Where’s Gombe?

Though most people know of Jane Goodall, few know where she does her research. Since 1960, Gombe Stream National Park has been Dr. Goodall’s forest research laboratory as well as her home. Although Dr. Goodall spends much of her time today lecturing throughout the world, she returns to Gombe annually. Follow this series of maps to locate the park for yourself.

World

Gombe Stream National Park is located on the African continent, the second largest continent on Earth. Africa straddles the equator, and almost three-fourths of it lies within the tropics. Its interior plateau includes vast deserts, expansive savanna, dense rainforest, and rugged mountains.

Africa

Gombe is in Tanzania, on the east coast of Africa right below the equator. Tanzania is a land of extremes, from high mountains to deep lakes. Africa’s tallest volcanic mountain, 19,340-foot Kilimanjaro, is here. The continent’s three largest lakes—Victoria, Tanganyika, and Nyasa—form much of Tanzania’s western border. Tanganyika and Nyasa fill long troughs that are part of the great East African Rift Zone.

Gombe Stream National Park is located on the northeastern shore of Lake Tanganyika, the longest freshwater lake in the world. Stretching 420 miles and covering 12,700 square miles, Lake Tanganyika dwarfs tiny Gombe. Both the lake and the park are in the rugged terrain of the Great African Rift Valley.

Gombe Stream National Park

At about 33 square miles, Gombe Stream National Park is the smallest of Tanzania’s national parks. It is hemmed in on three sides by once-forested land, now cleared for farming, and by Lake Tanganyika on the fourth side. The mountainous park’s steep, narrow stream valleys, covered with evergreen rainforests, lead up to stands of alpine bamboo below grassy ridges: prime chimpanzee habitat!