Western Tanzania Spectacular is an extraordinary seven-night safari journey into two of Africa’s most remote and contrasting wilderness areas: Katavi National Park and the Mahale Mountains. Where else but Katavi can you enjoy vast herds of buffalo, pools oozing with more hippo than mud, and great river bridges of crocodile? And then enjoy the exclusive access to chimpanzees in Mahale?
This is Tanzania at its most raw and least visited: a safari for seasoned travellers seeking true exclusivity, dramatic wildlife encounters and profound natural beauty.
Note: Whether you spend 3 nights in Katavi and 4n in Mahale or vice versa depends on your departure flight day of the week.
Your adventure begins in Katavi National Park, Tanzania’s third-largest national park and one of its most untouched. Vast floodplains, woodlands and seasonal lakes offer a stage for some of Africa’s most powerful wildlife spectacles. In the dry season, enormous herds of elephant and buffalo gather at the dwindling pools of the Katuma River, while crocodiles stack in astonishing numbers. At any time of the year, the Hippo Pool offers hundreds of closely-packed hippos grunting, snorting, and generally luxuriating in a great, black, sticky mud of hippo waste!
The sheer density of game - without the presence of other vehicles - makes Katavi one of East Africa’s most rewarding safari destinations.
You stay at Chada Katavi, an intimate, classic bush camp that captures the spirit of pioneering safari, with exceptional guiding and a deep sense of remoteness
After the savanna of Katavi, you fly to the forested slopes of theMahale Mountains National Park, rising dramatically from the shores of Lake Tanganyika. One of the world’s longest and clearest freshwater lakes. Here, at the iconic Greystoke Mahale, your focus shifts from big game to primates. Trek through lush forest in search of the habituated Mimikire clan of chimpanzees, observing their remarkably human interactions at close range. These encounters are immersive and deeply moving. But they require effort, as trekking can involve steep climbs and challenging terrain, even in the ‘drier’ season.
Hilly and richly vegetated, Mahale is one of two chimpanzee protection zones in Tanzania; the other is the nearby Gombe Stream National Park. A Japanese research team has habituated one group of Mahale chimpanzees called the Mimikire Clan (out of a total population approaching a thousand), allowing some excellent sightings.
Mahale is also rich in other primates, including red colobus, blue monkeys and Angola colobus, as well as prolific birdlife and diverse plant species. Between treks, relax on the white sandy shores of Lake Tanganyika, enjoy a dhow boat cruise, kayak across its crystal waters or visit the local community.
This safari operates during the dry season months (approximately June to October, extending into early November), when wildlife viewing in Katavi is at its peak and chimpanzee trekking conditions are most favourable. It is not offered during the main rainy season from mid-November to May.
Away from the dry season you can expect the walking to be harder because of the slippery tracks and because the chimpanzees will tend to be further away from the lake shore.
You can also check out our Western Tanzania Adventure safari. This is a very similar routing but using alternative camps and lower in price.
Use the scroll button to see the full itinerary.
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