Kigosi National Park

Kigosi National Park is located in Bukombe and Kahama districts in shinyanga Region and extends up to Kaliua district northwest Tabora region of Tanzania, where the Nikonga river joins the Moyowosi wetlands complex and drains the shallow sloping Miombo woods. the park is one of the newly gazetted parks in Tanzania with an area coverage of 8265 sq km (3191 sq mi).

Kigosi National Park is part of East Africa’s largest wetland complex the Moyowosi/ Malagarasi  wetland complex making it a great place for birders with variety of bird species the wetland is  comprised of rivers like Malagarasi, Moyowosi, Nikonga, Ugalla, Kigosi, Nikonga and Gombe river ( some times mistaken with Gombe stream where chimpanzees live), these slow-moving rivers meander through a vast  and intricate network of woodlands, marshes and plain lakes  as they combine to form the Malagarasi River  which pours its waters in Lake Tanganyika in llagala providing close to 30% of Lake Tanganyika’s freshwaters , this a mazing system in comparison and size is larger than the entirety of Portugal. The entire region was declared a Ramsar site, a wetland of worldwide significance.

Kigozi National Park has virgin areas that have never been thoroughly explored because of its difficult terrains and ensure that large parts have hardly ever been visited or explored, despite the fact that Africa is endowed with an extravagant quality and quantity of wildlife. Kigozi National Park is dominated with a vegetation cover of grassy swamps in the south and open Miombo Woodlands surround vas lakes and marshes and many  have floating palm and papyrus islands, grassy flood plains dotted with palm trees to the north of the park  allowing the kigosi, Moyowosi, Gombe and Nikonga rivers to meander across the reserve’s wide floodplains with ease, the Itigi thicket is also present in the park interspersed with rocky outcrops, riverine valleys, open grasslands, springs and scattered water holes. The park has two annual rainfall peaks in February and November.

Kigozi National Park just like other Tanzania’s parks located in western sector is well known for its big numbers of lions, buffaloes, sable, roan, kudu, leopards, topi, waterbucks, hippos, crocodiles, sitatunga warthogs, baboons, zebras, sable, roan, eland, bush bucks, oribi, common and Bohor reedbuck, hyenas, the park is one of the biggest protected areas in East Africa for Sitatunga, kudu. The marshes area an ideal habitant for rare water birds like great snipe, wattled cranes with the biggest concertation in Africa, the rare and slightly ominous bird the shoebill stork, largest flocks of pygmy geese in Africa are present, the largest concentration of Cape Clawless otters in Africa are in the Moyowosi wetland in the park, kingfishers, pelicans among others to thrill when on Tanzania Safari.

History of Kigosi National Park

Kigosi National Park is formally Kigosi Game Reserve gazetted in 1983 later in 2019 its status was upgraded to National Park by combining to game reverses the Kigosi and its neighbor Moyowosi game driver which were divided Moyowosi river.

Attractions in kigosi game reserve

Wildlife kigosi national park 

The park boasts various wildlife animals in large numbers which include lions, leopards, buffaloes, topi, Lichtenstein’s hartebeests, warthogs, zebras, sables, roan, sitatunga elands, hyenas, oribi, bushbucks, hippos, Defassa waterbucks to mention but a few.

Bird species

The park is a great place for bird lovers, it is considered a breeding place to rare aquatic bird life like Wattled crane, kingfisher, pelicans, shoebills and more that will make your Tanzania Safari Adventure memorable.

Flood plain

Kigosi National Park boasts flood plains and Wetland ecosystem making it one of the excellent parks of East Africa, these plains have become the giant home to wildlife supporting its high production and breeding for wildlife species like lions, leopards, buffaloes to mention but a few and multiple of rare bird species.

Activities at kigosi  national park 

Game viewing

Game viewing is the main activity to carry out while on a safari in Kigosi National Park, tourist use a 4 WD vehicle and self-drive into the woodlands and plains in search of the park’s wild animals, there are evening game drives and morning though the morning game drive is the best for spotting lions, elands, zebras, baboon, bird species, landscape offering the best experience in Kigosi National Park.

Bird watching

Kigosi National Park is a great place to spot some of the rare water-loving birds such as shoebill storks that are in large numbers, pel’s fishing owl, wattled crane, these swamps are the best habitants for bird species hence to tourists stand a chance to view a large number and different species of birds during a birding tour in Tanzania wilderness.

Natural walks at kigosi game reserve

Natural walks are allowed in the park but only carried out with a park guider and an armed ranger, since the park is in a wet land a number of animals and bird life can be spotted during the walk and get a chance to get a close encounter with the wild and all the features that the park has to offer.

Best time to visit the Kigosi National park

Kigosi National Park is open all year round although the best time to visit is during the dry season between the months of June to September because the roads are less muddy, thickets thin out making wildlife more visible. The wet season in the months of February and November the rains make the area quite swamp and flooded the terrains are usually muddy, water logged making it difficult to navigate the park especially in the park’s southern part.

How to get to the Kigosi National park

The park can be accessed both by Air and Road transport

By Road;

The park is easily accessed by road using a 4 WD vehicle either from Arusha or Dar es Salaam. The reserve has path and trails that all and a mazing self-drive safari experience as you enjoy sceneries on your way to the park, nothing beats a road drive in search of life, large wildlife and vast landscape panoramas.

 

By Air;

Travelers can fly to Dar es Salaam airport which is the closest international airstrip to the park which offers commercial flights to Mwanza on Lake Victoria/ Kigoma then to the Park.

Where to Stay in Kigosi National Park

Being that Kigosi is a newly established National Park it has no accommodation options yet, visitors to the park can resort to camping or rather host their stay in typical safari lodges and tented accommodations on the outskirts of the park or in A-frame tents in the adjoining Moyowosi Game reserve.