All activities / Wildlife Safaris / Gorongosa National Park
Wildlife Safaris in Gorongosa National Park
A 4,000-square-kilometre national park at the southern end of the Great Rift Valley in central Mozambique, the centrepiece of one of Africa's most ambitious wildlife restoration projects. Floodplains, fever-tree forests and Lake Urema draw returning herds after decades of recovery.
Why here
Gorongosa is Africa's greatest comeback story on the ground. Civil war emptied the park of more than 90 percent of its large animals, and since 2004 the Gorongosa Restoration Project has rebuilt it from almost nothing. Elephant numbers have climbed from around 200 to close to 1,000, lions have recovered, and African wild dogs and leopards have been reintroduced to a landscape where they had vanished. Game drives cross vast floodplains and fever-tree forest, boat safaris on Lake Urema pass hippo pods and crocodiles, and the birdlife runs to hundreds of species. This is not a manicured reserve, it is a working restoration you can watch happening, guided by people who live it.
Best months
The park is open roughly April to December and closes in the wet season when the roads flood. The best game viewing is in the dry months from July to October, when animals concentrate near water and the floodplains open up. Wildlife densities are still recovering, so this is rewarding, patient safari country rather than a guaranteed Big Five checklist. Expect elephant, lion, wild dog, waterbuck, sable and huge concentrations of birds.
Getting there & around
Gorongosa sits in Sofala Province, reached by road from Beira in about three to four hours or by charter flight to the park airstrip. Lodges and camps operate inside the park and arrange all game activities with park guides. The park closes in the rainy season, so plan for the April to December window and book lodge stays well ahead, capacity is small.
Skill levels: beginner
Schools & guides (2)
Gorongosa Safaris
OutfitterThe tourism arm of the Gorongosa Restoration Project, the twenty-year public-private partnership between the Government of Mozambique and the Carr Foundation that has rebuilt the park since 2004. It runs the classic Muzimu Lodge, the tented Chicari Camp opened in June 2025 with just ten tents on a wildlife-rich pan, and a mobile Expedition Camp. Guest revenue feeds directly back into the park's conservation and community programmes, and safaris are led by guides trained on site.
Montebelo Gorongosa Lodge & Safari
OutfitterPart of the Montebelo Hotels and Resorts chain owned by Portugal's Grupo Visabeira, this 47-room lodge sits inside Gorongosa National Park near the old Chitengo camp. It runs open game drives across the floodplains and fever-tree forest, boat safaris on Lake Urema among hippos, crocodiles and waterbirds, and community visits to nearby villages. The lodge operates seasonally, roughly April to December, matching the park's dry-season access window.