Dar es Salaam to Johannesburg

View journey in reverse View other journeys

DarEsSalaam
Tanzania

Dar es Salaam, melting pot of cultures

START
Selous GR
Tanzania

Selous Game Reserve, Tanzania

15 minutes
183km
The Ruvuma
Basin

The Ruvuma Basin

1hr 10mins
607km
Lake Malawi/
Nyasa

Lake Malawi/Nyasa, East Africa

1hr 40mins
950 km
Nyanga
Zimbabwe

Nyanga, Zimbabwe

2hrs 10mins
1,448km
The Limpopo
River

The Limpopo River

3 hours
1,992km
Johannesburg
South Africa

Johannesburg - The Beating Heart of Africa

3hrs 40mins
2,388 km

Close

The Ruvuma Basin

Approximately 2.4 million people live in the Ruvuma Basin, which straddles the borders of Tanzania, Mozambique and Malawi.

The Ruvuma River Basin covers an area the size of Tunisia, though its population is comparable with that of Amsterdam making it one of the least densely populated regions in East Africa.

Niassa Game Reserve is twice the size of Kruger National Park in South Africa, and remains one of the few untouched wildernesses in Africa.

Niassa Game Reserve is home to the greatest concentration of wildlife in Mozambique, including the endangered African wild dog.

Tanzania and Mozambique are linked across the Ruvuma River by Unity Bridge, which marks the nations’ unity during the Mozambican War of Independence.

Mozambique gained independence from more than 400 years of Portuguese colonial rule in 1975, after a 13 year movement by the Front for Liberation of Mozambique, or FRELIMO.

Show the The Ruvuma Basin summary

Top

Control panel

View images from...

The appearance of the landscape changes depending on your altitude. Using the options below, please choose a cruising altitude to explore from.

Contribute to Hidden Journeys

We invite you to help us make Hidden Journeys as rich as possible. If you have an image that you believe is suitable for this site then please click below to submit it to the site.

Add your image

Share...

Flying at 13,000m - Life in the basin

The Ruvuma Basin straddles the borders of Tanzania, Mozambique and Malawi. All three neighbouring nations must cooperate to manage the region.

From this satellite image the tributaries of the Ruvuma are clearly visible. The Lugenda is the largest tributary, joining the Ruvuma from the south.

Many of the people of the Ruvuma Basin remain isolated as infrastructure in the region is still minimal. Governing bodies are working together to improve infrastructure in the region.

The mouth of the Ruvuma River spewing sediment-rich water into the Indian Ocean at the border between Mozambique and Tanzania.

Access to clean water is an important issue for the nations sharing the Ruvuma Basin. Projects to improve access to fresh water are underway between the cooperating governments.

Map showing the entire Ruvuma Basin, with the Ruvuma River and its major tributaries visible. 2.4 million people live in the valleys carved by these rivers, and are reliant on the water for their livelihoods.

A small village in the Ruvuma Basin. The basin is one of the most sparsely populated regions in East Africa, with a population density of just 16 people per square kilometre.

Most of the people who live in the Ruvuma Basin practice subsistence farming or fishing, relying on the Ruvuma and its tributaries to provide for them.

As a shared watercourse, development of the Ruvuma Basin requires a high level of governance and cooperation. Projects to improve the supply of drinking water are already underway.

The Ruvuma River can be seen at the top of the image. The river empties into the Indian Ocean just north of the Mozambique Channel, which separates Madagascar from mainland Africa.

The Lugenda River is the largest tributary of the Ruvuma River. Here, it cuts a path through the sandstone plateau of the Ruvuma Basin.

Cooperative projects are underway between the sharing nations in order to improve infrastructure in the Ruvuma Basin as the population is expected to double in 20 years.

Though the Ruvuma Basin is most predominantly populated by rural village communities, there are small urban areas to be found in here, both in Mozambique and Tanzania.

Contribute your own images

Flying at 6,000m - Niassa Game Reserve

The Eastern Miombo Woodlands cover Niassa Game Reserve. These deciduous woodlands are vital habitats for thousands of animal and plant species.

Niassa Reserve is one of the last regions of Africa to be left to exist without any need for management by people. Wildfires occur naturally and regulate both plant and animal life.

African elephants such as these can be found in the Niassa Game Reserve in large numbers.

Miombo woodland can be found across the Ruvuma Basin and provides a vital habitat for thousands of species in Tanzania.

Niassa Game Reserve is one of the largest protected miombo forest ecosystems in the world. Miombo is a type of tree that grows in dense forests in the nutrient poor soil of the savannah.

1873 - Map showing in red the route David Livingstone took along the Ruvuma River on his Zambezi Expedition. Today, the landscape remains much the same as Livingstone would have experienced it.

Leopards are commonly found in Niassa Game Reserve and are a popular draw for tourists.

The Niassa Game Reserve is the largest conservation area in Mozambique. It covers an area twice the size of the famous Kruger National Park in South Africa.

The Lugenda River in Niassa Game Reserve. Most of the reserve is savannah or woodland, though there are some wetland regions.

The inselbergs, or stone outcrops, of Niassa Game Reserve create a varied landscape that appeals to photography tourists.

Inselbergs, or exposed rock outcrops such as these, can be found across the Ruvuma Basin and are a key attraction for visitors to Niassa Game Reserve.

Zebra and wildebeest are found in large numbers in Niassa Game Reserve. It is hoped that tourism will develop in the park, which will generate enough income to protect the reserve in the future.

Niassa Game Reserve is home to around 200 African wild dogs, a particularly rare species.

Contribute your own images

Flying at ground level - Unity Bridge

Map illustrating the extent of Portugal's African colonies during the Portuguese Colonial War. As a result, Mozambique gained independence after more than 400 years of colonial rule.

The flag of FRELIMO reflects the party's Marxist-Leninist ideologies. From 1962-1975, FRELIMO fought for Mozambique's independence from Portuguese colonial rule.

During the Mozambican War of Independence, FRELIMO forces crossed the Ruvuma River from their base in Tanzania into Mozambique to fight the Portuguese.

Julius Nyerere, Tanzania's first president, was sympathetic to the FRELIMO movement having fought for and gained independence from the British in 1961.

A Portuguese propaganda poster distributed during the war, stating 'FRELIMO lied! You suffer' aimed at citizens who supported FRELIMO resistance under the promise of agricultural aid.

A FRELIMO poster from 1977, two years after the party had won the war of independence. FRELIMO are still an important political party in Mozambique today.

c. 1912 - French map illustrating the colonial claims over Africa. The Portuguese claimed the portions shown in purple, here as modern day Angola and Mozambique.

After Mozambique gained independence from Portugal in 1975, the presidents of Mozambique and Tanzania proposed a Unity Bridge across the river to link the two nations. The bridge opened in 2010.

A statue of Mozambique's first president Samora Machel stands in the nation's capital, Maputo. Machel led Mozambique from the country's independence in 1975 to his death in 1986.

Contribute your own images

Return to the top

© 2013 Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)