Mahale Mountains National Park

Mahale rises dramatically from the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika, its forested peaks reaching 2,462 metres above one of the world's deepest rift lakes. The park protects a chimpanzee population habituated to researchers since the 1960s, offering some of Africa's most intimate great-ape encounters in a montane forest setting accessible only on foot or by boat. The lake itself provides swimming, snorkelling, and spectacular sunsets over the Congo hills on the opposite shore.