Gombe National Park: Seeing the Chimps

Waiting for the boat

My goal in Tanzania has been to do more touristy stuff and I was really excited when someone proposed going to Gombe National Park where visitors can see chimpanzees in their natural habitat. Gombe is not connected by road, so visitors must take a two-hour boat trip from Kigoma. Luckily, my boss arranged a boat for my group and we got a great deal of only 140,000 TSH, about $63. Typically, boat rides run about $200 but, as you will see, there is a reason that this particular boat was so cheap.

The boat driver promised to meet us at the lake at 7:00 sharp but African time is always very fluid. We arrived at the beach around 8:00 but our boat wasn’t there. I called around a bit and we finally determined that, although we had arrived more than an hour late, the boat was still on the way from the driver's village. Finally, after about 45 more minutes, a rickety boat arrived and the driver introduced himself. No lifejackets and a tiny motor but…when in Rome…

First Boat

We hopped in the boat and took off and then, about 15 minutes into the trip...the motor suddenly stopped. The driver tried to restart it over and over again but nothing was happening. After another ten minutes or so another boat passed by us and agreed to tow us closer to a tiny, deserted sand bank.

But it was our lucky day! This boat had other foreigners who were also going to Gombe! Our boat clearly wasn’t getting fixed anytime soon so I asked if we could just switch into that one. After a quick exchange of a gas canister from the old boat to the new one, we were on our way again!

It was a smooth ride the rest of the way. This boat was much nicer and even had three life jackets, a small roof, and, most importantly, a functioning motor. After checking in at the park and paying a $125 park fee (I now remembered why I never did any touristy things in Rwanda), we were ready to go. It was at this point that I realized just how lucky we were with the new boat because we were the only people to arrive at the park that day! Imagine if our first boat had been a little later!

However, there was also only one guide available in the part for our group of 7, although the max group size allowed is 5. Nonetheless, we started up the mountain. The hike was steep and tough but made more interesting by the other, non-chimp, monkeys along the way. The guide went at an easy pace the whole time but the other tourists liked to take longer breaks. Then, at some point, some true professional chimp trackers walked by and our guide said to go with them. Our group was too big anyways.

Except I didn’t want to! These men do not regularly deal with out-of-shape Americans like me. They spend all their days climbing these mountains and were going super quick. We hiked up this mountain for about two hours total. It doesn’t sound long but it is truly one of the most strenuous hikes I have done because of the speed and the gradient.

FINALLY, we arrived at the chimps. To be completely frank, I was glad to see them just because that meant we could stop going up the mountain and I could take a water break without anyone rushing me along. The chimps were…fine. They charge at us sometimes because chimps are nasty creatures. They were cool I guess.

The hike down wasn’t any easier. My shoes were really slippery on the steep slope and I was sliding all over the place. I now have a trophy bruise on my butt from the time I slid on a rock and fell.
As lame as it sounds, perhaps my favourite part of the day was when I got back on the boat. The hike itself was beautiful (although faster than I prefer) and the chimps were dynamic. But after a broken boat and a damaged body, I was just ready to go home. So overall, it’s a solid African story with all the complexities, but I’d prefer not many more of those. I’m done being a tourist for a while.