Ruaha protects a vast tract of the rugged, semi-arid bush country that characterizes central Tanzania. The moment the plane touches the ground the game viewing starts. A giraffe races beside the airstrip, all legs and neck yet oddly elegant in its awkwardness.

A line of zebras and in the distance, beneath a bulbous baobab tree a few representatives of Ruaha’s ten thousand elephants – the largest population of East Africa’s national parks.

Wildlife in Ruaha is concentrated along the great Ruaha river. The river is a flooded torrent after the rains, dwindling to a few precious pools of water. Waterbuck, impala and the world’s most southerly Grant’s gazelle risk their lives for a sip of water. The shores of Ruaha are a permanent hunting ground for lion, leopard, jackal, hyena and the rare and endangered African wild dog.

Here you will find a high diversity of antelopes. Grant’s gazelle and lesser kudu occur here at the very south of their range, alongside the miombo-associated sable and roan antelope and one of East Africa’s largest populations of greater kudu, the park emblem, distinguished by the male’s magnificent corkscrew horns can be viewed in the park.