Isolated and seldom visited, the 1700 square mile Katavi National Park in Western Tanzania is unrivalled as a safari experience. One of Africa’s last great wildernesses, it abounds with game both in variety and quantity. During the rainy season, the seasonal lakes Katavi and Chada support Tanzania’s densest concentrations of hippo and crocodile.
But it is in the dry season (normally July to mid November) when we suggest you visit. The Katuma River, little more than a shallow, muddy trickle, forms the only source of drinking water for miles around, attracting phenomenal game concentration. An estimated 4,000 elephant might converge on the area, together with several herds of 1,000-plus buffalo, while an abundance of giraffe, zebra, impala and reedbuck provide easy pickings for the numerous lion prides and spotted hyena clans whose territories converge on the floodplains.
