Travel Guide Katavi National Park

Created in 1974, this national park covers an area of 4,471 km2 (the3rd largest in the country) and reaches an altitude of 900 m above sea level. Located south-east of Mpanda (40 km, or an hour's drive) and the Mahale Mountains, 400 km south of Kigoma, and north of Sumbawanga, 450 km from Mbeya, this extremely remote park is only accessible by air cab. Obviously, this is expensive. The park is renowned for its wilderness and welcomes few visitors.Lake Katavi, surrounded to the north and east by a vast marshland, is separated from Lake Chada, in the south-west, by a huge swampy area: the Katuma River. The rest of the park is grassy savannah and woodland, on a sandy plain dominated by a few hills to the north. The fauna is very rich: over 400 species of birds, elephants, buffalo (over 1,500), zebras, topis, 200 hippos, black hippotragues, roan antelopes, elands, leopards, lions and crocodiles. The best time to visit the park is from July to October.