It´s Time For Burigi-Chato
Trade the queues of the northern circuit for miombo woodland, papyrus wetland and the shores of Tanzania´s third-largest lake — 4,707 square kilometres with almost nobody in them.
Safari Routes
Routes built around the park´s mix of grassland, miombo woodland and lakeshore — from a three-day first look out of Mwanza to a two-week circuit taking in Serengeti, the chimpanzee forests and Zanzibar.
3 Day Burigi-Chato Safari
Over 3 days this route takes in Burigi-Chato, each stop with its own character.
4 Day Burigi-Chato Safari
Over 4 days this route takes in Burigi-Chato, each stop with its own character.
5 Day Burigi-Chato And Lake Victoria Safari
Over 5 days this route takes in Burigi-Chato, each stop with its own character.
6 Day Burigi And Serengeti Safari
Over 6 days this route takes in Burigi-Chato and the Serengeti, each stop with its own…
7 Day Northwest Tanzania Safari
Over 7 days this route takes in Burigi-Chato, the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater, each stop…
7 Day Burigi And Gombe Chimp Safari
This 7-day Tanzania trip runs through Burigi-Chato and Gombe, linked so the travelling is done between…
One Flat Fee,
Every Season
Burigi-Chato charges a single conservation fee that does not change between the dry and the wet months. Timing your safari here is a question of conditions and access, not price — which is why we build itineraries around the tracks and the water, not the calendar.
- 4,707 km² between Lake Victoria and the Rwandan border
- Lake Burigi — the third-largest lake in Tanzania
- Best game viewing June to September, open year round
- Mwanza is the usual gateway for road and air transfers
Wildlife on the wetland edge
There is a rhythm to this corner of Tanzania that the busy parks have lost — engines off at the lakeshore, sitatunga stepping through papyrus, giraffe strung out along a miombo ridge at first light. Our routes are built around that quiet.
Explore
The Northwest
Burigi · Biharamulo · Kimisi
What Makes Burigi-Chato Unique?
Burigi-Chato National Park is unusual among Tanzanian parks for combining a major freshwater lake, papyrus swamp, wooded savannah and ridge country inside one boundary, for permitting night game drives, and…
Read the guideBest Time to Visit Burigi-Chato National Park
The best time to visit Burigi-Chato National Park is June through September, the dry season, when grass falls back, wildlife concentrates on Lake Burigi and the permanent water, and unsurfaced…
Read the guideHow to Get to Burigi-Chato National Park
Getting to Burigi-Chato National Park means either a domestic flight to Chato or Bukoba followed by a road transfer, a charter straight to an airstrip inside the park, or a…
Read the guidePark Guides
Wildlife, habitats, access, costs and season — written from the ground rather than the brochure.
Game Drives in Burigi-Chato National Park
Game drives in Burigi-Chato National Park run through wooded savannah, floodplain margins and ridge country in…
Boat Excursions in Burigi-Chato National Park
Boat excursions in Burigi-Chato National Park run on Lake Burigi from launch points near the ranger…
Birdwatching in Burigi-Chato National Park
Birdwatching in Burigi-Chato National Park works across open water, papyrus swamp, wooded savannah, riverine forest and…
Which Animals Can You See in Burigi-Chato?
Animals you can see in Burigi-Chato National Park include elephant, buffalo, giraffe, zebra, hippo, crocodile, eland,…
Where to Stay Near Burigi-Chato
Places to stay near Burigi-Chato National Park fall into two groups: basic park-run accommodation inside the…
What Should You Pack for Burigi-Chato?
Pack for Burigi-Chato National Park as you would for a self-sufficient bush trip rather than a…
We did four days out of Mwanza and saw one other vehicle the whole time. The boat morning on Lake Burigi — sitatunga in the papyrus, fish eagles overhead, engine off — is the part everyone in our group still talks about.