Chimpanzee tracking in Gombe Stream

too small to maintain a viable population of chimpanzees

Set in the extreme west of Tanzania, Gombe Stream is a small reserve on Lake Tanganyika where the primary activity is chimpanzee trekking, but which is very much a second best option compared with the nearby Mahale Mountains area.

First protected in 1943 and upgraded to national park status as early as 1965, Gombe is a 20km boat ride north of the frontier town of Kigoma.

It covers an area of just 25 square kilometres, largely comprised of forested mountains which slope down to the shores of the vast lake.

The place is best known for its population of around 100 chimpanzees, some of which have been habituated and can be observed at close range.
This was the location for British primatologist Jane Goodall’s original and pioneering research during the 1980s, which first brought the plight of chimpanzees to the attention of the world.

Unfortunately Gombe Stream itself is too small a park to offer protection to a sufficiently large population of chimpanzees to make the place sustainable. The natural landscape has now been encroached upon from every direction, accelerated in the 1990’s by refugees pouring out of Rwanda following the genocide. What remains is very much an island of forest.

We have heard it said that the chimpanzee behaviour here has become worryingly disturbed. We remember an evening in Kigoma during 2004 when one researcher literally wept into her beer, “the chimps are dying, Gombe is dying”.

These days The Goodall Institute seems to have departed for good and we have been unable to get any comment from them.

On a more practical level, Gombe Stream National Park remains relatively difficult to access, using the notoriously unreliable scheduled flight service from Dar es Salaam to Kigoma, followed by a long boat journey up the lake. Often at least one night is needed in Kigoma along the way.

The park also contains only relatively moderate accommodation options.

Many years ago we used to regularly include Gombe Stream into safaris, but between 2003 and 2007 we swung almost entirely over to the Mahale Mountains, which is located around 150 km to the south, also on the lake.

The Mahale area is much larger and more scenically beautiful, is home to a much larger and more sustainable chimpanzee population, has much better accommodation options and can be accessed by direct flights from Serengeti. It’s really a no-brainer.

These days Gombe Stream is most often visited by intrepid backpackers on their way through this relatively remote region, who cannot afford the longer boat journey to Mahale.

difficult to access and short on accommodation options