Wild Katavi and Mahale Chimp Safari
A 9-day off-the-beaten-track safari to Tanzania's wild west
Personalised journeys from start to finish
Every trip helps support Conservation
Every detail taken care of
What's included
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All accommodation
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Shared safari activities in Katavi and Mahale Mountains National Parks
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Shared charter light aircraft flights, transfers and airport meet and greet
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Full support from your Travel Concierge before, during and after your trip
At a glance
As much an adventure as a luxury safari, this nine-day expedition will take you to the ‘wild west’ of Tanzania, to two stunning but rarely visited national parks.
Begin like most Tanzanian safaris with a relaxing night in Arusha before a light aircraft out to Katavi National Park, a relatively long journey that is soon rewarded. Plains, rivers, hills, lakes and woodland are home to thousands of elephant, zebra, impala and topi, along with a whole roster of predators from lion and wild dog, leopard and hyena, to hippos and crocodiles gathering in great concentrations. A vast and varied landscape, this untamed swathe of the Rift Valley is visited by just a few hundred people annually, meaning you have its almost 4,500 square kilometres to yourself while based under canvas at the intimate Chada Katavi camp.
From Katavi it’s a short flight north to the shores of Lake Tanganyika and the forest slopes of Mahale Mountains National Park. Staying under thatch in one of Greystoke Mahale’s beach and looking out to the lake’s water, spend your days here venturing into the forests on foot in search of habituated chimpanzee troops – the park’s most famous inhabitants – for an unforgettable and humbling encounter with one of our closest ape relatives. There will also be plenty of time to relax, kayak on the lake, fish from traditional dhows, swim under waters falls and enjoying incredible sunsets.
This is a great trip for second time visitors or those looking to extend the usual safari ‘circuit’ into something even more extraordinary.
Example trip itinerary
Arusha
Transfer
Meet and greet at Kilimanjaro airport
Transfer
Private transfer to your hotel in Arusha
Accommodation in Arusha
Arusha
Highlights
- 18 Plantation rooms
- 12 Plantation suites
- Swimming pools
- Wireless internet access
- Coffee plantation guided walk
- Tours into Arusha
Overview
Ideally situated on the outskirts of Arusha, this lodge is a brilliant spot to stay either before, or after your safari in Tanzania. Hidden on the grounds of one of Tanzania’s largest coffee farms, with wonderful views of the Tanzanian countryside and away from the hustle and bustle of the city of Arusha. The cottages offer you a homely space to either relax after a long international flight, or to flick through your photos before you head home again. In the main lodge you can enjoy the warmth of open log fires while sipping a well-earned gin and tonic or spend time in the gardens breathing in the smells of the coffee bushes around you.
The farm itself can be explored on a two hour guided walk which gives a superb insight into the methods of coffee farming and ends with an excellent brew of the local beans. You have the chance to venture into Arusha if the need takes you, but otherwise you can just make the most of the large grounds. If the midday heat gets a bit much, they also have a refreshing outdoor pool with shaded sun loungers among the manicured gardens and patios.
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Arusha
Highlights
- 6 Luxurious garden cottages
- 1 Family cottage: 2 rooms
- 2 Luxury rooms in the Old Farmhouse
- Walk around the grounds
- Explore Arusha's museums and markets
Overview
Each of the six garden cottages has their own private veranda and is beautifully decorated with a nod to a bygone era with the choice of antique furniture. They have large and extremely comfortable beds and a lounge area with a fireplace to take the chill off the cooler African nights.
The family cottage has two bedrooms and a private garden which is a superb way to spend some time relaxing in absolute luxury during your stopover before or after your safari. Two cosy en-suite rooms in the Old Farmhouse provide a comfortable retreat from which you can explore the grounds of this genuine coffee farm.
After roughly an hour’s drive through Arusha, you will arrive at the farm and have the chance to either relax and spend time in the well kept grounds, or venture into the city to see some of the museums and markets on offer. The service at Legendary Lodge is excellent, without doubt one of the premier hotels in the area.
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Arusha
Overview
Less than an hour from Arusha and Kilimanjaro Intenational Airport, Kili Villa offers a selection of exclusive private use and shared villas with spectacular views to Mount Meru and Kilimanjaro.
The villas can accommodate groups of up to eight people in private suites, ideal for groups of friends and families. Double rooms in a shared villa can also be arranged. Each villa is distinctively decorated combining local African design and craftsmanship with colonial style furniture. Built around a central private courtyard, each villa boasts a reception, living and dining room.
The staff in each villa offers personal service to have a truly relaxed time here. A private chef will cater according to your requests and private staff ensures you can truly enjoy your time here.
Whether you want to spend an afternoon at the Polo Club, get on Kilimanjaro’s slopes, enjoy a day of safari in Arusha National Park, your manager is on hand to organise day trips and excursions. Golf is a major attraction for guests here and it’s a short stroll to the tee box from your doorstep. You can go also for a horse riding safari to spot some small wild living on the estate.
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Overnight in Arusha
Enjoy a restful overnight stay in your chosen accommodation in or just outside of Arusha.
Transfer
Private transfer from Arusha hotel to Arusha airport
Flight
Shared charter flight from Arusha to Katavi
Transfer
Transfer from Katavi airstrip to your lodge
Katavi National Park
Accommodation in Katavi National Park
Katavi National Park
Overview
Not for the faint hearted but rather more suited to the truly adventurous who are looking for total absorption into the natural world and a vast African landscape virtually to themselves. This remarkable tented camp is located in an unbelievable game catchment area and offers you some prime game sightings.
The camp has only six spacious and comfortable en-suite tents all elevated on brand new wooden platforms and look out over the wide open Chada Plain. The bathrooms have hot bucket showers to wash away the dust of the day and are delightfully ‘bush-deluxe’. Surrounded by acacia and tamarind trees, the camp feels a bit wild and rugged but the set up is stylish and nothing short of spectacular for its isolated location.
Walking out into this untamed land you might feel a little bit exposed, but rest assured that the guides you will be striding out with know these lands well and can read the wilderness as if it were their own. You will also have an armed scout in company just for your peace of mind and as you wander in between the trees on the lookout for elephants that are so quiet they seem to tip-toe, this might be the most exhilarating experience of your life. And, when you are not out in the vehicles scanning for beasts or bustling through the scrubland you’ll be enjoying delicious meals and wines in the comfort of the camp.
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Three nights in Katavi National Park
Completely off the beaten track, Katavi is isolated and undiscovered by all but the most ardent safari goers. The national park encompasses huge grassland plains, marshland, rugged hills, woodland, lakes and rivers which, when combined with the surrounding game reserves of Rukwa, Lukwati and Luafi, form a great ecosystem of some 25,000 square kilometres. What’s even more appealing is that there with only a couple of permanent camps and just a few hundred visitors a year, you’ll get it virtually to yourself.
Countless zebra, impala and topi which fill the plains, while there are also strong populations of giraffe, buffalo, elephant, hartebeest and waterbuck. Predators such as lion prides and hyena are easily found while cheetah, wild dog and leopard can also be spotted. During the dry season, hundreds of hippo crowd into the remaining waterholes and rivers, while crocodiles sun themselves on the banks.
Transfer
Shared transfer from Chada Katavi to Katavi Airstrip
Flight
Shared charter flight from Katavi to Mahale
Mahale Mountains National Park
Transfer
Boat transfer from Mahale airstrip to your lodge
Accommodation in Mahale Mountains National Park
Mahale Mountains
Overview
Shadowed by the stunning Mahale Mountains with views over Lake Tanganyika, Greystoke Mahale is an extremely unique lodge and quite honestly, a bit of a gem. The entire camp is built with wood from reclaimed wrecked or retired dhows and old fisherman’s canoes. The thatched roofs are designed using old palm leaves and paired with a distinctive design, this lodge provides a very different and wholesome experience on the shores of the lake.
With just six wooden chalets at the base of the forest line, you will be able to enjoy a really exclusive service in a rather romantic setting. Each room has an upstairs deck where you can enjoy a beautiful view over the lake and in the evening wonder down the beach to the main boma area to enjoy some special sundowners looking over to the mountains of Congo beyond. Each morning you will be briefed on the movement of the families of chimps in the mountains behind the lodge and either chose to follow them into the forest or simply relax on the stunning white beaches around camp. You could search for the smaller creatures on the forest paths or swim in the stunning waterfalls up in the mountain, or indeed spend some time actually on the lake, enjoying the spattered glare of the sun on these enticing waters.
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Four nights in the Mahale Mountains National Park
Mahale National Park Tanzania sits next to the longest fresh water lake in the world, Lake Tanganyika. What makes this location extra special is the presence of chimpanzees in the thick forests that cover the its slopes. Jane Goodall made the area famous and has done much to highlight awareness of the chimpanzees and promote their conservation.
Close observation by these scientific studies over the years have made the chimpanzees approachable, offering visitors the unique and rare opportunity for chimpanzee trekking, which is the main attraction of coming to this area. The chimpanzees are not the only feature however, as the lake itself is quite beautiful and home to abundant bird and aquatic life.
Transfer
Boat transfer to Mahale airstrip
Flight
Shared charter lfight to Kilimanjaro Airport
We design private journeys for people who wish to go beyond the typical and experiencing something truly special. Our amazing team of travel designers, concierges and local guides work together to create unique journeys that get deep under the skin of where you’re visiting.
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Wild Katavi and Mahale Chimp Safari
How we work
As much an adventure as a luxury safari, this nine-day expedition will take you to the ‘wild west’ of Tanzania, to two stunning but rarely visited national parks. Begin like most Tanzanian safaris with a relaxing night in Arusha before a light aircraft out to Katavi National Park, a relatively long journey that is soon rewarded. Plains, rivers, hills, lakes and woodland are home to thousands of elephant, zebra, impala and topi, along with a whole roster of predators from lion and wild dog, leopard and hyena, to hippos and crocodiles gathering in great concentrations. A vast and varied landscape, this untamed swathe of the Rift Valley is visited by just a few hundred people annually, meaning you have its almost 4,500 square kilometres to yourself while based under canvas at the intimate Chada Katavi camp. From Katavi it’s a short flight north to the shores of Lake Tanganyika and the forest slopes of Mahale Mountains National Park. Staying under thatch in one of Greystoke Mahale’s beach and looking out to the lake’s water, spend your days here venturing into the forests on foot in search of habituated chimpanzee troops – the park’s most famous inhabitants – for an unforgettable and humbling encounter with one of our closest ape relatives. There will also be plenty of time to relax, kayak on the lake, fish from traditional dhows, swim under waters falls and enjoying incredible sunsets. This is a great trip for second time visitors or those looking to extend the usual safari ‘circuit’ into something even more extraordinary. | Whats included?
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Days 1-2 |
Arusha |
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Flights & transfers
Meet and greet at Kilimanjaro airport |
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| Private transfer to your hotel in Arusha | |
|
Accommodation in Arusha
•
Arusha Coffee Lodge - $$$$$
Quite ideally situated on the outskirts of busy Arusha, this lodge is a brilliant spot to stay...
•
Legendary Lodge - $$$$$
A very private experience on the outskirts of Arusha, the Legendary Coffee Lodge is situated...
•
Kili Villa - $$$$$
Less than an hour from Arusha and Kilimanjaro Intenational Airport, Kili Villa offers a...
|
|
| Overnight in Arusha Enjoy a restful overnight stay in your chosen accommodation in or just outside of Arusha. |
|
|
Flights & transfers
Private transfer from Arusha hotel to Arusha airport |
|
| Shared charter flight from Arusha to Katavi | |
| Transfer from Katavi airstrip to your lodge | |
Days 2-5 |
Katavi National Park |
|
Accommodation in Katavi National Park
•
Chada Katavi - $$$$$
Not for the faint hearted but rather more suited to the truly adventurous who are looking for...
|
|
| Three nights in Katavi National Park Completely off the beaten track, Katavi is isolated and undiscovered by all but the most ardent safari goers. The national park encompasses huge grassland plains, marshland, rugged hills, woodland, lakes and rivers which, when combined with the surrounding game reserves of Rukwa, Lukwati and Luafi, form a great ecosystem of some 25,000 square kilometres. What’s even more appealing is that there with only a couple of permanent camps and just a few hundred visitors a year, you’ll get it virtually to yourself. Countless zebra, impala and topi which fill the plains, while there are also strong populations of giraffe, buffalo, elephant, hartebeest and waterbuck. Predators such as lion prides and hyena are easily found while cheetah, wild dog and leopard can also be spotted. During the dry season, hundreds of hippo crowd into the remaining waterholes and rivers, while crocodiles sun themselves on the banks. |
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|
Flights & transfers
Shared transfer from Chada Katavi to Katavi Airstrip |
|
| Shared charter flight from Katavi to Mahale | |
Days 5-9 |
Mahale Mountains National Park |
|
Flights & transfers
Boat transfer from Mahale airstrip to your lodge |
|
|
Accommodation in Mahale Mountains National Park
•
Greystoke Mahale - $$$$$
Shadowed by the stunning Mahale Mountains with views over Lake Tanganyika, Greystoke Mahale is...
|
|
| Four nights in the Mahale Mountains National Park Mahale National Park Tanzania sits next to the longest fresh water lake in the world, Lake Tanganyika. What makes this location extra special is the presence of chimpanzees in the thick forests that cover the its slopes. Jane Goodall made the area famous and has done much to highlight awareness of the chimpanzees and promote their conservation. Close observation by these scientific studies over the years have made the chimpanzees approachable, offering visitors the unique and rare opportunity for chimpanzee trekking, which is the main attraction of coming to this area. The chimpanzees are not the only feature however, as the lake itself is quite beautiful and home to abundant bird and aquatic life. |
|
|
Flights & transfers
Boat transfer to Mahale airstrip |
|
| Shared charter lfight to Kilimanjaro Airport |
