Lake Tanganyika Tour
Lake Tanganyika, with it’s scintillating natural beauty, three million year old history, and a spectacular range of bio-diversity has made it’s position as one of the world’s biggest international tourist attraction.
Lake Tanganyika uniquely laps the shores of four different countries Zambia, Tanzania, Burundi, and Republic of Congo and is bordered by the two spectacular nature reserves of Mahale mountain National Park and Gombe stream National Park. This is the world’s longest fresh water lake and second largest in volume and depth, next only to Lake Baikal in Russia.
The 675km long, 50km wide, and 1 470m deep at its deepest point, this lake with its crystal clear fresh alkaline water, which is said to be world’s clearest lake water, is contained within the Great Rift Valley hills.
A remarkable phenomenon is the uniformity of temperature which is averagely 25 degree Celsius at the surface with a difference of only 3 degree Celsius at the deepest bottom of which the reason is yet unknown.
The age of the lake is a whooping three million years with at least 50 inlets and streams pouring in and the only outflow is the Lukuga River, which makes this one of the most isolated water bodies in the world.
All these facts taken together with the 3 million year old age and ecological isolation has resulted in making this lake one of the most biologically rich and scientifically diverse bio-habitats. There are more than 400 different species of unique fish population with new species being discovered regularly.
Almost a million people make their living on Lake Tanganyka’s fishes and it is a scintillating sight to watch thousands of lights from the fishing boat bobbing around the lake in the dark. This world famous ancient lake along with the spectacular sights of the surrounding areas is nature at her grandest.
Accommodation: There are plenty of campsites and luxurious and stylish lodges available at very affordable rates sating all ranges of budget. A few of the most popular lodges are Nkupi Lodge, Kasakalawe Lodge, Tanganyika lodge, etc. all on or close the spectacular rocky lakeshore in nearby towns. All of them offer fishing, snorkeling, and boat tours to the lake and hiking trips to the magnificent Kalambo falls.
