AboutVicky Stirling Expertise If you have any questions on travel related issues to Tanzania I run my own travel company and can help you organise a holiday mainly for midrange to upmarket holidays but I have also travelled and camped throughout the country on a budget.
Experience I have visited Tanzania many times and am an independent travel advisor to East& Southern Africa. I have travelled through out Tanzania by car, bus, boat and plane and visited the majority of parks and safari and beach destinations
Organizations I am a memeber of the Travel Trust Association
Expert: Vicky Stirling Date: 3/28/2001 Subject: southern tanzania parks
Question i am interested in any info you have on the following parks: mahale mountains, katavi, ruaha, and selous. things like safety issues, condition of camps, wildlife numbers, etc. thank you.
Answer Theresa
It is quite a difficult and general question to answer but I will give it a go. All 4 parks are spectacular in that they are some of the remoter parks in Tanzania and therefore wild and beautiful. Not many tourists visit them so the game is wild but you are seeing animals in their true environment, not used to seeing many people and being chased by vehicles. Security is fine in all the parks. There is plenty of game but it is not like going to the Serengeti or Masai Mara where there are a huge number of animals and it is easy to see them. The terrain in Katavi, Selous and Ruaha is different with more trees and cover for the game to hide in and they can be quite shy as they are not used to seeing many people.
The Selous is the most popular as it is closest to Dar es Salaam and the cheapest to get to. It is the biggest reserve in Africa. There are a number of camps in the Selous and new ones opening. I use 2 camps in the park which are both of a very high standard with very good game viewing.
Ruaha is more expensive to fly to as its further away, there are only 2 permanet camps in the park but there are companies who go in to do mobile safaris. There is plenty of game in Ruaha but it depends, game viewing is luck as much as anything.The animals are quite shy here.
Katavi is much further away from Dar es Salaam and you have to charter an aircraft in there which is expensive. There is one luxury camp that I know of in the park and plenty of game.
Mahale Mountains is a different type of game viewing. You go there really to see the Chimpanzees so walking in the forest and mountains is your main activity and you will see forest animals, small antelope and primates and very good birding. There is one luxury camp that I use in there set on the beach, they have a dhow and you can go out sailing, fishing and snorkelling in the lake.
I hope this gives you some idea of the parks. There is more information on my website www.farsideafrica.com so do have a look at the information on there and contact me if you have any more questions
Best regards
Vicky
Farside Africa
+44 207 223 9528
vicky@farsideafrica.com
