Katavi National Park, Hippos all around

• Katavi’s most singular wildlife spectacle is provided by its hippos
  

Isolated, untrammelled and seldom visited, Katavi is a true wilderness, 
providing the few intrepid souls who make it there with a thrilling taste of Africa as it must have been a century ago. Tanzania’s third largest national park, it lies in the remote southwest of the country, within a truncated arm of the Rift Valley that terminates in
the shallow, brooding expanse of Lake Rukwa. 

Location
Southwest Tanzania, east of Lake Tanganyika. The 
headquarters at Sitalike lie 40km (25 miles) south of 
Mpanda town. 
Getting there
Charter fl ights from Dar or Arusha. A tough but 
spectacular day’s drive from Mbeya (550 km/340 
miles), or in the dry season only from Kigoma (390 
km/240 miles). It is possible to reach Mpanda by rail 
from Dar via Tabora, then to catch public transport 
to Sitalike, where game drives can be arranged. If 
travelling overland, allow plenty of time to get there 
and back. 
To do 
Walking, driving and camping safaris. Near Lake 
Katavi, visit the tamarind tree inhabited by the spirit 
of the legendary hunter Katabi (for whom the park is 
named) - offerings are still left here by locals seeking 
the spirit’s blessing. 
Best time
The dry season (May-October). Roads within the 
park are often fl ooded during the rainy season but 
may be passable from mid-December to February. 
Accommodation
One seasonal luxury tented camp overlooking Lake 
Chada. A resthouse at Sitalike and campsites inside 

the park. Basic but clean hotels at Mpanda. 

The bulk of Katavi supports a hypnotically featureless cover of tangled brachystegia woodland, home to substantial but elusive populations of the localised eland, sable and roan antelopes. But the main focus for game viewing within the park is the Katuma River and associated fl oodplains such as the seasonal Lakes Katavi and Chada.

 During the rainy season, these lush, marshy lakes are a haven for myriad waterbirds, and they also support Tanzania’s densest concentrations of hippo and crocodile. It is during the dry season, when the fl oodwaters retreat, that Katavi truly comes into its own. The Katuma, reduced to a shallow, muddy trickle, forms the only source of drinking water for miles around, and the fl anking fl oodplains support game concentrations that defy belief. An estimated 4,000 elephants 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 fl oodplains.

Katavi’s most singular wildlife spectacle is provided by its hippos. Towards the end of the dry season, up to 200 individuals might fl op together in any riverine pool of suffi cient depth. And as more hippos gather in one place, so does male rivalry heat up – bloody territorial fi ghts are an everyday occurrence, with the vanquished male forced to lurk hapless on the open plains until it gathers suffi cient confi dence to mount another challenge.