The park is named for the beautiful Mahale Mountains towering over the clear, blue waters and white sand beaches of the peripheral Lake Tanganyika, and it is home to some of Africa’s most captivating wildlife populations. Mahale Mountains National Park was originally created to protect the thousands of chimpanzees that inhabit the region. The forest harbors Tanzania’s densest population of primates such as the yellow baboon, red colobus, blue, red-tailed and vervet monkeys and then, of course, there are the chimpanzees. It is renowned for its fantastic sunsets over Lake Tanganyika, which makes it an essential stop for keen photographers and safari enthusiasts. The lakeshore here is a beach of the finest powder-white sand, behind which rises a range of imposing mountains, clad in verdant tropical vegetation.

Mahale Mountains National Park is explorable by foot, there are no roads or other human made infrastructure within the park’s borders, and the only way to enter is by boat through Lake Tanganyika. This reserve is exceedingly remote, tricky to access, and costly to visit, but the park is very different from anything else in Tanzania, and totally magical. Mahale is probably the best place in the world for chimp safaris.