Leaving Ruaha and Flying to Selous Part 10

Jennifer (Nyama) sent us this photo. We and others were often in this pose!

Tonight Christophe lays a feast in front of us starting with Pumpkin soup and dinner rolls. I love African soups but Pumpkin soup is my absolute favorite! The thick, slightly sweet soup is just superb and I savor every spoonful. The soup is followed by mashed potatoes and swiss steak which is quite tasty.

At some point during the meal, Brian asks us to try to get out of our tents as early as possible tomorrow so the staff can begin dismantling our camp. I hate to even think about leaving because I love this camp. Mikumi was fine but the sights and sounds of human civilization were not far away from our little encampment. Here in the Ruaha camp it feels like we are the only humans around. Heck, maybe we are the only people camping in the Park. I don’t remember seeing any other camping sites, at least not close to ours.

We will be flying to Selous while the camp staff will have to drive for a day and a half to arrive. We only need to pack what we need for an overnight at our Lodge, and the excess luggage will be packed in the Rovers. Wait a minute, what was all the hoopla about only bringing 25 pounds of luggage because our in country flight only allowed this much per person on the plane. I think someone pulled one over on us!

Toasting bread for our last breakfast in Ruaha

Paul and I are up early, and the camp staff is already pulling down their own tents. Paul and I carry our beds and night stand outside of the tent to save the guys from that chore. There is supposed to be an area to put the luggage we are taking on the plane, and a separate area to put the luggage that will travel with our drivers. Paul and I are trying to find out what goes where, when we notice one of the workers is starting to pull our tent stakes. We rush back and explain that our luggage is still inside the tent. My goodness, the guys really are in a hurry to get rolling down the road.

Our camp staff dismantling the tents.

Once we have rescued our luggage and deposited it in the correct piles, I make my way to the river bed. I stand in the dry channel, enjoying the solitude in the cool African morning. As I survey the area, I see a small group of baboon sitting in the sand as they soak up the warmth of the first sun rays. Just beyond the primates, a giraffe glides in aslow motion walk into the river bottom and crosses to the other side. The giraffe slowly melts away into the trees which add to the dream like quality of the scene. A few hundred yards from me, the bushes lining the river bank begin shivering and rustling, and baboons begin streaming out of the thick foliage. This is a large troop of baboons with many youngsters among them. Some of the little ones chase each other around the sandy channel in a game of tag that often ends in a wrestling match. The small group of baboons that were peacefully soaking up the sun began running for the tree line the minute the invading group appeared. I guess that means they aren’t friends!

The invading Baboon troop

Paul, Brian, and Bwana Mawe have come to check things out and Brian suggests we walk across the channel to the jumble of rocks adjacent to us. As we near the halfway point, there are elephant footprints imprinted in the golden sand. We stroll on until we reach the tumble of rocks. We catch a glimpse of rock hyrax running for cover as we intrude upon the small mammal’s home. A flock of Southern Blue-eared starlings land in the leafy branches of a nearby tree, instantly turning it into a Christmas tree, decorated in neon blue, living ornaments. Though I am sad to be leaving here, this last morning has certainly been a memorable one.

Southern Blue-eared starlings that landed in the trees

It’s time to leave this special place and make our way to the dirt airstrip where we will board prop planes that will fly us to Selous. There must not be time for a leisurely, final game drive in Ruaha, as our guides are clipping down the road at 25 or 30 mph. I try to stand and watch for game despite the wind whipping in my face and the extra effort it takes to hang on to the roof framework but I finally cry “uncle” and sit down, peering out the window as the landscape flashes by. Ngruwe calls out for Kevin to stop and once the truck shudders to a halt, Ngruwe instructs Kevin to back up until we arrive at the place where he caught a glimpse of something that didn’t fit in with the surroundings. Sure enough, we are looking at the back of a pair of ears and neck with the rest of the critter hidden by the dead grass it is lying in. The shutters of our camera are snapping away as we are congratulating Ngruwe on such a fabulous spot.

Suddenly, Brian stops taking photos and announces that what looks so cat-like is actually the remnants of a burned stump! I look through my binoculars and sure enough those feline ears are charred protrusions left behind from some past fire. Our laughter isn’t aimed at the initial man who spotted the Serval like stump, Ngruwe’s spot was still astonishing, but at ourselves for the way our minds took this stump and made it into a living creature. Yesterday on our game drive, Ngruwe and I called out nearly simultaneously, “there is a turtle”. Kevin stopped the Rover, backed up and our turtle turned out to be made of rock. This “turtle” was atop a large boulder that was lying in a dry stream bed which of course made no sense. However, when you are driving at a fair speed and in the mindset to find wildlife, often your brain will oblige you by turning inanimate objects into a creature. I never worry much about this kind of mistake, it is better to call out and be wrong than to keep quiet and take the chance that what you saw really was a wild animal.

The Serval stump Ngruwe saw as we flew down the road. It sure looks like a cat.

Zooming in on the “serval” which turns out to be a stump

The actual Serval cat we saw on a prior game drive. You can see why Ngruwe thought he had found another Serval. This is Jennifer’s photo

We have fallen behind the other two vehicles and Mochie is beseechingly calling Kevin’s name over the two-way radio “Kevin, K e e v i i n”. This becomes a source of amusement for those of us riding with Kevin and when we need to ask our driver something or if he is busy with other things, we often mimic Mochie’s plaintive call to get his attention. It’s all in good fun of course and it makes Kevin laugh. This time the call for Kevin isn’t because we are lost but because Mochie’s vehicle is getting a flat tire and he needs help.

Changing the flat tire

We finally catch sight of Mochies’ truck and as we are crossing a low spot in the road, Ngruwe points and declares that a Dik-dik is standing in the small ravine. I look in the direction of the pointed finger and sure enough I catch a glimpse of the tiny antelope staring at us. When we reach the disabled vehicle, a few of us decide to walk down to where Ngruwe saw the teeny antelope in hopes we might get a photo. Although the Dik-dik is still standing in the same spot, five people on foot are too much for the little guy to handle and he takes off running. Well, we knew that getting a photo was a long shot but our short hike at least killed some time while the tire is being changed.

The airport and one of the elephants near the landing strip

We arrive at the Park airport at ten a.m. and see two small planes parked on the “terminal”:). There are also two bull elephants moseying around the short landing strip which reminds you that this isn’t your ordinary airport. When our luggage and box lunches have been unloaded and carried to the outside waiting area, our drivers wave goodbye, and begin their overland journey to the Selous. There are no pilots around but our flight isn’t scheduled to leave until noon so we aren’t worried. There are two gazebo like structures for passengers to sit in while they await their in country flight, and Bwana Cheka jokingly asks if our flight leaves from terminal A or terminal B. The wisecrack makes everyone laugh as we settle onto the benches inside the shelters to escape the hot sun. I suddenly realize that today is Paul’s birthday, so quietly wish him happy birthday and apologize for not remembering it until now. Paul told Brian and me a few days ago that he didn’t want any big deal made about his birthday. Well, I guess I took Paul’s request to heart since I nearly forgot all about it!

The two planes we thought were ours

Terminal A & B

Twelve o’clock arrives with no sign of any pilots so some of us decide to eat the boxed lunches Christophe made for us. Another group of tourists have arrived and they join us under the welcome shade of the rest areas. At 1:15 our pilots show up and begin readying the planes for us passengers. The other group of tourists walks out to the planes and is talking to the pilots. Brian goes to join the group and is also conversing with the bush pilots. Several of us are watching the scene and witness Brian turn on his heel, slap the papers he has with him against his open hand, and note that his usual easy gait is now a no-nonsense walk. Uh oh, we all agree that if we are reading Brian’s body language correctly that he has not received good news.

Brian breaks the bad news to us that it seems these are not our planes after all. Hmm. The good news is they have room for four of us to fly out with them and a bit later they decide they can make room for five of our group of sixteen. We all agree that Tembo, Mbuzi, Daktari, Njema and Usiku should board the plane and the rest of us will, hopefully, join them later.

It doesn’t take long for luggage and passengers to be loaded on the planes and those of us left behind line up and wave goodbye as the plane carrying our companions, lifts off the red dirt runway and in no time is just a speck above the African bush. Nyama, tongue in cheek (I think), wonders if we will ever see our travel companions again. We note that this airstrip has no lighting so if our pilot doesn’t arrive soon we may be spending the night on the benches of terminal A & B!

We kid about how they could use wildlife to hold lanterns, which prompts Brian to pantomime how things would go if they used elephants for the job. Brian uses his arm to represent the elephant’s trunk and slowly sweeps his arm back and forth like elephants really do move their trunks. With a little imagination you can visualize what a disaster this would be for a plane landing in the dark! I suggest impalas could be used since they are so numerous, which prompts Brian to demonstrate how the constant movement of an impalas head would not be conducive for night lighting either. By the time Brian is through with his impromptu skits we are laughing so hard that we have forgotten for the moment we are stranded without plane or vehicles in the middle of Ruaha.

I found this lizard near the bathrooms. Look how he is holding his toes up off of the hot surface of the log.

To pass the time many of us begin reading or writing in our journals, but a foursome begins playing poker with the participants using the gravel beneath their feet for money. At one point I see that Nyama is accumulating a nice pile of rocks in front of her and later Brian seems to have won all the pieces of granite. Brian takes handfuls of the pebbles and rubs them over his chest as he wallows in his riches, but somehow it doesn’t work quite as well as actual greenbacks do. Still the action is hilarious which is the point of course.

The big poker game. Brian had to make do with a bone for a chair.

Hello, a plane has appeared in the sky and begins its decent to the little runway. As he coasts into the terminal we all assume that this is our flight out of here. The young pilot alights from the plane and makes his way towards us, all smiles, but continues past us to the bathroom. Rats, he isn’t our pilot, he is just friendly. There are some other people waiting in their vehicles near the plane parking area and they are the lucky passengers. As he passes the” terminals” on his way back to his plane, he smiles and says “good luck”. Somehow that isn’t a phrase I want to hear!

The landing plane that wasn’t ours.

A troop of baboons have shown up to occupy the empty airstrip and Ngruwe starts contemplating what would happen if the primates began rearranging the white-painted cement blocks that line the edges of the landing strip. By the time his imagination has played out on what the baboons are saying and what their mischief would cause the pilot and plane, I am doubled over with laughter. I suppose we are a little slap happy and that you really had to be there to appreciate the humor, but I am chuckling just typing this. The pilot is starting down the runway and we watch to see if the baboons will play chicken with the plane. All but one of the baboons exit the airstrip before the plane gets close and this brave fellow stands his ground a bit longer.

Surely, this is our plane coming in for a landing! The small plane comes trundling down the runway, dust billowing out behind it. The rather harried looking pilot affirms that he indeed is here to fly us to the Selous! Hurray, we won’t be spending the night here after all! Seriously, we only waited a little over an hour after our travel mates left although it seemed longer than that.

Boarding our plane

Our luggage disappears into the belly of the prop plane and we climb into the close confines of the planes’ interior. Those that suffer from motion sickness are at the front, Paul and I take the back seats since we have no problem with this malady. As we lift into the air I look down at the earth beneath us and see hippo in a river we are passing over, later I spy a group of elephants that look like miniature versions of real life elephants from my bird’s eye view in the air. I’m going to miss Ruaha.

O.K. maybe this is the real reason they made us sit in the back! Obviously screening is not part of flying in country:). Brian actually posed and took this photo.

Hippos from the air

An hour and a half later our plane is bumping down another dirt air strip and it comes to a halt near two open-topped vehicles that probably are waiting to take us to Rufuji River Lodge. Yep, they are waiting for us and the friendly drivers welcome us to Selous. The drive to the lodge takes only a few minutes and we are reunited with the rest of our group, who are settled comfortably in the lounge, enjoying some liquid refreshment! Those of us who just arrived are handed a complimentary juice drink and a small piece of cake. After this welcome, we are assigned our rooms and given instructions on the running of the Lodge. One of those rules is that a Masai will take us to our rooms and come escort us to the restaurant tonight, as wild animals roam freely through the grounds. We trudge after our chaperone for what seems like a mile to our room (oh, I’m exaggerating). We aren’t the last ones in the line of chalets though, that honor goes to Ngruwe and Nyama.

Our tent at The Rufuji River Lodge

Our room is a tent but just a tad different from our mobile camp tents. These are luxury tents that have a wood frame over them making them look like a house. We have a porch that is on two sides of the structure and inside the tent is a large room with two king size beds, an open closet for hanging your clothes along with benches for your luggage, a desk in another corner of the tent, along with authentic African articles in the room for decoration. There also is a large bathroom partitioned off on one end of the room. We have no time to relax as we are going to take a quick game drive before dusk so we deposit our luggage and return to the check in area.

There are two safari vehicles waiting and once everyone is situated we are off on our first game drive in the Selous. Our driver and guide are a fountain of information and can answer about any question you can think to ask them. Our first sighting is a group of elephant foraging around some of the maintenance buildings belonging to the lodge. As we drive along the Rufuji River we see giraffe, waterbuck, and warthogs, plus some new birds. The most exciting being the Bohms Bee-eater whose range is fairly small, so we were fortunate to see one. I later see a Bohms outside our tent so am doubly lucky. Kevin really wanted to see this bird but we never found the colorful bird after we left the Lodge.

A fuzzy photo of the Bohms Bee-eater outside our room

After returning from our short but productive game drive, Paul and I decide to shower before supper. Brr, our water is cold because these showers are heated by solar power and there wasn’t much sun today. Our Masai shows up at the allotted time and walks us to the restaurant. There is a long table set up for our large group and we find a place to sit, ready to enjoy a good meal. I have no clue what was served for dinner but after we have finished the meal, the staff comes in singing and carrying a birthday cake. Actually they have brought two small cakes, about the size of cupcakes. Brian explains that since Paul requested that he not make a big deal about his birthday, Brian settled for having the chef make these two small cakes to represent Paul’s Swahili name, Mapumbo. For those of you who don’t know, Paul’s Swahili name is Bwana Mapumbo and it means Mr. Testicles. You can ask Paul how he obtained this name on a prior safari, but he didn’t earn the name for what you are thinking right now!! Brian took the photo of Paul and his birthday cakes.

Paul and his Mapumbo cakes.

Paul accepts the fact that his birthday is going to be celebrated whether he likes it or not and accepts the attention with smiles and grace. Paul tries to divvy up the chocolate, brownie treats so everyone can at least have a bite. It is delicious and now I wish we had a whole cake! The celebration isn’t over as a trio of Masai sings and demonstrates their incredible ability to leap into the air. The leaps one man in particular can do from a standstill would make any college coach drool with anticipation of having him on the team. The Masai are rewarded with applause and compliments from our group for their excellent performance. It was a great way to end the evening. When we are ready to return to our rooms the Masai performers are also our escorts.

Next blog, a game float from a boat on the Rufugi River, Nancy

All Day Game Drive in Ruaha, Part 9

Oct21

All day game drive in Ruaha, Part 9

Elephants and Baobab trees in Ruaha National Park

In camp tonight, the usual activities play out, some of us wash clothes, look through photos, and we keep the camp staff busy heating water so we can shower. In fact the water for my shower is so hot tonight; I must step in and out of the water stream to keep from being scalded. Whew!

When we sit down to eat we visit about the day, laugh a lot, and enjoy the food Christophe has prepared, as usual the meal is accompanied by his famous dinner rolls. I know, I’m obsessed with those rolls but I am not the only one. For some reason, Christophe always has one more dinner roll than diners. This extra roll is always devoured by someone in our group, and at times two or three people divide the roll among them. I remember one evening when, Oscar I think, tried to remove the extra dinner roll from the table, and Vidole Juu told him not to even think of taking it away, making everyone around the table laugh. I think Oscar was hoping to consume the wondrous roll himself!

Tonight with the full moon shining down on the African bush, we again are serenaded by a patrolling lion as we are going to bed. The lion sounds much closer than the lion did last night, and this fellow repeats his territorial proclamation more than once. You would think a lion roaring and huffing about his importance would make one sit straight up in bed. For me I struggle to keep my eyes open so I can listen to the magnificent animal’s voice. In the end I drift off to sleep, the lion’s song still drifting through air.

Tea, coffee, and juice bar in the bush

I’m up early and follow the same ritual as yesterday morning. I wash up in cold water and take hot tea with me as I walk to the river bed. I tread cautiously as I make my way through the bunchy grass until I reach the open area of the dry river. This morning the river channel is quiet and empty. Perhaps the noisy lion passed through here last night and scared all the wildlife away. Paul, Ngruwe, and Nyama soon join me, in hopes that the honey badger might show up again but he doesn’t put in an appearance. I imagine I gave the badger such a scare yesterday that he will avoid this area of his territory for a few days!

Our guides encourage us to get around a bit earlier this morning as they are hoping to find the lion that was broadcasting his presence near our camp last night. As we drive through the narrow, wood lined, road leading away from our camp, Nyama points and exclaims, and I paraphrase, “there is something”. Yes there is, as a pair of Dik-diks is standing under a thorn-bush near the road! These diminutive antelope always remind me of a cross between a large rabbit and an antelope. Their almond-shaped eyes and narrow snout being rabbit like, but having the slender long legs and body of an antelope. I guess Nyama sees the same resemblance to a rabbit because another time when she spotted the tiny creatures, she yelled out “rabbit”! Throughout our remaining game drives, I remember that Nyama, Ngruwe, and Vidole Juu always find the Dik-diks; perhaps Paul and Uwiano spotted some too. I just know that I never see the little buggers until someone else alerts me to them, but I will give the lame excuse that I am usually searching further away from the roadside and the Dik-dik we see are always near the road.

One of the Dik-dik’s that Nyama found.

When our convoy emerges from the trees and we enter the more open area of the park, everyone sees a creature standing in the distance. I have this mental image of all of us peering at the object bare eyed, trying to discern what we are looking at despite the fact that most of us have binoculars hanging around our necks! Once we have the sense to use our binoculars, the unidentifiable object materializes into an enormous, golden-maned lion. I yell out “it’s a lion!” and find myself jumping up and down on the seat like a kid jumping on their bed. I am a little embarrassed when I become aware of what truly is an involuntary reaction by me, but since I have no recollection of what my vehicle mates say or do at this moment, I am hoping they were oblivious to me too. The way the lion is standing proudly with his head up, looking defiant, while confidently portraying the fact that he knows he is King of this part of the jungle. This scene reminds me of what one would see at the opening credits of an old-time movie. Is this the owner of the voice that was roaring last night? I think it is a pretty good bet that it is.

Fabio standing proudly in the African bush when we first saw him.

As our vehicles move toward the mature male, he lies down in the grass and we are able to take our time in photographing this incredible specimen. The lion is immaculately groomed and I believe it was Mbuzi who commented later in the day, please forgive me if I am mistaken on this fellow safarists, that it appeared as though the beautiful cat had just stepped out of a beauty parlor. Indeed the lion’s mane is tangle free, and gleams golden in the morning sun. Later, after looking at photos, I named the handsome rascal, Fabio for his golden tresses. The lion soon tires of our attention, rises to his feet and strolls across the road in front of us, disappearing into some bushes a few hundred yards away. In our vehicle, we speculate that there might be females already resting in the leafy foliage because surely, Fabio is too fabulous not to have his own pride.

Fabulous Fabio

We follow the dry river bed again and see an enormous troop of baboons spread out over the sandy bottom. It is obvious that elephants have passed through here, and the baboons have been combing through the dung the pachyderms have left in their wake.

The baboon troop and sifted through elephant dung

Our wandering brings us to a giraffe drinking water at a small pool on the edge of the river. You can imagine how complicated this task is for the long-necked, long-legged animal. It is almost painful to watch as the rangy giraffe spreads its front legs wide so he can get his head low enough to reach the water. Brian tells us that the reason the giraffe snaps its head up quickly after drinking for a short time, is that the giraffe has a kind of warning system that tells it when too much blood is flowing into its head. The giraffe knows to raise its head when it feels pressure in its skull and must quickly pull their head up before they do damage to themselves. Brian explained the cause and effect of excess blood flowing to the giraffe’s head much better than I did, but you get the idea. Because of this blood flow problem, the giraffe must raise and lower his head many times in order to drink its fill. What an ordeal the poor giraffe must go through just to quench its thirst.

The awkward position giraffe must drink from.

The giraffe spraying water as it lifts up his head quickly

Our drivers pull into an area where we are allowed to leave the vehicles to stretch our legs and use the choo. The problem is the long drops are so nasty at this stop that we women decide to retreat behind a large boulder to answer the call of nature. Hiding behind a tree, boulder or bush is becoming common place because usually there aren’t any restrooms anyway! Aw, you just get used to it and one’s modesty disappears quickly!

There are other tourists here, some eating an early lunch on the jumble of boulders that are adjacent to the mostly dry river. Because the bird’s eye view from the kopjes is occupied, Paul and I walk next to the pile of rocks so we can look down the river channel where an elephant is drinking water from the “well” it has dug with its trunk. We watch as the large beast’s trunk disappears into the sand and then reappears with a trunk full of water which it transfers to its mouth. This female is accompanied by her baby who is having fun running around mom, and generally acting silly. The antics of young elephants, or any baby animal, always make me laugh out loud.

Wahoo, I can run!

If you look closely you can see water spilling from the elephants trunk

When Paul and I walk out of the weedy area we have been standing in, Paul finds a couple of small ticks crawling on his arm. Lovely, I don’t find any on me but every little tickle I feel for quite some time causes me to search my skin to make sure the nasty bloodsuckers aren’t crawling on me.

This is a sausage tree with fruit/seeds hanging from the branches

When we get back to where the vehicles are parked, Kevin points out a Black-backed Jackal across the river, trotting through the grass. Vidole Juu, Ngruwe, and Paul find a fallen fruit from the sausage tree near our Rover. They each take turns in holding the big seed from the sausage tree, comment on how heavy the fruit is and what damage the elongated fruit would do if it hit human, animal, or vehicle when it fell from the tree. There is always something to learn and contemplate on safari!! This was a nice area to stop and relax a bit but it is time to move on down the road.

Our convoy of three is moving right along when Mochie’s vehicle comes to a stop in front of us. After some initial conferring and looking under the hood, Kevin crawls back in our Rover, drives gently into Mochie’s defunct truck and begins to push him. Yikes. The ailing Rover’s engine comes to life after getting the boost but only manages to keep running for a short distance, before sputtering to a stop. The drivers and Brian all pile out of their vehicles and begin to comb over the broken Rover. They are under the hood and Kevin is crawling beneath the vehicle. Brian walks to our truck and asks Ngruwe if he will help them, because Ngruwe has shown prior to this incident that he is mechanical minded. Vidole Juu also leaves the vehicle to see if he can be of help.

Eventually, the way I understand it, the men have found that the switch between the empty diesel tank and the full tank isn’t working, (or was it the return hose?) and they can’t seem to fix the problem. Mechanical stuff makes my eyes glaze over, but I do know that the diesel isn’t being fed from the full tank to the engine. In the end they come and collect empty water bottles and drain diesel from the full tank into the bottles, pouring the siphoned fuel into the empty tank. Once they feel as though they have transferred enough diesel to the empty but good tank to get us to Park Headquarters they crank the engine over and it coughs but starts. There is no game sighting now as our guides drive quickly to the Park Headquarters.

Once we arrive at the working headquarters of the Park, all of us climb out of the trucks, grab a soda or beer, and sit around the tables that are situated outside the office buildings. There is an “elephant proof fence” around the building and yard but we muse at the fact that there is plenty of elephant dung inside this fence, though for the life of us we can’t figure out how the grey beasts managed to get inside! Mochie has driven back to where the Park owned vehicles are kept and soon reemerge with a full tank of diesel in the working tank. I have written in my journal that when asked what the diesel cost to purchase from the Park authorities, Brian told us they were charged eighteen dollars a gallon. Surely I wrote that down wrong, if not someone made a mighty good profit.

Some of our group relaxing at Ruaha Park Headquarters

Since Park Headquarters is obviously situated inside Ruaha we can begin looking for wildlife as soon as we board our Rovers. As we drive by one of the out buildings a lone elephant is standing next to it. Just a bit farther down the road a little girl happily waves at us from the doorway of her house as we pass by. Can you imagine this scenario? “Mom can I go outside and play?”, “Sure, honey but watch out for elephants” :).

Your backyard visitor in Ruaha!

Little girl waving at us as we leave the Headquarters of Ruaha Park

Not much time has passed since we left Park headquarters with our expensive diesel when I see movement along the ridge of a hillock. Asking Kevin to stop, I try to figure out what I have seen. I can’t quite get a fix on the animal but I think it is a male Kudu since the animal is sporting a huge set of horns. Kevin is anxious to move on but I ask him to wait a bit still hoping that I can turn this antelope into a Sable or a Roan antelope instead of a Kudu. Kevin finally says to me with some exasperation that we must go as there are lions near the road up ahead of us. Aha, he had to break the code of silence that exits among guides and actually tell us why we need to rush somewhere! I exclaim “Let’s go” and within minutes we arrive to see a pride of lions on the move.

The Lion Pride when we first saw them. Wow!

This photo of the lions coming towards us makes my skin tingle!!

Our sister vehicles have been watching the Lion pride for a while but we still get in on the excitement of watching the lions move across the bush with a certainty that exudes from the felines that they own this place! The pride has twelve lions in it and this includes two mature males. Kevin tells us that the males are brothers and that is why they are willing to share a pride. The lions are heading for the river and they end up meandering right by our vehicles, hardly giving us a glance. As our guides drive slowly along it is interesting to see that two large females and one of the males break off of the group when they near the river and walk up to high ground that looks over the river. The two females walk to the edge of the bluff and lay down right on the edge of the cliff which gives them a clear view of the surrounding area. The male that split off the main group lies down under a tree not far from the female duo and appears to doze off.

The two sentries watch as their pride members drink from the Ruaha River

The main body of the pride that went to the river to drink.

The remaining lioness and nearly grown cubs walk to the river and begin to drink. The other male walks to a puddle, lies down and laps his water from it. When the felines finish drinking they walk to the bottom of the bluff directly below where the lioness lookouts are situated and lay down. One of the lionesses has carried a plastic water bottle she found by the river and is having fun chewing on the debris some stupid human left behind. One of the nearly grown cubs decides he wants the noisy toy and takes it from the lioness, which willingly lets him have the bottle.

Playing with the plastic bottle

As I study this group of lion, I decide that they are not faring that well. The lions seem thin compared to the other lions we have seen on this trip so far. I notice one lioness has a blue eye, very likely blind in it. The male that stayed with the main group has an angry red splotch on his side. Is it an injury or a skin condition? So many mouths to feed means they need to have successful kills and a lot of kills. I don’t know how much a mature lion needs to eat to stay healthy but I don’t think these animals are meeting that requirement.

The lioness with the bad eye

We drive around to the other side of the lions so we can see the group who are lying down next to the bluff. I am taking photos of the sleepy group, when suddenly the male and a cub jump to their feet with the cub running up the hill to join the sleeping male and lioness lookouts. One of the lionesses in the group sends an intensive stare in our direction so we look around trying to find what has upset the lions. It doesn’t take long to see that some fool has gotten out of their car, is hiding behind a bush and taking photos. As the photo below shows, some of the lions had no reaction at all. I think everyone in our truck is turning bright red with anger, I know I am. Kevin calls over to the knucklehead and tells him he can’t get out of his car. He looks Kevin’s way and then a woman (his wife?) in the car, tells him he needs to get back in the vehicle. I hate to say it but by her accent they are obviously Americans. It takes my blood pressure awhile to return to normal after this incident to say the least.

I would never want to see a lion staring at me like she was staring at the fool who left his car!

It is our own lunch time and our guides take us to a beautiful spot above the Ruaha River. There are elephants very near so our drivers place the vehicles in a semi-circle to provide a shield should the elephants get testy. It isn’t necessary because in the end the foraging elephants decide they would rather not share the area with us and vacate the premises.

This baby elephant was having lunch himself.

Paul and I posing at the place we ate lunch.

We continue our drive along the river and we find an abundance of birds, including Fire finch and Blue-capped Cordon-bleu (really that is their name). We watch in wonder as Pied Kingfisher hover over the water as easily as hummingbirds and then plunge like miniature torpedoes into the water, often reappearing with a small fish in their beaks. There are disheveled Speckled Mousebirds in a tangle of brush that appear like they have had one to many drinks, as the funny birds can’t even seem to perch upright.

Speckled Mousebird. they always look half-drunk to me

Pied Kingfisher

Blue-capped Cordon-bleu birds.

Our vehicle stops to look at some Grant’s gazelle and we end up losing sight of the rest of our group. The men decide they need to “check the tires” so Kevin obligingly stops for them. This is a good time to admit that the first time Kevin got out to “check the tires”; I innocently ask if we have a low tire! Oh go ahead and laugh, everyone else did. Nyama went one better than I, as when the Fearless Four were hiking to Sanje Falls their guide said he was going to look for something to barbeque tonight. Nyama started to follow him off the trail because she wanted to help! Brian called her back and explained that it meant the guy needed some privacy. I know another euphemism we heard by our drivers for answering the call of nature was that they needed to look for medicine in the bush.

Getting back on track, Kevin starts the motor and starts to leave while the guys are still “checking tires”. It is just reflex on our part, but we women tell Kevin the guys are still outside which makes him start laughing at our concern. Even the men admit when they return to the Rover, that for a moment they too wondered what was happening. About this time, Mochie begins to plaintively call Kevin’s name over the two-way radio. Kevin begins driving quite fast and makes a turn which leads us to the river again. Whoops, appears we went the wrong way so Kevin turns around and speeds down the road turning the opposite direction when we get back to where we were previously. Hmm, this is mighty reminiscent of Mikumi.

What a beautiful young male leopard

When we finally find our companions they have been watching a leopard that I believe Bahati Njema spotted. The good news is that the leopard is still here, and walks directly towards our Rover, crossing the road in front of us. The handsome male enters the tall grass and walks a few hundred feet into the natural cover. The leopard sits down and despite all the noise coming from the vehicles, honestly the drivers are shouting back and forth to each other, is concentrating on some impalas that are grazing in the distance. The young leopard begins to walk towards the antelope when he suddenly drops to his belly and just disappears. How does such a big cat do that? We know when he reaches or gets close to the impalas because we can hear the alarm snorts, and the antelope take off running. It looks like the leopard struck out although since we can’t see him, and the fleeing impalas have disappeared from sight, we can’t be certain that he didn’t manage to catch lunch.

Scouting out the grazing impalas before he begins stalking them.

We can’t decide what is on this leopards neck. Stickers of some sort?

Moving on, the guides drive us down to the river where we are allowed to get out and wade in the Ruaha if we want to. Brian and several others do take their shoes off and slosh around in the river. I prefer to dip my fingers in the Ruaha River because I remember all the caution antelope take when they go to the river to drink due to crocodiles!

Wading in the Ruaha River with a grazing hippo in the background. Paul’s photo

What a day we have had in Ruaha! When we arrive at camp I realize how tired I am at the end of our all day game drive. My arms ache from hanging on for dear life as we bounced down miles of dusty roads, and there are sore spots on my side, from constantly bumping into the side of the Rover. Believe me this is a small price to pay for the wonders we have seen so far!

Tonight we talk about how we might have missed seeing some of the animals if our timing would have been off just a few minutes. What if we had been a few minutes later getting out of camp, we would have missed seeing Fabio. What if Mochie’s Rover had not broken down, would we have already driven by the area where the pride of lions showed up? It is quite possible we would have missed the lion pride on the move, without the hour delay of our breakdown. What if we wouldn’t have gotten lost, oh wait we would have been right with our fellow safarists when they saw the leopard from the beginning. Still we wouldn’t have had the excitement of speeding down the road, wondering what was waiting for us when we arrived! What a day! I think I have written that phrase in several blogs already!

Next blog, Flying to Selous Part 10, Nancy

Enjoy some more Lion photos

One of the males of the Pride

The lions walked within a few feet of us as they made their way to the river.

Day two in Ruaha National Park, Part 8

Oct14

Ruaha day two, part 8

A photo in Ruaha National Park to start the blog.

Last night after supper a portion of our group sat around the bon fire regaling one another about the events of our interesting day and helping Nyama and Ngruwe compile a list of events for their journal of the past two days. There is something rustling the leaves of the trees that we are sitting under and occasionally a bit of debris hits the ground or us, as an unknown creature feeds overhead. Brian shines his torch into the tree canopy and a shadow flits briefly into the light. Bats! Whatever is hiding in the trees these bats want it, as they appear to deliberately brush the leaves and branches with their wings. Ngruwe finds out that the bats are dropping more than crumbs as he is the recipient of a well-aimed bat poo bomb. The rest of us escape the bat droppings as far as we know. If I recall correctly, Ngruwe and Nyama discover in the morning that the bats were visiting the tree next to their tent last night and left bat crap all over the laundry that they had hanging on the line. I think they had to rewash all of their clothes!

When Paul and I return to our tent for the night, we have just started to get ready for bed when a shrill call splits the air. We look at each other and simultaneously say “what was that”? We sit for a few seconds waiting for a repeat call which doesn’t come. Paul wonders if this is a bush baby as it sounds similar to Brian’s mimicry of a bush baby. Yes, Brian can do a good imitation of many African animals, you should hear his Hadada Ibis (its a bird) call! Paul decides to step back out into the night and search the trees close to the tent for the small mammal, but he fails to find the owner of the night splitting shrieks.

Settling into our beds, I am just drifting off when I hear the sound rolling down the river channel like muted thunder. I whisper, Paul do you hear it, and he answers that he has been listening to the lion for a couple of minutes. We listen as the male lion harrumphs in short coughs, broadcasting to any would be usurpers, that they had better stay out of his territory or else. The lion finally falls silent and I go to sleep smiling because that is the best lullaby one can wish for when sleeping in a canvas tent in the African bush.

I am up early, too early for the hot water that the staff brings around to our tents in the morning for washing up. I don’t mind, since the briskness of the cold water I splash on my face, snaps my sleepy eyes to wide open status. I’m definitely ready to see what might be in the dry river bed a few yards from our tent. One of the camp crew is sitting by the fire, a red blanket, wrapped around his shoulders as he stares out into the breaking dawn, while a blackened, cast iron kettle simmers over the cook fire. Other staffers are setting tea bags and coffee on the small table by the dining tent along with silver thermos jugs of hot water. I pour steaming water into a cup containing a tea bag, and carry the beverage with me as I walk to the river channel. There are bushes and tall, yellow grass lining the edge of the sandy river bottom. Mindful of how a lion would blend into the dried grass, I step cautiously into the dry river bed. I stand still and peer into the nearby bushes and grass before I take another step. I follow this cautious pattern for a few steps, when Bacari suddenly appears. I guess he decides to scout for me since he walks with me until we are in a more open part of the river. After looking around, Bacari seems satisfied that it is safe and he leaves me in solitude in the early dawn.

Last night I watched the splendor of the full moon rising over Ruaha National Park. This morning I get to watch the full moon drop below the horizon and then I watch as a vivid red sun rises within minutes of the moon set. Talk about doubly dramatic.

A red sunrise over Ruaha

As I am enjoying the colorful end of the night and the start of the day, I see a small creature hurrying through the golden grass not far from where I am standing. What is that animal? I set my teacup on the ground and ready my camera, in hopes for a photo. For a minute I think I am looking at a skunk because the animal is black with a lighter back, but it is too big bodied, plus the animal’s whole back is grey, and besides that I’m in Tanzania! I get so excited while trying to train my camera on the scurrying critter that I kick my teacup over, which scares the animal making it reverse course and run into heavier cover. Wow, some wildlife photographer I am! I did snap one photo of my mystery guest, but I moved my camera so the animal is an unidentifiable, blurry, blackish, blob. When I describe the animal and show the hopeless photo to Kevin, he doesn’t hesitate in identifying the animal as a honey badger. Super, I have never seen a honey badger before so what a great way to start the day! Brian informs me later that there is a superstition in Africa that if you see a honey badger you will have good luck. He also informs me that the Honey Badger is a vicious fighter if cornered! Thank goodness the badger had plenty of room to get away.

I didn’t get the honey badger but this Saddle billed- Stork landed later.

This morning our fearless leader, Brian, will be riding in our vehicle, which is great as he is a fountain of information on the wildlife and the bush, plus his spotting ability is terrific. As far as our regular group of six, when it comes to spotting wildlife we all do pretty well, but I will give the “eagle eye” award to Ngruwe. The man seems to be able to see animals near or far, moving or motionless, it’s uncanny, and I’m darned glad he is in our Rover. I admit that I will usually see an animal if it moves but I have a tougher time seeing a sedentary animal, which is why believe it or not, I can overlook giraffe. Giraffe often stand perfectly motionless under or next to a tree and I guess my eyes are fooled into thinking they are a tall tree with four trunks :).

It’s time to go and we women climb up on the seats, grab onto a part of the frame of the pop up roof, and hold on for dear life. It is rough riding on the roads of Ruaha and you better keep a firm grip or you might end up on the floor. The men hang on to the black piping too, even when they are standing on the floor because you can lose your balance quickly. Brian often sits on the flat platform at the back of the Rover and seems to get along just fine, but honestly, I don’t know how he does it.

Brian perched on top of the Rover, this was actually in Mikumi

We come upon a covey of Black-faced Sand grouse next to a dry creek, dusting themselves in the sand, which certainly accentuates the bird’s name! They are beautiful birds and seem to have little fear of us, although most of them take flight once we drive by them. Moving on through the park we see Vervet monkeys and graceful giraffe. We have a close-up view of Greater Kudu as they stand behind a screen of brush and the size of the antelope’s ears is astonishing. The better to hear you with indeed. It is easy to see how the dusky Kudu gained the name “grey ghosts” of Africa as they can quietly melt into the underbrush and become nearly impossible to see.

Black-Faced Sand Grouse

Greater Kudu. Look at the size of those ears!

Kevin and Brian are unsure of the identity of a starling they find, and after searching and comparing the bird to plates in the bird guide, they come to the conclusion it is the Ashy Starling, a bird that should not be in this part of Tanzania. Alright. Finding a bird that has strayed out of its normal range is always exciting.

Soon after finding the Ashy Starling, we see a pair of golden-colored mongoose. As Brian and Kevin search through the mammal book, their first conclusion is that these are Yellow mongoose. Kevin isn’t comfortable with this identification because the Yellow mongoose shouldn’t be here either. Kevin gets his smart phone out and runs a google search on the Slender mongoose which does reside in Ruaha. Sure enough, there are photos on his phone showing various colors of the Slender mongoose including a yellowish one. I blow up the photo I took of these mongoose to compare it with the picture on google and unfortunately, it is almost a direct match. Phooey, I was hoping for two species in one day that normally aren’t found in Ruaha. Oh well, the blonde, Slender mongooses are strikingly pretty, and fun to watch as they scurry on their way. In this same area there is a pile of boulders where Rock Hyrax are sunning themselves on the jumble of grey rocks. Upon closer scrutiny, we also see lizards crawling around on the kopjes.

One of the Slender Mongoose

We have lost sight of our sister vehicles, but what else is new:). As we jounce down the road, I catch sight of something moving through the tall grass, on the left side of the road. I call out, “Stop Kevin, there is something moving out there”. Basically, the ears and the back of the creature are all that is visible, and at first I think it might be a jackal, but Brian soon identifies the animal as a Serval Cat! How lucky is that? Paul and I have seen Servals on just one other safari, so we are delighted to have another encounter with the spotted cat. We never get a clear look at the Serval although the small cat did stop once and peeked over the top of the grass at us before strolling on, eventually disappearing into a brushy area. Paul pats me on the shoulder, adding a “good job Nancy” while Brian congratulates me on a good spot, along with kudos from the rest of our companions. O.K., I admit that I am beaming a little bit:).

Kevin catches us up with the other two vehicles, where our friends are watching a lioness under a tree. There is supposedly a male lion too, but for the life of me I can’t see it. Oh how quickly one is humbled on safari! I get plenty of helpful directions from the others in our vehicle, but it is finally Ngruwe’s explanation that the big male is lying flat on his side and I must watch for his flanks rising and falling as the lion breaths. I stare into the space that has been pointed out to me, and finally I do see the slight movement of a flank as the Lion breathes, which helps me see the faint outline of the recumbent lion. There is more proof that this really is a lion when he shakes his head slightly and his fringe of dark mane rises above the grass. Good grief, I wonder who the person was that found the male lion in the lead vehicles? I forgot to ask them who the eagle eye was when we returned to camp. Talk about a terrific spot!

Lioness

Our convoy has arrived at the Ruaha River and with water comes lots of bird life. We stop to watch two elegant Crowned Crane aptly named due to the feathery crest on their heads that is in the shape of a crown or an unfurled fan, golden no less . Among the many species we find on the river are Wooly-necked Stork, Little Bee-eaters, Yellow Wattled Plover and egrets.

Crowned Crane- a gorgeous bird

As we continue our bumpy, dusty route near the river’s edge in this awesome National Park, Kevin halts the Rover so we can look at a Martial Eagle that is standing in a pool of water. As we are looking at the Eagle and the beautiful vista that is spread out in front of us, Brian asks us to closely look at the Martial Eagle. He points out that the Eagle appears to be missing part of its right leg as there is space between the water and the leg. Sure enough, there is a little gap and we all muse aloud saying things like, how can it survive because surely an Eagle couldn’t kill prey with only one leg. Suddenly the rest of the Eagles’ right leg appears emerging from his fluffy, belly feathers. Once the Eagle plops his feathered right leg into the water, he raises his left leg up and abracadabra he appears to have lost the bottom half of this leg! What can you do but laugh at yourself after being fooled by the “now you see it now you don’t” trick by the Eagle magician!

Admit it this Martial Eagle appears to be missing the lower half of his right leg

We encounter a pair of Ground Hornbills talking to each other as they stroll through a wooded area. Their deep booming sounds remind me somewhat of the oompah sounds of a tuba. However, maybe a better likeness of their call is when Ngruwe blows across the top of a glass bottle and comes close to the hollow sound the big birds were making. There is a giraffe standing nearby, looking curiously at the musical two bird band as they march by him. As I write this I can hear and see this scene in my mind’s eye as plain as if it were happening now. I don’t know why this had such an impact on me but it surely did.

One of the musical Ground Horn Bills, I don’t know why I don’t have a photo of the pair

Our vehicles stops to admire a group of baby impala that someone in our group (I’m sorry I can’t remember who) aptly dubs an impala preschool. The silky little ones are congregated near a dead tree and there are two lizards atop the tree, heads lifted high, as if they are the school monitors.

Impala preschool

Lizards on the dead tree that the baby impalas were under

Continuing driving along the edge of the Ruaha River we watch Impala and Kudu cautiously approach the water to drink. Both antelope species warily eye the river’s edge and when they do lower their heads to the water, Kudu and impalas alike keep their legs stretched back in a position that will allow them to spring away from a lurking crocodile if one tries to attack the vulnerable animals while they drink.

See how they are stretched away from the water when they drink?

Our vehicles stop on a bluff overlooking the Ruaha River and we watch a parade of elephant as they wade into the water, first drinking and then crossing to the other side. There is a group of hippopotamuses downstream from the elephants where the babies have crawled up on the adult’s backs in order to stay above water.

Elephants crossing the river

Baby Hippopotamus using the backs of the adults to stay above water

Moving on, the lead vehicles have come to a halt due to a trio of elephants standing alongside the road our drivers want to go down. The big female has fanned her ears in warning at our companions, due to the fact that one of the members of this trio is a tiny baby, which according to Kevin, is at most two or three weeks old. Kevin watches the elephants for a bit and evidently doesn’t think the stay away signal given by the mother is serious and drives within a few feet of the pachyderms. It appears that our excellent guide was correct in his assessment, as the three wrinkled animals walk placidly in front of our Rover and into the grassy plain on the other side. Gosh darn, a baby elephant looks so miniscule next to a full-grown elephant you wonder how they keep from getting stepped on or knocked over.

Crossing in front of our Rover

2 week old baby elephant dwarfed by her mother

We cross the river after our elephant encounter and watch in amusement as two male giraffe chase a young female. The duo will dash after the uninterested female for a short distance but she always manages to stay a step ahead of them. The three will slow to a walk but once the two males get too close for comfort for the female, they are off and running again.

As the day draws to an end our last encounter is with a troop of baboon. The baboon scout is perched in the crotch of a tree high above where the members of his troop are sifting through elephant dung, searching for seeds that passed through the elephant’s digestive system intact. I know, not a pretty picture but at least nothing is going to waste (no pun intended) with this baboon tactic. The scout seems less than excited with his guard detail, and I swear when we begin to snap photos of him, he goes into model mode. The Yellow baboon gives us his left profile, than his right profile, the sultry over the shoulder look which does no good because we aren’t behind him. Something moves our primate model to lift his foot up and smell it, or maybe he is just showing off his dexterity. In addition to getting some excellent photos of our baboon subject he also makes us laugh. DSCF4495

The posing baboon

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As we prepare to leave the dung foraging baboons, a young male sneaks up behind a female who is scrutinizing a handful of elephant poop, and mates with her. The “what the hell” look on the poor females face along with the fact that the young male is looking guiltily about, makes us howl with laughter. I’m sure the young baboon is fearful about what the dominate male will do to him, if he catches his subordinate in this seditious act! The Big Guy would likely sink his large canine teeth into the insolent underling and banish him from the clan (I really don’t know that this would happen)! In defense of the little male, the female has announced her readiness for mating via a swollen pink bottom which you couldn’t miss if you wanted too! The females, I’m available advertisement, was obviously too tempting for the young baboon to ignore. I include the photo I took of the mating baboons so you can see for yourself the look of surprise on the unsuspecting females face, and note that the cheeky male appears to be looking about to see if trouble, in the form of a male twice his size, teeth bared, is heading his way. Hopefully this photo will make you laugh too (I hope not offend anyone).

Although this adult male wasn’t part of the troop I write about, it shows you how big they are.

Mating baboons

So this wonderful day has come to an end. Somewhere in between all the wildlife encounters we went back to camp for lunch, and I note in my journal that we were an hour late. Oops, poor Christophe, I know I get irritated if Paul and Randall are a few minutes late for lunch and I have modern means to keep food warm. Christophe must try to keep lunch edible over hot coals or a wood fire. I also note in my journal that we dined on beef stew and macaroni and it was delicious.

Next blog, an all-day game drive in Ruaha. Nancy

Close up of the forked stripes

The zebra on the left has some unusual white stripes

Iringa to Ruaha part 7

Oct5

Iringa to Ruaha Part 7

Leaving Iringa and looking down onto the outskirts of the city

Paul and I had just settled into bed last night when we heard running accompanied by what sounded like a rolling ball overhead. After the third frenzied episode, Paul went outside to determine if there was a hotel room above us. Returning from his reconnaissance tour, he reported that there is no second story to the hotel. Luckily for us, whatever was cavorting on the roof or worse yet in the ceiling finished their rambunctious play and we were able to go to sleep. We were woken once in the night to an encore performance, but luckily the culprits only made one curtain call.

Paul and I have an adjoining room with Brian and Daktari, who also heard the impromptu game being played over our heads. At some time between eating breakfast and leaving the Savilla Hotel, Brian told one of the young waiters about the noise last night and asked him what was responsible for the ruckus. Without blinking an eye the young man said “rats in the ceiling”. I was hoping more for a “there were monkeys on the roof” explanation!

As Paul and I are leaving our room to go to breakfast, we meet Bwana Cheka who tells us that Bibi Vitabu fell ill during the night. Oh man, we have a long drive ahead of us today and a lot of it will be on rough, country roads. Though we haven’t spent a lot of time with Vitabu she seems to roll with the punches. Still, how miserable to have to ride over bumpy, dusty roads when you are not feeling well.

The Savilla restaurant has a breakfast buffet and we dine on cereal, toast and yogurt, although they have plenty of other food choices if you want them. Everyone in the group comes to dine at their leisure as there is no rush to depart this morning. Once we are preparing to leave, Vitabu joins us, looking pale but determined.

Church goers in Iringa

As we drive through Iringa I am surprised at how large the city is. Today is Sunday but the city is bustling with residents shopping, selling, or going to church. Brian and our drivers need to buy bottled water for the camp and we stop at an African version of a mini mart. I never heard why but the men come up empty on this task. Next the drivers find a gas station and fill the Rovers with diesel. When our leaders finish with the errands we have become familiar with one street of Iringa because we have driven on it three times now! At last we are exiting the city to begin our journey to Ruaha National Park.

We saw a lot of these small butcher(bucha) shops, often with meat hanging in the window.

A busy street in Iringa

As usual, the roadside scenes are fascinating and there is always something to marvel at. We pass a peddler walking along the highway, carrying a peg board on his back which is hung with a wide assortment of articles. We cruise by students dressed in white and navy uniforms, as they walk along the shoulder of the road. There are golden sheaves of dried grass leaning against sheds, along with crudely made elevated corncribs, filled with ears of corn. Little children wave and yell at us, as our vehicles pass them by.

The students we met. Paul’s photo

Sheaves of grass and corn in the crib.

The peddler, what a variety of merchandise he has.

DSCF4191 We stop at an Orthodox church, gleaming white in the dusty landscape, which is open for the public to visit. If I understood correctly, they only hold one service a year at this country church. Can that be right? We enter the church and look with curiosity at the framed pictures depicting biblical figures and scenes, including one painting of the Last Supper. The religious articles the priest would use during the service are sitting on a table in the curtained alcove, although the bible is lovingly covered with a silken cloth. There is a small settlement just across the road from the church and curious children come out to stare and smile at the tourists, or peek in through the church doors at us.

The Orthodox church

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Continuing down the sandy road, our guides bring the Rovers to a halt because there is a dead snake lying in the road. Many people get out of the vehicles to take a closer look at what Mochie identifies as an Egyptian cobra. I just take photos of the deceased reptile and its human onlookers from the window. The smushed snake isn’t very impressive until Bacari holds the snake up by the tail, and suddenly you realize how long the reptile is.

Members of our group getting a close up look at the dead snake

The Egyptian Cobra looks a little more impressive once Bacari picks it up.

We stop for lunch at what we would call a one-horse town back in America, (my kind of town). We tourists, along with some natives, crowd under the thatched roofs of two open-sided structures to escape the searing noonday sun. The atmosphere here is relaxed, as children play checkers, and adults play the confusing game of bao, while we eat our boxed lunches next to them. We have a surprise at lunch because there are various types of sandwiches instead of the normal chicken/boiled egg lunch. The Savillas’ reputation for good food continues as the sandwiches are very tasty. Vitabu seems to be doing better too, which is certainly good news.

Playing checkers and bao
Paul’s photo

We are eating next to a “strip mall” in this sleepy village. I couldn’t figure out the number systems on the shop doors for the life of me but I’m sure there is a reason for the out of sequence numbering. Most of the shops in the building are closed, but a couple of shops are open offering basic staples, and one even has jars of candy on the counter. The candy selection doesn’t include chocolate, (which many of us are beginning to crave), because there is no way to keep it from melting. One of the shops has the bottled water needed for our mobile camp and Brian buys several cases from the happy store owner. Now the question arises, where do we put the stuff since the vehicles are already packed full? Our Rover has one empty seat in the back so we pile some boxes on the seat and floor. There is a permanent cooler between the two back seats and we put two boxes on it, plus some backpacks. Brian finds room for the rest of the water boxes in the other Rovers. Nyama selflessly volunteers to occupy the seat next to the tower of supplies and luggage when we leave town. Nyama is often shoving the load back into its allotted space since the stuff keeps shifting into her territory, as we bounce our way towards Ruaha. Paul and Ngruwe each take turns in the cramped back seat before we reach our mobile camp, so Nyama doesn’t have to endure the tight quarters for the entire journey.

Some of the shuttered shops in the mini supermarket:). I love a good oxymoron.

Nyama sharing space with boxes of water and backpacks. Pauls’ photo

As we approach the outskirts of Ruaha National Park, there is a single giraffe near the road and I think of him as our welcoming committee of one. I take this lone sentry as a good sign of things to come for our safari in Ruaha!

Giraffe just outside of Ruaha National Park

While our guides check in and fill out the mandatory paperwork, our group peruses the various postings around the porch that surrounds the office, describing the origins of the park and the wildlife that is found here. We study the log book where people write down their wildlife sightings and other comments about the park (all good). One of the more exciting comments is that someone saw wild dogs in the past few days. Could Paul and I, (others in this group have seen them on prior safaris), be so lucky to finally see wild dogs?

After our guides finish wading through the red tape, it is time to pop the tops on our vehicles and enter the park. I guess I haven’t really talked about our safari vehicles in detail. The Rovers have a roof that pops up leaving a wide space between the roof and the side of the truck. For me, the best way to see what is out there in the wild is by standing up in the vehicle. We can stand on the seats but only if you take your shoes off. Since I am so short, I must stand on the seats because if I stay on the floor I can barely see over the top of the sides of the Rover. Nyama, Uwiano, and I almost always stand up on the seats; the guys generally stand on the floor. I think Vidole Juu stands on the seat if he is riding next to Kevin as it is harder to see out of the front while sitting down, there is a section of the roof that pops off in the cab too.

This photo was taken in Mikumi National Park but it shows how the tops of the safari trucks pop up.

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As we begin our drive through the park, my first reaction is that it is dry, brushy, and empty. There is a type of palm tree here, which I don’t remember seeing on other trips to Africa, (but perhaps I have forgotten), and it seems odd to see palm trees here. After driving a short distance in the Park, I see something move a long ways from the road in a small ravine. I yell out “Simama”, Swahili for stand or stop, and Kevin complies with my request. I ask Kevin to back up until we reach the spot where I saw movement. Sure enough there are three animals in the ravine; one is standing in the open while the other two critters are obscured by brush. I point and try to give verbal directions to where the animals are and eventually everyone sees the animals. Kevin identifies the big antelope as Kudu. These are the first Kudu we have seen on this safari, and they are all males, easily identified as such by their long spiraling horns. Our Rover is trailing the convoy again, and the other two vehicles have long disappeared from our sight so they miss out on the three “grey ghosts” of Africa.

We catch up to our companions at the Ruaha river and they are feasting their eyes on a variety of wildlife including, grazing hippopotamus and waterbuck, crocodiles and a large array of birds. There is one enormous hippo, well most adults are enormous, who is lying out of the water and I ask Bacari if the animal is dead. He assures me the blob of blubber is very alive and shortly after my question, I see the sleeping behemoth shift slightly. Holy Cow, I never get over how massive these mammals are.

Grazing Hippopotamus

Several of us walk onto the bridge and we peer down at the clear water and see schools of fish. The sight of the fish makes Brian wish aloud for his fishing gear. A fish eagle careens down to the water, talons at the ready, and comes up with a large fish. We watch as the raptor goes airborne with his prey and flies in a circle several times before carrying his dinner to a nearby dead tree. I wonder what the purpose of the circling was, to make his catch so dizzy it couldn’t flop around? It made me half dizzy watching the white-headed eagle doing his loop-de-loops in the air, so maybe that isn’t such a farfetched thought!

Looking over the Ruaha river from the bridge. The water looks murky but you could see down into it quite well.

As we are standing on the bridge watching a bloat (yep, that is one word for a group of hippo) of hippos lazing in the water along with some nearby crocs, several truckloads of soldiers trundle across the bridge. Later, we see these soldiers marching through the bush in what I assume are training exercises. Still, this isn’t something you expect to see taking place in a National Park and I find it a bit disconcerting. It is time to move on so we leave the Ruaha River that is bursting with wildlife, to venture into the dry plains of the National Park.

I laugh every time I look at Mr. Grump the Lilac-breasted Roller.

As we motor through the park on the way to our mobile camp we see plenty of animal life. One of the funniest encounters for me is one I have dubbed the grumpy Lilac-breasted Roller. I have so many photos of various Rollers from this safari and I can’t find another one with the scowling features of Mr. Grump. It makes me laugh every time I look at this birds’ portrait. We observe elephants plucking and munching on the leaves of thorny bushes, which look not only painful but nearly impossible for the elephant to manage. However, the big pachyderms seem to be indifferent to the thorns. There are also stately giraffe to enjoy as they glide in slow motion across the arid bush.

Two elephants and a look at the arid plains of Ruaha

I took this photo on maximum zoom. The ostrich were a long ways off.

Coming to a dry riverbed, there are elephants and impalas scattered about the area. Across the dry channel are a male ostrich and several female ostrich. We will only see these large birds one more time and unfortunately we never get close to either group. Our drivers prepare to cross this sandy river bottom and they must put the vehicles in 4-wheel drive to make it through the deep sand. There is a herd of elephant with a small baby and several juveniles standing next to where our vehicles are exiting the riverbed. The adults and youngsters close around the small baby, in a circle the wagons defense, ears fanned out to warn us they mean business. I am always enthralled with the instinct for all of the elephants, not just the mother, to protect the youngsters. Once the matriarchs decide we mean them no harm, they break rank and begin walking through the sand to only they know where. We encounter some handsome zebra too, and as usual they seem to perk up at the sight of a camera.

Watching one of our group vehicles cross the sandy river bottom

The herd of elephants closing ranks around their most vulnerable member as we drive next to them.

We continue driving near the river bed through brush that slaps and scrapes at vehicle and humans alike. Vidole Juu and Uwiano become very adept at warning their fellow passengers when a low-lying branch is likely to whip an inattentive person in the face or hands and the two continue to be our warning system for the remainder of our safaris. I know they saved me from the sting of a branch, often thorny at that, many times.

I can’t leave the zebra out. Yes I meant to take the photos this way!

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We arrive at our mobile camp and it is isolated and perfect. Our tents are situated near the dry river channel and as we have seen on our safari today, the river bed seems to be a preferred mode of travel by a lot of wildlife. It is good to see Christophe and the camp staff again, (I’m ready for those delicious dinner rolls), and to settle into the number eight tent again.

Next installment, Game drives in Ruaha National Park. Later, Nancy

I walked out into the river channel to take this photo of the full moon rising the first night in our Special Camp in Ruaha. Gorgeous!!

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Monthly Archives: October 2014

Leaving Ruaha and Flying to Selous Part 10

All Day Game Drive in Ruaha, Part 9

Day two in Ruaha National Park, Part 8

Iringa to Ruaha part 7