Ruaha National Park

Ruaha is Tanzania's best-kept secret. At 20,226 km² — double the size of the Serengeti — it is the largest national park in Tanzania and one of the largest in all of Africa. The Great Ruaha River carves through the park from west to east, drawing wildlife from hundreds of kilometres away during the dry season. Yet only a fraction of Tanzania's safari visitors ever make it here.

That is Ruaha's defining quality: wilderness. You can spend an entire morning watching a pride of lions hunt along the riverbank without seeing another vehicle. The lodges are small and deliberately limited. The tracks are yours. In the northern circuit this experience is increasingly difficult to find. In Ruaha, it is standard.

The wildlife reflects the park's dual character — both East and southern African species coexist here at the transition between the two ecosystems. You find impala and Grant's gazelle (typical East Africa) alongside greater and lesser kudu, roan antelope, and sable antelope (typical southern Africa). And then there are the elephants: Ruaha's dry-season elephant concentrations rival Tarangire. An estimated 10,000 elephants use the park, and during July to October they come to the river in herds of 200 or more.

Safaris Tanzania runs specialist Ruaha safaris for clients who have already done the northern circuit and want something genuinely different — or for first-timers who know they want depth over crowds.