01
Overview
Remote enough that the visitor numbers are counted in hundreds a year rather than hundreds of thousands.
Katavi is in the far west, reached by air. Its floodplains — the Katisunga in particular — dry into grassland that supports buffalo herds numbering in the thousands and a hippo population that concentrates into shrinking pools as the season advances.
What it offers is scale without company. What it costs is flying time and a lack of choice in where you sleep.
Wildlife
- Buffalo
- Hippo
- Crocodile
- Lion
- Elephant
What you actually see
Buffalo herds in the thousands
Among the largest concentrations in East Africa.
Hippo pools at the end of the dry
Density that has to be seen to be believed, and the fighting that comes with it.
Crocodile in caves
Katavi’s crocodiles retreat into riverbank caves as the water goes.
Nobody else
The genuine article — days without seeing another vehicle.
02
What the park is like
Katisunga and Chada
Open grass with tree lines at the edges. Buffalo and elephant move across it in numbers that are difficult to photograph because they do not fit in a frame.
The floodplains
Hippo, compressed
As the rivers shrink, hippo crowd into what is left. By October it is crowded, tense and extremely noisy.
The pools
Few, small, seasonal
A handful of camps serve the park and most close in the wet season.
The camps
03
Where to stay
Chosen for your trip
Lodges and tented camps in and around the park, picked for your month and your budget.
The kind of place and the area are fixed by the route. The property itself is chosen for your dates and budget, and named in your quote.
04
Getting there
Getting there
By light aircraft. It is one of the most remote parks in the country.
05
Trips to the far west and the south
06
Best time to go
Best months · Jun–Oct
The dry season
Animals gather along the rivers and the bush thins out — the classic months for the south.
The green season
Hot, lush and very good for birds. Some tracks become hard going.
The long rains
Many camps in the south close. Ask before planning these months.
07
Practical
08
More places to go
Mikumi National Park
Reachable by road from Dar es Salaam.
Mahale Mountains
Chimpanzees on a mountain that falls into Lake Tanganyika.
Gombe Stream
The smallest park, and where primate research began.
