Iringa Region · Southern Tanzania
20,226 km² of baobab, river and open miombo

Baobabs above a dry sand river · Ruaha

Tanzania · Southern Circuit

Ruaha
National
Park

The largest national park in East Africaand one of the emptiest. Twenty thousand square kilometres of baobab, sand river and open miombo woodland.

Roughly a tenth of the world's remaining lions live here, alongside the biggest elephant population in Tanzania and one of Africa's last strongholds for wild dog.

Read the complete guide Browse safari routes

Scroll

The Park

A wilderness
without crowds

Ruaha sits at the meeting point of East and Southern Africa. Acacia savannah runs into miombo woodland; the Great Ruaha River carves the eastern boundary, and ancient baobabs stand over it all.

It is the largest park in Tanzania, yet it receives a fraction of the visitors the northern circuit sees. On most drives you will not pass another vehicle.

Established 1964 · expanded 2008 · Ruaha–Rungwa ecosystem

What makes Ruaha different

Scale

20,226 km²

Larger than Wales, and part of a protected ecosystem of more than 45,000 km². The park runs from the Usangu wetlands in the south-west to the rocky Ikuka escarpment in the north.

Distances are real here. A morning drive can cover eighty kilometres and three completely different habitats.

Character

Predator country

Ruaha holds around ten percent of the world's lions, in prides that regularly run to more than twenty animals, among the largest recorded anywhere.

Leopard, cheetah, spotted hyena, striped hyena and endangered African wild dog all share the same ground.

Recorded: 570+ bird species · 8 antelope species found nowhere else together

20,226Square kilometres — how large is Ruaha?

~10%Of the world's lions — when to see them

570+Recorded bird species — what you can see

1 in 5Chance of passing another car — Ruaha vs Serengeti

Wildlife

What you come here to see

Ruaha's position on the transition zone means species from two African regions overlap. Greater and lesser kudu browse the same thicket; sable and roan antelope appear in the miombo; and predators are unusually dense along the river.

About the East–South African transition zone

Flagship

Elephant

Tanzania's largest population, in herds that gather along the sand rivers to dig for water in the dry months.

Best places to see elephants

Apex

Lion

Prides of twenty or more, big enough to hunt buffalo and, occasionally, young giraffe.

Lion tracking in Ruaha

A female greater kudu standing in tall golden grass in Ruaha National Park

Rare antelope

Greater and lesser kudu, sable, roan and eland, the park's signature draw for return visitors.

Which animals you can see

A Masai giraffe and calf standing beside a large tree in Ruaha National Park

Giraffe & buffalo

Masai giraffe browse the acacia; buffalo herds several hundred strong move through the flood plain.

Elephant and buffalo herds

Two yellow weaver birds building nests from green grass in Ruaha National Park

Birdlife

Over 570 species, including the Ruaha red-billed hornbill, found almost nowhere else on earth.

Birdwatching in Ruaha

Braided channels of the Great Ruaha River running between sandbanks below hazy hills

475 kmGreat Ruaha
River

The River

Everything here bends
toward the water

The Great Ruaha runs along the park's eastern edge and shrinks to a chain of pools by September. Those pools become the stage: hippo packed shoulder to shoulder, crocodile on the sandbanks, and a near-constant procession of elephant, buffalo and impala coming down to drink.

Best viewingJune to October, when animals concentrate on the remaining pools
Along the banksWaterbuck and predators waiting on the crossings — and hippo and crocodile viewing
Sand riversElephants dig wells in the dry bed of the Mwagusi and the Mdonya
ConservationUpstream water use has made dry-season flow a live issue — see conservation projects in Ruaha

Read the full guide to the Great Ruaha River

Safaris

Four ways to see the park

Ruaha rewards slow travel. Most camps recommend a minimum of three nights, and many guests build their trip around a single habitat rather than trying to cover everything.

A green open safari vehicle crossing a dry sand riverbed in Ruaha National Park

Game drives

Morning and afternoon runs along the river circuits, or full-day drives out to the western miombo.

Full-day game drives

A rope suspension footbridge crossing a dry sand river in Ruaha National Park

Walking safaris

Guided bush walks with an armed ranger, tracks, trees, insects and the detail you miss from a vehicle.

Guided walking safaris

A large elephant herd drinking at a stone-walled waterhole as the light fades at dusk, Ruaha National Park

Night drives

Offered from camps on the park's private concessions: genets, civets, bushbabies and hunting leopard.

Night game drives

A leopard lying on a tree stump in red sunset light, Ruaha National Park

Photography

Low light, low traffic, and hides overlooking the water. Specialist vehicles available on request.

Photography safaris

When to go

The park has two completely different faces

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

June – October Peak. Vegetation thins, water disappears, and game concentrates on the river. The classic Ruaha safari.

May & November Shoulder. Fewer people, lower rates, and the landscape caught between wet and dry.

December – April Green season. Migrant birds arrive, antelope calve, and the miombo turns brilliant. Some camps close; roads can be difficult.

Best time to visit Ruaha Which month has the best game viewing Weather month by month What to pack

Where to stay

Small camps, long horizons

Accommodation in Ruaha is deliberately limited. Most properties hold fewer than a dozen tents, and several are seasonal, packed down and carried out before the rains.

A green-roofed safari tent raised on stilts with a paraffin lantern outside, Ruaha National Park

Riverfront tented camps

From $550 pp / night

Classic canvas on raised decks overlooking the Great Ruaha or the Mwagusi sand river. Elephants often walk straight through camp.

Where to stay in Ruaha

A wicker chair beside a lodge deck railing looking out over dry bush, Ruaha National Park

Escarpment lodges

From $700 pp / night

Built into the rocky ridges above the valley, with long views over the plain and cooler nights than the riverbed camps.

Lodges with the best views

A safari Land Cruiser and two dome tents pitched at a sandy fly camp in Ruaha National Park

Fly-camping & bandas

From $180 pp / night

At the simple end: park bandas at Msembe, or mobile fly-camps set up for a single night deep in the bush.

Fly-camping in Ruaha

Getting there

Three routes in

Getting to Ruaha from Dar es Salaam Which entrance gate to use

Fly to Msembe

Scheduled light aircraft run daily from Dar es Salaam, Arusha, Zanzibar and Nyerere National Park, landing at Msembe or Jongomero airstrip. Roughly two hours from Dar; most camps meet the plane.

How fly-in safaris work

Drive from Iringa

About 130 km of road from Iringa town to the Msembe gate, the last stretch unsurfaced. Iringa itself is a comfortable day's drive from Dar es Salaam on the Tanzam highway.

How far Ruaha is from Iringa

Combine the south

Ruaha pairs naturally with Nyerere National Park and the Udzungwa Mountains. A seven to ten day southern circuit gives you river, forest and open plain in one trip.

See a 7-day southern circuit

Gallery

Field notes

Ruaha safaris

Ready-made routes across Ruaha and the wider region, from short trips to full circuits.

Small plane wing at a bush airstrip, Ruaha National Park

3 DAYS

3 Day Ruaha Fly-In Safari

This short fly-in trip drops you straight into Ruaha, the largest national park in Tanzania at over 20,000 square kilometres, and keeps the…

Safari vehicle at the park entrance gate, Ruaha National Park

4 DAYS

4 Day Ruaha Safari From Iringa

This is the road version of a Ruaha trip, for travellers who would rather drive in than fly and who want a night in the Southern Highlands on the way.

Elephant herd walking a hazy golden grass plain, Ruaha National Park

5 DAYS

5 Day Ruaha And Mikumi Safari

Two southern parks, one trip.

See all safaris →

Plan your trip

Tell us when you'd like to go

This site is an independent visitor guide, not a tour operator, so we cannot take a booking or hold a bed for you. What we can do is read your dates and reply with a straight answer: what the river is likely to be doing that month, which part of the park suits the trip, and which of the operators working in Ruaha to approach next.

Your message goes to the people who write this guide. No brochure, no sales call, and your details are not passed to anyone. If you would rather just read first, start with the cost breakdown or the frequently asked questions.

A wildernesswithout crowds