Katavi is ....

Wild and quite far. It took about 2 days of driving on the shortest track from Arusha to reach there (see the map). We stayed at the Riverside Camp at the gate of the park (bandas were more appealing than camping and reasonably priced in comparison to camping inside the park at $20/person). The Katisunga plain is wonderful at the heart of the park, and the Katavi lake flood area (at the northwest of the park) was attractive due to the presence of lions.

Katavi is attracting more visitors (the average is up to 500-1000/year). We did not run into self-drive visitors but we did run into visitors at the lodges.

Katavi had the largest presence of Tsetse flies we encountered in Tanzania on this trip. At the western side of the Katavi flood plain we had to fend off tens of flies as soon as we rolled down a window. We simply couldn't endure. On the other hand, the Katisunga plain was almost tsetse-free, so we spent hours out under a tree waiting for wildlife to come by (and it did). We survived the tsetse bites and while annoying they are part of visiting this remote park.

In summary, while Katavi is highly recommended, it is more suitable for the safari-hardened and not the first-time self-drive visitor.

 

       
        Map (copyright Google Earth)


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