Gombe Stream National Park Tanzania

Gombe Stream National Park, located on the western border of Tanzania and the Congo, is most famous for Jane Goodall, the resident primatologist who spent many years in its forests studying the behaviour of the endangered chimpanzees.

Situated on the wild shores of Lake Tanganyika, Gombe Stream is an untamed place of lush forests and clear lake views. Hiking and swimming are also popular activities here, once the day’s expedition to see the chimpanzees is over.

Gombe is the smallest of all Tanzania’s national parks: a fragile strip of chimpanzee habitat straddling the steep slopes and river valleys that hem in the sandy northern shore of Lake Tanganyika. Its chimpanzees – habituated to human visitors – were made famous by the pioneering work of Jane Goodall, who in 1960 founded a behavioural research program that now stands as the longest-running study of its kind worldwide.

Size of Gombe Stream National Park

52 sq km (20 sq miles), Tanzania’s smallest national park.

Location of Gombe Stream National Park

16 km (10 miles) north of Kigoma on the shore of Lake Tanganyika in western Tanzania.

Things to do in Gombe Stream National Park Tanzania

Chimpanzee trekking

Spending hours trekking in the rainforest on Lake Tanganyika for chimpanzees is a highlight of any trip to western Tanzania, home to Jane Goodall, which is one of the best places to see chimpanzees in East Africa.

Birding tours

The park’s 200-odd bird species range from the iconic fish eagle to the jewel-like Peter’s twinspot that hop tamely around the visitors’ centre.

Primate walks

The most visible of Gombe’s other mammals are also primates. A troop of beachcomber olive baboons, understudy since the 1960s, is exceptionally habituated, whereas the red-tailed and red colobus monkeys – the latter regularly hunted by chimps – stick to the forest canopy.

Hiking in Gombe Stream National Park

Travellers can take a hike on some small trails along Lake Tanganyika as they search for small things like birds, and insects and appreciate the view of the endless Lake Tanganyika

Swimming

For swimming in particular, always check with locals which areas are considered safe to swim and which are not. Lake Tanganyika is also a well-renowned venue for freshwater angling with the sheer number of fish in the lake rivaling the variety of species.

Snorkelling

Scuba or snorkelling within Kigoma is organized by George Qazumbe and he is based at Aqua Lodge or the small row of buildings outside on the main road. His trips are great and he is one of the few people that know all of the fish. Researchers who do fish work in the lake use him as their guide as well.

When to visit Gombe Stream National Park

Trekking chimpanzees in Gombe National Park can be done throughout the year, but the odds of finding them quickly are better towards the end of the Dry season, from July to October. This is when the chimps tend to stick to the lower slopes. In the Wet season, it might take three to four hours to locate the chimps.