Ruaha National Park

Ruaha

is Tanzania’s second-largest park,
offering crowd-free wilderness safaris.

A unique mix of East and Southern
African wildlife in one park.

Ruaha National Park, located in southern Tanzania, is a vast and untamed wilderness renowned for its dramatic landscapes and thrilling game viewing opportunities.

Named after the Great Ruaha River, which sustains much of its wildlife, the park spans over 20,000 square kilometres, making it Tanzania’s second-largest national park.

The terrain includes golden savannah, rocky hills, and ancient baobab forests, perfect for both predators and herbivores.

Ruaha is a meeting point for East and Southern African species, offering an exceptional mix of lions, elephants, kudus, and wild dogs.

Its remote location ensures low visitor numbers, creating an exclusive experience for safari lovers seeking quiet beauty, rare species, and unforgettable encounters.

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Ruaha Highlights

In Tanzania’s wild heart, these highlights celebrate Ruaha’s predator-rich plains, rugged hills, and authentic, remote wilderness experiences.

Africa’s second-largest park shelters East Africa’s biggest lion population across baobab valleys, untamed granite ridges, and dramatic riverine hunting grounds.
Massive elephant herds traverse dusty plains, meeting at shrinking river pools for spectacular midday drinking scenes and thrilling predator confrontations.
Rare antelopes, including sable, roan, greater and lesser kudu, share the miombo woodland with giraffes, zebras, and quietly browsing, elusive hartebeest.

Over five hundred seventy bird species, from lilac-breasted rollers to imposing martial eagles, delight photographers and twitchers year-round at wetlands.
Iconic sculptural baobab forests glow amber at sunset, framing sweeping savannah panoramas and forming quintessential backdrops for cinematic safari photographs.
Low visitor numbers guarantee exclusive game drives, offering uninterrupted wildlife encounters, tranquil camps, and a genuine sense of wilderness solitude.

Activities to Do in Ruaha National Park

From classic drives to silent walks and river boating, Ruaha delivers safari experiences for thrill-seekers and thoughtful naturalists.

Game Drives

Open-sided vehicles roam vast lion territories at dawn and dusk, tracing sandy riverbeds, kopje ridges, and baobab groves. Skilled guides track fresh spoor, identify birds, and position for dramatic photographic angles. With scarce traffic, sightings feel intimate; sometimes you’ll spend priceless minutes observing a single pride undisturbed in hushed silence.

Walking Safari

Accompanied by armed ranger and expert naturalist, you step beyond roads into aromatic miombo woodland, studying tracks, droppings, insects, and medicinal plants. Silence heightens every sense; distant elephant rumblings and hornbill calls replace engine noise. These slow-paced explorations reveal Ruaha’s delicate ecological web and primal thrill, uncovering hidden treasures.

Night Drives

After sunset, your spotlight weaves across savannah revealing glowing eyes. Elusive leopards, genets, civets, and curious bush babies appear. Predators stalk, owls swoop, and hyenas call under star-laden skies. Night drives showcase Ruaha’s secret nocturnal world, offering rare photographic opportunities and adrenaline as darkness transforms familiar terrain into vividness nightly.

Boating Safaris

During June to August, seasonal waterways of Usangu wetlands host tranquil boat safaris. Glide past elephant families drinking, crocodiles basking, and squadrons of storks fishing. Reeds rustle with hippos while fish eagles scream overhead. This gentle perspective refreshes heat-laden days and delivers outstanding birdwatching without travel dust or bumpy tracks.

Best Time to Visit Ruaha National Park

Ruaha is best visited from June to October, when Dry season conditions make wildlife sightings easier along rivers and open savannah.

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Season Safari Guide

Ruaha experiences a single long dry season followed by an extended wet season, creating two distinctly different safari atmospheres. June to October is the prime window. Vegetation thins, waterholes shrink, and wildlife clusters dramatically along the Great Ruaha River.

Game viewing is unmatched, temperatures are pleasant, and skies remain crystal clear for photography. May and early June still offer reliable sightings with fresh, dust-free air after short transitional rains.

When showers return from November to April, the park transforms. Grasslands turn emerald, baobab blossoms appear, and migrant birds flood the wetlands. Afternoon storms rarely last all day, yet tracks become muddy and wildlife disperses wider, challenging spotters. Photographers, however, treasure the luminous post-rain light and minimal crowding.

Accommodations

Remote lodges and tented camps offer solar power, open-air lounges, plunge pools, and starlit dinners amid baobab-studded solitude, attentive service.

Tanzania

Angama Mara

Luxury Lodge

Tanzania

Ol Donyo Lodge

Luxury Lodge

Tanzania

Sirikoi Lodge

Luxury Lodge

wildlife To See

African Wild Dog
Elephant
Greater Kudu
Roan Antelope
Leopard

Get To
Ruaha

International visitors typically arrive through Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam. From there, daily scheduled or chartered light aircraft fly to Ruaha’s Msembe or Jongomero airstrips, reaching camp within minutes. Road transfer is possible: a ten-hour, 600-kilometre journey via Mikumi, often split with an overnight safari en route. Self-drivers must prepare for dusty corrugated stretches but enjoy scenic countryside. Your tour operator will arrange all logistics, immigration formalities, and briefings, ensuring smooth customs, baggage handling, and onward lodge connections.

What our guests are saying

4.5/5 Based on
975 reviews

Hannah W

Feb 2025

Amazing experience

The guide was absolutely fantastic. Emanuel was present answering questions and not least telling a lot like the animals.

Hannah W

Feb 2025

Amazing experience

The guide was absolutely fantastic. Emanuel was present answering questions and not least telling a lot like the animals.

View All Reviews

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Shem O. Keraka

Managing Director

Purity Gekonge

Sales & Reservations Manager

Jackton Onyango

Tour Consultant

Ruaha National Park

Southern Tanzania’s wild frontier, where baobab valleys, mighty rivers, and elusive predators create truly untamed safari drama.

Ruaha

is Tanzania’s second-largest park, offering crowd-free wilderness safaris.

A unique mix of East and Southern African wildlife in one park.

Gallery

Map

Ruaha Highlights