Originally set aside as a protected game reserve during the German colonial era in 1911, Katavi was officially gazetted as a national park in 1974 with an initial size of 1,823 km² before being expanded in 1997 to encompass its present 4,471 square kilometers. Located in the remote Katavi Region of western Tanzania, the park forms the core of an expansive, unfragmented ecosystem that includes the neighboring Rukwa and Lukwati Game Reserves. The park’s name is rooted in local Wabende cultural folklore and honors "Katabi," a legendary hunter spirit believed to reside in a sacred tamarind tree near Lake Katavi.

The lifeblood of Katavi consists of the Katuma River, Lake Katavi, and Lake Chada, surrounded by vast open seasonal floodplains and dense, pristine miombo woodlands. Katavi offers a visceral, highly seasonal wildlife experience. During the rainy season, the seasonal lakes and rivers flood into lush wetland sanctuaries. However, as the severe dry season progresses from July to October, the water sources shrink into a few muddy pools along the Katuma Riverbed. This dramatic drying forces hundreds of hippos into tightly packed, territorial mud pods where territorial fights break out daily, while thousands of Cape buffalo, elephants, giraffes, and antelopes crowd the remaining waterholes, drawing massive prides of lions and solitary leopards into fierce predator-prey encounters. Due to its extreme remoteness, Katavi remains one of Africa’s least visited and most biologically undisturbed safari frontiers.