OVERVIEW OF 5 DAYS KATAVI NATIONAL PARK AND MAHALE MOUNTAINS SAFARI IN TANZANIA

5 day safari tour to Mahale Mountain and Katavi National ParkThis 5 days katavi national park and mahale mountain safari describes a unique safari excursion to two West of Tanzanian locations that are intended to be adventurous for wildlife. With this 5-day safari tour to Mahale Mountain and Katavi National Park, you can experience the best of Tanzania. Discover spectacular animals, rare bird species, and breathtaking scenery with knowledgeable guides.
The inaccessible Mahale Mountains and Katavi National Park, among Tanzania’s best and least visited parks. It provides clients with the wonderful opportunity to go on a chimpanzee trekking safari in Western Tanzania’s National Parks. Fantastic game drive safaris, chimpanzee tracking safaris, walking excursions, amazing bird-watching, and sightseeing are all available in these western parks.

The highlights 5 days katavi national-park and mahale mountains safari in Tanzania safari

Gave drives in pristine locations
Unique savannah & jungle combination
Big game viewing
Boat cruise, sport fishing, strolling on the beach
Chimpanzee tracking
Cultural tour
Optional fly-camping safari

Detailed 5 days katavi national-park and mahale mountains safari itinerary in Tanzania

Day 1: Transfer from Arusha to Katavi with chattered domestic flight

After breakfast, you will be transferred to Arusha’s airport to board a 2- to 3-hour charter flight to Katavi National Park. Katavi is located in remote western Tanzania. You will be transferred to the camp after arriving, with a short game drive along the way. After lunch, you will depart for an afternoon wildlife drive in Katavi.
Katavi’s remoteness will take your breath away instantaneously. The plains sprawl out before you in boundless golden views and support large numbers of animals. Enjoy close encounters with elephants, buffalo, giraffes, zebras, impalas, lions, and hyenas. Return to the camp in the evening for leisure, dinner, and an overnight stay.
Meal plan: All meals are included

Day 2: Morning walking safari and afternoon game drive

After breakfast, go on a morning walking safari to explore the untamed Katavi floodplain, wander alongside water pods, and get up close and personal with hippos and other species. You’ll walk around the plains, relishing the lack of people and traffic. Not only are your standing on the same ground as the big game, but also have the sensation that you are the only ones doing it at that specific time. Since the park is not busy always. You return to the camp for lunch and some rest.
After lunch, go on a game drive through the wide Katavi plains. Enjoy spotting the vast hippo, buffalo, and elephant populations as they flock to Katavi’s rivers to quench their thirst. You will travel for kilometers through the Paradise Plains, seeing only the wild regions of Africa.
Giraffe, topi, zebras, and other herbivores congregate in large numbers along the watercourses. A swarm of birds flits across the riverbanks, wetlands, and palm groves, while pelican flotillas patrol the lakes. Elephants graze waist-high in the marshes. Lions and leopards hunt for prey among the vast herbivore populations. Return to the camp in the evening for dinner and an overnight stay.

Meal plan: All meals are included

Day 3: Transfer to Mahale Mountains Park for afternoon Chimpanzee tracking

After breakfast, you will depart the park on a game drive journey to Katavi Airstrip for your scheduled flight to Mahale Airstrip. When you arrive at Mahale airfield, our guide will greet you and escort you to relish a 1.5-hour boat ride to the Mahale Mountain National Park headquarters.
You check into the lodge for a siesta, then go to the park headquarters in the afternoon to be briefed on chimp tracking in the jungle. Go the forest with a knowledgeable park ranger guide who can clarify chimp behavior, comprehend their distinct body movements, and understands the best trekking routes. The chimps’ movements influence the duration of the tracking, although there is no time limit for tracking the chimps.
During your excursion, you can expect to see other primates, birds, lions, elephants, buffalo, giraffes, and antelope, among other things. Enjoy viewing the chimps in their natural environment, eating habits, and demeanor. Return to the lodge for some downtime and an overnight stay.
Meal plan: All meals are included

Day 4: Participate in various activities like bird watching, cultural tours, sport fishing, boat cruise along Lake Tanganyika shores

After breakfast, take a baot cruise around Lake for animal viewing and bird observation. Over 350 bird species, including migratory, aquatic, and forest birds, can be seen. The Crested Guinea Fowl, Giant Kingfisher, Palm Nut Vulture, and Scaly Francolin are among the bird species to be spotted.
When the weather permits, you may also go sport fishing on Lake Tanganyika. You must obtain a fishing ticket and permit from the Mahale Mountains National Park administration office if you want to spend the day fishing on this deep, historic lake that is home to over 400 different species of fish.
In the evening, take a cultural tour of the Mahale Mountains. In the nearby communities, you may encounter the Holoholo and Batongwe, two Bantu subgroups. Because of its historical significance, Kigoma’s district capital is well worth a visit. Return to the lodge in the evening for dinner and an overnight stay.
Meal plan: All meals are included

Day 5: Flight back to Arusha

Get up and enjoy a leisurely breakfast before leaving your lodging. While you wait for a transfer boat to return you to the airfield so you can board your charter flight back to Arusha, unwind on the beach. 5 days katavi national park and mahale mountain safari will come to an end when you are dropped off at the lodge or the international airport for your planned flight home.
Meal plan: Breakfast and Lunch.

Inclusions of this5 days katavi national park and mahale mountain safari
Park Entrance fees
A professional English/French speaking driver/guide
All Taxes/VAT
All Meals (as specified in the itinerary)
Drinking water
Chimpanzee tracking permit
Pick up, airstrip transfer and drop Off at Airport
All accommodation during the safari

5 days katavi national park and mahale mountain safari Exclusions
International flights
Tips to guides
Personal items like souvenirs, travel insurance, visa fees.
Government imposed increase of taxes and park fees
Souvenir photos

Brief Information about Katavi National park and Mahale mountains National park

Katavi National park
Katavi National Park is an isolated protected area in Tanzania’s southwestern region, roughly 50 kilometers east of Lake Tanganyika in Mpanda district, Rukwa region. The national park was established in 1974 and has an area of 4,471 square kilometers, making it the country’s third-biggest national park after Ruaha and Serengeti. The elevation of Katavi National Park ranges from 820m to 1560m above sea level.
Katavi National Park is home to a variety of attractions such as animals, primates, reptiles, birds, and vegetation types, as well as the Katuma River, which is home to hippos, crocodiles, and attracts an abundance of animals during the dry season, Lake Katavi, Katsunga plain, that forms the heart of the park with a river that cuts through the middle, lakes and seasonal pools, and the tamarind tree, also known as the tree of the spirit.
Katavi has wildlife including 50 mammal species such as the African elephants, hippos, zebras, impala, giraffes, reedbucks, waterbucks, topi, greater kudu, eland, duikers, warthogs, lions, leopards, spotted hyenas, wild dogs, serval cats, primates like monkeys, baboons, bush babies, reptiles for example the crocodiles, monitor lizards and bird species such as green pigeon, snake eagle, saddle billed stork, Senegal plover, knob billed duck, grey heron, open billed stork, ostrich, grey crowned crane

Mahale Mountain Park
This lovely Tanzania safari resort is located in western Tanzania on the beaches of Lake Tanganyika, with the nearest large city being Kigoma. The Mahale Mountains Park has an area of 1613 square kilometers and is located 130 kilometers north of Mahale in a rural area. The Mahale range dominates the park’s landscape.
The Mahale Mountains National Park is named after the Mahale Mountains, which were once home to the Batongwe and Holoholo people. These people were evacuated from the highlands when the Mahale highlands Wildlife Research Center was created in 1979, and the park was formed in 1985.
The Mahale Mountains National Park protects and inhabits a variety of animal species, making it a popular Tanzania wildlife trip destination.

The chimps that reside in the park’s montane forests are the park’s principal occupants and draw. Other primates and species found in Mahale Mountains Park include yellow baboons, red colobus monkeys, blue monkeys, red tailed monkeys, nocturnal smaller greater galagos, and vervet monkeys. Amongst the various mammal species are elephants, roan antelopes, buffaloes, giraffes, bush backs, waterbucks, lions, and wild dogs.