Times in Tanzania: Kilombero Valley: Canoe trip on the river

Egrets, cormorants and herons colonize a small patch.

After our backpacking trip to the Udzungwa mountains, we decided to go on a leisurely float on the river in the nearby Kilombero Valley. The Kilombero Valley, which covers an area of 6,650 km² (1,643,250 acres), consists of a seasonally inundated floodplain fringed by miombo woodland and fragments of Eastern Arc evergreen forest. It is of considerable biological interest in its own right; it was designated as a Ramsar site in 2002 in recognition of its internationally important wetland habitats, and is recognized by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area (IBA). However, its large size and distance from other premier national parks makes it a less visited area in Tanzania.

We went to the ferry at Kivukoni, about 10 minutes south of Ifakara, the day before our trip and sought out small time operators. The ferry crosses only about 30m of river with a few dozen people and a couple vehicles. The ferry crossing had a few enterprising shops set up but was quite small and devoid of anything more than what I would call a shack.

Ferry crossing at Ifakara.

Moving on our Udzungwa guide's advice, we were quickly spotted by two enterprising guys who offered to take us down the river. After some tough negotiations we agreed on $55 USD for renting a canoe and their paddling services for a day, camping at night, and return the next day. We agreed to meet at 9AM the next day.

When we arrived to the river the next day it was apparent we were "getting what we paid for". A local dug out canoe with bottle crates as seats and some constant leaks was our mode of transport. The back rower had a traditional paddle (used to also periodically scoop out water that had leaked inside) while the front paddler had a long bamboo pole to push off the bottom with, ala Italian riviera style.We set off west as the crew indicated that there were fishermen to the east and we were better off seeing birds to the west. We agreed and headed out.

We chatted with the guys about their business and they said they receive maybe one or two guests a month, mostly birders from Europe. They said few take the canoes and most prefer a motorboat to cover more ground. We were surprised as they seemingly didn't speak any English and weren't exactly to the standard of trained guides but were very perceptive of our interest in birds and stopped when they sensed we wanted a closer look. We had seen advertisements from tour companies that offered canoe trips in covered canoes but they were pricey at around $80 USD/person per day.

This was not a luxury canoe.

The day began well enough but after a few hours we were suffering from the heat. The south is significantly hotter than the north where we live and it was a particularly cloudless day. We had come prepared with our hats and long sleeves but after a few hours my binoculars were hot to the touch. We stopped at a fishing outpost for some lunch and it became apparent that we were both suffering. We discussed with our guides and we agreed to go to the camping spot, rest a bit, and then turn back and reach back to Ifakara by the evening. I think we were overzealous and our energy reserves and desire to camp again after our long trip in the Udzungwa's were quite low.

Italian riviera? Not quite.

A lone pied kingfisher watches on the top of a very long reed.

One of the fishermen villages we passed.

A nice piece of the river.

The food shack we ate at with old canoes used as benches.

Freshly roasted fish!

Fishermen are casting a net on the beach. After surveying the camping area completely devoid of shade, we decided it was better to just head back.

On our return back to Ifakara we spotted some storm clouds in the distance. An advantage of the plains is being able to see the weather and a disadvantage to being in a swampy area is there are limited places to stop. The storm ended up hitting us and we were forced to push up against the shore in our rickety canoe and wait out the storm. I felt like an exposed zebra on the plains of Serengeti during a rainstorm and there was nothing I could do but lean over my bag to try to keep it try and take in the pounding rain. It was amazing how fast I went from being close to hotter than I've ever been in my life to being cold enough to entertain the idea of hypothermia. After about a half hour the rain subsided and we finished the journey back to the ferry.

All in all it was one of the least successful of our "off the beaten trail" adventures though it was cheap and we did see some great wildlife and enjoy some time on the river. The fishing villages were pretty cool to visit as they weren't touristy and allowed us to glimpse the life of the local fishermen. With everything conducted in Swahili it was also a great confidence boost and a reminder that yes, language learning pays off when traveling to lesser traveled areas of the country!