Katavi National Park is a national park in Tanzania. It is located in the Mlele District and Nsimbo District of the Katavi Region.

Overview

Katavi National Park is located in the western part of Tanzania. It was first created as a game reserve and later became a national park in 1974. The park originally covered 1,823 square kilometers but was greatly increased in size to 4,471 square kilometers in 1997. It is about 40 kilometers south of Mpanda town and is Tanzania's third-largest national park, after Ruaha and Serengeti parks. The area has historical importance because it was originally home to the Rungwa, Manda, and Kimbu peoples, who were the first inhabitants of the land and helped shape its cultural history. Katavi is a remote park and is visited less often than other parks in Tanzania. The park includes the Katuma River and the seasonal floodplains of Lake Katavi and Lake Chada.

Ecology

The park has many types of wildlife, including large groups of animals such as Cape Buffaloes, zebras, Masai giraffes, and elephants. Along the Katuma River, crocodiles and hippopotami live. During dry seasons, mudholes form, and many hippos gather there. Predators that live in the park include cheetahs, wild dogs, hyenas, leopards, and lions. Some sources say the park has a high level of biodiversity. However, there are also reports that wildlife numbers are decreasing because of illegal hunting and poaching, likely for bushmeat. The area near Lake Chada, southeast of the park, has the highest number of mammals.

Tourism

The number of visitors to Katavi National Park each year is very low compared to more famous parks. In 2012/13, only about 1,500 foreign visitors were recorded, while all Tanzania National Parks had 900,000 registered visitors. A survey of rooms sold by safari-style accommodations could show the actual number of visitors, but based on total rooms available and the length of the season, an upper limit can also be estimated. In addition to a public campsite (located at SO 06'39'19.1 E0 031'08'07.9), as of 2013, only three permanent camps were allowed to operate at Katavi: Mbali Mbali Katavi Lodge, Foxes on the Katuma Plain, and Chada on the Chada Plain. Each of these camps can host about 12 visitors at a time.

Travel to Katavi is usually arranged by the camp hosting the visitor. Available charter flight services include Mbali Mbali Shared Charter (operated by Zantas Air Services) or Safari Air Link. All flights land at dirt airstrips. The Ikuu airstrip, near the Ikuu Rangerpost, has limited services. A flight from Katavi to Dar es Salaam takes about three hours, while a flight to Mwanza takes about two hours. A flight to Arusha also takes about three hours, but these flights operate on limited schedules, usually twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays.

Ground travel to Katavi is much slower. Distances are often described in days rather than hours. The town of Mbeya is 550 km (340 miles) away, and Google Maps shows it is 838 km (520 miles) from Dar es Salaam, making the total trip about 1,400 km (870 miles) and taking over 20 hours. The most direct route to Dar es Salaam is approximately 1,250 km (800 miles), requiring over 16 hours. Arusha is also far, about 1,000 km (620 miles) away, taking around 13.5 hours. Parts of all these routes are on dirt roads, though the exact percentage of unpaved roads is unknown. Travel times listed in Google Maps assume an average speed of 80 km/h (50 mph), so these times should be considered optimistic estimates.