Rubondo Island National Park, Tanzania: Safari Guide & More!

A Comprehensive Safari Guide to Rubondo Island National Park, Tanzania. Rubondo Island national park covers an area of 240 km². It is one of only two Tanzanian national parks that are located on an island in Lake Victoria, the world’s second largest lake. It is sited at the southwest part of the lake. Rubondo was made a game reserve in 1965, to give wildlife a sanctuary. Rubondo was declared a National Park in Tanzania in 1977. The island is deserted and hence today 90% of it is still forest. Rubondo also has valuable fish spawning grounds and has nine smaller islands under its wing.

Rubondo Island has a mixed evergreen and semi-deciduous forest environment, which comprises around 80% of the island’s surface area and hosts a range of common species. The eastern lakefront is stony and sandy, and the western coast is surrounded by large papyrus swamps fringed with date palms.

Surprisingly, there are a lot of big animals on Rubondo. Elephant, giraffe, bushbuck, Bush buck, Chimpanzee, hippo and crocodile. Apart from watching the wildlife, there are many more eco-sensitive activities that guests can participate in.

The park is home to many kinds of birds. Rubondo Island is a haven for ornithologists with 300 native and migratory bird species. The most prevalent species are African darters, egrets, pied kingfisher, the high-pitched screeches and the African grey parrot. Rubondo is also home to unusually large numbers of fish eagles.