Ruaha National Park

Situated in central Tanzania, the Ruaha National Park is the 2nd biggest park in Tanzania, prominent for its exceptional topography – undulating plateau with occasional outcrops plus low mountains in west and south. Ruaha is bordered in the north by the Kizingio and Rungwa River Game reserve. The park is truly a vast unspoilt wilderness.
Ruaha is an amazing National park which offers a fascinating variety of landscapes booming with untouched nature. With a size of 10,300 sq km lying 128km (80 miles) west of Iringa, Ruaha is a naturalist’s paradise since it provides even the most experienced travelers with something fresh. The undulating topography, glorious river and majestic trees team up to produce one of Africa’s most captivating landscapes.

Great Ruaha River

Park Overview
Ruaha National Park is appealing as it also represents a transition zone where eastern and southern African species of flora and fauna overlap. It is visually a treat, with wildlife landscapes of Miombo forest and rolling woodlands, hills, plains and rivers. The National Park’s lifeblood is the Great Ruaha River, which courses along the eastern boundary in a flooded stream during the peak of the rains.
The Park’s spectacular scenery includes groves of skeletal baobabs, rolling hills, large open plains along its southern border, the wide Great Ruaha River, and since visitor numbers are comparatively few, it possesses a true wilderness atmosphere. Several extraordinary trees found in Ruaha include Jackalberry, Tamarind, Wooden Banana, Pod Mahogany and Newtonia.

Ruaha Giraffe

Wildlife
Ruaha National Park forms the core of a wild and extended ecosystem providing home to one of Tanzania’s largest elephant populations. Among the other animals roaming the park’s rugged terrain are large herds of buffalo, greater and lesser Kudus, Grant’s gazelles, wild dogs, ostriches, cheetahs, both roan and sable antelopes, spotted hyena and eland.
Almost all of Africa’s large mammal species are to be found in Ruaha. Large carnivores are well represented, populations of lions doze in sandy riverbeds, leopards are wide spread, and cheetahs are often seen hunting on open plains. This impressive array of large predators is boosted by both striped and spotted hyena, as well as several conspicuous packs of the highly endangered African wild dog.

Hamerkop

Ruaha’s abnormally soaring multiplicity of antelope is resultant of its location, which is transitional to the acacia savannah of East Africa and the miombo woodland belt of Southern Africa. Grant’s gazelle and lesser kudu occur here at the very south of their range, alongside the

Safari Lion

miombo-associated sable and roan antelope.
Bird Life
For birdwatchers, Ruaha’s birdlife is amazing, with over 500 species recorded including giant 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.
Ruaha National Park’s checklist has 450 bird species. The likes of crested barbet, an attractive yellow-and-black bird whose persistent trilling is a characteristic sound of the southern bush, occur in Ruaha alongside central Tanzanian endemics such as the yellow-collared lovebird and ashy starling.
Best Time to Visit
The dry season running between June and October is the best time to visit Ruaha National Park. As a simple rule, the drier it gets, the fewer places there are for the game to drink and the more the animals congregate around remaining water sources. Of course this makes life much easier for lions and other predators as they simply have to hide in a bush near such a water source and try not to fall asleep. For predators and large mammals, dry season from mid-May-December;
Bird-watching, lush scenery and wildflowers, wet season its January-April.
Getting There & Around
By Road: There is all year-round road access through Iringa from Dar es Salaam via Mikumi or from Arusha via Dodoma. Scheduled or charter flights from Arusha, Dar es Salaam, Iringa, Mbeya, Selous and Serengeti
By Air: Charter flights from Dar es Salaam, Selous, Serengeti, Arusha, Iringa and Mbeya. 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.