West Tanzania

Western Tanzania is exactly what we pictured when we first set up Archer & Gaher Adventures. Head out to the horizon and then continue off the map. Wild and secluded and on absolutely no one’s bucket list, because barely anyone knows it is there.

An untouched forest teeming with life, sleepy fishing villages and the misty Mahale mountains rising out of Lake Tanganyika; you would be forgiven for expecting the crescendo of music accompanying a Hollywood Dinosaur film (well that was our excuse anyway). Within the more than 1600km2 of mountains, there are still no roads and access to your barefoot luxury camp is by regional flights and boats across the crystal-clear lake which you share with the hippos and crocodiles.

This is the wild. One of the least known but most incredible experiences in all of Africa. Let the trappings of modern life melt away as you embrace your senses and simply live.

Katavi National Park is a hidden El Dorado of safaris, and a place that few people have ever been lucky enough to visit. The animals seem bigger and somehow even more wild. Perhaps because of this, it feels completely untouched, with a small but comfortable camp nestled at its heart providing an ideal base from which to explore.

The world of Katavi revolves around the rivers that feed it. By the end of the dry season, animals crowd the waterholes and provide a literal buffet feast for the predators in the region, and a visual feast for you.

When the Mahale mountains loom into view, seemingly sprouting from the waters of Lake Tanganyika, it is hard to be anywhere else but in the moment. To get there, you have taken on multiple flights and are ready for your experience to begin. And here it is as you glide on your boat through the lake shimmering in cobalt blue and sunlight. As you leave behind the sleepy fishing villages and the mountains rise ahead, you begin to realise how much you've really left behind. Time slows down in the silence with no roads for a hundred miles. The beauty is irrepressible.

Life here is almost tribal, a return to roots journey that redefines the term “barefoot luxury”. The forest encroaching onto the beach plays home to 10 species of primate including a group of chimpanzees and the secluded nature of Mahale means that you won’t need a permit to see them. Around them, streams are laced with vines and jasmine flowers which infuse the perfumed night air. In the lake itself tropical fish dance through the crystal-clear waters like butterflies, as hippopotami moonwalk into the evening.