Mahale Mountains Tented Camp

Two hundred miles down the eastern shores of Lake Tanganyika lies Mahale Mountains National Park, which is accessible only by light aircraft and Tanganyika dhow. It is an exceptionally unspoilt wildlife sanctuary, reserved entirely for walking. The mountains which rise behind Mahale Mountains Tented Camp to a height of 8000 feet are lush with semi-tropical forest, and this is the range of up to 1000 wild-living chimpanzees. Just behind the camp lives a group numbering about 80 that have been habituated to human contact by a very sensitive, low-key Japanese research project that has been in the Mahale area for about 30 years, and which has installed the wonderful trail system that we use here.

The forest is a unique habitat and home to nine species of primate alone and many other East and West African mammals. Walks beneath the canopy yield glimpses of some of its occupants including flotillas of butterflies, otters in the streambeds and bushbuck along the paths.

THE CAMP

The camp, which accommodates 10 people, is situated on a crescent of beach at the foot of the mountains. The large double tents under thatch are set back from the beach in the shade of a palm grove. The beds have sheets, blankets and a mosquito net and there is a writing table and storage space for clothes. Outside on the verandah there are comfortable chairs and to the rear a canvas tripod washbasin complete with buckets of fresh water. The hot bucket shower and long drop loo each has a canvas surround and are set back in the trees separate from the tents.

Alone on the beach stands the dazzling white Ottoman style dining tent connected to two smaller octagonal tents on either side, each with mahogany poles topped with carved wooden pineapples. The central tent is the dining room with a large table on a raised platform covered in Persian carpets. On one side is a library with deck chairs and large cushions and the other a bar. Video batteries can be charged in camp.

ACTIVITIES

Tracking chimpanzees in the forest when groups are usually found within a hour or two's walking on easy paths and can be observed from a few yards' distance. Walks beneath the forest canopy to observe the other species of mammals, birds, butterflies and flora. Fishing, boating, snorkelling and swimming in the crystal clear water of the lake. For their own safety children under 10 are not permitted to view the chimpanzees.

TRANSFERS

By the camp's light aircraft from Tabora or charter from Nairobi, Arusha and other destinations in East Africa to the Mahale National Park air strip and then a 1 hour boat trip down the lake to the camp. Or take a slow overnight lake passage from Kigoma by Tanganyika dhow down the eastern lakeshore.

SEASONS

Mid-May to mid-October and mid-December to mid-February