Kigoma is a relaxed small town and port on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, in the west of Tanzania. Lake Tanganyika is the longest lake in the world and the second deepest, and it contains around 18% of all fresh water on earth. But it also contains a huge variety of fish, with at least 250 species of cichlids. Cichlids are better known as the colourful aquarium fish and snorkelling in Lake Tanganyika is like snorkelling in a huge fish tank.
Kigoma is the best starting point for a close encounter with the chimpanzees. Gombe NP, made famous by Dr Jane Goodall, is easily accessible from Kigoma and can even be done on a long day trip. There are approximately 90 chimpanzees in Gombe NP living in three communities.
Mahele NP is further from Kigoma and harder to reach, but well worth the extra effort. There are around 700 chimpanzees living in Mahale NP.
It is best to spend 2-3 days tracking the chimpanzees to allow yourself the best chance of seeing them. Unlike their cousins the gorillas, a daily time of one hour with the chimpanzees is included in your daily entry fee into the park. If you are lucky you may observe them using leaves and twigs as tools.
If you have a spare couple of hours, drop into Ujiji and visit the Livingstone Memorial, the location where Henry Stanley asked the famous question “Dr Livingstone, I presume?”.
From Kigoma it is possible to hop on the MV Liemba, the oldest ferry in operation in the world. It sails all the way to Mpulungu in Zambia, but it is also possible to get off at Buhingu (also known as Lugosa or Magambo) which is located only 15km north of the Mahale NP boundary.