What is Ruaha National Park famous for? Tanzania’s centre midway is not far from Ruaha National Park. The national park is the largest in Tanzania and among the largest in Africa, with an area of 7,809 square miles (20,226 Square km).
Ruaha National Park is a component of the Rungwa-Kizigo-Muhesi ecosystem, which has an area of 45,000 square kilometres (17,000 square miles). In addition to Ruaha, the region has a wildlife management area and two other game reserves. Safari game spectators can investigate three main places. With its Mdonya woods and the Mbage-Mwagusi circuit, the Ruaha River area is the most breathtaking.
The highest point in the park, Ngalambulwa Mountain, rises to a height of 1,600 metres (5,250 ft). This massif is surrounded by rocky and grassy terrain, which adds to the variety of the surroundings.
The park’s southeast boundary is occupied by the vast Ruaha River. The name of the national park originates from the name of the river. This water supply attracts safari game viewers as well. Njombe, a second river, winds through the park’s gorges and stony, fractured landscapes. It’s normal to see crocodiles lounging on the riverbanks.
Wildlife composition at Ruaha National Park
Ruaha National Park is well known for providing exceptional chances to see animals. This, along with the small number of tourists, makes it an amazing location.
10% of the world’s lion population resides in the larger Ruaha region, which has been designated as a Lion Conservation Unit since 2005. In the park, prides of more than twenty lions are not unusual. While cheetahs are seen scouring the plains for food, leopards are seen prowling the denser wooded areas. Though they are in risk of extinction, Ruaha is home to around 100 wild dogs. Hyena and black-backed jackal populations are also in good health. This area of Tanzania, near Ruaha, is home to Tanzania’s greatest elephant population. Similar to this, due to their number, safari visitors virtually always see Great Kudu. The lion, leopard, cheetah, spotted hyena, and wild dog are among the park’s predators. One of Tanzania’s Lion Conservation Units is located within the park. Popular species found in the park include sable antelope, giraffe, buffalo, hippopotamus, zebra, and warthog.
Bird watching
Ruaha is a haven for birdwatchers, home to more than 570 different kinds of birds. Bird-watching is a popular activity in the park because of the abundance of hornbills, raptors, bee-eaters, rollers, and many other species. In December and January, this area also serves as home to the endangered Eleonora’s Falcon.
The park features hides and tree homes that are positioned to give great views of the areas that animals frequents for water. As an alternative to the conventional car safari, these are breathtaking chances to see the animals.
The best time to visit Ruaha National Park
The rain forest of Ruaha National Park has a bimodal pattern: the lengthy rainy season lasts from March to April, while the short rainfall season runs from November to February. June through October is the traditional dry season in the park. These two climatic seasons that the National Park experiences can be used to identify the best time to visit Ruaha National Park. Generally speaking, animals will always gather near the few surviving water holes in a National Park that receives less rainfall. This means that there are more opportunities to easily watch game in these specific locations.
The Ruaha River, one of the many rivers that crisscross Ruaha National Park, tends to dry up during the extremely dry season, which runs from June to October. This leaves very few sandy water pools, many of which retain clean, good drinking water, and these occasionally draw more park animals to congregate around, making game viewing there easy. Consequently, the dry season is ideally the best time to visit this park. Furthermore, as the park dries out, the dense undergrowth and bushes become less dense, making it easier to view a variety of species. That being said, the brief rainy season, which runs from November to February, is still the best time to visit for a safari because Lovely scenery is created when the foliage begins to bloom and the shrubby shrubs become more gorgeous and green.
Ruaha National Park is a fantastic Tanzania safari place to visit all year round because of its rich and diverse birdlife, which includes migratory species that provide excellent bird viewing throughout the wet season, particularly in March.
How to get to Ruaha National Park
Every traveller should be curious about how to get to Ruaha National Park because it is located in a remote area of Tanzania and is thus somewhat inaccessible. On the other hand, this inaccessibility has allowed the park to remain untouched with intriguing best-kept adventures and is therefore still reasonably accessible. Although there are other methods to travel to this park, flying is the most straightforward one. Ruaha National Park is a large, untamed area that lies south of Serengeti National Park and west of the Selous Game Reserve. Although it is a truly remarkable place with incredible wildlife, it is geographically remote from Tanzania’s major cities.
One way to get to the park is by road, taking a comfortable vehicle from Iringa or Dar es Salaam, which is 625 km from Dar es Salaam and 130 km from Iringa town. Driving from Dar es Salaam can be difficult because the roads are dusty and uneven, and it takes a long time to cover the distance—roughly 10 hours. The simplest way to get to the park is by air; daily chartered flights operated by safari Air link and coastal aviation primarily serve Dar es Salaam, Dodoma, Arusha, and Kigoma. These flights land on the park’s airstrips, which are located near the Jongomero Ranger Post and Msembe Airstrip at Msembe (park central station).
In case you are connecting Tanzania safaris in different national parks, there are flights connecting all the national parks in the southern circuit safaris; in this scenario, the flights typically depart from Mikumi National Park or the Selous. Coastal aviation also offers a new flight that connects the Serengeti National Park and Ruaha National Park. Flights to the Northern Circuit, which also connects to Ruaha National Park, depart from Arusha.
