Ugalla game reserve is one of the national parks in Tanzania despite not being well known to the majority of people who dare to visit various places such as historical areas as well as national parks. The Ugalla game reserve is located in the Tabora region, the west-central part of Tanzania. The total area of the national park covers about 3865 square kilometers. This area is equivalent to a total of 1,492.28 square miles.
Ugalla national park is not too old as compared to other famous national parks in the country. It was founded and established recently in 2019. The establishment of this national park was a result of the decision to separate some part of the river purposely to form the national park that was done by the parliament of the United Republic of Tanzania.
There are various wild animals that are found in the Ugalla game reserve. This is very common to every national park or game reserve. This is because its area is a spacious landscape being dominated by the Miombo forests. It is also dominated by high grassy savannas that are inhabited by various wild animals such as giraffes, leopards, zebras, elephants and buffaloes. These are just some of the wild animals that are found on the Ugalla game reserve.
The Ugalla game reserve receives moderate rainfall per year, as it receives about 600 to 750 mm total average per annum.
There are various attractive features that act as the driving forces for most of the visitors to visit this place. The following are some of the fascinating features that attracts most of visitors to visit it:
The presence of the river; the Ugalla River is a broad and slow-moving body of water having sandbanks, oxbow lakes, some shallow pools and some swamps that are winding their way in a meandering manner towards the western side through the remotest area, which is almost the forgotten part of the world but rich and full of resources. The Ugalla River is under five thousand (5000) square kilometers in its total area.
The river is in the vast landscape having some valleys and shallow hills dominated by the miombo forests and woodlands. It is also decorated with the tall grass savannas, which are the great habitats for some wild animals such as buffaloes, zebras, lions, giraffes, leopards, elephants and many others. There are also herds of antelope revolving around the riverside, which are very rare in Tanzania. In short, there are various wildlife species in the Ugalla River that attract most visitors to visit the place. Again, plenty of bird species should not look down.
Presence of various species of birds. There are habitats that keep bird species alive in the area. For instance, there are the presence of swamp stretches on the western part of the reserve that have the dwellings for most of the bird species. Also, the swamps attract the establishment of bird habitats, including the construction of nests. Some of the common species of birds are like wattled cranes, shoebill storks, pygmy geese and so many others. These species of birds are mostly located along the Ugalla riverside.
Also, it is the best place for game viewing. The Ugalla national park is one of the best places that offers game viewing services to the visitors who dare to visit this national park. The game viewing activities are best conducted during the dry season, commonly from July through October. This is the best season since the varieties of animal species concentrate in their herds and groups around the Ugalla River and it becomes one of the best and most exciting times to view them.
This is also the best time because it is very simple to see the animals since they are everywhere in the river. The animal species that can be easily experienced during game viewing are zebras, lions, buffaloes, antelopes, giraffes, leopards, hippos, elephants and the crocodiles that usually abound in the river.
Another interesting and fascinating truth about the Ugalla River is the presence of crocodiles that are said to be the largest species of crocodiles that have ever been recorded in east Africa and Africa at large.
Also, the experience of walking safaris is another exposure for the visitors. The Ugalla game reserve offers walking safaris to the visitors who visit it. The walking safaris are mainly guided by the experts and experienced tour guides who move and make the exploration of various wild animals in the national park. The visitors enjoy being exposed to the walking safari and this adds value to their Tanzania safari.
Visitors can also get a chance to participate in sport fishing activities. The sport fishing activities are also one of the activities that are done in the park, usually done by visitors and tourists in the river. The experienced fisherman always guides the tourists to use the catch and release method when conducting sport fishing activities since it is one of the activities that visitors can enjoy. The tourists may catch a lot of species of fish and release them in the river.
