Southern Tanzania
Ruaha National Park
Lion country on an unreasonable scale
Overview
Tanzania's largest national park holds around a tenth of the world's remaining lions, and on a good week you might share all 20,000 square kilometres of it with a handful of other vehicles.
The Great Ruaha River draws everything to it in the dry season — elephant digging in the sandbanks, buffalo herds a thousand strong, and prides large enough to hunt them. Ruaha sits on the transition between East and Southern African ecosystems, so greater and lesser kudu, sable and roan appear alongside the more familiar East African cast.
Baobabs stand over rocky escarpments and miombo woodland stretches to the horizon. It is a harder, drier, more dramatic landscape than the northern parks, and travellers who like their safari raw tend to rate it above everything else in Tanzania.
The landscape
Baobab-studded escarpments falling to the braided sand of the Great Ruaha River, backed by endless miombo woodland and open grassland plains.
Quick facts
- Size
- 20,226 km²
- Getting there
- Flight from Dar es Salaam or Arusha to Msembe
- Famous for
- Lions, kudu and baobabs
- Ideal stay
- 3 – 4 nights
Wildlife
Who lives here
- Around 10% of the world's remaining lion population
- Both greater and lesser kudu — a Ruaha speciality
- Significant African wild dog and cheetah numbers
- Over 570 bird species and enormous elephant herds
Seasons
When to come
Dry seasonJune – October
Wildlife concentrates on the river; predator action peaks.
Green seasonDecember – April
Spectacular birding and dramatic skies; some camps close.
Experiences
Game drives · Walking safaris · Night drives · Fly-camping · Birdwatching
In Pictures
Scenes from Ruaha
Journeys Here
Safaris that visit Ruaha National Park
Good to Know
Questions, answered
The Serengeti for the migration and sheer numbers; Ruaha for solitude, bigger prides and a landscape with more character. If you have been to East Africa before, go to Ruaha.
Southern
Pairs well on the southern circuit
Ruaha National Park is one of 5 destinations on the southern circuit. Most itineraries combine two or three.
