Among the
Chimpanzees at Gombe Stream National Park: "The Chimpanzees
are classified among the great apes, with the
gorilla, orangutan, and bonobo (pygmy chimpanzee).
Large, big brain and no tail. Chimpanzees live in
lowland and mountain forests, dry woodlands, and
open savanna country. They range across equatorial
Africa from Senegal to Uganda, Burundi and
Tanzania." The program was
done by Chimpanzee Safaris, specialists in
Chimpanzee Safaris to Gombe & Mahale
N Operators of:
Kigoma Hilltop Hotel-In Kigoma Town Nkungwe Luxury
Tented Camp-At Mahale National Park Gombe Luxury Tented
Camp-At Gombe National Park. P.O Box 1160,
Kigoma-Tanzania TEL: (255 28)
2804435/6/7 FAX: (255 28)
2804434 Mobile: (255 744)
617 077 E Mail:
info@chimpanzeesafaris.com Website:
www.chimpanzeesafaris.com Also at
kigomahilltop@hotmail.com I wired Mr. Imtiaz
the money and I was on my way. As I said, I flew
on Dec 8th with Precision Air to Kigoma, It took
about 2 hours from Dar es Salaam. Upon arrival at
this very small airport (Kigoma 3 letter code is
TKQ) I was picked up
from the airport to Kigoma Hilltop Hotel. It is a
real gem. It is the only luxurious hotel in Kigoma,
situated on the remoteness of an outcrop hill
overlooking the crystal clear blue waters of Lake
Tanganyika and the mountains of the Congo on the
other side. It is about 20 minutes drive from the
airport. The hotel consists of 30 cottage type air
conditioned rooms with en suite bathroom and
toilet. All rooms have hot and cold running water,
Satellite TV. The rooms has colonial ambiance,
balcony that has the view of the lake and amazing
sunsets. The hotel has a
flower shape swimming pool facing the lake and a
multi Gymnasium, Tennis Courts as well as a private
beach. All the meals included in the program. The
meals can be taken at the restaurant or near the
swimming pool. The next morning I
was transferred by a jeep to the boat jetty from
the hotel. The transfer to Gombe National Park is
done either by a speed boat or by a wooden boat.
The speed boat will take about one and half hour
and the wooden boat about two to two and half hours
depends on lake condition and weather. The wooden boat is
more recommended because it is slower and you have
a chance to go by fisherman villages and
spectacular view of the mountains. Since I was the
only one on this particular program, I had my
private boat, a cook a waiter and a personal guide.
I really felt like an African Queen. Gombe Stream
National Park is situated 16 kms north of Kigoma,
in western Tanzania, covering only 52 sq km (20sq
miles) it is a narrow strip of mountainous country
bounded in the east by the crest of the eastern
Rift Valley escarpment, and in the west by Lake
Tanganyika. The western boundary actually excludes
the lakeshore, Allowing local
people to walk along the beach, and fishermen to
camp there. The northern and southern boundaries
are ridges separating the park from the villages of
Mwamgongo and Kasinga. This is the smallest park in
Tanzania. The Luxury tented
Camp is situated at the extreme north of the park
at Mitumba. The camp consists of 6 Luxury tents,
very spacious, 2 double beds, desk and ensuite
shower and toilet, hot and cold water and a lock on
each Zippered tent. As I learned in
camp, the Luxury accommodation just opened on June
19th 2003, due to the kind help and permission of
Hon. Zakia Hamdani Meghji, MP, Minister of Tourism.
Until recently the only accommodation were at the
center of the park, at the research station, at
Kasekela, and it was and still is a very rundown
hostel without shower (using the lake for washing)
and outside eastern toilet. It can accommodate low
budget travelers or day visitors. The only plus
about the location is, it is the beginning point
for chimpanzees trekking. In order to go
trekking for chimps we had to leave the Luxury camp
area, take the boat again for 15 minutes ride from
Mitumba to Kasekela go to the ranger office, sign
in, take a local guide and go through a list of dos
and don'ts, sort of orientation, which is very
important for the visitor and chimps
safety. Trekking without
making sudden noises, chimpanzees are wild animals,
although some were habituated, no flash
photography, and never get
closer than 5m (16ft) The rules were made because
there is considerable danger, both to the
chimpanzees and to the visitor. Chimps share with
us over 95% of our genetic material. We can catch
their diseases, and they can catch ours.
The first day of
trekking in the central area of the park in
Kasekela, was pouring rain, there were few chimps
in sights very high in the trees, chimps hate
coming down on a wet ground, sight was not very
good, later near the Kakombe Waterfall I saw them,
about 20 climbing a tree from far away, the next
day was a difficult trek and no sight of them, but
on the third day, weather cleared we trekked in a
different area at Mkenke south of Kasekela, we left
at 7:00AM and trekked to the top of the mountain,
steep, and slippery but luck was on our side, we
came very close to the main central group, the
Kasekela central group that was habituated by Jane
Goodall. There were between 30-50 chimpanzees
jumping, playing, screaming and grooming, and I was
in seventh heaven. We checked with the
researchers the night before, and we went by the
signs of their dropping and nest locations and
their screaming. Upon returning to camp, I had
another surprise, it was raining very hard, and
when it stopped, my guide called me to come down to
the beach and observe from a close distance, a wild
chimpanzee using tools, she set near a termite
mound with a long twig and fished for termites, it
was unbelievable, it is known that after heavy
rains the termites are in abundance and this
particular activity is described by Jane Goodall in
her books. In 1960 a young
British woman, Jane Goodall, arrived at the
Reserve to begin a study of wild chimpanzees. She
was sponsored by Louis Leakey, the palaeontologist,
who believed that by studying the behaviour of the
great apes, we could learn about our own evolution.
The same Louis Leakey, chose also Dian Fossey, an
American, to study the mountain gorilla in Rwanda
and I was fortunate to trek the Mountain Gorilla in
1989, in Parc de Volcan in the Virunga National
Park, and the third lady was Birute Galdikas, a
Canadian, who studied the Orangutan (man of the
forest) in Borneo, Indonesia. Again I was fortunate
to work with Dr. Birute Galdikas as a volunteer for
the project, through Earthwatch Organization in
1991. ABOUT THE
CHIMPANZEES "The Chimpanzees
are classified among the great apes, with the
gorilla, orangutan, and bonobo (pygmy chimpanzee).
Large, big brain and no tail. Chimpanzees live in
lowland and mountain forests, dry woodlands, and
open savanna country. They range across equatorial
Africa from Senegal to Uganda, Burundi and
Tanzania. The population at Gombe are the south
eastern of the eastern race. PAN TROGLODYTES
SCHEINFURTHII The chimpazees are
covered with long black hair except for their
faces, ears, fingers and toes. After about 20-25
years, males tend to become brown or grey on the
lower back and legs, and some may develop baldness
or grey hair. Many chimps live to be 30 or more.
Average weight 32-50 Kg. They walk on four. They
live in communities of about 20-100 individuals.
Share a common home range of about 10-30 sq km at
Gombe. They roam together. If there is a lot of
food in one area, most will gather in the same
place and be extremely noisy. In Gombe there are
three distinct communities, known as Mitumba,
Kasakela and Kalande. Adult male form the stable
core of the community. And adult female do not
permanently pair with males. Family ties are very
close, infants are born after 8 months, baby clings
to mother's belly. One can be aware of
chimps by hearing their calls, they communicate
very loudly when separated by vegetation or
distance. Their most common call is the
"pant-hoot" It may be
accompanied by drumming on tree-buttresses,
irregular, excited barks are given by chimps who
have found a new food source. Loud repeated screams
are given by a chimp who is being threatened.
Chimps can sit hours and groom each other. Chimps
feed for about 6 hours each day, fruit, leaves, and
seeds and they can be also carnivorous. At the end
of the day they prepare a nest in which they go to
sleep. They sleep alone, but a mother shares a nest
with her infant. Chimps are known to
use tools. He can pick up a vine stem and digs with
its fingers to expose a tunnel in termite mound,
and inserts the tool. Chimps can spend a lot of
time fishing for termite after the rain. Chimps are known to
be engage in warfare and cannibalism." (The description
about the chimpanzees was taken from Gombe Stream
National Park booklet, published by Tanzania
National Parks in co-operation with the African
Wildlife Foundation) After 3 nights and
4 days at Gombe, I took the boat back to Kigoma for
one more night at Kigoma hilltop Hotel. Part of this
package the visitor gets to visit the following
sights in Kigoma: Dr. Livingstone
Memorial in the nearby twin city of Ujiji. The
memorial houses some of the last remains of the
surroundings of Dr. Livingstone's house. Visitors
to the memorial are first given a lecture, under
two historical mango tree, on the life history of
Dr. Livingstone and his famous expedition into
Africa. Ujiji was a collecting point for the
African slave trade taken from the Congo and the
surrounding going the 1,200 KM across Tanzania via
Tabora, Bagomoyo and shipped to Zazibar and to the
Sultanese of Oman. Katonga Fishing
Village , here you see most spectacular displayof
tropical fish and all the processes involved
catching, drying and selling of fish. This area is
famous for the Dagga Fish, (looks like
sardines) Local Market, one
may find kangas, vitenges, which are worn by the
local women. Slave Market
remains at Ujiji including the original road that
was used to ferry slaves from Ujiji to Bagamoyo and
step into the colonial era by visiting the Railway
Station, The Keiser
House. After the half day
sightseeing in Kigoma it is time to say goodby and
take Precision Air back to Dar es
Salaam. Kigoma is the home
of the HA tribe, descendants of the Bantu peoples
who came into the area from West Africa They lived
here for many centuries until Arab traders from
Zanzibar began in the early 19th century to visit
Ujiji to collect slaves. An Arab influence can be
seen today in Kigoma and Ujiji for they brought
Islam and Mango trees. There are also refugees
camps around Kigoma, refugees from Burundi and Zair
after the genocide in Rwanda .
by
Abigail Lubliner
My
dream came true; I visited the chimpanzees of Gombe
Stream National Park. Upon concluding ATA 7th
Cultural & Ecotourism Symposium in Zanzibar at
the Zanzibar Beach Resort, Zanzibar, Dec 2-7th, I
flew with Precision Air from Zanzibar to Dar es
Salaam, to Kigoma, with a short stop at Tabora. I
started researching the park and the logistic how
to get there, staying in camp and tracking the
chimpanzees. I found out that the only tour
operator who replied was the General Manager of
Kigoma Hilltop Hotel, Mr. Imtiaz Lalji. Kigoma Town
is the largest community on the shores of Lake
Tanganyika; situated on the extreme north of the
lake and it is the closest to both Gombe and Mahale
National Parks. It is the gateway to both parks.
Most itineraries will start at one night before
going to either park and one night upon return, so
not to miss any flight back. I chose the 5 Nights/
6 Days program in which 3 nights were at Gombe
National Park, and 2 Nights in Kigoma. This way one
has more chance to see the chimpanzees.
ational
Parks on Lake Tanganyika.
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