Travel: Charter flight to Katavi (~2.5 hours from Arusha / ~2 hours from Dar) Meals: Lunch & Dinner Overnight: Katavi National Park camp

Depart Arusha Airport or Dar es Salaam Julius Nyerere International Airport early morning on your exclusive charter flight to Katavi National Park — a spectacular flight over the extraordinary landscapes of western Tanzania arriving at Katavi's remote bush airstrip deep in the heart of one of Africa's last true wilderness frontiers.

Your Katavi guide and camp team welcome you at the airstrip before an immediate afternoon game drive along the extraordinary Katuma River — your first breathtaking encounter with Katavi's legendary dry season wildlife concentrations. The dramatic sight of hundreds of hippos crowded into shrinking river pools, enormous crocodiles basking on sandy banks, and lion prides patrolling the floodplain edges creates an immediate and overwhelming impression of raw African wilderness drama. Dinner and overnight at your Katavi wilderness camp under the vast and brilliantly star-filled western Tanzania sky.

Distance: 80 to 120 km within park Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner Overnight: Katavi National Park camp

A full extraordinary day dedicated entirely to the spectacular and completely unique wildlife experiences of Katavi National Park — one of Africa's most dramatic and most authentic safari destinations.

Dawn game drive along the Katuma River at first light — the most dramatic and most intense wildlife viewing time of the entire Katavi dry season as predators are most active and the hippo and crocodile concentrations at their most extraordinary. Bush picnic lunch served beside the river. Afternoon game drive across the vast Chada and Katisunga floodplains searching for topi herds, roan antelope, puku, eland, giraffe, and cheetah on the open plains. Final sundowner stop overlooking the Katuma River as hundreds of hippos bellow and splash in the fading light — one of the most extraordinary and most memorable wildlife scenes available anywhere in Africa.

Distance: 10 to 15 km on foot Meals: Breakfast, Packed Lunch & Dinner Overnight: Katavi National Park camp

A completely different and deeply immersive Katavi experience — a full day guided walking safari through the extraordinary Katavi wilderness with an armed ranger and experienced guide.

Morning walk along the Katuma River bank — one of the most thrilling and most adrenaline-charged walking safari experiences available anywhere in Tanzania. Walking at ground level past hippo pods and basking crocodiles just metres away in the shrinking river pools creates an extraordinary intensity of wildlife encounter simply not possible from a safari vehicle. Afternoon walk through the miombo woodland searching for elephant, buffalo, and the elusive African wild dog packs that roam Katavi's vast wilderness. Return to camp for a well-earned final Katavi dinner under the extraordinary western Tanzania night sky.

Travel: Charter flight Katavi → Mahale (~30 minutes) + boat transfer Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner Overnight: Mahale Mountains lakeshore camp

After a final early morning game drive in Katavi depart by short charter flight to Mahale Mountains National Park — a dramatic 30-minute flight over the extraordinary western Tanzania wilderness landing at Mahale's remote airstrip before a beautiful boat transfer along the stunning Lake Tanganyika shoreline to your lakeshore camp.

The contrast between Katavi's dramatic open wilderness and Mahale's lush rainforest lakeshore setting is breathtaking and immediate — the crystal-clear turquoise waters of Lake Tanganyika, the dense ancient forest rising directly from the beach, and the distant snow-white sand of the shoreline creating an atmosphere of extraordinary tropical paradise. Afternoon introductory forest walk with your Mahale guide — learning about the M-group chimpanzee community and exploring the extraordinary forest habitat before a beautiful Lake Tanganyika sundowner as the sun sets dramatically over the Democratic Republic of Congo mountains on the distant western horizon. Dinner and overnight at your lakeshore camp.

Distance: Forest tracking — 4 to 6 hours hiking Meals: Breakfast, Packed Lunch & Dinner Overnight: Mahale Mountains lakeshore camp

The absolute highlight of the entire seven-day itinerary — an extraordinary day combining Mahale's two most remarkable and most extraordinary experiences.

Morning — Wild Chimpanzee Trek: Depart camp at 6:30 AM for your guided trek into the extraordinary Mahale rainforest in search of the legendary M-group — one of the world's largest, longest-studied, and best-habituated wild chimpanzee communities with over 60 individual chimpanzees known by name, personality, and life history.

Following your experienced Mahale ranger guides through the ancient forest — listening for distant chimp calls, following fresh feeding signs, and navigating the steep forest terrain — before the extraordinary moment of first contact with the M-group in their natural forest habitat. Spending one magical hour in the presence of wild chimpanzees going about their daily lives — feeding, grooming, playing, and socializing just metres away — is one of the most profound, most moving, and most life-changing wildlife encounters available anywhere on Earth.

Afternoon — Lake Tanganyika Swimming & Snorkeling: After the extraordinary morning chimp trek spend a beautiful afternoon on the pristine Lake Tanganyika shoreline — swimming and snorkeling in the crystal-clear turquoise waters of the world's second deepest lake among hundreds of brilliantly colored endemic cichlid fish visible in the extraordinary underwater clarity. Kayaking along the stunning Mahale shoreline. Sunset boat cruise as the extraordinary Mahale sun sinks below the distant Congo mountains.

Distance: Forest tracking & hiking Meals: Breakfast, Packed Lunch & Dinner Overnight: Mahale Mountains lakeshore camp

A second extraordinary day in the magnificent Mahale Mountains — offering a second opportunity for wild chimpanzee trekking and deeper exploration of the park's remarkable forest ecosystem.

Morning — Second Chimpanzee Trek: A second guided trek into the Mahale forest — each chimpanzee trek is a completely different and completely unpredictable experience as the M-group's location, behavior, and composition varies day by day. Today's trek may reveal completely different chimpanzee behaviors — territorial displays, mother and infant interactions, male coalitions, or dramatic hunting activity — making every encounter genuinely unique and genuinely extraordinary.

Afternoon — Red Colobus & Forest Birding: An afternoon guided forest walk focusing on Mahale's extraordinary biodiversity beyond the chimpanzees — searching for large and spectacular red colobus monkey troops leaping through the forest canopy, blue monkeys in mixed foraging groups, and the remarkable diversity of western Tanzania forest bird species including Ross's turaco, African broadbill, bar-tailed trogon, and numerous forest sunbird species found only in the Mahale Mountains forest. Final farewell sundowner on the beautiful Lake Tanganyika beach as the extraordinary colours of an African lakeshore sunset paint the sky in breathtaking shades.