There are various options when travelling to Ruaha National Park. You can take a scheduled flight or a charter flight from Selous, Arusha, The Serengeti, Iringa or Mbeya. Alternatively, travel by road through Iringa from Dar es Salaam via Mikumi, or you could travel by road from Arusha via Dodoma. This takes approximately 10 hours.
There are huge amounts of things to do and see at Ruaha National Park, for example, you could indulge in hiking safaris or choose a day walk through the vast bush. As well as the animals, there are also Stone Age ruins worth visiting in Isimila which is close to Iringa (just 120 km/75 miles away). These ancient ruins are a very important part of Africa’s history.
To see the predators and the large mammals of the animal population, we would recommend you travel between the middle of May through to December as this is the dry season. Bird-watching is a must-do at Ruaha; see as many different species as possible from January to April, the wet season. The wet season is also a good time to enjoy the incredibly thick and green scenery along with pretty wildflowers that grow abundantly. Very keen bird-watchers may catch a glimpse of the male greater kudu (the park’s emblem) during June, the mating season, as this is when he is more visible.
From the moment you enter the National Park you should be able to see some of the animals. Giraffes are commonplace along the airport airstrip or perhaps you’ll catch a glimpse of zebras on the runway. The airport lies in the midst of stunning Baobab trees which harbour the elephants. In fact, Ruaha is home to over 10,000 elephants and this is the biggest population of elephants in any East African National Park.
A safari around the Southern Tanzania Circuit follows a popular safari route.