Sample Web Western Tanzania Spectacular

Introduction

For the perfect escape from the crowds, take a week to explore the wild, remote but rewarding Tanzanian National Parks of Katavi and Mahale in Western Tanzania. Both are gloriously scenic but utterly contrasting, linked by convenient safari flights and by the fact that they are both marvellously isolated and little visited.

Where else but Katavi can one enjoy vast herds of buffalo, pools oozing with more hippo than mud and great river bridges of crocodile? And then secure such privileged, exclusive access to chimpanzees so close as in Mahale?

Wonderfully remote and un-touristy, Katavi offers a varied landscape of beautiful woodlands, floodplains and arid landscapes. In the dry season, there is nowhere to match Katavi National Park for huge herds of elephant. At any time of the year, the Hippo Pool puts all other hippo pools to shame; hundreds of closely-packed hippos grunting and snorting generally luxuriating in a great, black, sticky mud of hippo waste!

The Mahale National Park is the most remote and one of the smallest of Tanzania’s National Parks, its forested mountain peaks hugging the shore of Lake Tanganyika in Western Tanzania and providing a protected habitat for chimpanzees. Inaccessible by road, Mahale covers an area of approximately 1,600km2. Access is initially by light aircraft, and then by dhow.

Chimpanzee trek

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 perhaps approaching a thousand), allowing some excellent sightings.

Don’t expect the reward of a great encounter without some hard walking and climbing! The best time to visit is generally accepted to be the dry season which runs roughly from July to October. It is possible to visit at all times of year, but 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. Your base here is the lovely Mbali Mbali Mahale.

Tailor-made options:

This tour departs on a Thursday so you have 4 nights in Katavi and 3 nights in Mahale. However if you depart on a Monday, you can have 3nights Katavi and 4n Mahale.

Why not end this adventure with 2-3 nights in Zanzibar to relax is perfect!

Key

FB+: Full Board Plus - Dinner, Bed, Breakfast, Lunch and Activities

 

Fast Facts

Includes

Excludes

Fast Facts

8 Days / 7 Nights

Includes

Full Board, Accommodation and Meals as specified in the itinerary. Packed lunch on day of departure. Shared Charter Flights (Arusha - Katavi - Mahale - Arusha). Luggage allowance of 15kgs per person. Local beers, selection of spirits and house wines, soft drinks and water. Daily Conservation, Concession and Guide fees for park entrance. Guiding with English Speaking Driver/Guide. Game drives in a 4x4 vehicle on a shared basis in Katavi. 1 x Chimpanzee Trek per day in Mahale. 1 x Boat Safari in Mahale (Option 1: See the hippos, take a short river cruise, and try your hand at local methods of freshwater fishing. Option 2: Visit a neighboring fishing village, Katumbi, for a cultural tour. Or, pay for an additional boat safari and do both). Birding and forest walks in Mahale All transfers as indicated. All laundry services.

Excludes

Non-house drinks, At Katavi: additional night game drives (TANAPA fees of USD 50pp), fly camping (must be prebooked); private use of vehicle (must be prebooked); at Greystoke: fishing ($50pp per trip - one fishing trip will be costed into the quotation unless requested otherwise)

Katavi National Park: Chada Katavi

Katavi from the air Chada Plain Relaxing at Chada Katavi

Mahale Mountain National Park: Greystoke Mahale

Life in the canopy A-Frame banda set back in the forest Greystoke Mahale

Katavi National Park: Chada Katavi

Katavi from the air Chada Plain Relaxing at Chada Katavi

Mahale Mountain National Park: Greystoke Mahale

Life in the canopy A-Frame banda set back in the forest Greystoke Mahale

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