First, we must apologize for the length of time between postings. We have not had any internet service at any
of the safari camps and no electricity at one.
We will not be posting many pictures due to the lack of significant
broadband. We will post a small sampling
of the more than 1000 pictures at some time and provide a link in this
blog. If you have the time we will have
some fantastic pictures and, in this case, pictures are worth a thousand words.
Thursday, June 9, 2016 – Iringa, TZ
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| Elephants butting heads, not sure it was play or for real |
After a traditional pork barbeque dinner with numerous peace corps
volunteers and other visiting family and a night at Neema’s Hostel , we started
the journey down the “endless road” to Ruaha National Park. We were picked up by the driver at Neemas in
a 4-wheel drive crew cab pickup. He was
expecting to take a party of 3 but we were a party of 5 (having added another
Peace Corp volunteer and her boyfriend in Iringa). Rather than wait for another vehicle we
decided to get cozy for the 3 hour ride over bumpy dirt roads.
Upon arrival at the camp we were greeted by the manager and staff. If this is tent camping, Beth would camp
every trip. We are in a tent, but think
a very nice hotel room in canvas with 5-star service. All one has to do is asked and they will do
their best to provide it.
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| First of 3 leopard sitings |
After lunch, we headed out in the jeep for our first safari. Amazingly we saw a large number of animals,
including elephants, giraffes, impalas, water buffalo, baboons and numerous
birds. Made us wonder how they could top
that!
All meals at the Kwihala Camp were included and were excellent. Amazing considering you are roughly 40 miles
by rough dirt road from the nearest town of any size. Dinner was served by the dry river bed each
evening with all the guests of the 6 tent lodge sharing a table and
experiences. You are walked to and from
dinner by a staff member with a “torch” (flashlight) to make sure the path is
clear from elephants, baboons, monkeys, lions or whatever else may be in the
bushes.
Friday, June 10, 2016 – Ruaha National Park, TZ
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| Giraffe and friend removing parasites |
The morning started with a wakeup call and coffee delivery at 5:30 AM. Then off to find the animals at 6:00. The camp is at about 3000 feet in elevation
and it is almost “winter” here, but Tanzania is just 8 degrees below the
equator so the early mornings were in the mid-40’s. Since we were riding in a modified Toyota Landcruiser
with open seating where the bed would normally be, it can be pretty chilly with
the air blowing by at 20-30 mph. The
camp provides blankets and hot water bottles for your comfort.
Again we were treated to an amazing array of animals, adding zebras,
hippos and MORAC (Misleading Object Resembling A Cat). Just before heading back in for lunch, we saw
three lioness sitting in the shade on the riverbank. Then it was back to camp for lunch and a
quick nap before tea at 4:00. This was a
British colony after all. After tea, we
were out to try to get a better look at the lions. Of course, we were distracted by a leopard on
the way. He was simply laying under a
tree by the roadside. He was very
relaxed and posed for pictures until a 2nd and then 3rd
jeep arrived. It is common courtesy to
radio if a hard-to-find local animal is found, but we were still able to get
about 20 minutes of time to photograph this fabulous animal before anyone else
showed up. It is impossible to describe
the stark beauty of this place and the grace of the animals that inhabit
it.
Saturday, June 11, 2016 – Ruaha National Park, TZ
Another early start and we have added hyrax (small ground hog), hyenas,
jackals, and warthogs to the list after a morning spent looking for leopards. We found 1 leopard, but only a quick glimpse
before he disappeared into the thick brush. At lunch we were greeted by the resident
elephant. Then back out in the afternoon
for a longer time extending into a night drive.
We spent some quality time with the elephants and giraffe not far from
our camp.
Sunday, June 12, 2016 – Ruaha National Park / Selous Game Reserve, TZ
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| Female lion on the move |
We left this fabulous national park about 11:30, but there was plenty
of time for one last roll through the park before heading on to our next locations. It is also time to say farewell to our
traveling companions.
We headed out a little later today (6:30 am) and less than 5 minutes
from camp we find a lioness just strolling down the road. Unbelievable! Even better she stayed in the
open and we were able to follow her through the tall grass and up the game
trail in our jeep. The photographs are
outstanding! Then the call came that
another guide had spotted wild dogs. As
hard as it was to leave our lioness, wild dogs are seldom seen in Ruaha, so off
we went. Unfortunately, they had left
the riverbank by the time we got there and were nowhere to be found. Plus, we were on a deadline to meet the plane
that would carry us to our next stop.
Boarding the plane, we flew to Camp Lake Manza in the Selous (Se-loo)
Game Preserve.
Barbara stayed on the plane to continue to Dar es Salaam and onto
Arusha to meet a friend coming in from Denmark.
They are planning to hike near Mount Kilimanjaro for the week. While it was difficult to say goodbye, we leave
knowing she is doing well in Tanzania.
Her Swahili is excellent and she has a network of friends, shopkeepers
and cohorts supporting her. As with all
things, the Peace Corp has its positive and negative issues and she faces the
challenge of being the only American in her very small village, but she seems
to be thriving on the challenges.
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| Wildebeast in Selous Game Reserve (guides say they are made of spare parts) |
As mentioned earlier Selous is a game preserve, which means in addition
to photo safaris, hunting is allowed.
The hunting is by permit only and very expensive AND kept in regions
separate from the photo safaris. We have
already noticed, however, that the animals are viewed differently. While quite nice, our accommodations are more
rustic. We are in a fairly permanent
tent as before. Our bathroom is
adjoining but outside the tent surrounded by canvas sides and a partial roof. We are also without electricity. We have candles and kerosene lamps. Selous is lower in elevations, so warmer and
on a series of lakes therefor much more humid.
We will at Lake Manze Camp for two nights. On the drive from the airport to the camp we
added Wildebeest’s to our now long list of animals.
Monday, June 13, 2016 Selous
Game Reserve/Lake Manze Camp
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| Hippos in Lake Manze |
We started the morning with a 7:00AM hiking safari where we learned
more than we ever wanted to know about dung.
The most fascinating part of the walk was watching the Ant Lions. They are quite clever in how they catch the
ants and then suck everything out leaving only the skeleton. They are one of the “Small 5” here in Africa. Then back to the lodge for breakfast and a
jeep safari before lunch. Finally saw a
male lion; although quite young. He was
just getting a mane putting him around 3 years old. In the evening we took a boat safari, which
was a pleasant change from the rough roads the jeeps take. Up close views of the crocodiles and hippos were
quite interesting. The hippos are much
more impressive in the water than on land.
Sunday, June 14, 2016 Selous
Game Reserve/Transfer to Selous Impala Camp
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| Croc diving into the lake... no swimming anywhere in Selous |
This morning we packed up and took our suitcases on the morning
safari. As we reached the pride of lions
seen yesterday the call came out – leopard kill spotted. So off we raced! A leopard had recently killed an impala and
dragged it up a tree. When we arrived,
that’s just what we saw. Hunting through
the brush, a guide in another jeep spotted the leopard and we got a quick shot
before he took off. We have been told
how unusual it is to spot a leopard and from the guides reactions to finding
them, it must be true. How lucky we have
been to see three!
Arrival at Impala Camp returned us to professionalism and again a 5
star rating. We are greeted by the
manager and friendly, smiling staff, given a briefing about the camp, provided
with lunch service and taken to our tent.
After a short rest, it’s back to jeep to continue hunting wildlife.
Monday, June 15, 2016 Selous
Impala Camp
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| Leopard reclaiming the full grown male impala he killed 2 days earlier and hung in this trees. |
Our morning started with a motor boat safari. It was a very different way to view the
wildlife. We added Nile Monitor Lizard
to our list but also saw many varieties of birds, hippos, crocodiles, elephants
and giraffe. We ended the trip with
watching a giraffe get a drink out of the river. This required a lot of patience since the
giraffes are very leery of people and predators. They usually watch for a long time before
acting… never get in staring contest with a giraffe, you’ll lose.
Our evening drive finished a sunset viewing with champagne to celebrate
the great time we have had in Tanzania.
Tonight was a loud night in the jungle with bushbabies (nocturnal tree
monkeys) sounding alarms all night, giraffe wandering into the camp and the
typical hippos leaving the river to graze and return on a path near our tent. We are not positive but we may have even
heard a hyena pack.
Tuesday, June 16, 2016 Selous
Impala Camp/Transfer back to Dar
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| Nile Monitor lizard |
What a morning! We had barely
left camp when we saw the elephants, a herd of about 20. Then out to look for a mature male lion and
wild dogs. At this point that is about
all we have not seen that we know of. We
have seen many animals we were not even aware we should be looking for. While we found neither we found two lionesses
and two young cubs nursing! And a leopard back at the tree to claim the impala
he killed 2 days ago; this time in full view.
What a sight!
After lunch, it was time to head to the airstrip. On the way we saw two Nile Monitor Lizards
fighting for territory followed by a bird catching a snake. Lastly we saw Angolan Black and White Colobus monkeys. Midday
is when most of the big animals escape the heat and are very hard to see.
Our flight back to Dar es Salaam was on a very small 6 passenger plane (including the pilot). Our pilot, a lady from Kenya, did a very nice job and it was another great flight on these small planes.
5:30 or later Wake up call
with coffee, tea, juice and biscuits (shortbread cookies)
6:00-7:00 Out for a
morning safari with a bush breakfast
1:00 Lunch
followed by a rest
4:00 Afternoon
tea
4:30 Afternoon
safari
7:30 Sundowner
(cocktails)
8:00 Dinner
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| Giraffe drinking... after a long wait to see |
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