Best hotels in Katavi

Established 20 years ago on the very same site it sits today, Chada is a camp of pioneering spirit, simple luxuries and genuinely astonishing safari. Hidden in the shade of fragrant tamarind trees, the six tents are some of only a handful in the million acres of National Park, making it one of the most rewarding places to visit in East Africa. It is said that Katavi receives fewer visitors in a year than the Serengeti does in a day, but with a hauntingly beautiful landscape and seemingly endless herds of game, we strongly suggest that you are one of the few...

Katavi Wildlife Camp is one of just four camps in western Tanzania's wild Katavi National Park – the country's third-largest and definitely among the least visited parks. That's because it's difficult to get to: flights only operate on Mondays and Thursday from Ruaha and Arusha, meaning you must stay for either three or four nights. And because the area's black cotton soil gets too sticky to negotiate after the rains, the camp is only open from June to February. Three major floodplains dominate here, and Katavi Camp overlooks one of the best – the teeming-with-wildlife Katisunga Plain.

Little-known Katavi National Park in Tanzania encompasses rivers, seasonal floodplains, woodlands and savanna. It's home to four of the Big Five, and the country's densest populations of hippo, which pile up in mud pockets when the floodplains drain – creating, well, a lot of hippo flesh. Mbali Mbali Katavi Lodge is one of Tanzania's most remote safari camps, located in the heart of this wonderful park. Its low-key design aesthetic and down-to-earth staff give it a feel that cuts above mere "comfortable". This one is made for off-the-beaten-path enthusiasts.