Mahale Mountains National Park

Getting There

Expert

Philip is the author of the Bradt guidebook to Tanzania.

Mahale Mountains National Park is not the easiest or cheapest place to get to. Depending on your itinerary, your entry point to the country will be either Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO), about 50km/31mi from Arusha, or Julius Nyerere International Airport (DAR) in Dar es Salaam. In most cases, your tour operator will pick you up from the airport and make ongoing arrangements.

Most people visit Mahale on an all-inclusive 3- or 4-night fly-in package from Arusha. This incorporates return flights to Kalilani airstrip (just outside of the park), accommodation at one of two exclusive lakeshore lodges, and the 90-minute boat transfer from the airstrip to your lodge. These packages usually start on a Monday and Thursday, the days on which scheduled charter flights run in conjunction with the lodges.

Flights from Arusha can pick up clients at other airstrips in northern Tanzania such as Lake Manyara National Park or Serengeti National Park. They also usually stop at Katavi National Park, which is often visited as part of a 7-night package with Mahale.

Coming from southern Tanzania, the only scheduled flight is a twice-weekly Safari Air Link service between Ruaha, Katavi and Mahale Mountains National Parks. This also runs on Mondays and Thursdays.

Budget tours to Mahale (which still tend to be quite costly) usually start at the port of Kigoma, which is connected to Dar es Salaam by scheduled flights with Air Tanzania. From Kigoma you will usually travel by a combination of road and boat to the national park rest camp at Kasiha. Allow a full day’s travel from Kigoma to the camp.

Mahale Mountains Chimp Tours

Airlines & Ticket Prices

Please check Skyscanner to see which airlines can take you to Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO) or Julius Nyerere International Airport (DAR), and what tickets would cost.

www.skyscanner.com

Domestic Flights

Charter flights between parks are usually booked by tour operators as part of the tour package. Scheduled flights to Mahale can be booked with Safari Air Link.