Kigoma & Gombe
A port town on Lake Tanganyika, with boats to Gombe Stream National Park, where Jane Goodall studied chimpanzees, and to Ujiji, site of the Livingstone memorial.
Kigoma lies at Tanzania's far western edge on the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika. It is the capital of Kigoma Region, faces Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo across the lake, and is the terminus of the Central Line railway that crosses the country from the Indian Ocean coast. Lake Tanganyika is the world's longest freshwater lake and its second deepest, with clear water and an extraordinary diversity of endemic cichlid fish. Most visitors come for the chimpanzees: Gombe Stream National Park, about 20 km to the north, is where Jane Goodall began studying chimpanzees in 1960; it's about 1 hour from Kigoma by speedboat, and visitors usually stay 1–2 nights in the park to track them on foot. Mahale Mountains National Park, about 150 km to the south, is even wilder and reached by boat or charter flight. In and around town, visit Ujiji, where Stanley found Livingstone in 1871, with its memorial museum and old Swahili quarter; see the century-old MV Liemba docked in the port and the German-era railway station; head to the fishing village of Kibirizi early in the morning to watch dagaa boats return; and snorkel and watch the sunset over the lake at Jakobsen's Beach. The climate is warm year-round; the dry season, June–October, brings easy trails and clear water, while November–April is the rainy season, when chimpanzees often come down to lower ground and are easier to see. There are direct flights from Dar es Salaam to Kigoma (about 2 hours); the train takes about two days. Plan on 3–4 days (including 2 at Gombe). Park fees at Gombe and Mahale are charged per day and are expensive, and visitors must be healthy with no cold and wear a face mask throughout. Facilities in Kigoma are basic, with limited cash and internet access; carry your passport near the border, get a yellow fever vaccination and take precautions against malaria.
Top sights
- Gombe Stream National Park – Where Jane Goodall began studying chimpanzees in 1960. The smallest national park in Tanzania, it is where you can hike through forest to t…
- Livingstone Memorial, Ujiji – The place where Stanley found Livingstone in 1871 and said, “I presume you are Dr. Livingstone?”
- Ujiji Old Town & Lakeshore – Swahili-style old houses, lakeside boatyards and a fish market, once the end point of the slave and ivory trade routes.
- Jakobsen's Beach – Two small lake-bay beaches just outside Kigoma, with clear waters where you can snorkel among Lake Tanganyika's endemic cichlids.
- Mahale Mountains National Park – A remote mountain forest on the shore of Lake Tanganyika, home to about a thousand wild chimpanzees, with chimpanzee tracking often ranked…
- MV Liemba – The “Graf von Götzen,” built in Germany in 1913, is one of the world's oldest passenger ships still in service, moored at Kigoma port.
- Kigoma Railway Station – The western terminus of the Central Railway, built by the Germans in 1914; its German colonial-style building is still in use, linking to D…
- Kibirizi Fishing Village – A silver-fish harbor on Kigoma's northern outskirts, where fish are unloaded at dawn, laid out to dry on the beach, and fishing boat lights…
Where to eat
- Kigoma Hilltop Hotel Restaurant – A hotel restaurant on a cliff above Kigoma, overlooking Lake Tanganyika. It serves freshly caught Nile perch and Indian…