Primate Pursuits

Primate lovers joined Travel Crafter on a unique adventure to trek for chimps and mountain gorillas in remote Tanzania and Rwanda. The chimp treks are not something you hear of many people doing due to their remote locations. Travel Crafter enlisted the help of partner, internationally acclaimed Micato Safaris, as the outfitter for this custom adventure. The journey began with a 2+hour private charter flight from Arusha, Tanzania to the tiny lakeside airstrip at the Mahale Mountains National Park. From there, we embarked on a 2-hour traditional dhow boat chugging our way up Lake Tanganyika (the largest freshwater lake in the world) to our secluded beach lodge nestled in the tropical shade and steps from the sandy shores of the beautiful lake. A real off the grid and wonderful experience! The Mahale Mountains National Park is one of very few parks in Africa that can only be experienced by foot – no roads. The trekking to spend time with one of the chimpanzee troops can be a workout for sure, and involves making your way through dense jungle foliage, climbing up and down slippery slopes, and walking along tree root littered paths. From Mahale, we retraced our “steps” sailing back to the plane and then flew on to Kigoma. Upon landing, we embarked on a 3-hour dhow ride up the other side of Lake Tanganyika to Gombe Stream National Park, near the border with Burundi. Over a half a century ago, Jane Goodall arrived (much in the same fashion as we had) to begin her lifelong study of the chimps in this area. In addition to 2 days of observing chimps in their natural habitat, Travel Crafter participants were treated to a visit of Jane Goodall’s house at the Gombe Stream Research Center and a discussion with Dr. Anthony Collins, director of Baboon Research of the Jane Goodall Institute. Another highlight of our time in remote Tanzania was a visit to Ujiji, a small village on the shores of Lake Tanganyika where in 1871, reporter Henry Morton Stanley came ashore and spoke the famous line, “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?” upon meeting the British explorer David Livingstone. The finale of this primate adventure took place on the velvet-green slopes of the Virunga Volcanoes in Rwanda. Only 8 people can trek each day to catch glimpses of an endangered mountain gorilla family that call this lush landscape their home. After hours of trekking up the mountainside, we were finally rewarded with a mountain gorilla group just steps away from us. And as it started to drizzle, we couldn’t help but be reminded of Dian Fossey and her epic book, “Gorillas in the Mist.”