Western Tanzania

 

Katavi National Park
The fourth largest national park, Katavi is a wild and remote national park in southwest Tanzania, home to more hippos and crocs than anywhere else in Africa. Katavi reputedly has a higher concentration of mammals than any other reserve in Tanzania, and represents Africa the way it must have been a century ago.  Despite its wealth of wildlife, Katavi sees fewer than 2,000 visitors a year, which guarantees a personal and authentic game viewing experience without hordes of other vehicles.

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Lake Tanganyika
Comprising Tanzania’s western boundary, Lake Tanganyika is one of the largest lakes in Africa, second only to Lake Victoria.  It is the second oldest lake in the world, after Lake Baikal in Siberia.  And at nearly five thousand feet, it is also the second deepest in the world.  This incredible lake contains a full seventeen percent of the earth’s fresh water, nearly as much as all the U.S. Great Lakes combined, and is clean enough to drink.  Its population of Nile perch, kuwe and other fish provides sustenance and vocation to thousands of local fishermen, and its population of cichlids make it a destination for aquarists and ichthyologists alike, who come to admire and study the hundreds of species found nowhere else on the planet.  Lupita Island on Lake Tanganyika is an exclusive and remote private island resort.

 

Mahale Mountains National Park
Remote and mysterious, Mahale Mountains National Park is home to some of Africa’s last remaining wild chimpanzees.  Over 600 square miles in area, the park is situated on the banks of Lake Tanganyika in western Tanzania.  It is one of the very few parks in Africa that must be experienced on foot. There are no roads or other infrastructures within the park boundaries, and the only way in and out of the park is by boat.  Chimpanzee trekking excursions here are for a minimum of three nights, and we book into either Nkungwe Tented Camp or the exclusive Greystoke Mahale.