Qualla: Katavi National Park

Katavi National Park: Introduction

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Nils Rinaldi, CC BY 2.0. When the dry season comes to western Tanzania, the Katuma River shrinks until only mudholes remain - and into those holes press hundreds of hippos, stacked so tight their backs form a living pavement. Above them, on the banks, Cape buffalo herds gather in thousands, and Nile crocodiles wait with the patience of reptiles that have been waiting for a long time. Katavi National Park is Tanzania's third-largest, after Ruaha and Serengeti. It is also one of the least visited. In 2012 to 2013, only 1,500 foreign visitors made it through the dust and the light planes and the four-day drives to reach it.

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Image: Nils Rinaldi | CC BY 2.0

Katavi National Park: A Park the World Forgot

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Calle v H, CC BY 2.0. Katavi was originally a game reserve. It was officially established as a national park in 1974, covering 1,823 square kilometers, and expanded in 1997 to 4,471 square kilometers - an area larger than Luxembourg. The park sits in the western region of Tanzania, about 40 kilometers...

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Image: Calle v H | CC BY 2.0

Katavi National Park: The Dry Season Spectacle

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Nils Rinaldi from Lausanne, Switzerland, CC BY 2.0. From May through October, as the rains stop and the floodplains drain, Katavi becomes one of Africa's most concentrated wildlife theaters. The Katuma River, which threads through the park, dwindles. Lake Katavi and Lake Chada - both seasonal - shrink to mudflats. Animals that mov...

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Image: Nils Rinaldi from Lausanne, Switzerland | CC BY 2.0

Katavi National Park: The Pressure

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Calle v H, CC BY 2.0. Katavi's isolation has been both its protection and, in a different way, its problem. Because so few tourists reach the park, there is less money and less oversight than at Serengeti or Ngorongoro. Illegal hunting - much of it described as bushmeat sustenance by people living at ...

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Image: Calle v H | CC BY 2.0

Katavi National Park: Getting There

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Nils Rinaldi from Lausanne, Switzerland, CC BY 2.0. There is effectively no easy way to reach Katavi. Charter flights from Dar es Salaam - operated by Mbali Mbali Shared Charter through Zantas Air Services, or Safari Air Link - take around three hours and land on the dirt Ikuu airstrip near the ranger post. Flights to Mwanza take ...

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Image: Nils Rinaldi from Lausanne, Switzerland | CC BY 2.0

Katavi National Park: Camp Life

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Peter A Levey, CC BY 2.0. As of the most recent reporting, Katavi had three permanent tented camps: Mbali Mbali Katavi Lodge on the Katuma Plain, the Foxes' Katavi Wildlife Camp also on the Katuma, and Chada Katavi on the Chada Plain. Each holds roughly a dozen guests. A public campsite sits at approximat...

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Image: Peter A Levey | CC BY 2.0