Thank you for an amazing safari. Our guide Patrick was the best. His extensive knowledge of flora and fauna was amazing. He has a great sense of humor; he is warm, patient and professional. Patrick not ...
Constantine and Luis Regalado Physician Wellington, FL
Ruaha National Park, covering 20,200 square kilometers (7,800 sq mi) of central Tanzanian savanna, miombo woodland and western rift escarpment is Tanzania's second largest national park (after Serengeti) and also, perhaps, its least visited. Ruaha is not close to Dar Es Salaam, hub of the Southern Circuit, and it is even further away from Arusha and the Northern Circuit. Ruaha, however, rewards the safari traveler determined to make the trek. The park can be reached by car or by plane, although, considering the distances involved (it is a ten hour drive from Dar es Salaam), travel by air may be the better choice.
Because the park is so remote, tourism facilities are not as highly developed as in other Tanzanian parks. There are a handful of tented camps sited along the Great Ruaha River and a year round lodge. During the wet season, between November and March, the river fills, the plantlife blossoms, and migratory birds arrive from near and far. Between July and October, the park's dry season, the river is reduced to standing pools, the birds move on, and larger mammals move in. Game viewing is exceptional along the river during this time, wherever standing water is found. The park's safari camps are generally sited near the river to take advantage of the opportunity. It is not uncommon for elephants or buffalo to stroll through camp on the way to the river. During the heaviest rains, in April and May, many of the roads and tracks within (and without) are impassable.
Ruaha occupies a transition zone between the southern-acacia commiphoria ecoregion exemplified by Serengeti and found across Northern Tanzania's Maasai Steppe and the eastern miombo woodland of the Selous Game Reserve and Southern Tanzania. Species common in both ecoregions are found here – plains' herbivores such as wildebeest, zebra and giraffe and woodland lurkers such as sable antelope. The river is a key part of this landscape, but it follows a course determined by the most important element of the landscape - the Great Rift Valley that shapes East Africa from Syria all the way to Mozambique. The river winds its way along the base of the Ruaha Escarpment, which marks the western wall of the valley. The plateau above comprises most of the park's area.
Wildlife
Ruaha is connected to two Tanzanian game reserves and the total protected area is immense, allowing species such as elephants room to roam. The popular Northern Circuit species are here – wildebeest, zebra, giraffe, lion, leopard, cheetah. Ruaha marks the southern limit of the Thomson gazelle's range, and it is one of the few places in Tanzania in which both lesser and greater kudus are found. Roan and sable antelopes mingle here, too, as do bushbuck, Grant's gazelle, eland, and hartebeest. On the predation front, lions, leopards and cheetahs are joined by hyenas, jackals, and African wild dogs. More than 500 bird species have been recorded. Recent surveys in the park's western mountains suggest that Ruaha is not only a meeting place for northern and southern mammals, but also a meeting place for eastern and western birds. Notable species include the migrant Eleonora falcon (winging it between the Mediterranean and Madagascar) and Eleonora's Persian Gulf cousin the Sooty falcon, also on the way to Madagascar. Other birds to watch for include Pel's fishing owl, Dickinson's kestrel, the violet crested turacao, and the pale-billed hornbill.
