Ruaha National Park
Although the second largest in Tanzania, the reserve is perhaps the least well-known and yet to connoisseurs it is without doubt one of the most spectacular in Africa.
Covering a conservation area of 10,300 square kms in the south-west of the country, Ruaha sprawls within and along the Great Rift Valley, covering a unique transition zone where the Eastern and Southern species of both fauna and flora meet against a dramatic topographical backdrop.
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.
A fine network of game-viewing roads follows the Great Ruaha and its seasonal tributaries, where, during the dry season, impala, waterbuck and other antelopes risk their life for a sip of life-sustaining water. And the risk is considerable: not only from the prides of 20-plus lion that lord over the savannah, but also from the cheetahs that stalk the open grassland and the leopards that lurk in tangled riverine thickets. This impressive array of large predators is boosted by both striped and spotted hyena, as well as several conspicuous packs of the highly endangered African wild dog.
The bird life here is similarly prolific with 528 species recorded. It is also now thought, after recent investigations into a remote western area of the park, that Ruaha may also represent the Eastern and Western convergence zone for bird species
It boasts the most southerly protected area where Grants Gazelle, lesser Kudu and Striped Hyenas occur. Miombo woodland with its attendant fauna is common in central Africa but is not found further north in Tanzania. Furthermore, Ruaha enjoys a vast array of flora with over 1,650 species recorded so far. In comparison, Selous has about 830 species recorded and N.E Serengeti 410.
Use our interactive map to quickly navigate through a selection of our travel destinations
