Gombe National Park

The chimps Jane Goodall made famous. Goodall arrived in July 1960, and Gombe's Kasakela community is the world's most closely studied group of wild chimpanzees, which gives an hour here a depth of known personalities and family history no other site matches. Tanzania's smallest national park is reached only by boat along Lake Tanganyika from Kigoma, about four hours by lake taxi or one to two by speedboat. Visitors typically get up to one hour close to the chimps, and the minimum age is 15. Choose it for the history and the lakeshore setting rather than convenience.