Why Visit Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania
Gombe Stream National Park is remarkable biodiversity with a plethora of wildlife species and natural features to encounter. There are a lot of things to do on a
Tanzania safari to Gombe Stream National park and among these include the following;
Activities to do in Gombe National Park
Gombe national park is one of the two places in Tanzania to meet our closest relatives, the chimpanzees. Chimpanzee tracking is the most popular and sought after tourism activity in the park. There are over 100 chimpanzees present in the forest of Gombe. The chimpanzees in Gombe were the first habituated troop in Africa. Kasekela chimpanzee community got used to human presence as far as 1960 when Jane Goodall started her research work. A date with the chimpanzee in Gombe forest is a memorable experience as you get to witness our closest cousins play around as they jump from one canopy to another. They also exhibit intriguing abilities like showing compassion to one another, calculating their next movement and gathering food with natural tools like sticks and tree branches.
- Trekking Other small primates
Gombe national park has a large section of tropical rainforests with several other small primates that linger around and these include the red-tailed monkeys, olive baboons, red colobus, blue monkeys and vervet monkeys. A walk around the forest will enable you to see most of the aforementioned primate species interacting amongst each other. You will be able to take their pictures and videos. You are advised to carry a binocular to get the most out of your trekking experience due to the agile and arboreal nature of these primates.
Gombe national park is such a tinny natural habitat that can easily be explored on foot. Different hiking trails are leading to the various amazing national features within the forest. Some of the features to enjoy on a nature walk are Kakombe waterfalls and Mkenge water wall. The two water features are great picturesque places of nature perfect for photo shooting and sightseeing. The Nature walks also provide random sights of wildlife species in the forest, including the chimpanzees, different species of monkeys and bush pigs.
With over 200 bird species recorded in its expanses, Gombe Stream national park is truly a birder’s paradise. The birds to watch around the park include the African fish eagle, Kenya rufous sparrow, Livingstone’s turaco, Palm-nut vultures and African paradise flycatcher. The popular breeding spots of birds in the park are the lake shores, palm tree section and the rainforest region. Migratory birds can be seen from April to November.
- Gombe Stream Research Centre Visit
A visit to the Gombe Stream Research Centre is noteworthy, the centre is the oldest primatology research centre in Africa. It was established by Jane Goodall in the 1960s when she was carrying out behaviour and physical studies about chimpanzees. Research about the chimpanzees is still going on up-to-date; demographic patterns, male politics, hunting, culture and mother-infant relationships over multiple generations—rare and valuable data. A tour around the centre enables you to know about the chimpanzee in depth. The historical feed station where Jane Goodall used to feed the chimps is within the vicinity.
- Dr Livingstone Museum and Memorial centre Tour
Get to know more about the history of abolishing the slave trade in Africa and the journeys and missionary activities of Dr David Livingstone by visiting this memorial centre, located in Ujiji Kigoma town. There are remains of Dr Livingstone and also his books to look at and read respectively at the centre.
Kigoma Community Tour
Kigoma is the gateway to the remote areas of Gombe. Visiting the homesteads and social centres like hospitals, schools and vulnerable organization is the best way to interact with the local people and also to reward for their preservation and conservation efforts of Gombe national park and Mahale National park, the two natural wonders in the region.
Lake Tanganyika Tour
Gombe National Park borders Lake Tanganyika in the east, the lake is regarded as the longest and deepest water body in Africa. Tourists of Gombe national park can visit the lake to relax and enjoy the sea breeze after a strenuous chimpanzee trekking experience. Some of the activities to engage in at the lake are swimming, sunbathing and relaxation at the beaches, boat cruising and snorkelling. The lake has over 100 species of colourful cichlid fish.