Katavi National Park

Tanzania's third largest national park, Katavi National Park is hidden away in Western Tanzania and is the country's least visited national park - figures from 2007 put total visitors at slightly less than 500. Reasons for the lack of international interest are relatively straightforward...looking at a map of Tanzania's tourist circuit shows that Katavi is very remotely situated and neighbours only similarly deserted parks (Mahale Mountains and Ruaha National Park). This, coupled with relatively difficult access, makes the national park unpopular with the larger tour operators as it is very difficult to slot in with busy itineraries...any visit to this region of the country requires a dedicated slot of time for each park (considering the effort to get there). Given the logistical ease of the "Northern Circuit", this is simply avoided. Another reason could perhaps lie in the strong population of tsetse fly in Katavi - the slight discomfort offered by the insects provides a rather convenient deterrent to the typical package safari enthusiast!

All this said, Katavi is an incredibly interesting national park - and with several thousand square kilometres to spread a dozen or two visitors over at any given time, it's just not possible to find a less diluted African experience elsewhere. The national park houses the biodiversity expected of any Tanzanian conservation area, with bountiful elephant (an estimated 4500+), zebra, hartebeest, giraffe, impala and Defassa waterbuck. Several large prides of lion give good chances of seeing the big cat, and conveniently they frequent a series of shallow lakes and marshes (Lake Katavi on the Katuma River, the Chemchem Springs and Lake Chada at the Katuma/Kapapa confluence), making sightings particularly good during the dry season (August-November especially) when wildlife congregate near the water sources.

Of further wildlife significance is the Katavi's hippo and buffalo population, both of which are epic in all meanings of the word. Several different, thousand-strong herds of buffalo criss-cross the park in the search of food on the floodplains, whilst several hundreds of hippo desperately cling to each pocket of water deep enough to wallow in during the dry months. Visiting the area during these periods guarantees good wildlife, and the dramatic fights of hippo due to their overcrowding make for particularly thrilling game-viewing.

Outside the dry season, game is less plentiful as it is able to disperse into the thick woodland that covers most of Katavi, further inhibiting the already limited access.

The area is part of the larger "Rukwa Rift", an eastern extension of the main Western Rift Valley, and is primarily covered in brachystegia woodland. Floodplains have created huge, open areas around the three main rivers, and these marshy expanses of yellow grass are ideal for game viewing - becoming shallow lakes during the rainy season.

Charter flights are the principal means of access, and are organised as part of your trip to the area.

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