In the heart of Africa’s Great Rift Valley lies Katavi, a little-known national park spanning more than 3,000 square miles of western Tanzania. Here, lions, hippos and crocodiles live more or less in harmony until an unusual climatic cycle transforms the natural dry season into the toughest drought in almost a century.

In the heart of Africa’s Great Rift Valley lies Katavi, a little-known national park spanning more than 3,000 square miles of western Tanzania. Here, lions, hippos and crocodiles live more or less in harmony until an unusual climatic cycle transforms the natural dry season into the toughest drought in almost a century.