Tanzania, Inside Information

Mahale Camp

Founded in 1988, the Mahale Camp is an hour by plane to the northwest, and home to chimpanzees so accustomed to study by human scientists that you can sit and watch them for over an hour. The camp is located on a pristine beach. The lake water, clear as gin and drinkable to boot, is preferred over the bucket showers, and green shampoo complimentary, as is snorkeling gear. Colorful fishes within the lake are unique, endemic species venturing on the bizarre, an expression of rich biodiversity that occurs in the evolutionary crossroads of Africa such as this. 

For over a quarter of a century, a scientific team from Japan have been studying our cousin primates in Mahale Mountains, thought to display more natural behavior since they were not regularly fed by humans, as happened with the Goodall research center to the north at Gombe River. In fact one of the most intriguing things about the Mahale chimps is what they prefer to eat, the focus of a study by ethno-botanist Michael Huffman who deems Mahale a �forest pharmacy.� Now a professor at Kyoto University's Primate Research Institute in Japan, Huffman has studied the chimpanzees of Mahale since 1985. He documented the first scientific evidence for self-medication, and found the same plants were being used by local humans for treating similar ailments, a parallel which secured funding by a pharmaceutical company. The American-born scientist is sometimes available to brief visitors about his studies, in addition to the Mahale camp guides who know the history and family structure of many individual chimps.

The cost of chartering a plane to this remote area of Tanzania has been an effective filter. Previous guests have included members of the New York Explorer�s Club on a private jet tour of Africa, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates, and a group of Texans (with slightly older money) whose leader declared the mission statement in a dinner toast: �Rape, riot and revolution! May prostitution prosper, and son of a bitch become a household word!�

�I ran to my tent to jot it down,� says Purcell, such a wit in his own write that more than once I felt I was walking with Michael Palin.

Both the Mahale and Katavi Camps have only 6 tents, which means 12 visitors maximum. (You can have a group of 24 and dosey-doe.) Both camps are disassembled during the rainy seasons, normally between mid-October and mid-December, and again mid-February to May, and there is an extra charge for fly camps. Rates for the main camps are relatively expensive, but on a par with the Mukutan Retreat, Olerai House and other exclusive retreats in Africa. Charter costs may drop dramatically in 2001 if scheduled flights to western Tanzania prove reliable. But this will also mean that the area will become more popular, and you will have missed the rare opportunity of having a piece of wild Africa all to yourself.

For information about booking the Katavi or Mahale Camps, [email protected]