2026 - 13 Days Serengeti and Chimpanzees Adventure

Welcome to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania! You will be met at the airport by one of our representatives. Check into the Crown Hotel (or similar), settling in after your international flight.

This morning after breakfast, you will fly to the famed  Serengeti. Check in at your lodge and enjoy a late lunch before setting out on your first afternoon game drive. Return to camp for dinner under the stars.

Serengeti National Park is one of the world’s most iconic wildlife destinations and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Covering approximately 14,763 km² of endless plains, acacia woodlands, and rocky kopjes, it is famous for the Great Migration — the largest annual movement of land mammals on Earth. Over 1.5–2 million wildebeest, along with hundreds of thousands of zebras and Thomson’s gazelles, traverse the plains in search of fresh grazing and water, followed closely by predators.

The park supports one of the highest concentrations of large predators in Africa, including around 3,000–4,000 lions, leopards, cheetahs, and hyenas. It is also home to the Big Five (lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo, and black rhino), giraffes, hippos, and over 500 bird species. Activities typically include game drives, hot air balloon safaris (especially popular at sunrise over the plains), walking safaris, and visits to kopjes or the Serengeti Visitor Centre. Its vast scale and dramatic wildlife spectacles make it a highlight of any Tanzanian safari.

Spend the day exploring the Serengeti plains on morning and afternoon game drives. All meals are taken at the camp.

Travel to Mwanza on the shores of Lake Victoria and stay at the comfortable Tilapia Hotel. Enjoy lakeside views, relax after the safari. Lake Victoria is Africa's largest lake.

Today, after breakfast, head to Rubondo Island in Lake Victoria, staying at Tanzania National Parks accommodation. 

Two nights in this wild and untouched landscape, trekking in search of chimpanzees and exploring the surrounding nature.

Rubondo Island National Park is a unique and tranquil island sanctuary in the southwestern corner of Lake Victoria. The park covers about 258 km², with over 75% consisting of dense virgin equatorial rainforest. It stands out as Tanzania’s only island national park and offers a more intimate, vehicle-optional wildlife experience compared to the mainland parks.

Key highlights include a population of chimpanzees (descended from animals translocated in the 1960s), along with elephants, giraffes, hippos, sitatunga antelopes, vervet and colobus monkeys, and over 300 bird species. Activities focus on guided forest walks and chimpanzee trekking, The island’s remote, vehicle-light setting provides a peaceful contrast to busier safari areas, with excellent opportunities for immersive nature experiences.

Spend another day immersed in the tropical forests of Rubondo Island in search of chimpanzees and nature walks.

Departure for Biharamolu for a unique cultural experience with the Sukuma tribe.

Participate in a traditional cooking class, meet the local chief, and learn about their customs and way of life.

Overnight stay with a local family.

Biharamulo is in the Kagera region near Lake Victoria and is associated with the Biharamulo Forest Reserve (and nearby Burigi-Chato National Park). This less-visited area features scenic woodlands, birdlife, and species such as elephants, antelopes, hippos, and various monkeys.

Today you will travel to Lake Tanganyika. Arrive in Kigoma on the shores of Lake Tanganyika and check into Sunset View Lodge.

Lake Tanganyika is one of Africa’s most remarkable natural wonders and an African Great Lake. It is the world’s longest freshwater lake, stretching approximately 673–676 km (about 418 miles) in a north-south direction, with an average width of around 50 km (up to 72 km at its widest). Covering a surface area of roughly 32,900 km², it is the second-deepest lake globally (after Lake Baikal), plunging to a maximum depth of 1,470 meters (4,820 feet) and holding an enormous volume of water

Lake Tanganyika serves as the breathtaking backdrop for Kigoma and the western Tanzanian national parks. From the lively lakeside town of Kigoma, visitors depart by boat to reach Gombe Stream National Park for chimpanzee trekking. The lake also offers relaxing boat safaris, swimming in its clean, deep waters, fishing, and scenic views of the sunsets over the rift valley. Its calm, turquoise waters contrast beautifully with the lush green forests of the nearby parks

Take a boat across Lake Tanganyika to Gombe Stream, staying in Tanzania National Park accommodation.

Gombe Stream National Park (often simply called Gombe) is a small but world-renowned park covering just 35 km² along the steep, forested hills of Lake Tanganyika’s eastern shore. It is best known as the site where Dr. Jane Goodall began her groundbreaking, long-term study of wild chimpanzees in 1960 — now the longest-running such study in the world.

The park’s habituated chimpanzee communities offer some of the best primate viewing in Africa. Visitors trek through the lush valleys and forests to observe their complex social behaviors, tool use, hunting, and family dynamics. Other wildlife includes red colobus and vervet monkeys, various birds, and occasional sightings of bushpigs or other small mammals. Access is only by boat from Kigoma, and activities center on chimpanzee trekking, forest walks.

Spend another day dedicated to chimpanzee trekking and forest walks in Jane Goodall’s famous research area, with excellent chances to observe habituated chimps and other primates.

Return by boat to Kigoma and stay again at Sunset Vista lodge for the night.

Travel back to Mwanza for an overnight at Tilapia Hotel

Today you will catch your flight from Mwanza to Dar es Salaam, where you will catch a flight home.