Gombe Stream National Park

Gombe is the smallest national park in Tanzania, only 35 km² of forested hills along Lake Tanganyika, yet its place in science is enormous. It was here in 1960 that Dr Jane Goodall began the chimpanzee research that changed how people understand our closest living relatives.

Roughly 100 habituated chimpanzees live in the forest, descended from the communities Goodall first followed, sharing the trees with red colobus, blue monkeys and olive baboons. Treks climb steep forest trails to reach them. Individual chimps and their family lines have been recorded for more than sixty years, a depth of behavioural knowledge no other wild population can match.

The park can only be reached by boat across the lake, so a visit marries forest trekking with time on one of the cleanest freshwater lakes in the world. Swimming and snorkelling among Tanganyika's colourful cichlids sit comfortably beside the treks, and the Jane Goodall Research Centre gives real insight into the long-running study.

The chimps are so well habituated that sightings are possible in any month, although May to October makes for easier trekking. Because the park is small, one or two days is usually plenty. Most visitors travel via Kigoma, and Gombe often works as a shorter, more accessible alternative or companion to Mahale on a western itinerary.