Katavi Nat Park Tanzania
 

Has anyone been to this park. Sounds wonderfully remote but would love to hear some first hand opinions.

Thanks j

hi, i wanted to go here so bad in sept. but the internal flights messed everything up. that is remote and wild. also some tse-tse fly trouble.
thats ok, keep a shirt or towel handy. to keep moving that around. that worked pretty well in mikumi.
bug stuff ha-ha, forget it.
so try to spend at the least 4nts there. if not more.
i heard all good things about this place.
see ya, david

Just topping in the hope that someone may have some thoughts on this park??!
Thanks in advance.
J

Well, it is quite remote. I drove up the West side of Tanz a few years ago. The tsetses were so pesky in the park I choose to bypass the place as quickly as possible. The 'road' goes through the park and they were with us for hours and hours. That was in a July.It was the 2nd worse tsetse fly experience I have ever encountered. Even went to the park office and they were there.

I wrote this in the "Mombo - how much, and is it worth it? " thread:

"Katavi? First, no tsetse at all (maybe luck?), in contrast to Ruaha - sometimes that was really hell. Second, hot! I'd been there in September, and I remember it hotter than Zambia end of October. I think the best time for Katavi and Ruaha must be end of August/beginning of September. Up to now I havn't been in Selous, but for all what I know you can combine all of these parks in one trip.

We saw huge herds of buffalo (similar to Duba Plains), hundreds of hippos (never saw more in one place), but astonishing few predators - only three lions in 5 days (bad luck?). I think the park has its charm through its remoteness - at my visit we were 5 at our camp and 3 at Chada, in an area of over 1700 square miles."

Mitch

Mitch thanks for your response. I didn't look under the Mombo post. We are planning a trip to Southern Tanz for next Sept ('06) and are trying to decide which parks we want to go to and for how long in each place. Ruaha is a definate. We have about 12 nights to play with but may adjust that according to budget. Would love any opinions anyone may have! I did a search on Katavi to see if I could find any trip reports or anything on the web but have not come up with anything.

Thanks again
J

Just thought I would try one more time to see if there are any more thoughts out there on this?
Thank you

jules,

What's your itinerary looking like for September? I gather you're still debating Katavi.

Off-topic: Have you ever considered Saadani? I haven't been, but have always wondered. I know it's not very game-heavy, but it sounds like it could be an interesting combo of v. soft safari and beach (in lieu of Zanzibar).

I'd be interested to hear if anyone has visited and/or any opinions on Saadani as well. Was thinking of combining Saadani and Selous at one point.

Patty,

I'm thinking of Niassa (Moz), Saadani, Selous, Ruaha... for my next EA trip.

Mitch

Leely, yes we are still debating about Katavi. Most of the info I have been able to find on it seems to be published by the Taz gov or operators and of course it sounds wonderful. Did read the Africa Geo article and that sounded great. We are not planning on going until Sept '06 now so we have a little time to ponder! We are definately going to go to gorillas in Rwanda for a couple of days of gorilla tracking and Southern Tanz either before or after that. We will have about 12 nights to allocate to parks in southern Tanz and are trying to decide what to do. Ruaha is a definate.
Have not concidered Saadani. Selous and Mikumi. not sure of the way to go yet, but hoping for inspiration!

Jules39--did you ever make it to Katavi?

No jenack we didn't. Had so many changes of plans after this! A trip to Asia came up. But we are headign back to Northern Tanz & then on to Rwanda in Feb
Are you thinking Katavi?
J

I am just about booked. This september, doing the Masai Mara, then Ruaha, Katavi and Mahale. Have 4 nights in each of the Tanzania stops, and want to add one night to either Ruaha or Katavi. People have me a little worried about the Tsetses in katavi!! It also seems like it can be hit or miss depending on the rains and such; apparantly last year in sept. people did not see animals, but others have raved!! So hard to plan all this stuff, but obviously cannot wait for the trip.

We were in Katavi at the beginning of Sept.Insects love me, but I was not bitten at all.We saw hippos,etc-but very few predators.We were told that lions have been scared off by the hunting that had gone on previously.Chada Camp was gorgeous with lovely tents,great guides and delicious food. We also did some wlking and enjoyed that,but you will not see hordes of animals like at Ngorogoro,but neither will you see other people.Enjoy your trip!

Patty
Hi
I am definately going to Saadani in March dont know who with yet BUT have emailed a fodorite who has been there see what they say
but will let you know how it is/was when I get back
David

Glad to hear no bites!! I know you had said previously the animals were not so abundant, I am crossing my fingers!!

Copy and Paste these coordinates into Google Earth
S6.629738 E31.136970

Mflickermd,

Can you tell me a bit more about the hunting going on.

I am thinking about going there in 2008 but if hunting concessions are too close to the game viewing areas, then I am not so reluctant anymore to go.

Greetings,

Johan

Dear Johann,
We were under the impression that there is no longer hunting,but I'm not completely sure.Perhaps someone else can post a response.