Katavi National Park
This is a far-flung, primeval bushland saturated with Africa's mega-beasts.
Way out west, this rugged national park is one of the least known, but most exciting wildlife areas in East Africa.
Katavi is like travelling back in time, maybe to the Pleistocene era. Animals seem bigger and more bestial. As a human, for once, you don't feel like you own the planet. It's a thrilling experience. Survival here depends on fragile seasonal rivers, the Katuma, the Kavu and the Kapapa. Between the rivers, huge herds of buffalo and other herbivores concentrate for the rich grass of four great floodplains, including (our own backyard) Chada.
As months wear on, the grass dries gold and withers. By the end of the dry season, it’s all going a bit mad. As water becomes limited, so animals are drawn to the riverbanks. Hippopotamus in their thousands cram dwindling pools, crocodiles dig riverbank caves. Buffalo and elephant compete for waterholes. Lion, hyenas and other predators know this and wildlife watching here becomes even more outstanding.
Greystoke
Chada
Expeditionary walking camp
Discover our Katavi camps
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The hugely respected Nomad Tanzania…have chosen to build in an area of acacia trees and kigelia trees... six large canvas tents stand in a line that traces the run of the river and are spaced to ensure privacy... they are also equipped for comfort, with hot bucket showers and enormous beds.
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Greystoke Mahale, on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, has been around for many years. In the far and not much-explored west of Tanzania, it’s the best place in the country (probably in all Africa, actually, outside of the Democratic Republic of the Congo) to observe chimpanzees in their natural habitats.
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The Mahale Mountains in western Tanzania are famous for their chimps: there are some 800 of them here, around 75 of them habituated. Guests at this spectacular beach lodge on Lake Tanganyika are likely to spot other primate species, too, including red colobus, red-tailed monkeys and vervets.
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Sweet dreams are indeed made of this.
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The hugely respected Nomad Tanzania…have chosen to build in an area of acacia trees and kigelia trees...six large canvas tents stand in a line that traces the run of the river and are spaced to ensure privacy...they are also equipped for comfort, with hot bucket showers and enormous beds