Both the camp and the location could easily be rated in the top ten places to visit in Africa in our opinion. Everything about the camp, the design of the rooms, the solar powered showers, the main area being built from thatching, has been carefully thought out to give a truly memorable experience. With plenty of other activities such as exploring the beaches or fishing for cichlid, the lodge is not just about the chimps. But they are definitely the highlight! It is not a cheap place to get to, but it is certainly money well spent.
Greystoke Mahale - The Facts
6 unique, wooden bandas set amongst the forest fringe
Only accessible by boat on Monday or Thursday
The best location for chimp trekking in Africa
Family friendly
Greystoke Mahale - The Detail
On a far-flung beach along the eastern shores of Lake Tanganyika, below a huge story-book tropical forest, lies the tiny sanctuary of Greystoke Mahale. The water is as clear as gin, the air scented and the living is very easy indeed. The forested slopes of the Mahale Mountains rise behind camp, home to the world’s largest known population of chimpanzees, with approximately 1000 individuals inhabiting the national park. Each day you can venture out into the forest, to observe and commune with these, our closest relatives, as they groom, wrestle and forage across the leafy floor.
Your home at Greystoke Mahale is in wildly exotic wooden bandas looking out across the soft sand beach, with interiors fashioned from dhow timber. The six bandas are open fronted, with dressing rooms, adjoining bathrooms accessible via a short boardwalk with flush toilets and powerful showers, and upstairs chill-out decks; designed with flair, generosity and passion for the most demanding castaway.
The forest itself is special, with eight other species of primate, shyer forest mammals, birds, butterflies, giant vines and waterfalls. And if a day’s ‘chimping’ is not enough, you can take gentle forest hikes, fish (there are over 250 species of cichlid in the lake) or kayak along the lake shore. You can have private barefoot dinners on the beach, or get friendly in the wildly thatched mess, complete with library and upstairs viewing decks. For some evening pizazz, there’s the bar of all bars on the rocks of the headland, with fresh sashimi and iced vodka, and a view out west across the mighty waters of the lake.
