Overview

If you have the budget, this tour is a once in a lifetime wildlife experience combining Tanzania’s Chimpanzees at Mahale Mountains with the wildlife of Katavi, Tanzania’s remotest park.  Staying at the incredible Greystoke camp, this trip is exclusive and promises to provide incredible memories.  
  1. Katavi Wildlife Camp
  2. Greystoke Mahale

Key Details

  • Duration:

    (7 Days/6 Nights)

  • Price From (based on 2 people sharing):

    US$11140 per Person

  • Type:

    Off the Beaten Track Tour

  • Includes:

    • Accommodation & meals as specified in the tour
    • Non-premium brand drinks at Greystoke Mahale
    • Safaris & activities mentioned in the itinerary
    • Ground transfers
    • Park fees and other government fees

  • Excludes:

    • Drinks on non Greystoke days
    • Optional excursions
    • Laundry
    • Tip

     

  • Day 1

    Leave Arusha early via the Serengeti (dependent on schedule) and Tabora to refuel.  Arrive at Katavi Wildlife Camp in Katavi National Park in time for a late lunch and a siesta. Take a short afternoon walk with your safari guide and see more of the immediate surrounding area around camp, arriving back at camp in time for sundowners around the fire and supper

  • Day 2

    Enjoy an early morning game drive and head further into the wilds of Katavi.  Katavi is renowned for its game, with huge herds of buffalo and elephants often seen on the plains in front of camp.  Animal interaction can be intense.  We'd suggest sundowners out on the plains; the light is gorgeous at that time of day whilst you marvel at the big herds of buffalo and elephant.

  • Day 3

    Another early start to beat the heat; explore further afield and take a picnic.   After lunch we'd suggest a short walk around this new area, back in camp in time for sundowners followed by dinner

  • Day 4

    This morning depart from Katavi Wildlife Camp for your one-hour flight to Mahale airstrip, followed by a 90 minute trip on Lake Tanganyika in a traditional dhow to Greystoke Mahale with lunch on board.  Just the fact that you can only access the camp by boat is so exciting and makes one feel completely away from it all totally isolated.  On approaching Greystoke camp, you are faced with a beach and a large dramatic dining tent. It’s quite something with the mountain behindAfter arrival, settle into Greystoke, meeting the team who will also tell you about the chimpanzee activities and all that is on offer in this amazing cut off part of the world.  Many of the chimps studied over the years have names and your guide can give a brief potted history of many of the chimps.  In the afternoon enjoy some well-earned leisure time – take a kayak out and marvel at the crystal-clear waters of Lake Tanganyika full of lovely fish and hippo which you can actually see walking on the lake floor. Alternatively, take a dhow cruise down the lake, a spot of fishing, a short forest hike, or just relax on the beach outside your room fringing the deepest lake in the world.  Meet at the bar for drinks before dinner.

  • Day 5

    Whilst you enjoy a wonderful breakfast, the Chimpanzee scouts and trackers will already be out tracking the chimps and will come back to tell you approximately how far the walk will be to see the chimps.  Head off in small groups, walking up the narrow mountain trails to find them.  There is nothing quite like your first encounter with chimps in the wild.  They deserve some time to watch them and learn about each character. The guides here have incredible knowledge and can share their tales from years gone by about each chimp.  The viewing of chimps is strictly regulated and you have one hour with them whilst they do their own thing, eating, foraging, playing, squabbling...pretty much like humans !Head back to camp lunch before relaxing back at your lake side room or head off on the dhow for a deep-water swim in the lake followed by some line fishing. At sunset enjoy a beach supper under the stars as the sun sets over the lake.  Magic.

  • Day 6

    Start the day with more chimp trekking after breakfast. After lunch, relax at leisure before catching up on the day's stories around the campfire before dinner

  • Day 7

    Head out early morning in a kayak and have your first cup of coffee out in the middle of the lake or enjoy a relaxed morning in camp before boarding a dhow and heading back up to the airstrip to meet the plane back to Arusha and your onward travel.