9 Days Chimpanzee Tracking
About This Trip
This very special flying safari visits remote Gombe Stream National Park in western Tanzania, where Jane Goodall undertook her famous chimpanzee reseach. Here you can track habituated chimps on the shores of beautiful Lake Tanganyika, before flying into the famous Serengeti National Park for a thrilling Big 5 safari, with optional Zanzibar extension.
Day 1: Arrive at Kilimanjaro Airport then transfer to Arusha
Day 2: Arusha Airport flight to Kigoma (Gateway to Gombe Stream National Park)
Day 3: Gombe Stream National Park
Day 4: Chimps Tracking in Gombe stream
Day 5: Kigoma to Serengeti National park
Day 6 to 8: Game viewing in Serengeti
Day 9: Serengeti to Arusha for you flight back home
Day 1: Arrive at Kilimanjaro Airport then transfer to Arusha
You will be met at Kilimanjaro Airport and transferred 1-hour to Arusha.
Check into your hotel in this warm and friendly town in the northern highlands, situated beneath the twin peaks of Mount Meru and Mount Kilimanjaro and formerly an administrative centre in German East Africa.
Day 2: Arusha Airport flight to Kigoma (Gateway to Gombe Stream National Park)
Transfer to Arusha Airport for your light aircraft flight to Kigoma – the gateway to Gombe StreamNational Park.
After checking into your hotel, enjoy a shared trip to Ujiji to visit the site where Henry Morton Stanley famously met Dr. Livingstone.
Note: As you will be flying in a light aircraft you must pack soft sports bags only, as rigid suitcases will not fit into the luggage pods. A baggage allowance of 15 kg (which includes your hand luggage) is strictly enforced for safety reasons. Excess baggage can be stored with our representative in Arusha.
Day 3: Gombe Stream National Park
Today transfer 2.5-hours by boat to Gombe Stream National Park.
The smallest of Tanzania’s National Parks, Gombe Stream is a thin strip of ancient forest straddling the steep slopes and river valleys along the sandy northern shore of Lake Tanganyika.
After checking into your lodge, enjoy an afternoon trek in search of the chimpanzees that are the main attraction here. These remarkable mammals – habituated to human visitors – were made famous by the pioneering work of Jane Goodall, who in 1960 founded a research program that now stands as the longest running study of its kind in the world.
Day 4: Chimps Tracking in Gombe stream
This morning your guide will help you track the chimps of Gombe Stream, in the area where Jane Goodall conducted her famous research.
Your guide will show you how to identify their spoor and search for their nests high in the trees deep in the forest, as you walk 2 to 3 hours each way in search of the chimps. Once you find them, viewing is limited to 1-hour before walking back to your lodge. Tracking a noisy chimp family is a thrilling experience and is best in the morning, when they come down to the forest floor to forage. The chimps are very mobile, so viewing can be quite unpredictable and never guaranteed, but the walk itself is enchanting.
In the afternoon you can participate in an optional activity arranged by your lodge, such as a walk to the beautiful Kakombe waterfall (30-minutes) or Mkenke waterfall which is further out. Alternatively simply relax beside the lake or snorkel in its clear waters.
Note: Chimp tracking is limited to a small group, with a minimum age of 12 years. Please note the chimpanzees move a lot – sometimes far into the dense forest. So wear good walking shoes and expect to walk a lot today. Gombe Stream National Park is closed in March & April.
Day 5: Kigoma to Serengeti National park
Transfer 2.5 hours by boat to Kigoma airstrip for your light aircraft flight to your safari lodge in the great Serengeti.
Serengeti National Park (meaning ‘Endless Plains) is a World Heritage site that hosts the largest overland wildlife migration in the world. Each October over 2 million wildebeest and accompanying wildlife travel over 500 miles, as they journey from the open plains of the Masai Mara and across the hills of the Serengeti to the southern plains. After calving in February, from April onwards the great migration starts once again as these millions of animals move northwards, crossing the treacherous Grumeti River in the western corridor in search of the sweet new grasses of the Mara.
You will be met at the airstrip and transferred to your lodge, where you can enjoy an afternoon game drive in this amazing wildlife sanctuary.
Day 6 to 8: Game viewing in Serengeti
Today is devoted to early morning and late afternoon game viewing in the great Serengeti National Park.
This vast conservation area, which is larger than Northern Ireland, lies between Lake Victoria in the west, Lake Eyasi in the south and the Great Rift Valley in the east. The landscape varies from open grass plains in the south, savanna with scatterred acacia trees in the centre, hilly wooded grasslands in the north and woodlands and clay pans in the west – with small rivers, lakes ands swamps scattered throughout.
With more than 70 large mammals and over 500 other animal species, including large prides of lions and great herds of wildebeest, zebras and gazelle, outstanding game viewing is guaranteed on a scale only seen in East Africa. Bird watching is also outstanding.
Day 9: Serengeti to Arusha for you flight back home
After some final game viewing in the Serengeti, transfer to the airstrip for your light aircraft flight to Arusha.
Here you will be met and transferred to Kilimanjaro Airport for your flight home.
Included
- Park fees
- All activities
- All accommodation
- A professional driver/guide
- All transportation
- All Taxes/VAT
- Meals
Excluded
- International flights
- Roundtrip airport transfer
- Additional accommodation before and at the end of the tour
- Tips
- Personal items
- Government imposed increase of taxes and/or park fees
- Some meals
- Drinks