The hook
The forested slopes above Lake Tanganyika where Jane Goodall began her famous study of wild chimpanzees, and where you can still hike into the trees to sit near our closest relatives, on the shore of one of the oldest and deepest lakes on earth.
01Why it's worth it
In remote western Tanzania, tiny Gombe Stream National Park is where, in 1960, Jane Goodall began the groundbreaking research that transformed how we understand chimpanzees, and humans; her habituated community's descendants still live here. Tracking them means hiking up steep forest slopes to spend a precious hour near wild chimps as they feed, groom, and squabble, a moving encounter with animals whose behaviour and social bonds mirror our own. The park sits on the shore of Lake Tanganyika, the second-oldest and second-deepest freshwater lake in the world, a vast, clear body of water full of endemic fish, where you can swim and snorkel off the forest edge. Nearby Mahale Mountains National Park offers a similar, wilder chimp experience. It is genuinely remote, reached by light aircraft and boat, and correspondingly uncrowded and expensive, but for a close encounter with wild chimpanzees in a beautiful lakeside forest, it is unmatched.
02How to experience it
Reach Gombe or Mahale by light plane and boat, and hike with rangers to track the chimpanzees, keeping the required distance and time limits that protect them. Balance the tracking with swimming and relaxing on Lake Tanganyika's clear shore. Go in the dry season; expect remoteness and a premium price for the privilege.