Tanzania Western Circuit

The Western Circuit embraces the parks along Lake Tanganyika, the western border of Tanzania with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The vast space in a remote natural location makes the circuit worth a visit. Gombe Stream National Park was made famous by Jane Goodall’s research on its chimpanzee population and subsequent habituation. Mahale Mountains National Park further south, on the shores of the gin-clear waters of Lake Tanganyika, is a more authentic chimpanzee experience and highly recommended. You'll have to go further to find the chimps but you'll get a better idea of how chimps are in the wild than by observing them at feeding pens. Katavi National Park is another 150km towards the south-east of Mahale and probably gets fewer than 500 tourists a year.

More on Tanzania Western Circuit holidays

Two of the three Western Circuit parks are well worth a visit if you appreciate primates and off-the-beaten track safaris. Getting there is fairly expensive because all three parks are a long way to fly from Arusha or Dar es Salaam. There are only two flights a week so you'll have to stay at least a week (three days at Mahale and four at Katavi, or vice versa). You can link Katavi with Ruaha if you like; a good combination would be Ruaha, Katavi and Mahale Mountains.