All activities / Wildlife Safaris / Zakouma National Park
Wildlife Safaris in Zakouma National Park
A 3,000 square kilometre national park in the Salamat region of south-eastern Chad, a Central African floodplain of woodland and seasonal marsh managed by African Parks since 2010. Once devastated by poaching, it is now one of the continent's conservation success stories, with a recovering elephant herd, big buffalo and antelope concentrations and spectacular dry-season birdlife.
Why here
Zakouma is the great comeback story of Central African wildlife, and one of the last places to see the savanna ecosystem of the region intact. After poaching cut the elephants from thousands to a few hundred, African Parks took over management in 2010, and the herd has climbed back while lions, buffalo, roan, tiang and the rare Kordofan giraffe have stabilised or grown. In the dry season the animals concentrate around the shrinking pans in enormous numbers: buffalo herds a thousand strong, giant flocks of red-billed quelea that move like smoke, and one of the finest concentrations of large birds anywhere, from crowned cranes to Abyssinian ground hornbills. You explore on game drives from a small number of camps, the seasonal Camp Nomade being the most intimate, sleeping under canvas in a corner of Africa that almost no safari traveller reaches. This is remote, low-volume, conservation-funded wildlife travel, and the money goes straight back into protecting the park.
Best months
The park is only open and accessible in the dry season, roughly mid-December to mid-April, when the tracks are passable and the wildlife gathers at the remaining water; the wet season closes it entirely. Game viewing is by 4x4 with park guides, with the greatest concentrations from February to April as the pans dry. Days are hot and the nights mild. Camps are simple and remote, so bring binoculars, sun protection, a light warm layer and cash, and expect to be far from any medical facilities.
Getting there & around
Travel advisory · Do Not Travel
US State Dept Level 4 Do Not Travel for Chad (terrorism, crime, civil unrest, landmines and kidnapping in several regions), as of 2026-07; check your own government advisory and current security before booking. Zakouma is in the south-east and is reached almost always by charter flight from N'Djamena arranged as part of a safari package; the road journey is long and difficult. Tourism runs only in the dry season and is organised through the park and its camps, so book well ahead. Bring binoculars, sun protection, a warm layer for early drives, any personal medication and cash; facilities are basic and remote.
Skill levels: beginner
Schools & guides (1)
African Parks Zakouma
OrganizerAfrican Parks has managed Zakouma National Park in south-eastern Chad under a long-term government agreement since 2010, and the turnaround lifted the park's elephants by around forty per cent while stabilising lions, buffalo and the Kordofan giraffe. Tourism runs in the dry season from mid-December to mid-April, centred on the seasonal eight-tent Camp Nomade, with game drives across roughly 3,000 square kilometres of Central African floodplain and woodland.