Mahale Mountains National Park, Eastern chimpanzee sanctuary in Western Tanzania
The Mahale Mountains National Park extends over 1650 square kilometers along Lake Tanganyika, featuring rainforests, woodlands, bamboo forests, and mountain grasslands.
The Tanzanian government established Mahale Mountains National Park in 1985, relocating the Batongwe and Holoholo communities who inhabited the mountains for generations.
Traditional inhabitants of the Mahale mountains included two distinct groups, the Batongwe people with 22,000 members and the Holoholo people with 12,500 members.
Access to the park requires boat transportation on Lake Tanganyika, as there are no roads within its boundaries, with travel times of 9 hours from Kigoma.
The national park contains 700 to 1000 eastern chimpanzees, representing the largest protected population of this subspecies in Tanzania.
Location: Kigoma Region
Inception: 1985
Website: https://tanzaniaparks.go.tz/national_parks/mahale-mountains-national-park
GPS coordinates: -6.26667,29.93333
Latest update: May 19, 2025 06:08
Tanzania offers diverse photography sites from the Serengeti plains to Zanzibar's beaches. The country features Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest peak, ancient Stone Town architecture, and the Ngorongoro crater. Wildlife photography opportunities include elephants in Tarangire, lions in Lake Manyara, and chimpanzees in Mahale Mountains. The coastline presents marine life, coral reefs, and traditional dhow boats.
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