Rubondo Island was gazetted officially as National Park in 1977. It is an important breeding ground for both migratory bird and fish species especially Tilapia and Nile perch as for a long time it stood to be the only area in the waters of Lake Victoria which was well protected and preserved.
The park is located on the southwestern corner of Lake Victoria in Geita region about 150 km (95 miles) west of Mwanza. Lake Victoria is the second largest lake in the world. The park has 456.8 km2 of which 236.8 km2 is dry land and 220 km2 is water comprising 11 small islets of varying sizes.
About 80% of the park is covered by a dense forest thus providing a variety of habitats for indigenous wildlife such as Sitatunga, hippos, bush bucks, velvet monkeys, genet cats, crocodiles, bush pigs etc sharing the ecological niches with the introduced species such as chimpanzees, elephants, giraffes, black and white colubous monkeys, suni and African grey parrots.
Magnificent view of evergreen dense primary lowland Congolese forest-More than 80% of Rubondo Island National Park is covered by an intense primary lowland Congolese forest. Thus providing a variety of wildlife habitats sharing the similar ecological niches such as elephants, giraffes, chimpanzees, black & white colobous monkeys, Suni, African grey parrots etc.
Variety of water birds at Birds’ Island: RINP is one of the sites with highest density and concentration of Birds in Tanzania. Also RINP provides best habitat for birds migrating between southern and northern hemispheres.
Transport:
Rubondo Island can be reached by Air Chatters and Public transport & then boats to the park.
By Air: Rubondo Island can be reached both by charter/air. Using Rubondo Airstrip- Kageye
Visitors who prefer to travel by air should in advance check with the tour operators in Bukoba, Mwanza, Arusha and Dar es Salaam for flight schedules.
By road and boat transport
By road public transport leads you from Mwanza to Nkome via Geita town which is approximately 3-4 hours (164 km) drive, 100km through a tarmac and 64 rough road. At Nkome Rangers post you can be picked by park boat and will take 1 hour to the park.
Other routes include Mwanza to Mganza through Bukoba road (270 km – 5 hrs), Biharamulo to Mganza through Chato Bukoba road and from Bukoba to Mganza through Bukoba – Chato road. At Muganza you can take a taxi or motorcycle (5min) to Kasenda where Park boats are parked and there you will be picked-up by park boat and will take about 20-25 min to the park.
Note: Communication and transport arrangements should be done prior to park visit.
Best Time To Visit Park
The best time is from June through September and wet season from November to March when wildflowers are flourishing and plentiful of butterflies For bird watchers is from December to February when most migratory birds are nesting
Park Attractions and other activities
The park is bestowed with magnificent attractions that tourists can enjoy including the diversity of wildlife including elephants, giraffes, bushbucks, hippos, yellow-spotted otters, crocodiles, chimpanzees, sitatunga and offers best fish breeding sites. Other attractions are bird diversity with more than 400 species of nesting birds residing in the park. The gray parrot, introduced in 2000 when 34 birds were rescued from illegal trade, is a spectacular newcomer. Another noisy specimen is the African fish eagle.
Chimpanzees – currently being habituated – few Chimps are now used for tourism Habituation Experience One can travel by car to Chimps’ areas and join chimps’ habituation crew and be a part of habituators.
Scenery for calmness
Rubondo island is a place you can relax in two minutes. This is due to its natural beauty and calmness. Is a place where you can enjoy colorful sunrises and sunsets while listening to bird songs.
Other mammals: Other mammals that are frequently seen are Giraffes, Hippopotamus, Spotted necked Otter, Bushbucks and Velvet Monkeys. Colobus monkeys, Genet Cats, Marsh Mongoose, Suni and Elephants.
Reptiles
Variety of Reptiles: Reptiles such as snakes (pythons), monitor lizards and crocodiles: These are reptiles that are found in the park but some are rarely seen. Most reptiles maintain their body temperature by absorbing heat from their surrounding and have bodies that change accordingly to local atmosphere that means they cannot control their own body temperature.
Birds
Variety of water birds at Birds’ Island: RINP is one of the sites with highest density and concentration of Birds in Tanzania. Also RINP provides the best habitat for birds migrating between southern and northern hemispheres.
Cultural Sites
There are three main cultural sites Maji matakatifu, Ntungamirwe, and Alutare.
The famous Maji Matakatifu was historically used as ritual areas by Native Zinza who lived in Rubondo before the area was upgraded as a National Park. One example of rituals was to make women and men who did not have children to have children.
Alutare
This is an important historical site, used during wars with enemies of the Banyarubondo. Enemies included Baganda people from Uganda, who attacked them especially after the harvest season to steal cereals. The natives hid in karobhela caves at Alutare during the wars. The natives like to compare this entrance with an entrance into a cathedral. This is why the whole area was named “Alutare”, which means “altar”
