Gombe Stream National Park Overview

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As your boat glides through the clear waters of Lake Tanganyika towards the sandy beaches and rugged hills of Gombe Stream National Park, you will be struck by the beauty of this unique place. It is a park without roads, where you can walk and experience nature with all your senses. It is Tanzania's smallest park, but you could spend years exploring its forests before seeing all of its wonders.

The Park's most special feature is its chimpanzees, made famous by Jane Goodall's study. You will be amazed at how these wild creatures accept you as they go about their everyday activities.

After a day of roaming the trails, what could be more refreshing than to dive into the cool lake and swim amidst flickering fishes? As the sun sets across the lake and the little lights of the fishing boats spread across the horizon, you may feel that you are visiting an enchanted isle.

In a sense, the Park is indeed an island; a small island of wilderness surrounded on three sides by cultivation and on the fourth by the lake. As such, it is especially vulnerable to change, and needs careful protection.

About Gombe Stream National Park
The Park is situated 16 km north of Kigoma, in western Tanzania, at 40 40' S, 290 38'E. Covering only 52 sq km (20 sq miles), it is a narrow strip of mountainous country bounded in the east by the crest of the eastern Rift Valley escarpment, and in the west by Lake Tanganyika. The western boundary actually excludes the lakeshore, allowing local people to walk along the beach, and fishermen to camp there. The northern and southern boundaries are ridges separating the Park from the villages of Mwamgongo and Kasinga. The Park is dissected by 13 steep-sided valleys carved out by swift-flowing streams running from east to west. The altitude varies from 773 meters above sea level (at the lake shore) to over 1,500 meters at the top of the escarpment (i.e. 2,535 to 4,920 ft).