Ruaha River

River of Ruaha
Ruaha national park has got two main types of rivers that is to say, flowing permanent arteries of the Ruaha river and its seasonal tributaries and rivers of white sand which are also referred to as sand river during the dry season. It is said that a sand river appears to be a unique concept as to many visiting Ruaha National Park.

There are two opposite directions in which the main rivers in the Ruaha ecosystem appear: the Ns’ombe river located completely on the northern section runs through Rungwa game reserve and a section of its tributary spurs into Ruaha National prk. Te grate Ruaha rives runs on the southern section of Ruaha National park and continues to flow eastwards and joining Njombe and Rufiji river, and dumping itself on the Indian ocean.

Mdonya and Mwagusi sand river are the two main sand rivers of Ruaha National Park. These two rivers act as inlets carrying rainwater into the Ruaha during the rainy season despite the fact that they are white sand beds and carry no fishes. The river has no water on the surface during the dry season, however there is building of water close to the surface of the river bed which is promoted by the presence of granite mineral, that collects the water together. The elephants are normally viewed by the guides as they keep on digging up on the sand rivers trying to get the water. It is very common still to view many other animals on the sand river.

Tanzania Guide