KATAVI NATIONAL PARK
Its 3rd largest park with area of 4,471 sq km located South East of Mpanda town.
Lake Katavi is located; with its vast flood plain the palm fringed Lake Chala and the Katuma River.
This park is home for elephants, buffalo, lion, hippo, crocodile, leopard, and zebra and antelope species like sable, topi, eland, impala and roan. More than 400 bird life species are found.
Isolated, untrammeled and seldom visited, Katavi is a true wilderness, providing the few intrepid souls who make it there with a thrilling taste of Africa as it must have been a century ago this during the dry season, when the floodwaters retreat, that Katavi truly comes into its own. The Katuma, reduced to a shallow, muddy trickle, forms the only source of drinking water for miles around, and the flanking floodplains support game concentrations that defy belief. An estimated 4,000 elephants might converge on the area, together with several herds of 1,000-plus buffalo, while an abundance of giraffe, zebra, impala and reedbuck provide easy pickings for the numerous lion prides and spotted hyena clans whose territories converge on the floodplains. Katavi’s most singular wildlife spectacle is provided by its hippos. Towards the end of the dry season, up to 200 individuals might flop together in any riverine pool of sufficient depth. And as more hippos gather in one place, so does male rivalry heat up – bloody territorial fights are an everyday occurrence, with the vanquished male forced to lurk hapless on the open plains until it gathers sufficient confidence to mount another challenge.
BEST TO KNOW IN KATAVI NATIONAL PARK
Has the highest hippo and crocodile population in the country. Over 1500 buffalos roaming the plains, along with a vast varity of other african wild animals. Its undisturbed natural landscape makes it stand out above the other more regularly visited Parks in the country. The name Katavi immortalises a legendary hunter, Katabi, whose spirit is believed to possess a tamarind tree ringed with offerings from locals begging his blessing. The animals rely on the Lake Katavi with its vast short grass flood plains in the north, the palm fringed Lake Chada in the southeast, and the Katuma Riverfor water throught the year.
