Ruaha

Ruaha National Park, the second largest National Park in Tanzania, covers around 13,000 sq km. This rugged, arid, wilderness is set in the heart of Tanzania where it is hotter, drier and higher. The scenery here is spectacular, with a wide variety of different habitats. The Ruaha River which runs along the eastern boundary is the life blood of this park, although the river is considerably reduced during the dry season. Because of its remoteness there are fewer camps and it receives only about 5,000 visitors per year.

Ruaha National Park is a very special park because of its massive population of big game. There are large numbers of antelope and gazelle here and many kudu are found here including East Africa's largest population of greater kudu (the park emblem), the males having magnificent corkscrew horns. There are also around 10,000 elephants here, and particularly large numbers of lion, such predators being best encountered during the dry season, which runs from mid May to December. Several packs of the highly endangered African wild dog also live here.

Ruaha is probably our favourite destination in Tanzania, combining marvellous game viewing with a totally unspoilt wilderness experience. Hopefully it will remain largely undiscovered.