Gombe Stream National Park

Gombe Stream National Park is one of the best places in East Africa to track chimpanzees. First researched in 1960 by the popular chimpanzee lady Jane Goodall, the primates are remarkably habituated. The project now ranks as the world’s longest running study of any wild animal population. The chimpanzee experience in Gombe National Park is one that you are unlikely to forget.

Chimpanzee are the main attraction for visitors to this park, but the park is also home to a troop of habituated olive baboon that can usually be found on the lakeshore. There are several other monkey species present, including red tailed monkeys, which are a dietary supplement for the chimps.

Things to See & Do Gombe Stream National Park

Chimpanzee tracking is the main attraction for visitors that brave the long jounrey to the remote Gombe Stream national park.

Best time to visit Gombe Stream National Park

Trekking chimpanzees in Gombe National Park can be done throughout the year, but the chances of finding them quickly is better towards the end of the Dry season, from July to October. This is when the chimps tend to stick to the lower slopes where there is more fruiting trees. In the Wet season, it might take three to four hours to locate the chimps.

**Visiting gombe in May-April is not possible as the only private lodge in the park is closed.

Passport & Visa Requirements

Entry requirements can change, so please contact your local Tanzania embassy to verify the information below is current.

A passport is required for all foreign visitors and has to be valid for at least six months.
Passports must have a clean and a full visa page for endorsement.
When arriving from a yellow-fever-infected country in Africa or the Americas a yellow fever vaccination certificate is required.
Citizens of most countries require a visa. A list of countries that don’t need a visa is available.
Visas are best obtained in advance through an official online visa-application portal, but they can also be obtained through your local Tanzania Embassy or High Commission.
Visas can also be obtained on arrival but this is a lengthy process that can take one to two hours.

Getting to Gombe Stream

From your home country, you will fly in through Entebbe International Airport (EBB) located near the town Entebbe, about 46km/29mi from the capital, Kampala.

Dependant on your travel plans and Or itinerary, you might book your international flight to arrive Tanzania through Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO) or Julius Nyerere International Airport (DAR) in Dar es Salaam.

Realm Africa Safaris™ will arrange for a representative to pick you up from the airport and transfer You to your hotel or ongoing domestic flight to Kigoma Airport (TKQ). Form Kigoma, you will transfered by boat to Gombe. The boat trip from Kigoma to Gombe Stream National Park takes aprroximately one (01) hour.

Gombe Stream National Park