Mahale Mountains set deep in the heart of the Africa interior, inaccessible by road and only 60 miles south of where Stanley uttered that immortal greeting “Doctor Livingstone I presume”, is a scene reminiscent of an Indian Ocean Island beach idyll.

Silky white coves hem in the azure waters of Lake Tanganyika, overshadowed by a chain of wild, jungle draped peaks towering almost 2 km above the shore, the remote and mysterious Mahale Mountains.

Mahale is home to some of Africa’s last remaining wild chimpanzee’s, a population of roughly 800, habituated to human visitors by a Japanese research project founded in the 1960’s.  Tracking the chimps of Mahale is a magical experience.  The guide’s eyes pick out last nights’ nests- shadowy clumps high in a gallery of tree’s crowding the sky.  Scraps of half eaten fruit and fresh dung become valuable clues, leading deeper into the forest.  Butterflies flit in the dappled sunshine.

Then suddenly you are in their midst, preening each other’s glossy coats in concentrated huddles, noisy, or bounding into the trees to swing between the vines.  The area is known as Nkungwe, after the parks largest mountain, held scared by the local Tongwe   people, it is 8069 feet above sea level.

The size of this park is 623 square miles, and located in Western Tanzania bordering Lake Tanganyika.

To get there it will require a charter flight from Dar es Salam or Kigoma.  A Charter flight or national park motorboat from Kigoma, three to four hours total time, also  There is a weekly steamer from Kigoma, which takes seven hours, then hire a local fishing boat or arrange with park HQ for pick up in park boat, another one or two hours if you are lucky.

What to do while there, chimp tracking, allow two days for this, hiking, camping safaris, snorkeling, and fish for your dinner.

Time to go dry season which is May to October is best for forest walks although there is no problem in the light rains to do this which are October to November.

Accommodations are three seasonal luxury tented camps, two small rest houses, and a large camp site.