Gombe National Park
Gombe National Park is one of the Tanzania smallest game park located in Kigoma Region western Tanzania. From Kigoma town which is the capital of Kigoma Region, Gombe is located about 16 km north along the western shore of Lake Tanganyika. This park was established in 1968 and it covers the area of about 13.5 square miles (35km2) situated on the trips of hills. The vegetation covers of Gombe National park ranges from grassland in the lower lands to woodland to tropical rainforest on the upper land. The park is famous as the place where British primatologist Jane Goodall spent almost her entire life conduct a research on behavior of the wild chimpanzee. On her arrival at Gombe about fifty years ago the population of chimpanzee was about 150 individuals but today the number has dropped to 90 individuals. Jane Goodall spent significant time in the forest with chimpanzee studying about their behavior which at last the findings of her research brought a better understanding about the chimpanzee over the previous speculations.
Gombe National Park Animals
Although the main highlight of the animals in gombe are the chimpanzees but there are other animals inhabiting the area such as olive baboon, beach comber, red-tailed monkeys, red colobus, vervet monkeys and blue monkeys. Blue monkeys and Red-tailed monkeys have also been known to hybridize in the area. The park is also home to over 200 bird species and many species of snakes. Other animals which are present in Gombe are the bushpigs, hippos and leopards.
Tourist activities in Gombe National Park
The main tourist activity in gombe is the chimpanzee trekking into the forest of which other primates can be spotted as well. In addition to that visitors to gombe may enjoy swimming and snorkeling in Lake Tanganyika which is said to have about 100 species of colourful fish.
How to visit Gombe National Park?
In order to visit Gombe travelers have to take chartered flight from Arusha to Kigoma and for those from Dar es Salaam there is a daily schedule flight which they can board in. From Kigoma town the park is only accessible by boat. The boat normally takes about 1.5 to 2 hours from Kibirizi port in kigoma to Gombe depends with the weather. Once you book a tour with us we will organize for the boat and arrange everything for you.
The entrance fee for gombe is $ 118 per 24 hours which is the highest of all Tanzanian parks. There is an addition of $ 23.6 per group for trekking chimpanzee in the forest.
Best time to Visit Gombe National Park
If you are planning to visit Gombe National Park you can visit it throughout the year although the best time is during dry season from July to October. In these months the chimpanzees normally move from the upper land to the lower lands. During wet season from November to April the trekking is slippery and challenging. If you plan to visit gombe during this time you should come up with strong shoes, rain clothes.
Gombe National Park Accommodation
There are three accommodations available in Gombe National Park, the Mbali mbali Gombe Lodge, Gombe Rest House and Gombe tented camp. The mbali mbali Gombe lodge is a luxury private owned property while gombe rest house and the tented camp are the budget accommodations owned by the park authority.
