Covering 10,300km², Ruaha is Tanzania's second largest national park. In fact, it's part of series of conjoined wildlife areas, covering 50,000km² and stretching as far as Katavi in the west. Ruaha itself still has just a handful of camps and, being quite far from Dar, it receives relatively few visitors. Its dramatic scenery includes rolling hills, large open plains, groves of skeletal baobabs and, along its southern border, the wide Great Ruaha River.

Click here for a sketch map of Ruaha National Park, or a much more detailed interactive Google map of Ruaha, where you can see camp locations plotted precisely on satellite maps of the area.

Safari camps and lodges in Ruaha

There are only a few lodges in Ruaha National Park; all offer drives and some offer short guided walks. They all differ considerably, so speak to our team who know them well and can advise you from personal experience.

Ruaha River Lodge

Ruaha River Lodge is owned by Peter and Sarah Fox and located in the heart of the park. It's friendly, laid-back and unpretentious; and good value if you're trying to see Ruaha whilst keeping your costs under control. (Read more about Ruaha River Lodge… )

Mdonya Old River Camp

Near the Ruaha escarpment, the 11 tents are decorated simply, and appear as if they had been pitched yesterday. Mdonya Old River Camp makes no apologies for being a fairly simple camp, seeking safari basics – complete with candle-light. It's great value and Mdonya tends to appeal to a young clientele who are not particularly comfort-conscious. (Read more about Mdonya Old River Camp… )

Mwagusi Camp

Mwagusi Camp is tucked away in a secluded location, and run by another member of the Fox family: Chris Fox. It has very comfortable tents and excellent food, but the attraction here is the passion which the Chris and his team have for the game and environment around them. With the personal feel of a small bushcamp, Mwagusi certainly offers one of the best game experiences in Tanzania. (Read more about Mwagusi Camp… )

Kwihala Camp

Kwihala Camp, formerly known as the EMC camp (for 'Exclusive Mobile Camp'), this is a semi-permanent camp: it moves between two locations within Ruaha National Park. Kwihala is a small stylish camp with six rooms that gives you the feeling of a real bush camp whilst maintaining a high level of luxury and service. The team there are incredibly welcoming and their enthusiasm about Ruaha is infectious. They organise the camp very flexibly around the needs of their visitors. (Read more about Ruaha River Lodge… )

Jongomero Camp

Jongomero Camp stands beside the ephemeral Jongomero River, surrounded by a wilderness of terminalia woodland. Its rooms are beautiful, spacious and furnished with great quality, at it puts a high value of the creature comforts that it offers; it's certainly the most luxurious way to experience Ruaha. (Read more about Jongomero Camp… )

Ruaha's flora and fauna

In some ways ecosystems in Ruaha National Parks represent a transition zone between the miombo woodlands common in Zambia, and the more open savannah biomes, typical of northern Tanzania and Kenya. This is evident in the park's vegetation, which is thick in some areas and yet wide open in others.

Ruaha's prolific game also reflects this transition. It includes species which are widespread to the south – like buffalo, zebra, Defassa waterbuck, impala, giraffe, Lichtenstein's hartebeest, roan and sable antelope – together with Grant's gazelle and lesser kudu which are typical of areas further north. (It's one of the few places where you can see both greater and lesser kudu.)

Ruaha National Park has the largest elephant population of any Tanzanian national park, and is an excellent park for predators. Lion prides are frequently large and habitually doze in sandy riverbeds; cheetah are often seen hunting on the more open plains; leopard are widespread, though characteristically more elusive; and it's a major stronghold for wild dog. Spotted hyena are more common here than their striped cousins.

Ruaha's birdlife is extraordinary: over 520 species have been sighted in the park. Along the rivers expect to find goliath herons, saddle-billed storks, white-headed plovers and the white-backed night heron. There are six species of both vultures and hornbills, and raptors abound.

Keen bird-watchers visit Ruaha from mid-November to March, when migrant birds swell the numbers. Then a variety of waders appear along the riverbanks, together with flocks of white and Abdim's storks. The sooty falcon arrives from the Sahara Desert, and the rare Eleonora's falcon from the Mediterranean.


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