Mahale Mountains National Park, named after mahale mountains lies on the shores of Lake Tanganyika in Kigoma Region, Tanzania. Mahale Mountains have peaks as high as 2 kilometres above the lake shore. Nkungwe peak (2,460 metres is the park’s largest mountain in the Mahale range which is venerated by the local Tongwe people. Located in a remote and not easily approachable area, the park is spread over an area of 1,613 square kilometres.
It is one of the two protected areas for chimpanzees in the country. The chimpanzee population in Mahale Mountains National Park is the largest known and due to park’s size and remoteness. It also the only place where chimpanzees and lions live together.
The park has about 800 chimpanzee individuals and they are the major attraction. Other primates that live in the park include; red colobus, red-tailed and blue monkey. The parks borders with Lake Tanganyika, Tanzania’s second deepest lake. The lake has about 1000 fish species, which makes it an ideal sport fishing destination.