Come here to see chimpanzees and experience natural locations that are off the beaten track. The Western Circuit embraces the parks along Lake Tanganyika, the western border of Tanzania with the Democratic Republic of the 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 in feeding pens. Katavi National Park is another 150km towards the south-east of Mahale and probably gets fewer than 500 tourists a year.
Kigoma and Mpanda, reached by scheduled flight from Dar es Salaam.
July to October for chimpanzee trekking and Katavi's dry season.
Around 900 in Mahale and roughly 100 across two communities in Gombe.
Boat transfers along Lake Tanganyika; most camps close part of November to May.
The middle and end of the dry season is when this circuit works. From July to October the chimps stay close to the lakeshore and are far easier to find, and Katavi's hippos gather in their hundreds in the shrinking pools of the Katuma River.
From November to May many of Katavi's game-drive tracks are impassable and most camps close for part or all of the period. Trekking remains possible in the rain, but the forest trails are slippery and the chimps range higher up the slopes.
Katavi, Gombe and Mahale take planning — flights are limited and seasonal. Talk to us early about dates.
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