Ruaha is one of Tanzania's best kept secrets! It's previous inaccessibility means that this park has remained unchanged for centuries and offers the type of wild safari that early explorers were privy to.

Bordered on the east by the Great Ruaha River and the west by Mzombe River, visitors are struck its the beauty and vast expanse of wilderness stretching down towards the hazy blue hills of the Southern Highlands. The terrain is varied and fascinating with wild fig trees, rare baobab forests and gorges of glowing orange sandstone. The rivers contain swirling rapids and deep pools inhabited by crocodiles and hippos

The game viewing starts the moment the plane touches down. A giraffe races beside the airstrip, all legs and neck, yet oddly elegant in its awkwardness. A line of zebras parades across the runway in the giraffe's wake.

In the distance, beneath a bulbous baobab tree, a few representatives of Ruaha's 10,000 elephants - the largest population of any East African national park, form a protective huddle around their young.

The Great Ruaha River, fed by the Mzombe River up north, provides excellent game-viewing opportunities. Wildlife in Ruaha is unique in both numbers and variety of species. These include Grant’s gazelle, roan antelope, eland, kudu, sable, did-dik, impala, Lichtenstein’s hartebeest. Burchell’s zebra and Maasai giraffe, elephant, buffalo, lion, leopard, cheetah, bat-eared fox and spotted and striped hyena. There are scheduled flights and an airstrip at Msembe for fly-in safaris to Ruaha’s excellent lodges.

Seasons

Dry Season: Mid May to December is the best time to see predators and large mammals as the bush has died down from lack of rain, and they concentrate at the sparse water courses.
Rainy Season: January to April is wonderful for birdlife, lush scenery and wildflowers but many roads become impassable after heavy rains