Katavi National Park remains one of the greatest wildlife experiences of Africa. Miles from anywhere, it has an almost mythical status and, it’s thought, a greater density of mammals than any other Tanzanian reserve. Massed on the plains are the last great herds of buffalo in East Africa, up to 1000 head. This is the place for the wildlife connoisseur, and the traveller who thinks the African bush can offer up no more surprises. Happily indulged, watching the elephants head out to water as dusk falls, you feel like one of the last great pioneers; binoculars in your hand, Africa filling your head.

Katavi is an isolated, untrammelled 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. Being Tanzania's third largest national park, it lies in the remote southwest of the country, within a truncated arm of the Rift Valley that terminates in the shallow, brooding expanse of Lake Rukwa.

Katavi boasts Tanzania’s largest population of crocodiles and hippos, while lion and leopard find prey among the huge population of herbivores – impala, eland, topi, zebra and herds of buffalo up to 1600 strong. The rare, honey coloured puku antelope is one of the park’s richest wildlife viewing rewards. The park’s main geographical features are the watery grass plains to the north, the palm-fringed Lake Chada to the south east and the Katuma River. These areas are particularly rich in wildlife. Kaleidoscopes of birds flit across the riverbanks, swamps, and palm groves, while flotillas of pelican cruise the lakes and elephants graze waist deep in the marshlands. Katavi National Park is open throughout the year, but the best time to visit is May to October and December to February.

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.