Western Tanzania & Lake Tanganika, Tanzania

Lake Tanganyika is the oldest and largest of the Rift Valley Lakes, the world's second deepest and probably Africa's least-polluted lake. The clear, fresh waters are bright with endemic cichlid fish.

On its shores is Mahale National Park, where the 8000 foot forested mountain slopes are home to around 800 wild chimpanzees and nine different species of primate. These chimpanzees have been habituated to humans through the research of a Japanese team.

Also on the Lake, further north, is Gombe Stream National Park, famous for the work of Jane Goodall's chimpanzee research team. At 52 sq km, this is Tanzania’s smallest national park. Enjoy chimpanzee tracking, hiking, swimming and snorkelling and visit the site of Henry Stanley's famous ”Dr Livingstone I presume” meeting at Ujiji near Kigoma.

Inland to the south-east is Katavi National Park. Isolated, unspoiled and seldom visited, Katavi is a true wilderness, providing the few intrepid travellers who make it there with a thrilling taste of 'old' Africa. Tanzania's third largest national park, it lies in the remote southwest of the country. The bulk of Katavi is dense and featureless brachystegia woodland and game is hard to spot. But the Katuma River and associated floodplains such as the seasonal Lakes Katavi and Chada are more rewarding. It is during the dry season that Katavi truly comes into its own. The muddy trickle of the Katuma River is now the only source of drinking water for miles around so it’s not unusual for huge pods of hippo and thousand strong herds of elephant or buffalo to converge on the area and plentiful giraffe, zebra, and antelope delight the hyena and lion prides of the floodplains.

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