KATAVI NATIONAL PARK

Recently extended southward to cover some 4500 sq km the main features of Tanzania’s third largest park, located about 40 km southeast of the town of Mpanda, are Lake Katavi, with its vast floodplains, the palm-fringed Lake Chala and the Katuma River.

The park is noted for its Miombo woodland and is home to buffalo, elephant, leopard, lion and zebra. Antelope species include eland, impala, topi, roan, and sable. Water fowl are abundant with Lake Chala particularly rich in bird-life with 400 species recorded. Katavi also boasts the greatest concentration of hippo and crocodile.

Getting there: By charter flight from Arusha or Dar es Salaam. Or a day’s
drive from Mbeya or, in the dry season, Kigoma.