Western Circuit: Mahale & Katavi Chimpanzee Expedition - 11 Days

Long light-aircraft charter west to Katavi National Park, Tanzania's third-largest park and one of the least visited protected areas in Africa. Afternoon game drive on the Katisunga floodplain.

Katavi, full day among extraordinary dry-season concentrations: hippo packed into shrinking pools in their hundreds, buffalo herds of over a thousand, and the lion prides and crocodile that exploit them.

Katavi, a morning walking safari with an armed guide, an afternoon drive along the Katuma River, and a fly-camping night under the stars where offered.

Charter west to Mahale Mountains National Park on the shore of Lake Tanganyika, reachable only by air and boat. Afternoon settling in on the beach beneath the forested mountains.

First chimpanzee trek, hiking into the Mahale forest with the trackers of the Mahale Mountains Chimpanzee Research Project, following the habituated M-group, one of the longest-studied wild chimpanzee communities on earth. Afternoon swimming, snorkelling or kayaking on Lake Tanganyika.

Second chimpanzee trek, plus forest birding and a waterfall walk in the afternoon.

Third chimpanzee trek or a full-day forest hike higher into the Mahale range; afternoon dhow cruise and sunset fishing on the lake.

Final Mahale morning, a last trek or a lake day with snorkelling among the endemic cichlids. Afternoon at leisure on the beach.

Charter east along Lake Tanganyika with an optional Gombe Stream extension, where Jane Goodall began her work in 1960. Overnight on the lake or at Kigoma.

Charter back to Arusha or Dar es Salaam for international connections.