Ruaha National Park

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Ruaha National Park is Tanzania's largest national park and is home to baobabs, grasslands and rolling hills.

The Great Ruaha River runs through the park, which is home to lions, leopards and wild dogs who, due to the hot, dry, climate, tend to stay close to watering holes.

With only a limited number of camps within the park, there are relatively few tourists.

Hidden gems in Ruaha National Park

Ruaha National Park

Best for a wild & remote safari

Heather Richardson

Place

Wild and remote Ruaha, Tanzania's second-largest national park, is home to scattered baobabs, grasslands and rolling hills. Along with Nyerere, it is the main stop on Tanzania's southern circuit, which draws relatively few tourists compared to the country's northern hotspots. Arguably better for wildlife spotting than Nyerere (and more affordable too), Ruaha supports one the world’s largest lion populations, along with massive herds of elephants and various grazers. There are cheetahs, leopards and African wild dogs too. When it comes to accommodation, Ruaha offers a mixture of luxury lodges and basic fly-camping operations for walking safaris – the park's speciality. For self-drivers, there are simple but affordable self-catering huts at the park headquarters,

Ruaha National Park

Jabali Ridge

Philip Briggs

Accommodation

Best safari lodge for: Views over quiet Ruaha The view from Jabali Ridge is unforgettable. Set on a rocky hill, this stylish boutique lodge offers sweeping vistas across the vast baobab-studded plains of Ruaha National Park and wide sandy arc of the seasonal Mwagusi River. The accommodation is every bit as memorable, comprising eight luxurious cottages built into and around the large rounded granite boulders at the hill’s summit. Jabali Ridge is a superb base for game drives in Ruaha, a relatively off-the-beaten-track safari destination that ranks as Tanzania’s second-largest national park and one of the best for carnivores such as lion, leopard, cheetah and African wild dog. Night drives are often very rewarding and the cuisine is truly outstanding.

Ruaha National Park

Walking safaris in Ruaha National Park

Heather Richardson

Place

Wild and remote Ruaha, Tanzania's largest national park, is home to scattered baobabs, grasslands and rolling hills. Along with Nyerere it's the main stop on Tanzania's 'southern circuit' although it draws a fraction of the visitors as the country's northern hotspots. Arguably better for wildlife spotting than Nyerere (and more affordable too), Ruaha has a whopping 11 per cent of the world's wild lion population, along with massive herds of elephants and grazers. There are cheetah, leopards and wild dogs here too, all along with relatively few tourists. You’ll find a mixture of luxury lodges and basic fly-camping operations for walking safaris – the park's speciality.

Best for a wild & remote safari

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Jabali Ridge

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Walking safaris in Ruaha National Park

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Ruaha National Park travel guides

Article

Decolonising African travel—and travel writing

Mazuba Kapambwe

Travel writing in Africa has always been an overwhelmingly white affair. Early accounts from 19th century explorers like Henry Morton Stanley and fiction writers like Joseph Conrad depicted Africa as uncivilised, mysterious and barbaric, reflecting the racist attitudes that underpinned European empire building.

Guide

The best safaris in Tanzania

Philip Briggs

Tanzania's big-ticket park is the 12,000-square-mile Serengeti, home to the great wildebeest migration and a healthy population of big cats: lions, leopards and cheetahs. During peak season— July and August—when the famous wildebeest river crossings coincide with northern hemisphere summer holidays, the park can be very busy.