GREYSTOKE MAHALE

Located on a far-flung beach along the eastern shores of Lake Tanganyika, below a huge story-book tropical forest, is the tiny sanctuary of Greystoke Mahale. The water is as clear as gin, the air scented, and the living very easy indeed.

The slopes of the Mahale Mountains rise behind camp, home to the worlds largest known population of chimpanzees. Within hiking distance is one such group of 60. Every day you can venture out into the forest to observe them, our closest relatives, as they groom, wrestle and forage across the leafy floor.

Chimpanzee Trekking usually takes place in the morning and requires a modicum of fitness.

After lunch you can kayak along the lakeshore, snorkel or fish, the area of lake in front of the National park is a reserve where no commercial fishing is permitted so the snorkelling and fishing are excellent.

As you make the approach to Greystoke by dhow, the outline of the camp is visible against a backdrop of deep green forest and pale beach. The focal point of Greystoke is the bar and dining area rising up from the sand and loosely modelled on traditional Tongwe architecture.

Your home at Greystoke Mahale is in comfortable wooden bandas looking out across the beach, with interiors fashioned from seasoned dhow timber. The six-suites are open-fronted, with adjoining bathrooms, and upstairs chill-out decks, designed for the most demanding castaway. Greystoke is a more upmarket and expensive alternative to the nearby Kungwe Beach lodge which shares the same Chimpanzee group.

A trek through the rainforest takes you to Mahale’s chimpanzees. Tracking the primates is all part of the experience of observing the nine species of primate which inhabit Mahale of which the endangered chimpanzee is the most famous. Sixty chimps live in the mountains close to camp, and have become habituated to human presence over two decades of contact.

Greystoke camp can add an interesting extra dimension to a traditional bush safari in the wonderful National parks for which Tanzania is rightly famous. The flights are not daily and a three or four day stay is recommended. The park combines nicely with the Northern or Southern Safari circuit or with its sister camp Chada in the very wild and remote Katavi National Park.

The best time to visit Mahale is between June and March with the cooler months of June to August perhaps being the optimum choice.