It’s difficult to imagine a more idyllic combination: clear, blue waters and white-sand beaches backed by lushly forested mountains soaring straight out of Lake Tanganyika and some of the continent’s most intriguing wildlife watching. The park is most notable as a chimpanzee sanctuary, and there are about 700 of our primate relatives split into fourteen groups residing in and around the park, with leopard, blue duiker, red-tailed monkeys and red colobus keeping them company.
And, because of the unrivalled remoteness, visitor numbers are very low (though steadily rising) and there's a chance you might literally have the entire 1613-sq-km park all to yourself.
Entry to Mahale Mountains National Park is at Bilenge in the park’s northwestern corner, about 10 minutes by boat south of the airstrip and 20 minutes north of Kasiha, site of the park’s bandas and guides’ residences. Another park office, next to the airstrip and where fly-in guests can pay their entry fees, is open to coincide with flight arrivals on Monday and Thursdays. As there’s no phone service in the park, all advance arrangements are done online via www.mahalepark.org.
There are no roads in Mahale; walking and boating along the shoreline are the only ways to get around.
