Chada Katavi

ACCOMMODATION

Rooms
Chada Katavi caters for just 12 guests in six spacious tents on the ground. Each tent is comfortably furnished with solar lighting and a private verandah with views through the trees to the plains beyond. Connected to the back corner of each tent is a separate bathroom tent, linked by a short covered passage, which consists of a chemical toilet, sink, dressing table with water provided in jugs and an outdoor bucket shower with hot water supplied on request. Solar power provides twenty four hour lighting in the tents, which also have international sockets for charging and a standing fan for the hotter months of the year.

Central Areas
The central areas consist of a comfortable lounge tent, separate dining tent and extensive decking with further comfortable seating. A short sandy path leads to the camp fire which offers a genuine bush experience.

AREA & ACTIVITIES

Habitat & Wildlife
Katavi is a little known and remote park in south-west Tanzania. Limited access has always ensured an exclusive experience, though at the right time of year, game viewing can be spectacular. Miombo woodland covers much of the park, and is home to a variety of game, including Sable and Roan antelope, Lesser Kudu, Eland and Defasa waterbuck. However, game concentrations are highest along the beautiful Kapapa and Katuma rivers which transect the park, especially in the dry season when their waters attract large herds of buffalo, elephant, giraffe, zebra and impala. At various places along the river courses huge flood plains have developed (Katisunga, Chada and Paradise Plains) where game concentrates. Predators include lion, leopard, hyaena, wild dog and crocodile, the later of which have a rare characteristic of digging caves in the river banks in which to cool down when water is limited. Hippo are plentiful, and can be seen squashed together in huge numbers during the dry season. The woodland is superb for birding and the floodplains also attract vast numbers of migratory birds. There is a limited network of roads through the park and lots of tsetse fly. Katavi is best suited to the experienced safari traveller looking for somewhere new and/ or remote and exclusive to visit.

Activities
Activities include game drives by day; while night safaris, walking safaris and fly-camping are also possible at extra cost and should be pre-booked. We would highly recommend fly-camping in particular for anyone spending longer than three nights in Katavi.

Seasons
Chada Katavi is open from June through to mid-November with the best game viewing between August and October.