Katavi National Park

Details

Details of Katavi National Park

Less well travelled than Tanzania's more iconic parks, Katavi National Park is a truly wild experience for those wanting to get off the beaten track.

Katavi is home to the Katuma River and the floodplains that it spawns each wet season, but it is in the dry season that the best game viewing experiences can be had as thousands of elephants, buffalo, zebras, and giraffe gather around the rapidly drying streams in search of water.

The predators – from the park's huge number of crocodiles to leopards & lions – have a field day during the dry season, and it's a fantastic opportunity to see the predator prey dynamic in action.

The park's huge numbers of hippopotamus are also a spectacle to behold in the dry season, as territorial males engage in bloody fights to decide who dominates the rapidly dwindling pools.

Short Overview

The Katavi National Park offers the few visitors who make it there a taste of true wilderness with large wildlife herds such as buffaloes, elephants and hippos. Some of the attractions of Katavi National Park are Lake Katavi, the Katuma River and the Lake Chada floodplains.

Size: 4,471 km²

Location: Southwestern Tanzania

Best Time: The dry season. May to October

To Do: Walking, driving, and camping safaris

Known For: Tanzania's densest hippopotamus and crocodile population

Let us plan your dream
African trip!

Kenya's Safari story usually gets told through the Maasai Mara, Amboseli, and the Big Five. However, beyond those famous names there are mountain forests, flamingo-covered lakes, dry northern reserves, conservation projects, and gorges. You can actually walk through on foot on these gorges. That's where an Off-Beat Kenya Safari comes...
A first Kenya Safari usually centres on the big names. For instance, lions, elephants, the Maasai Mara and the excitement of seeing everything for the first time. A second trip feels different. There's less pressure to complete a checklist. There's more room to notice the small stuff: how a herd...
A Hadzabe Tribe Visit Tanzania gets sold on almost every Lake Eyasi itinerary, a dawn hunt, the click sounds of the language, arrows and honey. What most travellers never learn is how much of what they saw was arranged in advance for them to see. This blog explains who the...
Most first safaris get built around a fear of missing out, six parks, six days, a new lodge every night. What you get is a holiday spent mostly in transit, watching Tanzania slide past through a window. A Slow Safari Tanzania flips that. Fewer parks, more nights, deeper time with...
A Tanzania trip feels easier when you're not stuck to the pace of strangers. On a Private  Tanzania Safari trip, the vehicle, guide, and daily plan are built around you and whoever's travelling with you. A Private Safari Tanzania gives you your own vehicle, your own guide, and a plan...