Is Hot Air Balloon Safari worth it in Ruaha National Park?
Is Hot Air Balloon Safari worth it in Ruaha National Park? Tanzania’s largest national park, Ruaha, is located in the southern portion of this stunning, popular safari destination nation and spans an area of over 13,000 square kilometres. Ruaha National Park, which offers superb game watching for pristine game and wilderness through game drives or foot safaris, is a far cry from the crowded tourist circuits of northern Tanzania. The park is ornamented with baobabs. The largest wildlife protected area in Tanzania, Ruaha National Park, offers visitors an exciting way to explore its animals: by floating through the air on a hot air balloon safari.
The first official balloon ride in Ruaha National Park successfully took off on June 15, 2018, and as a result, safari-goers visiting the park are still welcome to enjoy an open-air wildlife ride from the top. This luxurious hot air balloon safari experience is the creation of Serengeti Balloon Safaris, which has been operating in central Serengeti since 1989 and is said to have flown more than 250,000 visitors.
Ruaha National Park, known for its dense population of elephants and isolated location, features a unique topography of large, arid landscapes with the Great Ruaha River flowing through it, providing vitality to the local wildlife. Aerial views of a herd of elephants digging under the enormous baobab trees, kudus and giraffes slake their thirst by the river while keeping an eye out for predators, and the sound of a hundred birds chirping will elevate your Hot Air Balloon Safari experience.
This trip offers early morning flights that can accommodate up to 12 passengers for an amazing hour-long wildlife game viewing experience. As you pass above the river and seasonal tributaries, you can spot antelopes like impalas and waterbucks around hippos, hungry crocodiles, and leopards. You can also see pride of lions roaming freely in the vast savannah, cheetahs stalking in the grasslands, and sly leopards hiding behind large rocks.
There is no upper age limit for Ruaha National Park’s Hot Air Balloon Safari, although participants must be reasonably fit and able to get in and out of the basket, grip rope handles, and bend their knees. The minimum age is seven years old. Pregnant ladies and those with health or mobility concerns should not balloon.
The Best time to visit Ruaha National Park
The rain forest of Ruaha National Park has a bimodal pattern: the lengthy rainy season lasts from March to April, while the short rainfall season runs from November to February. June through October is the traditional dry season in the park. These two climatic seasons that the National Park experiences can be used to identify the best time to visit Ruaha National Park. Generally speaking, animals will always gather near the few surviving water holes in a National Park that receives less rainfall. This means that there are more opportunities to easily watch game in these specific locations.
The Ruaha River, one of the many rivers that crisscross Ruaha National Park, tends to dry up during the extremely dry season, which runs from June to October. This leaves very few sandy water pools, many of which retain clean, fresh water for drinking, and which occasionally draw more park animals to congregate around for easy game viewing. Consequently, the dry season is ideally the best time to visit this park.The dense vegetation and bushes in the park also become less dense as it dries out, making it easier to spot a greater variety of animals. That being said, the brief rainy season, which runs from November to February, is still not the best time to visit for a safari because the foliage begins to bloom prettily and the shrubby bushes become beautifully green, creating picturesque scenes.
Ruaha National Park is a fantastic place to visit all year round because of its rich and diverse birdlife, which includes migratory species that provide excellent bird viewing throughout the wet season, particularly in March.
Game drives
The most popular adventure activity in Ruaha National Park is a game drive, where visitors can enjoy the amazing wilderness with its rich diversity of wildlife, stunning scenery from intriguing landscapes, the great Ruaha River, and various bird species while comfortably seated in a safari vehicle. While on your game drive, you can see the amazing predators, such as the lions along the riverbank, the cheetah on the wide plains, and the leopard, which is still extremely elusive, in large numbers along with other magnificent animals.
Nature walks
Experience the true wonders of the park up close and personal as you stroll through the virgin bushes that reach your legs. You’ll meet small animals that are too small to see from a safari vehicle and learn about all the little details of this untamed area while being escorted by a park ranger or guide.
Night Game drives
Because most big cats are nocturnal predators, game drives during the day are likely to find them lazing in the shade. However, a night game drive offers a unique chance to explore the park’s shadows with an armed park ranger and witness these magnificent creatures at their most active as they stalk their unsuspecting prey. Their constant activity and constant hunting will make your safari unlike any other.
Cultural tour
There is no better way to immerse yourself in a truly African experience than to combine a cultural safari to explore the surrounding local communities with your game adventure safari. These cultural tours are available as additional tourist activities in Ruaha National Park and allow you to engage with the fascinating Masai people, giving you an understanding of their distinctive customs, beliefs, and way of life that will leave you with unforgettable memories.