Nyerere National Park: Public campsite

 

Our team went for a camping expedition in Nyerere National Park and although we failed to reach our original destination of Tagalala, we were happy and satisfied with the Mbuyu wa Lunch spot. I'm not actually sure this is technically a camping site and we had our concerns given the volume of daytrippers, but in the end it perfectly served our purpose. 

One of the downsides of Nyerere National Park is the huge volume of day trippers, the majority of them coming from Zanzibar. I've written about the day trippers in the park before though I have personally been able to avoid them.  The price point for tourists $450 to $650 for a flight, entry fee, game drive, lunch, etc is perfectly placed in my opinion. I imagine that I am a tourist that came to Tanzania not for the safari but for the beaches of Zanzibar. I hear that I can zip over in a day to possibly see lions and elephants, I'm on holiday ready to have a good time, why not? Maybe it's even the 8th consecutive day of chilling at the resort on the beach and we are eager to mix things up? Whatever the case may be, there are hordes of vehicles and tourists coming from Zanzibar every morning starting at 6am. I've dropped off guests at the airstrip and witnessed the steady stream of planes ferrying guests in, something you'd expect from the Serengeti but not necessarily Nyerere NP. Beach Safaris vehicles were everywhere, a volume that I've only seen matched by Leopard Safaris in the north circa 2015. 

Due to the day trippers we were initially skeptical that we'd be happy at Mbuyu wa Lunch. However, in typical Tanzanian fashion we were late to get into the park and we quickly realized that Tangalala would be out of reach if we wanted to set up camp in the daylight. I was also very concerned that Tangalala would have any facilities, not even considering that we had two cooks in tow and a significant number of people for a two night camping trip. When we passed through Mbuyu wa Lunch while we still had visions of Tangalala, I took close note at the facilities. The Zanzibar Day Trippers had forced TANAPA to step up and although the facilities were still in poor condition and ramshackle, there was water, shade, and functional toilets. The mens toilet facility were simple concrete blocks while the womens toilet area was a long block built with iron sheets and looking more like a temporary toilet for a construction crew, yet it was somehow nicer than the male facilities. For our group, it was exactly what we needed. 

We set up our tents and as twilight set in we immediately heard the calls of hyenas. Then very soon after we saw a small group of hyenas approaching the camp. This is typical, hyenas are incredibly intelligent and they have surely identified this spot as a foraging hotspot. Remains of day trippers lunches can range from chickens bones to fruits, all of which the hyenas will gladly scavenge. What I didn't realize was the size of the hyena population in the area as eventually around a dozen hyenas prowled around the shadows and edges of camp. During the night one came directly up to our tent door, a co-worker had his shoe taken from outside his tent, and their overall curiosity wreaked havoc on several of my colleague's sleep schedules. The following evening they were even more brave and brazen, though it never felt threatening, just more like insistently curious. They would always trot off when you put the torchlight on them but they would also immediately start to creep closer and closer. The moon was a waning crescent and did not rise until late, thus the night was incredibly dark. It was comical to flash the torch and freeze a hyena 20m away. Click off the torch, wait 20 seconds, turn it on and boom, it'd be standing 15m away, looking as innocent as one can be. 

We largely avoided the crowds and when we came back for lunch we did meet a packed campsite. We also met a few guides that we knew from our work and they instructed us on where to find a lion. Some of the tourists found our group puzzling, 10 Tanzanians and two foreigners all eating ugali and fried fish, clearly having set up shop at one of the bandas. I was overall super pleased with the campsite and couldn't recommend it enough for large groups.  

Camp

Honeymoon wing

 

Nyerere National Park Walking Safaris

 

Walking safaris are always a bit hit or miss and usually depend on the knowledge of the guide. My co-workers wanted to do a walking safari for something different than the typical driving safari and I thought that Nyerere National Park is actually a really cool spot to walk because of the access to the lakes. I was initially a bit concerned because we were assigned a ranger that only had experience doing patrols. However, he was very open to whatever we wanted to do and we agreed on waking up early and taking a short drive down to the shore of Lake Manze. 

It was a cloudy morning and the soft light provided a calming vibe. The lakes in the area all have sprawling and intricate shapes, constantly changing due to the changing water levels. In many places there are shallow floodplains at various stages of drying or hosting shallow swamps. We walked along an area full of hippos, birds, and waterbuck. When we rounded a corner we startled (and ourselves were startled by) a group of impala that swiftly darted in front of us. It was a magical moment, having been startled by the noise we were then at ease as we stood motionless hearing the sounds of their hooves hitting the mud as they sprinted past us. 

We were out walking from around 7am until 9am and we felt the heat starting to build on our way back. It was a beautiful morning and we had the entire place to ourselves. Traditional safari drives from a vehicle are nice because you can cover a lot of ground and feel safe within a vehicle but nothing beats the experience of the stillness of the early morning. Taking in all the sounds paints a beautiful aural picture, with the snorts of hippos mixed in with the distant croaks of a Hadada Ibis, and the soft displacement of water as an African Spoonbill pokes around for food. 

Most of my visits to Nyerere National Park have been in the context of work and my leisure trips had been pretty underwhelming. This walking safari was the perfect way to highlight the strengths of Nyerere National Park and I think the boat and walking safari are the best ways to experience this park.  

The animal highway to the lake, complete with a lion track

 

Ruaha National Park: Jabali Ridge

I remember when we were among the first guests at Jabali Ridge in 2017. It was sparkling new and the chic and styling decor stood out among the more traditional rustic designs of the other Ruaha lodges. Over the years we've been lucky to stay here a number of times, a kind of complete opposite experience of camping. We love camping but it's certainly much easier to just show up at a luxury lodge and have delicious food in beautifully crafted chalets. I joke, but there are times for everything and of course we enjoy visits here. In truth we are friends with the lodge manager and in the conservation industry and vast landscapes like Ruaha, it's always good to catch up with friends and hear about what is happening in their corners. This trip was no different and we enjoyed catching up with our friend while also enjoying the new high volume and frequently refilled cookie jars in the guest rooms!

 

Ruaha National Park: Ikuka Safari Camp

View from the loft

I've written about here before but I've got to give this place another shout out. It's been a while since we've spent the night and I was reminded exactly why I love Ikuka. The location is unique in Ruaha, perched on the escarpment looking out over the Ruaha River Valley. It's a short jaunt up from the Mwagusi River and the spectacular views are complimented by the stylish yet natural and fitting design of the lodge. The main area is breezy and spacious with a swimming pool, loft and comfortable seating areas. 

The food is fresh and creative, using local ingredients that extend to the surprisingly high quality and diverse selection in Iringa. Each Ruaha lodge is unique but Ikuka remains at the top for me! 

Sunsets for the honeymooners

 

Iringa in May

Views of Iringa town

I love the end of the rainy season with the lush landscape giving a burst of green color to the area. During peak rainy season it's difficult to move about with either the threat of rain or big pools of water rendering areas impassable. But towards the end of the rainy season there is a bit of a sweet spot. 

We had an interesting week where we moved around the region. It was cool to see the difference in the landscapes from the town to slightly drier areas in the north and slightly wetter areas in the south. We even got to see a storm in the distance which leads to one of my favorite landscapes in Tanzania; the soft light bringing out the hues of the greens. 

Random landscape in Idodi Rural 

Our favorite pool

Landscape close to Ruaha National Park

Locally made bicycle

 

There is a lot of innovation here in Tanzania and I was super impressed by this homemade bicycle. At first glance it looks like an average bicycle but on closer look it's difficult to tell if the bike has any original parts or if it's truly a composite of parts. I asked the owner and he said he welded the frame and had the original crankshaft and gears. He said the fork and the handlebars are actually different parts and then he made a custom rack for carrying goods. I respected his single speed gears and for sure his innovation and resourcefulness, although the bicycle is a little heavy, he'll probably get another 20 years out of this thing!

Car wash: Washing the doors

 

I have written before about how popular car washes are (LINK) but I have not gone into detail just how thorough they can be. One must keep in mind that many of the roads here are not paved so dust and dirt build up relatively quickly. Cars are still notable symbols of social standing and thus it's important for people to keep their cars clean. 

I am accused of under washing our car (guilty as charged)  as I've gotten quite busy lately and it's tough to find the time. You can leave your car at the car wash and pick it up hours later which is usually what I do. However, you have to give some pretty explicit instructions if you don't want the full service. You may think full service sounds great, but this means the pressure washer is used with reckless abandon. You may still be wondering, "so what, isn't that what we want?", well yes, for the exterior of my vehicle...but not the interior. The car wash guys all around Tanzania seem to think the interior of the doors need to be blasted by water. They also think the engine needs to be cleaned and eagerly pop the hood and blast the engine, wielding the pressure washer like a maniacal soldiers wielding machine guns on the front line. 

I've had seals broken, electrics damaged, and unwanted moisture in my interior. One of the big issues is that the demographic that works at car washes are typically people who have never owned a motor vehicle and do not understand where sensitive parts are.

The other day I saw a guy pressure washing the interior of a trunk, with water dripping out underneath (see video). I told the guy not to wash the inside of the door but when I came back to pick it up, you better believe the inside of my door was suspiciously wet, so I took it home to dry! 

 

My extremely clean interior door

2025 Amur Falcon sighting

 

A termite in the foreground with speckles of Amurs

I wrote about the annual Amur Falcon migration last year and we were lucky to spot them this past weekend. It has been drier than usual in the area and thus we weren't sure if the Amur migration would be delayed. We checked our bird record and we tend to see them between March 15th and April 15th. A substantial amount of luck is required but we were eager to try in one of the places where we've had success in the past, Kisolanza Farm House. We even watched a webinar about the Amur migration to simply build the hype. 

The previous week had seen an increase in rainfall, though it still felt like we were on the verge of the full rainy season. We left Iringa town around 3 p.m., watching storms forming to the south and southwest. The conditions seemed perfect for the Amurs, so we scanned the skies frantically as we drove. Approaching Ifunda, we spotted a large group of birds. We pulled over to confirm and saw the diagnostic male with the contrasting white and black. Satisfied with our sighting, we continued on to Kisolanza.

Kisolanza has an open area to the south that offers great views of the sky. We parked and waited, hoping the falcons hadn’t already moved north. After about 15 minutes, they started coming our way. The rain had triggered a termite emergence, creating a feeding frenzy. We watched around 50 Amur Falcons hunting alongside a mixed flock of birds drawn to the feast. Speckled Mousebirds, a Tropical Boubou, acrobatic African Stonechats, and a pair of striking African Paradise Flycatchers all joined in.

The Amur Falcon migration is a real spectacle, and Kisolanza seems to be something of a hotspot. A few years ago, they even roosted overnight on the property. While sightings are never guaranteed, it’s as good a place as any to try your luck at seeing these incredible birds.

Pit toilet hazards

Pit latrines are the most common type of toilet facility, especially in rural areas, where infrastructure lags behind necessity. They range from clean and modern to crude, makeshift, and downright revolting.

At their most basic, a pit latrine is nothing more than a hole in the ground. This design, though simple, fosters an unbearable stench and attracts swarms of flies, which in turn spread disease. The damp, anaerobic conditions also create an ideal breeding ground for pathogens, making contamination of nearby water sources a serious risk, particularly during the rainy season.

A step up in design, common in more thoughtfully constructed latrines, is the ventilated improved pit latrine (VIP latrine). This model includes a vent pipe with a screen, which helps reduce odor and traps flies before they can escape. Covering the hole (and having a door) when not in use is also crucial, not just to keep insects at bay but to deter bats, rats, and other creatures that seem to relish the dark recesses of human waste pits. Many latrines, however, leave the hole exposed, making them a free-for-all for critters of all types. Please, let your imagination go wild.

At our field camp, our latrines are relatively well constructed VIPs, but they come with their own hazards. On two consecutive nights, first a scorpion, then a snake, nestled themselves beneath the wooden slab that covers the hole. We spotted them just in time, avoiding what would have been an undignified disaster. And while we’ve been fortunate that the snakes have all been non-venomous, the real horror is when one vanishes into the depths of the latrine, leaving the unsettling knowledge that it is down there, somewhere, waiting. 

The hazards

A closer look

Local boat on the river: Ngalawa

View from in the boat

In Tanzania the term ngalawa is used to describe any local boat, typically a dug out canoe. The Rufiji River is full of local river crossings and as a proper boat is in our future, I thought it would be a timely moment to describe the ngalawa. 

The ngalawas in this region are crude, resolute vessels, typically single-piece dugout canoes, riddled with patches and hurried repairs, their continued use a testament not to their sturdiness but to the sheer inevitability of necessity. The tolerance for leakage is astonishing; each boat carries multiple bailing cups, a silent acknowledgment of the perpetual battle against the water’s encroachment. The seats, makeshift slats of palm fronds, offer only the faintest concession to comfort barely more forgiving than the canoe’s unyielding wood.

Propulsion is an art of precarious balance. At the stern, a lone paddler strains against the current, while at the bow, the navigator wields a long pole, prodding blindly for the ground beneath the murky surface. There are seasons when this choreography teeters on the absurd, when the river swells and the man in the back paddles with increasing desperation while the one in front, his pole flailing in empty water, finds nothing but air. In such moments, when the boat ceases to be steered and instead surrenders to the slow pull of the current, the true peril reveals itself: the dark humps of hippos downstream, their bulk motionless, while the ngalawa drifts, inexorably, towards them. At the last moment, the man at the bow sticks his pole in the mud and the tense passengers let out a collective sigh that has been slowly growing.

I have always taken a strange delight in these boats, though never without the creeping awareness of their fragility. They are, in a way, thrilling. but only for those who can afford to thrill. For the others, the ones who must board them daily without illusion or choice, there is no indulgence in adventure, only the resigned acceptance of risk. And yet, even I, knowing that capsizing is a real and likely fate, am unsettled by the thought of what lurks beneath. Not only are these waters alive with crocodiles, but among the passengers huddled beside me, most cannot swim.

This ngalawa had to have two passengers removed. Which means it probably should have had at least four removed.

The ngalawa needs to be entered wherever it lands. Here it was on a steep sand bank, note the guys feet are covered. Quick retreat for crocs...

The seats

Rufiji wooded grassland walking

The vibrant grass contrasting with the soft overcast colors is one of my favorite things about rainy season here

There’s been an unseasonable dry spell leading up to the rainy season, so we decided to take advantage of it this weekend. Since January, it has only rained a few times, though last week brought a few storms, a harbinger of the coming rains. The ground is still relatively dry, but December’s rains left behind small pools of water, with wildlife dispersed widely.

This is one of my favorite times of year to be out walking. You can feel the plants and grasses at the very start of their transformation, about to reshape the landscape. Soon, the grasses will tower over my head in places, and flooded swamps will make bush navigation much more challenging. The substrate is typically wet enough to identify tracks of animals.

We knew of a spot with some open trails as well as some small pools of water. The area was largely swamp and marshland along with shrubs and wooded grasslands. It's a fantastic area for walking with sufficient animal trails and open areas. We saw some fresh tracks of buffalo, kudu, and some very fresh scat of African Wild Dog. The morning was overcast which allowed us to stay out relatively late, but around 11am the sun broke from behind the clouds and we knew we had to get out of the area before we got roasted! 

Typical wooded area

Nice grassy area, checking for signs of African Wild Dog

Rufiji river delta walking

Walking across dried riverbeds

The Rufiji River has an impressive delta that provides a constantly changing landscape depending on the flow of the river. I really enjoy going out walking in the river delta and there has been a dry spell that has made the river more accessible than normal for this time of year. We crossed the river with a local boat and set out a 15km walk along the northern part of the Selous Game Reserve. We crossed through dried up rivers, passed by several large pools of water, and trekked through extensive grasslands. 

The area was dotted with palms and some coastal forest trees, the quintessential Selous landscape. We unfortunately got a very late start and thus the sun was hot and most animals were tucked away in the shade. We did manage to see a really impressive group of Marabou and Yellow-billed Storks, a group of a few hundred absolutely ravaging a small pool where a the helpless fish were literal fishes in a barrel. 

I was told that the area we walked would likely be underwater in a month. I will be thrilled to come back...but in a boat!

Pool of water

Nice grassland

Iringa Airport renovations

The airport in Iringa is not the most bustling airport and I wrote about previous much smaller renovations. When we first moved here, there was one 12-passenger plane servicing the city three times a week. In 2016, the former president resurrected the national carrier, Air Tanzania, and in 2019, a Bombardier Q400 began flying a few times a week at drastically lower prices than the smaller plane. This joy was shortlived. I had one successful flight to Dar es Salaam, and then rumors began to swirl about under capacity, politicians demanding planes for transport, and all sorts of other issues. In July 2019, I booked a flight that was rescheduled several times until it became apparent in December that services were being suspended indefinitely (I was never issued a refund). They were kind of bailed out by COVID-19, but they were in trouble long before the pandemic.

I’ve heard several different stories about why the Iringa airport needed a renovation, but the most frequently cited reason is that the runway needed to be expanded to receive larger planes. It’s a shame that they recently refurbished the airport buildings (within the last five years), only to build a totally new structure that is nearly the same size—just in an entirely new area on the opposite end of the property.

For aviation nerds:

Covering 353.44 hectares and located 18 kilometres northeast of Iringa town, the airport features a 2,100-metre-long, 30-metre-wide runway, a 155-metre taxiway, and a 180m x 126m aircraft parking apron. It can accommodate two large Bombardier Dash-8 Q400 aircraft and five smaller Caravan aircraft. The passenger terminal can handle 100 departing and 100 arriving passengers simultaneously, with a VIP lounge for up to 18 passengers.

The new runway is really nice, but I still don’t understand why they didn’t use the previously constructed infrastructure. They didn’t increase the capacity of arrivals or departures in any significant way. I’ve got an Air Tanzania flight booked next week, so let’s see how everything goes!

 

Ruaha in February

Ruaha River

 

We took a rare rainy season trip to Ruaha knowing that seeing large carnivores would be difficult but we also knew that it'd be a great time of year for birdwatching. Birds are on the move both to the northern hemisphere and inter-African migrants and we thought it'd be a fun weekend to go out and do some birdwatching. 

Most of the lodges close in March so we knew there would be very few other cars in the park. We only saw two other cars over the entire weekend and enjoyed the majority of our time out to ourselves. We weren't sure how the roads would be but there has been enough of a dry spell that most of the Mwagusi was still accessible though the tall grasses made for some careful maneuvering.  

We saw around 100 species of birds, which is a great day for Ruaha, and another highlight was a group of three Lesser Kudus. We were surprised to see sightings of plains game in great numbers as well as some fun elephant sightings as well. 

The park in the rainy season is a totally different experience but the overcast clouds lend to cooler temperatures and the solitude is a hallmark of the Ruaha experience. Tapering expectations for large animal viewing is important but if you come with the right mindset, Ruaha in February can be amazing!

Giraffes enjoying the grass

Stunning kopjes

The waterhole in February

 

I've written about the water hole before and it's always a fun place to visit in the morning. In the rainy season there are typically a variety of waterbirds and today was no different with a large group of Knob-billed Ducks and a few Little Grebes. We didn't see much in the way of large mammals and not even very many prints but that's not unusual this time of year when water is available everywhere.