Katavi National Park - Katavi Safaris and Where to Stay

Despite its great size - 4471 sq km/ 2780 miles square - and its inherent variety of animal and birdlife, Katavi is perhaps one of the most underestimated of all the Tanzanian National Parks (although those who do safari here are quite content to leave it that way!). Katavi National Park is wild, distant and impressive.

Katavi is sometimes described as near Mahale, but this is a purely relative term with reference to Tanzanian distances! It is often combined with Mahale on a flying itinerary to this western region, and the two parks make a well contrasted safari. Deceptively accessible on maps, the main road through Western Tanzania that runs merrily through the middle of Katavi is by no means a smooth ride.

Katavi Landscapes

The landscape of Katavi, together with Rukwa National Park, was created as a result of a minor fault in the Western Albertine Rift which formed a wide alluvial plain. The park has a central, very flat valley floor which forms spectacular flood plains after the rains, and attracts huge herds to its bounty from the surrounding hills.

The broad, blonde plain becomes a mass of tall flowing grasses at the height of the dry season, extending to distant mountains beyond.

Katavi Wildlife

These grassy plains attract enormous herds of buffalo, especially during July, and herds of elephant gather here around February each year. Operators here claim that the animals in Katavi haven't read any of the behavioural rulebooks for their species, so explaining why huge pods of hippos here routinely gather to spend hours sunbathing during the heat of the day!