Best time to visit Gombe

Excellent time is: July, August, September and October

For fair views you may visit in: May and June

However we do not recommend that you travel in November, December, January, February, March and April.

Tracking chimpanzees within Gombe National Park may be conducted all year round, however the chances of finding them easily is better close to the finish of the dry season starting in July up to October. During this time the chimpanzees usually stay on the lower slopes of the park. During the wet season it you may have to trek for about three or even four hours before finding the chimpanzees.

In Brief

The best time to visit: July – October

Best time to visit: July – October (all year round, Gombe is never crowded with so many visitors)

Peak Season: July – October (all year round, Gombe is never crowded with so many visitors)

Low Season: April and May (and the majority of the lodges are closed)

Best Weather Conditions: June to October there is almost no rain

Worst Weather conditions: November – April since it is the wet season

Dry Season (May to October)

During this time it is easy to track Chimpanzees especially from July to October as the chimpanzees usually stay on the lower slopes of the park. There is a lot of sunshine. It hardly ever rains. the danger of getting malaria is very minimal since there are very few mosquitoes. You might come across other tourists also tracking chimpanzees; however the park never gets really crowded.

Wet Season (November to April)

The sky is clear and the air has no vapor. There are migratory birds which makes it ideal for bird watching.  The park has numerous butterflies, the forest tracks are normally very hard to traverse since they are really slippery. Chimpanzees could be challenging to find since they move up hill from the lake to the higher slopes. It becomes really hot and the humidity is high.

 

In 1960 Dr. Jane Goodall started research in the Kakombe Valley (within Kigoma District in Tanzania); in 1968 Gombe National Park was established and then in 1967 the Gombe Stream Research Center was started. It is situated on Lake Tanganyika’s eastern shore, 15 kilometers north of Kigoma town and may be reached only using a boat. The park coveres a total area of approximately 32 sq km however may be considerably larger in concrete surface area (36 sq km to 60sq km appears in writing). The park is found between this lake and the rift escarpment on the eastern side, about  3 to 4 kilometers inland. The altitude ranges from 775 meters above sea level at the side close to the lake and then 1500 meters on the side close to the escarpment. It is a hilly terrain that steeply rises from the shore of the lake to the peak of the rift escarpment. There are sheer sided valleys which run from the rift escarpment down to the lake which are intersected by bottomless ravines that from the ridges in-between the valleys. The Vegetation is a blend of grasslands, open woodlands, semi deciduous forest as well as evergreen forest.
Gombe National Park
How To Get To Gombe
Gombe Weather
When To Visit Gombe
Birding in Gombe