Gombe National Park

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Gombe

Gombe National Park is one of Tanzania's most distinctive wildlife destinations, located along the spectacular shores of Lake Tanganyika in western Tanzania. The park is characterized by steep forested hills, narrow valleys, streams and lush tropical vegetation descending toward the lake. Covering about 52 square kilometres, Gombe is one of Tanzania's smaller national parks, but its importance for wildlife conservation is exceptional. Gombe is internationally renowned for its chimpanzees. The park became famous through the pioneering work of Dr. Jane Goodall, whose chimpanzee research began in 1960 and helped transform the world's understanding of chimpanzee behaviour and social relationships. Gombe was later upgraded to national park status in 1968. Chimpanzee trekking is the park's signature experience. Visitors walk through the forest with trained guides and rangers in search of habituated chimpanzee communities. Seeing chimpanzees feeding, climbing, grooming, playing and interacting in their natural environment provides a very different experience from a conventional savannah safari. The forest is also home to red colobus, red-tailed monkeys, blue monkeys, olive baboons and vervet monkeys, plus a rich variety of birdlife.