Isolated, pristine, and rarely visited, Katavi National Park offers a true wilderness experience, allowing the few adventurers who reach it to experience Africa as it might have been a century ago.

As Tanzania’s third-largest national park, Katavi is located in the remote southwest of the country, within a section of the Rift Valley that ends in the shallow, enigmatic Lake Rukwa. The park’s vast, unspoiled landscape is predominantly covered in tangled brachystegia woodland, which shelters significant but elusive populations of local eland, sable, and roan antelopes. However, the main highlight for game viewing in the park is the Katuma River and its associated floodplains, including the seasonal Lakes Katavi and Chada. During the rainy season, these lush, marshy lakes become a sanctuary for a diverse array of waterbirds and support some of Tanzania’s highest concentrations of hippos and crocodiles.

The true essence of Katavi is revealed during the dry season when the floodwaters recede. The Katuma River, now a shallow, muddy trickle, becomes the sole water source for miles, leading to astonishing concentrations of wildlife. Up to 4,000 elephants may gather in the area, along with several herds of over 1,000 buffalo each. Additionally, abundant giraffe, zebra, impala, and reedbuck attract numerous lion prides and spotted hyena clans that dominate the floodplains.

One of Katavi’s most striking wildlife phenomena is its large hippo congregations. By the end of the dry season, up to 200 hippos may crowd into any sufficiently deep river pool. As more hippos gather, male competition intensifies, leading to frequent and often bloody territorial disputes. Defeated males are often left to wander the open plains until they regain the confidence to challenge again.