Tanganyika Extension

Chimpanzee tracking in Mahale Mountains and a 'beach' break on Lake Tanganyika make this a safari extension with a difference.

At the end of your trek/walk, you are transferred by road to your hotel (generally the Ilboru Lodge) in Arusha for a very welcome hot shower, and to enjoy a relaxing overnight stay including dinner and breakfast.  You will be collected from your hotel the next morning and taken to Arusha airport for your flight.  Flights from Arusha currently only operate on a monday or thursday and are the most cost effective way of travelling to the far west of the country.  Nevertheless, their costs are relatively high and so tend to make Mahale Mountains National Park on Lake Tanganyika an expensive, but exclusive destination.

The Mahale Mountains park borders the shores of Lake Tanganyika about 150kms south of Kigoma and it will take around 4 hours by light aircraft, subject to the routing of your particular flight.  Our standard extension is for either 4 or 5 days (spending 3 or 4 nights respectively in the park), its length being determined by when your trek ends relative to the restricted flight schedule, and includes transfer to and cost of Arusha hotel on half board basis; all travel, food, most drinks, accommodation, national park fees and camp activities (generally two per day) as detailed below; return flight to Kilimanjaro airport.

You land on a bush airstrip on the edge of Lake Tanganyika and transfer to a motor-driven dhow for a 45 minute southerly trip down the lake to the idyllic Greystoke camp: there are no roads for miles!  Greystoke is on its own beach of the purest white sand and has a class and character of its own.  Accommodation is in just six thatched bandas, set back a little into the wooded vegetation, on raised natural wooden decking, with each leading directly onto the beach and having wonderful views across the lake.  The bandas are spacious, with large beds and lovely wooden furniture, and link across the decking to a private bathroom with hot shower and flush toilet.  Upstairs, there is a raised viewing deck with day beds, and outside, facing the lake is a veranda area with loungers.  The food is superb and all meals are served in the camp's main building in the centre of the beach – a thatched dining and lounge area loosely modelled on a local Tongwe Chief's hut.  On the northern edge amongst the rocks and vegetation is a wonderful bar from which the glorious lake sunsets can be enjoyed.  Afternoon activities on the lake include kayaking, snorkelling, swimming, fishing, sailing on a beautiful old dhow enjoying a sundowner or two, or just lazing on the beach.  However, it is the mornings in the park that really makes this the most special of experiences.

Mahale Mountains National Park is about 1,600 sq kms of mountain landscape, richly covered by lush green tropical vegetation.  The forest buzzes with sound and a myriad of large butterflies fill the air over the streams.  The park is home to the densest population of primates in Tanzania – chimpanzees top the all-star cast of yellow baboons, red colobus, blue, red-tailed and vervet monkeys.  There are about 1,000 chimpanzees in the park, and there is one group of around 60 individuals that has been habituated by researchers for over 40 years.  They are totally unrestricted wild animals and free to roam as they please, but are used to people and relaxed enough to allow us the privilege to track and watch them from close quarters.  A hike from Greystoke up into the mountains to reach them can be anything from 30 minutes to (sometimes) three hours, and whilst sightings are never guaranteed, most visitors see them on most days.  Greystoke offers its guests a very professional tracking service, led by an expert guide from the camp and accompanied by a scout from the park.  Access to the chimpanzees and the amount of time spent with them are carefully controlled by the park, to provide the minimum of disruption and interference.  The guide will have an intimate knowledge of the chimps and their behaviour, which enhances hugely your wildlife encounter as you watch the chimps going about their daily business.  Sharing their world and their lives at close hand makes for the most unforgettable of experiences.

The Tanganyika extension offers brilliant wildlife, superb beach and lake activities, and a special camp in a stunning location – such a combination is hard to beat.