It encompasses (and is named for) the forested Mahale Mountains, where the highest points of Mount Nkungwe reach elevations of over 2,400 metres. The enormous Mahale Mountains National Park extends over 1,650km² (165,000 hectares) of craggy mountains and rolling hills. Chimpanzee mum and baby in Gombe Stream National Park Mahale Mountains National Park
A caveat to this is that if the chimps decide not to hang out near the beaches, the search through the forests can be physically demanding, and a certain level of fitness is essential. Like any safari experience, there is always an element of luck involved, but the viewing in either location can be extraordinary. In Tanzania, they are found only in Gombe and Mahale. The chimpanzees in Tanzania are Eastern chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) – the most common subspecies of chimpanzee found throughout the Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda. As a result, many aspects of their wild lives can be viewed through the lens of our evolutionary history. Their body language and facial expressions seem to convey a wide range of emotions we so typically associate with humanity: melancholy, envy, shame, disdain, savagery … chimpanzees use tools and wage coordinated wars. They have their own social complexities, dramas, and escapades. Unlike the relatively congenial gorillas with their vegetarian diets, chimpanzees are social, intelligent predators. This is especially true of chimpanzees which are, of course, our closest primate relatives.
However, there is something undeniably spiritual about their company and the intelligence, much closer in kind to our own, in their eyes. This could be partly due to the rewarding process of finding them – after long treks along muddy forest and mountain paths, through biting nettles and motivated by anticipation. A word on chimpanzees – our forest kinĪnyone who has spent time with one of the planet’s great ape species will be able to attest to the fact that it is world’s apart from, say, an elephant or lion sighting. The mountains of Gombe, sloping down to Lake Tanganyika, blanketed in forest.
The sight of a troop of chimpanzees or perhaps a slinking leopard on Lake Tanganyika’s beaches is not readily forgotten. The wildlife of the surrounding forests regularly descends from the mountainous surroundings to drink at its shores. As part of the Albertine Rift of the East African Rift Valley, it is the second oldest and longest freshwater lake in the world. Lake Tanganyika has played an enormous role in shaping this ecosystem, and its long white beaches and crystal-clear waters (and cichlid populations) are attractions in their own right. Though most visitors are drawn here to view the chimpanzees, this is a remarkably biodiverse part of Tanzania, situated at the gradual transition between Central Africa’s rainforests and the savannas of East Africa. Both parks are accessible only by boat, and there are no roads within the parks – exploration can only be undertaken on foot. Further south, situated midway along the lake’s length, is the much larger (and even more remote) Mahale. Both Gombe Stream National Park (Gombe) and Mahale Mountains National Park (Mahale) are positioned on the lake’s eastern shores, with tiny Gombe the northernmost of the two, not far from the town of Kigoma. The shores of Lake Tanganyikaįor 600km on the western edge of Tanzania, the long strip of Lake Tanganyika marks the country’s boundary with the Democratic Republic of Congo to the west. For those in the know, these two remote sections of one of the wildest parts of Africa are something of a primate mecca – where a pilgrimage to meet our forest kin takes place in the verdant forests along the shore of one of the continent’s Great Lakes. Yet, there are two national parks where visitors can combine the safari experience with chimpanzee trekking: Gombe Stream National Park and Mahale Mountains National Park. It does not, however, immediately conjure images of chimpanzees swinging through forest canopies. Most safari enthusiasts associate Tanzania rolling savannas, herds of wildebeest mowing extensive grasslands and a plethora of iconic predators.
0 kommentar(er)
