Tanzania · East Africa
The southern and western circuits.
Nyerere, Ruaha, Katavi and Mahale are Tanzania's wild end — far larger, far emptier, and considerably harder to reach.
Photo Justin Lane / Unsplash
Nyerere (formerly the Selous) offers boating safaris as well as driving, which is rare in East Africa. Ruaha is vast and predator-rich. Mahale, on the shore of Lake Tanganyika, is one of the two places in the world to track wild chimpanzees on a mountain that falls straight into a freshwater sea.
These are second-trip destinations for most travellers, and they reward the extra flying they demand.
How do you get to Nyerere, Ruaha, Katavi and Mahale?
By light aircraft. Nyerere is the closest, a short flight from Dar es Salaam or Zanzibar. Ruaha is further inland, and Katavi and Mahale are in the far west, reached by longer flights that run on fewer days of the week. Driving is possible to Nyerere and Ruaha but takes most of a day.
What is Nyerere National Park?
Tanzania's largest national park, created in 2019 from the northern part of the Selous Game Reserve and named after the country's first president. The Rufiji River runs through it, so boat safaris are offered alongside game drives and walking. The Selous is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
What is Ruaha known for?
Size, predators and very few other vehicles. Ruaha is one of Tanzania's largest national parks, with big lion prides, leopard, cheetah and wild dog, large elephant herds, and species of both East and southern Africa, such as greater and lesser kudu and sable antelope.
Can you see chimpanzees in Tanzania?
Yes, in Mahale Mountains National Park and in Gombe Stream, both on the shore of Lake Tanganyika. Mahale is reached by light aircraft and then by boat, has no roads, and treks through forest to habituated chimpanzee groups. Katavi, nearby, is known for its huge herds of buffalo and its crowded hippo pools.
How long should you spend on the southern circuit?
Three or four nights in each park. Nyerere and Ruaha are often combined, and either finishes well on Zanzibar. Katavi and Mahale are usually paired with each other because of the flights.
What is there to see in the southern and western circuits?
What does the southern and western circuits pair well with?
- Zanzibar and the coastZanzibar is the standard finish to a Tanzanian safari — a Swahili archipelago with a World Heritage capital and a long history of its own.
- The SerengetiThe Serengeti is the ecosystem the wildebeest migration moves through, and it is large enough that where you stay decides what you see.
- South Luangwa, ZambiaSouth Luangwa is the home of the walking safari and one of the most concentrated wildlife areas in Africa.
Planning
Elsewhere in Tanzania
- Ngorongoro and the crater highlandsThe Ngorongoro Crater is a collapsed caldera holding a resident population of game year-round, including some of the last black rhino in the north.
- Tarangire and Lake ManyaraTarangire is baobab and elephant country and the northern circuit's most underrated park; Lake Manyara is a short, scenic stop beneath the Rift escarpment.
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