in the west the sun sets behind mysterious mountains in the Congo, there be dragons.

A beach destination with an enormous twist, proper barefoot luxury  and possibly the coolest accommodation in all safaridom.

Greystoke Mahale

One of the most beautiful and dramatic locations of anywhere in East Africa, sitting on a white sandy beach at the base of the 8,000ft Mahale Mountains overlooking the turquoise waters of Lake Tanganyika.

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Parks & Areas

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