Mahale Mountains
- Lovely scenery
- Best place for wild chimpanzee tracking
- Borders Lake Tanganyika
The Mahale mountain range is situated in western Tanzania and borders the beautiful Lake Tanganyika. Most of the area is protected in the Mahale Mountains National Park, a 1 613km˛ reserve of mostly mountainous terrain covered in rainforest. As the land slopes towards the lake, the vegetation changes to savanna and miombo woodland and then to pristine, sandy beaches where land meets the tranquil waters of the lake. The highest peak is 2462m above sea level.
Mahale’s unqiue vegetation creates a special habitat for animals that are quite rare and in need of protection, such as the wild chimpanzees. Other primates found here are yellow baboon, a variety of different monkey species including the Angolan black and white colobus monkeys. More than 200 bird species can be found in the park.
Game viewing can be done either on foot or by boat, from which excellent views can be gained of animals coming to the water to drink. These animals include elephants, buffalos and leopard.
Special features include:
- Wild Chimpanzees
There are very few wild chimpanzees left in the world and in the Mahale National Park, healthy numbers of this threatened species flourish. There are an estimated 1 000 chimpanzees here, which are divided into different communities. The Mimikere community consists of 80 primates that have been habituated to people through a sensitive Japanese research programme. Chimpanzee trekking is one of the most popular activities in Mahale
- Fishing
Angling is another popular activity in Mahale as it offers some of the best fishing opportunities on Lake Tanganyika. Fish numbers are said to be healthy and are easily caught. The main species to look out for are Sangara (Nile perch) and Kuhe (yellow belly)
- Mountain climbing
There is some beautiful mountain climbing in Mahale. It takes an estimated two days to reach Nkungwe peak, but there is a base camp at Mhesabantu Peak and further along the trail
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