Ruaha combines the untrammelled wilderness of Katavi with the jaw-dropping vastness and wildlife of Serengeti and Tarangire. In the largest national park of East Africa your safari begins the moment the airstrip comes into sight, the pilot deftly maneuvering past the giraffe and zebra roaming around.

Flowing across the base of the Rift Valley at an altitude of almost 1,000m, the great river that gives Ruaha its name is also its life artery. While the waters turn wild during the torrential rains at the peak of the wet season, the floods subside, calming down into tranquil pools. Where there is water there is life, and the fine network of game viewing trails follows the main river and seasonal tributaries. With the vast savannah dotted with mighty baobabs, hills and rocky outcrops and its river valleys full of palm trees, the park is exceptionally beautiful.

Almost the entire cast of the Tanzanian savannah show is to be seen, with the antelope as the undisputed star. Since Ruaha combines acacia savannah of East Africa and the miombo woodland of Southern Africa, there is an unusually high diversity of this elegant species. Fans of the greater kudu are in the right place. Nowhere else is the population flourishing as it is here. Fans of the greater kudu are in the right place.