Ruaha National Park

Ruaha National Park is the largest national park in  Tanzania, cover 22000 square kilometers, located central Tanzania, 128km (80 miles) west of Iringa. The name Ruaha national park derived from the Great River Ruaha. The river provides permanent water in the park, and during the dry season animal concentration along its banks is spectacular. Ruaha National Park is about two to three hours drive from Iringa, a famous town on the Dar es Salaam to Zambia highway.

Ruaha’s unusually high diversity of antelope is a function of its location, which is transitional to the acacia savannah of East Africa and the miombo wood-land belt of Southern Africa. Grant’s gazelle and lesser Kudu occur here at the very south of their range, alongside the miombo-associated sable and roan antelope, and one of the East Africa’s largest populations of greater Kudu, the park emblem, distinguished by the male’s magnificent corkscrew horns. National Park is famous for its herds of elephant and buffaloes. The Ruaha River, which plays an important role in the ecosystem of the park, provides sanctuary to a large number of hippos and crocodiles. During the dry season the river attracts great quantities of game including lions, leopard, hunting or wild dog, impala, waterbuck, warthog, giraffe, and elands. In the plains ostriches, cheetahs and Grants Gazelles can be seen. The park is rich in bird life throughout the year, with over 450 bird species recorded. The best time for game viewing is during the dry season, from May to December. During the wet months from January to April some tracks become impassable