Welcome to Ruaha
1.
Ruaha National Park
Ruaha national park is one of the few
Tanzania’s famous wilderness area where one can have a rare experience of game
viewing spiced up by the fascinating landscape. The park is rich of plants and
animals such as Greater Kudu (Tragelaphus
strepsiceros) which cannot be found in any other national park. The park
boasts of her almost untouched and unexplored ecosystem, making visitors’
safari experience very unique.
The Great
Ruaha River as other rivers like Mwagusi, Jongomero and Mzombe save as
the life line of the park. During dry season, these rivers become mostly the
main source of water for wildlife. There are few natural springs saving the
same purpose.
In the pick of dry season, elephants obtain
water from dry sand rivers using their front feet and trunks. The remaining
water falls along the Great Ruaha River are also important habitat for
hippopotamus, fish and crocodiles.
CLIMATE
Ruaha National Park has a bimodal pattern
of rain forest; the short rainfall season begins November to February, while
the long season is between March and April. The annual mean rainfall ranges
between 500mm-800mm with the average annual temperature of about 280c. The park
experiences its dry season between June and October when the temperature at
Msembe headquarter reaches 350c.
RUAHA
NATIONAL PARK - HISTORY
The Ruaha National park history dates back
to 1910 when it was gazetted Saba Game Reserve by the Germany then the name was
changed by British to Rungwa Game reserve in 1946. In 1964 the southern portion
of the Game was gazetted as Ruaha national park and in 1974 a small section of
South Eastern part of the Great Ruaha
River was incorporated into the park. The name “Ruaha” originates from
the Hehe word “Ruvaha”, which means “river”. Ruaha National Park is part of Rungwa-Kizigo
–Muhesi ecosystem which covers more than 45000km2. In 2008 Usangu game Reserve
and other important wetlands in Usangu basin have been annexed into the park,
making it the largest park in Tanzania and East Africa with an area of about
20226km2.
PARKS
SIGNIFICANCE
Ruaha National Park has a high diversity of
plants and animals including elephants, buffalos, antelopes and some of rare and
endangered species like wild dogs. The park serves as water shade both for
wildlife and human being. This makes it to be economically significant as it
supports agricultural activities downstream and contributes to hydro- electric
power (HEP) for the country at Mtera and Kidatu dams.
TOURISM
ATTRACTIONS
Birds
The park is one of the Tanzania birds’
paradise with more than 571species and some of them are known to be migrants
from within and outside Africa.
Migrating species from Europe, Asia, Australian rim and Madagascar have
been recorded in the park. Species of interest in the park include Ruaha
red-billed hornbill (Tokus ruahae) which is dominant in the area. The recently
annexed wetland, the Usangu basin is one of the country’s important bird area
(IBA) as recognized by Birdlife International. Though birds can be seen all the
year around, the best time for bird watching is during the wet season.
Animals
Ruaha is believed to have high
concentration of elephants than any national park in East Africa. It is also a
place where, magnificent mammals like (both Greater and Lesser), Sable and Roan
antelopes can easily be spotted in Miombo woodland. The male Kudu have
beautiful spiraled horns while male Sable antelope have impressive curved horns.
The park is also a habitat for endangered wild dogs. Other animals in the park
include lions, leopards, cheetah, giraffes, zebras, elands, impala, bat eared
foxes and Jackals.
Reptiles and Amphibians
Apart from large animals, the park also
harbors a number of reptiles and amphibians such as crocodiles, poisonous and
non-poisonous snakes, monitor lizards, agama lizards and frogs. The Great Ruaha
and Mzombe rivers are presumably the most preferred habitat for crocodiles.
Vegetation
The park is characterized by semi-arid type
of vegetation, baobab trees, Acacia and other species. There are over 1650
plant species that have been identified. The park is the transitional point of
two vegetation zones, the Zambezian (characterized by Miombo vegetation) and Sudanian
(characterized by Acacia vegetation).
Historical
and cultural sites
There are several historical and cultural
sites in the park which offer a visitor a chance to explore the Southern
Tanzanian tribes. The early trade routes used by the Arab caravan crossed here.
In 1830 these coastal traders expanded their routes northward, and in year 1857
to 1858 other European explorers such as Burton and Speke used these routes
too. Chief Mkwawa used the same routes to visit his chiefdoms in Sangu and
Gogo.
The park area often hailed as the land of
the brave Chief Mkwawa, the Chief of the hehe people who resisted against the
German attack in the late 19th century. The fierce and successful battle tactics
against the German invasion made the Hehe tribe famous in the Southern highland
of the then Tanganyika (Tanzania). The
Hehe tribe under the leadership of chief Mkwawa was dominant around the Ruaha
area. Some of the outcrops in the area are known as hiding places of chief
Mkwawa who went into hiding after the fall of his empire (kalenga) to the
German in 1894. In brief, it is
believed that, this ancient land (Ruaha National Park) holds many secrets of chief Mkwawa.
You may visit Ruaha park and make the history to know all about Chief Mkwawa.
Some of the cultural sites that were used
for rituals are “Ganga la Mafunyo”, Nyanywa and Chahe, painting rock at Nyanywa,
the “Gogo” chief “Mapenza” grave at Mpululu and “Mkwawa” spring area believed
to be used by Chief Mkwawa. Other
historical sites near the park include Isimila pillars near Iringa town, Kalenga,
Mlambalasi, Lugalo and God’s bridge just to mention a few.
Physical feature
Ruaha National Park has a wide range of physical features
from the Great Rift Valley, river systems, natural springs, wetlands, hot water
springs, and kopjes to the beautiful rolling hills and mountains.
Rivers
The river systems and watershed are of economic,
social and ecological significance for
the park itself and country at large. Main rivers include the Great Ruaha, Mzombe, Mdonya,
Mwagusi and Jongomero.
Rift valley
The Great Rift Valley crosses the park. The escarpment wall along
the western valley side is about 50-100m
high in the north-eastern parts, increasing in height to the southwest. It is considered that, the valley of the
Great Ruaha River is an extension of the Great Rift Valley. The
Great Ruaha River flows for 160km long along the entire eastern boundary
through rugged gorges and open plains.
Natural springs
They occur throughout the park and they are
associated with the base of the Western
Rift Valley escarpment, most notably Mkwawa, Mwayembe, Makinde and Majimoto springs. These are dry
season refugees for wildlife and when
most of the rivers get dry.
Undulating landscape
The park has undulating land and hills including
kilimamatonge, Nyamasombe, Nyanywa, Chariwindwi, Igawira, Mwayiui, Kibiriti,
Magangwe, Ndetamburwa and Isukanvyiola. These act as kopjes creating good
habitat for animals such as klipspringer which normally can be seen in some of
these hills.
TOURISM ACTIVITIES
Tourism activities in the park include Game
viewing, long and short wilderness walking safari, bird watching, picnic, bush
meals (break-fast, lunch, dinner) in the untouched bushes.
Best time to see the wildlife
Best time to see predators and large
mammals is during the dry season (mid May-December).
The wet season (January –April) is best for
bird watching, lush scenery and wildflowers. The male Greater kudu is most
visible in June which is their breeding
season.
How to get there
By air
There are both scheduled and chartered
flights into the park mainly from Arusha, Dodoma, Kigoma and Dar-es-salaam. Park’s airstrips
are located at Msembe and Jongomero
By road
It is about 130km drive from Iringa town
and 625km from Dar-es-salaam city. The road into the park is passable
throughout the year.
Accommodation
There are park and privately owned
facilities
Park facilities
Are as follows
Self-catering tourist bands
Special camping sites
Public camping sites
Rest house
Hostel for school groups
Park cottages
Family cottage
Single room with sitting room
Single room without sitting room
Private facilities
Inside the park There are several luxuries
tented camps operating in the park such as Jongomero, Kigelia, Mwagusi safari,
Old Mdonya River, Kwihala and Flycatcher and one lodge namely Ruaha River
lodge. These are privately owned.
Outside the park There are several
accommodation facilities just outside the park: these are hill top lodge,
Sunset lodge, Tandala tented camp to mention a few.
General Park Rules and Regulations
Kindly abide to the following park rules and
regulations
Do not disturb or feed animals.
Do not make noise or any sort of
disturbance which offend other visitors
Do not pick or destroy flowers and plants
Littering, burning cigarettes or matches is
strictly prohibited
Pet are not allowed in the park
Never go for a walking safari without park
official armed guides/rangers
Always stay on the authorized trails during
walking safaris
Hunting, collection of plant and animal
samples is not allowed
Tourism activities should be conducted
between 6am and 7pm. For the rest of the time, visitors are expected to be in
their accommodation places (i.e. lodges, camps and/or campsites)
Off road driving is strictly prohibited
We Tanzania
Tourism Blog welcome you and hope you will enjoy your stay in the park.
Here in Tanzania Land of magic.
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