Gombe is the smallest national park in Tanzania, a narrow strip of forested valleys running down to Lake Tanganyika north of Kigoma. Its significance is entirely out of proportion to its size.
Jane Goodall arrived here in 1960 and the research she began — observing tool use, hunting and complex social behaviour in wild chimpanzees — overturned the accepted understanding of the boundary between humans and other animals. The study has continued without interruption ever since, making it the longest-running field study of any wild animal population anywhere.
Visitors track the habituated Kasekela community on foot through steep forest. Red colobus, red-tailed monkey and olive baboon are also present, and the lake below is good for swimming and snorkelling.