Ruaha National Park in Tanzania

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Ruaha National Park

Size: 10,300 sq km (3,980 sq miles), Tanzania's 2nd biggest park.
Location: Central Tanzania, 128km (80 miles) West of Iringa.

The wide distances of Ruaha National Park have a drama and atmosphere quite unlike any other park in Tanzania. Covering 12,950sq km, Ruaha is the second largest national park in Tanzania after the Serengeti. Ruaha safari game viewing starts the moment the plane touches down. It is an ancient place; its hilly distances are punctuated with distended elephant-battered girths of massive baobabs that live for a thousand years, and the combination of ochre-red earth, pale russet grasses and parched paths of wide sand rivers fulfill images of ancient African landscapes. Ruaha's unusually high diversity of animals is a function of its location, which is transitional to the acacia savannah of East Africa and the miombo woodland belt of Southern Africa.

Second only to Katavi National Park, Ruaha is an aura of untrammelled wilderness, but far more accessible. It protects a vast tract of the rugged, semi-arid bush country that characterises central Tanzania. Its lifeblood is the Great Ruaha River, which courses along the eastern boundary in a flooded torrent during the height of the rains, but dwindling thereafter to a scattering of precious pools surrounded by a blinding sweep of sand and rock. The fantastically unspoilt reaches of the park are a result of its location, requiring an expensive flight or a long Ruaha safari drive to reach it. Despite recent new alternatives for staying here, Ruaha remains underdeveloped with major tracts still largely inaccessible.

Wildlife
The Great Ruaha River, is the centre piece of wildlife safaris to Ruaha, characterised by harbours of impala, waterbuck and other antelopes that risk their life for a sip of life-sustaining water. The impressive array of large predators is boosted by 20-plus lions, cheetahs, both striped and spotted hyena, as well as several conspicuous packs of the highly endangered African wild dog. Grant's gazelle and lesser kudu also occur here, alongside the miombo-associated sable and roan antelope, and one of East Africa largest populations of greater kudu. A similar duality is noted in the checklist of 450 birds: the likes of crested barbet, yellow-and-black bird occur in Ruaha alongside other species such as the yellow-collared lovebird and ashy starling.

How To Get There
Scheduled and/or charter flights from Dar es Salaam, Selous, Arusha, Iringa and Mbeya. Year-round road access through Iringa from Dar (about 10 hours) via Mikumi or from Arusha via Dodoma.

What To Do
Day walking or hiking safaris through untouched bush and Ruaha safari game drives. Stone age ruins at Isimila, near Iringa, 120 km (75 miles) away, one of Africa's most important historical sites .

When To Go
For predators and large mammals, dry season (mid-May-December); bird-watching, lush scenery and wildflowers, wet season (January-April). The male greater kudu is most visible in June, the breeding season.

Accommodation
Riverside safari lodge; three dry season tented camps; self-catering bandas, two campsites.



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