Ruaha National park can be described as Tanzania’s unique remote wildlife habitat,
the second largest game park
in Tanzania
but rarely included on Tanzania wildlife safari packages of many visitors. The park is part of the larger eco-system of Tanzania game reserves such as Rungwa, Kizigo and Usungu game reserves form south central Tanzania. The park today covers 10,300sq km of open grasslands, miombo woodlands, swamps, rivers, dotted acacia trees and with dramatic escarpment views to the east.
The
Great Ruaha River
gives its name to this game park since it flows along its south eastern border as a tributary of
Rufugi River
. This river used to flow in the park all year long but due to environmental degradation, intense use by herdsmen and rich farming-much of the river has turned into a dry sand bed
Game Viewing
Ruaha Park has large herds of elephants, buffalos, lion prides, grater kudu, sable antelopes, African wild dog, cheetah, leopard, lesser kudu, roan antelopes, Grant’s gazelle, spotted and stripped hyenas, impala, waterbuck, and giraffes among other animals.
Several birds (more than 450) have been recorded in the park, among them crested barbet, yellow sunbirds, lovebirds, starling, kingfisher, hornbill, white stork, and many other migrants.
Best time to visit
The dry season begins in May and ends in late December giving long periods of game viewing. The long dry season is famous for game drives for Ruaha’s dense predator population that roam the dry river beds in June to November when it get extremely very dry in the park.. January to April is the rain season which is excellent for bird watching.
Ruaha National park is reached by both road and charter flights from Dar, Selous and Serengeti National park. By road, Ruaha is 10 hour journey from Dar-es-sallam and 8 hours from Arusha via Dodoma.
Accommodation in Ruaha National Park is of wide range and some of the options include; Ruaha Hill Top Lodge, Tandala Tented Camps, Mwagusi Safari Camp, Mdonya Old River Camp , Ruaha River Lodge, Kwihale and Jongomero Camp
