WESTERN TANZANIA CIRCUIT

GOMBE STREAM NATIONAL PARK

Gombe Stream National Park is located outside the Kigoma town about 16 kilometers north in the western part of Tanzania covering an area of 52 squares kilometers making the smallest National park in the country.

The park is narrow strip of a mountainous country border by the crest of the African Rift Valley walls to the east and Lake Tanganyika to the west the deepest lake in Africa.

The vegetation of the Gombe varies from green tropical forest with tall trees to the shrub and thickets. This accommodates varieties of primates the major once are the Chimpanzee (more than 150 are recorded), others include bushbucks, vervet monkeys, baboons, colobus and bushpigs. The best time to visit Gombe stream National Park is during the dry season as it gets so wet in the rain seasons. Rain jacket is important to have.

Mahale National Park covers an area of approximately 1600 square kilometers making it the most remote park in the country. The park lies 120 kilometers south of Kigoma on peninsula that cuts out into Lake Tanganyika. The vegetation of the Mahale is populated with the Miombo woodland, the narrow forest along the rivers.

There are also a variety of other animals, including buffaloes, zebras, roan antelopes, hyena, wild dogs, giraffes, elephants, bushpigs and lions although these are seldom seen on the eastern shrubs of the park.

The major features of the park are the Mahale mountain chain running from north-west across the middle of the park. The National Park accommodates about 700 Chimpanzees population inside its boundaries. Yet Gombe stands as a recommendable place to visit these primates as they are more accessible with 5 m.

Katavi National Park is the third largest in Tanzania with an area approximately 4,500 square kilometers and was gazetted as a national park in 1974. The park is famous for its unspoiled

wilderness areas compare with other parks in the country. The main vegetation of the park is scattered acacia trees near Lake Chada, the grassy Katavi flood plain and Miombo woodland.

The park's Lakes (Katavi and Chada) and river Katuma are rich in birdlife more than 400 species are recorded to date, and has the largest population of crocodiles and hippos in Tanzania.

Other animals are the largest population of African buffaloes than any place in the country, lions, elephants, leopards, giraffes, roan and sable antelopes. Together with Ruaha National Park the two make a huge eco-system.