Ruaha National Park
Baobabs, kopjes and wide rolling grassland, Ruaha is a little visited but scenically stunning park that offers some of the best dry season game viewing in Tanzania.
One of the last great unspoilt wildlife meccas of Africa
Ruaha is where Nomad can be very Nomad. It's the largest national park in Tanzania -nearly 50% bigger than the Serengeti, yet with a tenth of the number of visitors. That makes us pioneers, bringing critical tourist incomes to a little visited park, a secret Africa that is properly wild. This untouched kind of territory suits us down to the ground, bringing out the explorer in us.
Amongst its lonely plains, sweeping sand rivers and swathes of woodland, elephants occur in large herds.There are abundant predators: lions, leopard, hunting dog, hyena. And great crocodiles in the Ruaha River, the park’s lifeblood. It’s also fantastic walking and driving country for our guides - who are a particularly independent-minded lot, and have the freedom of these vast, diverse tracts of habitat.
Kigelia
Kiba Point
Sand Rivers
Charlie, Ruaha
The table below provides a clear overview of suggested locations, durations and key highlights to help plan a memorable and authentic Nomad adventure.
Ruaha National Park
Trip planning information
Location
Southern Tanzania, in a vast landscape of baobabs, sand rivers, kopjes and open plains.
Type of safari
Wild, dry-country safari with big landscapes, excellent predators and lower visitor numbers.
Getting there
Accessed by light aircraft from Dar es Salaam, as part of a southern / western circuit.
Wildlife
Elephant, buffalo, lion, leopard, cheetah, wild dog, hyena, giraffe, kudu, sable, roan, crocodile and rich birdlife.
How busy is it?
Low. Ruaha is vast and still far less visited than the northern parks.
Best time to visit
June to October is excellent for dry-season wildlife, with September and October especially intense as water becomes scarce.
How long to stay
3–4 nights, or longer for walking, slower guiding and deeper exploration.
Nomad Camps
Best for
Wildlife-focused travellers, walkers, photographers, anyone wanting a wilder alternative to the north.
Why go?
Go to Ruaha for one of Tanzania’s great wild places: huge space, strong predator country, baobabs, elephants and a sense of safari without much interference. Combine a couple of days walking with our Charlie camp, and a few days at Kigelia - a fantastic way to spend a week in wild Ruaha.
Cost range
Costs can vary by camp, season and access route.
In the field with Nomad
What makes Ruaha National Park special for me is the way everything here comes together. This is where different parts of Tanzania meet, so you see wildlife you don’t always find in one place. The Ruaha River controls life here — if you understand the river, you understand the animals.
The lions hunt in rocky hills and dry riverbeds, not just open plains, and Ruaha is also one of the best places for leopards if you know where to look. I love the light here too — early morning and late afternoon, it turns everything gold.
Prim Mlay
Kigelia, Ruaha, Southern Tanzania
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In the entire park, there is not a single road, so your entire experience will be on foot. This is a wholly unique wilderness and a long way off the beaten track. But the lake, the beaches, the extraordinary forest, and of course the chimpanzees all make it a journey well worth undertaking.
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You might say the 20-year-old Nomad Tanzania knows this corner of the world more intimately than most—which might explain how their next venture is the first to secure a previously untapped viewpoint. Six canvas bungalows, lined up along the Ngorongoro Crater Rim, feature unprecedented vistas of both the crater floor sunrises and Serengeti sunsets.
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This is one of the few parks where you can walk and fly-camp – all that’s between you and the dark is a sheet of canvas.
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This is to South Africa’s Kruger Park what most safaris are to Whipsnade Zoo.
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Complete escapism awaits at newly opened Mkombe’s House, the only private house in Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park.