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Ruaha National Park is the third largest game conservation area after Selous and Serengeti. Located in south central Tanzania, it is a remote a wild place which is way off the routes taken by most visitors to the country receiving a paltry number of visitors each year. In consequence Ruaha is considered to be one of the great "undiscovered" wilderness areas of East Africa.
The park itself covers an area of 10,300 square kilometres, but it is actually at the heart of a much larger ecosystem, which extends across the Rungwa and Kizigo game conservation areas (hunting blocks), which total an area five times the size.
The main feature of the park is the Ruaha river, which rises in the swamps to the south and sweeps north and eastward through the park, turning back south and passing through the Iringa Highlands in deep-cut gorges to reach the Great Rufiji in the region of the Beho Beho mountains in the western Selous.
It is the presence of this river which brings life to the broad valleys that make up the main portion of the park, sustaining the wildlife through the dry season.
Along the northern border of the park runs the Northern Escarpment, a modest feature rising to 120 metres above the flatter land to the south, from which rise several season rivers, including the Mwagusi and Jongomeru. These rivers flow as tributaries to the Ruaha in the wet season, but then dry up seasonally. They are in fact dry for much of the year, which is why they are known as "sand rivers", but there is water below the surface and the elephant dig on the river beds for water.
Overall our first impressions of the park were disappointing. Like so many of these parks they are so oversold by hyperbole that the moment of arrival can be nothing but disappointing. The landscape is neither flat nor undulating, but kind of non-descript on the whole and much of the land surface of the park is covered by impenetrable scrubby bush, infested with tsetse flies. The much vaunted backdrop of mountains is not so impressive either, taking more the form of scattered hills than any type of impressive geological feature.
In reality most parks are much more subtle than they are played up to be and Ruaha is no different. In the back of your mind you do know that this is a pretty remote and unvisited place and that is a good starting point from which to start to get to know the place. It is not these great features which make Ruaha, but it a combination of the park's gentle atmosphere and an accummulation of special locations, views and game-sightings that builds to a lasting impression.
Ruaha for us is not one of Africa's great parks, but it is a wonderful place to visit, which if done correctly can offer some superb game-viewing. If you asked us all if we wanted to go back there tomorrow, we would unanimously answer in the affirmative
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