Lake Nanja: Trip III

Beautiful landscape

The last place we visited on our trip north was Lake Nanja. We had visited twice before (Trip I, Trip II) but hadn't visited in the wet season. We were greeted with a sublime landscape of fresh grasses and flowers. We parked our car not too far in the mud and then walked around the western side of the lake. We met a few groups of Maasai taking their cattle to drink and saw some interesting waterbirds. We tried to drive around the south end but we were met with an impassable road so had to turn back before our long drive to Dodoma.

You can see our car, tiny in the bottom right. I climbed an escarpment for the photo. 

Shambala Swamp: Trip III

Eerie setting

During our time up north we were late to discover Shambala Swamp, a vast wetlands about 45 minutes south of the Kilimanjaro Airport, halfway between Arusha and Moshi. As we had only visited twice (Trip II) before we were excited to visit again and try to drive a loop from the airport to Arusha town.

The swamp is notable for having large stands of dead trees on the northern part of the swamp, giving it an eerie vibe. The swamp is full of bird life and also full of fisherman. We were surprised to see several temporary villages along the coast. We had seen a few in our previous visits but they had multiplied significantly. They looked rundown with temporary shelters made from tarps and plastic. They had a real strange feel of a temporary fishing village though the residents were very friendly towards us. They certainly had plenty of fish with several buckets full and small fish smoking operations.

We enjoyed the drive down the eastern side of the swamp and also met several Maasai that lived in the area. It was an interesting combination of pastoralists and fisherman with still plenty of swamp uninhabited. It was somewhat alarming at how many more fishing villages there were and we thought about the way it may affect the birdlife in the area. It's always a delicate balance of economic activity and conservation activities and my concern was that the area was completely unmanaged.

We ended up finding the road around the south end of the swamp and looped back around to Arusha. The road was wild at times and had us doubting since there were no tire tracks for large stretches. It required us to cross a dried river bed that put our four wheel to the test; always fun! The area is highly recommended for anyone wanting to get off the beaten track

Shambala Swamp viewed from the southern end. 

Cow going for a drink

Fishermans boats. 

Nyumba ya Mungu: Trip XVIII

Ana checking the bird book with the Blue Mountains in the background

Nyumba ya Mungu is one of our favorite places to visit in Tanzania (Trip XVII). This is a result of a view factors, mainly the uniqueness of the landscape and the proximity to where we lived in Moshi. The continually fluctuating water levels means the wetlands at the north of the reservoir constantly change. The reservoir had received a significant amount of water meaning that it wasn't as picturesque as usual with muddied water.

We were happy it was a cloudy day. On a clear day the landscape is stunning but stifling. With some cloud cover we were able to walk around the wetlands in the north and check out the fisherman and birdlife in the area. The last time we had visited there was a ban on fishing in the area but we inquired with local fisherman and it appears the ban has been lifted.

We left Moshi at 6am in order to reach early and leave early. We ended up getting back to Moshi around 1pm, perfect timing to grab a nice lunch after a hard day out!

Checking the water for birds...

Fishermen are ready...

West Kilimanjaro Farmstead: Trip V

Mt. Meru far off

The farmstead on west Kilimanjaro is not only an amazing visit for the vistas of Mt. Meru and the plains between Mt. Meru and Mt. Kilimanjaro, but also because it has amazing farm fresh food. We've enjoyed our previous visits (Trip IV) and looked forward to camping again on the property. We've experienced two different variations of their camping facilities and we were pleasantly surprised to see they had improved their tourist facilities. The farm is first and foremost a working farm but they have a few cottages and an old farm house that people can rent. They cater towards families with loads of activities and they recently built a specific camping area. It has showers, toilets, and level soft ground to put a tent.

We noticed a bunch of small things that showed that they were gearing up for more tourists. Several separate seating areas were created, one with a fireplace, and a communal firepit was built and lit at night. They had some informational posters about the wildlife and signs indicating where certain arm activities and hikes were located. We were very impressed and hopeful that more people from Moshi and Arusha visit since it is one of our favorite spots to relax at!

Getting the fire ready for the evening. 

Hatari Lodge: Arusha National Park

We are lucky to have been invited to stay at Hatari Lodge a few times over the past few years. During our first few stays we knew the place was nice but didn't realize just how amazing it was. Now that we've had more years of experience staying at a variety of accommodation in Tanzania we have more perspective. And I can say that Hatari Lodge is one of my favorite places to stay in Tanzania. Not only does it have a stunning setting, now inside Arusha National Park, but it has impeccable service and beautiful furnishings with extreme attention to detail. I'll be completely honest and say that the place is far above my usual standards but done in a very tasteful way that was not too opulent yet very luxurious. Furnishings aside, the way the lodge is built within the landscape of acacia trees and grassland means that buffalo and giraffe frequently wander through the area and Mt. Meru is visible in the mornings towering over the lodge.

The few times we had visited before had only been a stop over so this was the first time we were truly able to enjoy the place. We were invited for Christmas Eve dinner and joined a large group of Germans for Christmas festivities. I hope we get to return soon!

Viewing platform is frequently surrounded by buffalo and giraffe. 

Pretty baller room!

The bathroom was huge. 

Arusha National Park: Trip IX

Checking out a Lesser Jacana

In our trip north we were looking forward to returning to one of the most underrated parks in Tanzania, Arusha National Park (Trip XIII). It used to be only an hour drive from our house and the variety of habitats inside the park means that the relatively small park (137 km2) has an astonishing variety of birds. It's awesome to drive from a grassland to a montane rainforest to alkaline lakes all in the same day.

Unfortunately most people are not looking to view a variety of habitat or 100 different species of birds. We often wonder how tourists end up at the park because the overall wildlife pales in comparison to the other parks of the north. You're lucky if you see a couple of giraffes and zebras although if it's your first safari in Tanzania the landscapes are stunning.

Ngurudoto Crater

We took a classic route through the park starting at Ngurudoto Crater, then passing through some lakes on the way to the northern end of the park. We checked out all the lakes before heading up Mt. Meru way and soaking in the montane rainforest towards the top. The highlight of the trip for sure was seeing our first cerval which we caught crossing a road. It was a fantastic view of an enigmatic carnivore!

Beautiful waterfall. This place is one of the most picteresque picnic spots in Tanzania

Tarangire National Park: Trip V

Friendly elephants

It had been almost a year since we had visited Tarangire National Park (Trip IV) and we were excited to visit the north after some time away. We had remembered Tarangire for being a paradise for birds and elephants and we were not disappointed!

Beautiful campsite

Sunrise over the Silale Swamp

We arrive to Tarangire National Park around noon and were shocked at the amount of safari cars waiting to enter. We've gotten used to the non existent queues in Ruaha National Park and seeing nearly 40 safari vehicles was a shock to the system. However, this meant they were much more efficient at getting people registered and paid for and we quickly paid for our entry and special campsite. Quick side rant; camping in the park is an already expensive $30 per person and camping at a special campsite is $50 per person. The irony of this is that a special campsite literally means there is nothing but a clearing; no water points, toilet, etc. So in turn you are actually paying a ridiculous amount for absolutely zero services, it doesn't make sense! But we were willing to splurge since we assumed the public campsite (which do actually have services available) would be crowded during the holiday time and we wanted to camp in the middle of the park by the Silale Swamp.

After getting into the park we drove about 10 minutes and in the distance we saw a group of about 10 safari cars. Some seemed to be moving and jockying for space but it was obvious they were looking at something. We got excited and thought it was perhaps a cheetah hunt or some lions. We raced ahead and had to laugh at ourselves when we realized they were all taking pictures of a troop of baboons. One thing to note is that several tour operators have a "standard safari" which starts in Tarangire. As a result, the majority of the people in Tarangire are on their first day of safari and thus eager to stop for any wildlife, even distant giraffes or zebras that they can barely see. This was on full display in this instance as baboons are numerous and actually a nuisance at several of the picnic areas. But I remember MY first baboon, and it was exciting, so we just waved at the group of cars and passed by.

We had a wonderful day in the park that included several elephants within 5m of our car, tons of birds, and an unexpected car break down. The bumpy road had broken the wiring to our fuel pump but we were saved by a group of workers from the park. They helped us diagnose and fix the problem and in a very Tanzanian way were insistent that they did it not for money but because everyone needs to help each other in the bush. They were a chatty and fun group and even knew one of our co-workers from when they conducted an internship at the park. This incident happened late in the afternoon and we ended up making it to our campsite late in the evening.

The campsite was completely empty and far from anyone else. We set up camp under a tree, lit a fire, and began to prepare dinner. I was unloading stuff from the car and Ana was cooking when I wandered over to the fire. We had been speculating if a storm was going to hit us and Ana had her head down chopping veggies when she said, "I think we're gonna get hit". This was aptly timed with a buffalo that had strolled into our campsite not 15m in front of Ana. My brain registered that she was talking about the buffalo, a very uncharacteristic nonchalance from Ana. I shouted to her and she immediately shot up and ran to the car. Luckily we have some noisemakers in our car and we scared off two buffalo that were a bit to close for comfort.

We did not get hit by the storm and packed up early the next morning to explore the swamp. It was a beautiful morning and part of the benefit of camping deep inside the park is having the place to yourself in the morning. We tracked some lion and hyena footprints, did some birdwatching, and enjoyed the beautiful sunrise over the swamp before heading out of the park.

Kitulo National Park: Trip II

Overlooking the valley to the south. 

Our first visit to Kitulo National Park was in the dry season and as a result we were excited to visit in the wet season. After all, the park is most famous for its flowers. Although the park does not have much wildlife the unique setting of a highland grassland is a treat in itself.

We arrived on Saturday in the afternoon and enjoyed a drive through the north part of the park. We tried to reach a waterfall on the east end of the park but unfortunately the road was blocked by a tree fall. It was unfortunate as we had successfully passed through an extremely muddy area and were feeling good only to have to turn around and struggle through the mud again without having seen the waterfall. However, the ride back to the campsite was nice and we enjoyed a lookout point across the south end of the park.

The campsite was greatly improved since the last time we stayed and they have even built two permanent structures nearby. They are a bit of an eyesore as well as a visible phone tower but it's part of what comes with a recently gazetted park. Kitulo was used in the past for grazing and there are even villages and farms directly on the border and interwoven around the park. Locals drive motorcycles and buses through the park which takes away from the aesthetic a bit. Still, there are parts of the park and recently opened roads that allow you to drive to the isolated part of the park and feel the unique isolation and environment.

Grassland in the evening. 

Beautiful cloud cover in the morning. 

Ruaha National Park: Fresh carcass

Sunrise over the floating dead hippo

This weekend we were fortunate to experience one of my favorite wildlife events: a fresh carcass. It's rare to stumble on a fresh carcass as it either requires you to be present at the time of a kill or stumble on an animal that died of natural causes. Of course a carcass is welcome viewing at any time but seeing a fresh one allows you to experience the full context and timeline of a dead animal.

It all started in the evening when we passed the Great Ruaha River and saw a hippo belly up floating just offshore. It was around 5pm and the hippo had some lacerations which possibly meant it was killed by another hippo. We are deep in the dry season and competition for space is fierce but it is also possible that it was natural causes and the lacerations were caused by a crocodile or other predator trying to break the tough skin. Either way we were hoping that carnivores would find the carcass in the night and if we were early enough we could catch them feasting.

We decided to camp nearby and woke up early the next morning. We reached the location at 5:45am, just as daylight was breaking. We saw a group of seven hyenas struggling to access the carcass. Due to the death in the water and subsequent bloating, the hippo was floating in a small pool. The hyenas were extremely cautious, perhaps afraid of crocodiles. We noticed that a small patch on the upper shoulder had been torn open, presumably by lions. It was strange that the lions didn't seem to be nearby as it's unusual they would leave a kill. It could have been some lone males outside of their territory trying to get a quick meal before more attention was drawn to the carcass? We weren't sure but we sure were enjoying watching the hyenas attempt to mount the hippo. They spent an hour slowly entering the water, approaching, then turning back. At times they came so close to the carcass but none made the plunge. They were literally salivating and we could feel their frustration.

Around 7:00 it looked like the hyenas were giving up and they passed right by our car to return to the bush. However, three hyenas turned back and headed for the carcass again. One immediately went for the carcass and successfully mounted it. The other two tried to latch on but the first hyenas was causing the carcass to float around haphazardly into the deeper section of the pool. Finally they managed to pull it close to the shore and at the same time opened the stomach. A rather unpleasant sound of deflation signaled a free for all and the hyenas rapidly attacked the guts. They pulled out some intestines on the shore and squabbled loudly. I was excited as hyenas squabbling is a sure signal to other predators that a carcass is nearby.

Spotted hyena

Just as it looked like the hyenas were breaking through a crocodile appeared in the pool. The hyenas were disturbed and tried to harass the crocodile but as it came close to the carcass they had to defer. They were making all kinds of sounds that clearly indicated their discontent. The crocodile sized up the scene and began to latch onto the carcass, spinning wildly to break off large pieces.

The hyenas were now completely frustrated and periodically growled at the crocodile. At this point vultures began to land. It started with a few and over the next hour just short of a hundred landed nearby. Five different species were represented, each with it's specialty with their beaks and necks are designed differently. Some are good at tearing apart the open flesh while others can pick around the bones. The hyenas were now having to shift their focus to defending the pile of intestines from the vultures, though they were previously content on letting them sit on the shore.

After some time the hyenas heads perked up and they all looked across the river. They immediately scampered away. We scanned the river bed and saw two lionesses walking slowly across the riverbed. Their gait and confidence was unnerving and impressive. After watching all the previous wildlife slowly approach the carcass and make calculated and cautious moves, the lions just walked right up to the carcass and started going at it. They didn't even take a second glance at the crocodile even though the carcass was clearly in the crocs home turf. All the other predators backed off knowing it was time for the queens to feast.

We finally left the carcass around 11:00am as several safari cars began to arrive. We had the scene to ourselves for the majority of the time with only one other car present on the opposite side of a clearing as the lions came. It was an extremely intimate experience and watching it all unfold was a special experience I won't soon forget.

Four days later, after eight days it was completely gone. 

Ruaha National Park: Dry Season

Lions resting. 

As the first rains have begun to fall, I thought it would be good to review the dry season and share a few pictures from the park during this time. The dry season is typically thought of from June to October though rain stops falling around May. In the dry season there are fewer water holes and less vegetation which means two things. First, the wildlife (both predator and prey) clamp down on their territories which usually center around a water source. This makes them easier to find and view. Second, the vegetation also decreases meaning one can view much more of the landscape when game viewing. During the rains you basically need an animal to cross the road in front of you or else it disappears into the bushes. In the dry season you can look out for many kilometers.

I enjoy the ease of game viewing in the dry season though it's tough to be in the car any time past 10am. We love to come into the park around 4pm, go for a short game drive, camp, and then have a quick game drive in the early morning before returning home. It's one of my favorite things about living so close to the park and I feel incredibly lucky to have such prolific wildlife in my backyard (literally).

Ana checking out the river. 

Searching for something to eat

Dry Ruaha River.

Ruaha National Park: Mpululu and NE boundary road

On the way to Mpululu

This past weekend we decided to take a big trip to check out some very distant and less visited parts of Ruaha National Park. We planned on climbing the escarpment and driving to the north end of the park to the ranger post in Mpululu. We planned on camping and then heading down the NE boundary road before driving through Lunda area and then back home. We didn't know anyone that had done the drive this year and only knew the road to Mpululu was passable but as usual, we were ready for anything.

The drive to Mpululu was uneventful though it was nice to drive through the Ikuku Flats. The Ikuka Flats is probably a remnant of an ancient lake as the name implies it's a huge open area with low vegetation. As we got closer to Mpululu we passed through some nice Miombo woodland with tress that had recently put out their leaves. The landscape then becomes rocky with some nice lookout points and undulating hills before arriving at the Mzombe river that marks the northern boundary of Ruaha National Park. 

We stopped briefly at the ranger post and then headed east. This area was the most visually stunning part of the drive with huge rocky hills, some with impressive exposed rock faces and others dotted with vegetation. 

After Mpululu

The next morning we set off early and began the long drive down the boundary road. There wasn't much to see outside of an impressive hill somewhere in the middle. It looks very cool as you approach it straight on and initially catch sight of it very far away. There are also two huge areas of presumably ephemeral wetlands with dried black cotton soil and dried grass. After that the road gradually drops towards the river, far more of a gentle slope than on the way up. 

Very bumpy dried black cotton soil. 

On the way down overlooking Lunda

The road then drops into Lunda which provides a welcome change of vegetation. In this literal far corner of the park the area is famous for poaching and we even saw a young man in the riverbed with 20 dead guinea fowl that he had likely snared. Wildlife becomes more numerous the closer you get to Lunda ranger post before finally passing through the familiar areas of the park. 

Overall we were pleased with the trip as it allowed us to see some of the different landscapes of the park. Sadly, the borders of the park are under heavy pressure from both legal hunting and poaching so the wildlife is extremely skittish. In the 300 or so kilometers driven around the escarpment we saw only three warthogs, a dikdik, and impala. However, we knew it was part of the trip and we are spoiled rotten with wildlife viewing so we could appreciate an exploratory trip. There is something exciting about being in the middle of nowhere and Ruaha National Park can certainly offer that!

Tsetse Flies

Close up!

One of my least favorite creatures here are the tsetse flies. There are about two or three dozen species of these flies located throughout Africa. These flies are quite a bit larger than a typical North American housefly and their bite is ferocious. They can even bite through denim jeans!  They attracted to bright colors, very dark colors, metallic fabric, and the color blue, as well as movement. That means that when they spot your care (hopefully not blue colored) moving through they bush, they quickly latch on and follow you. This can result in either an infestation inside your car or the maniacal buzz of the flies outside your car. At the worst times, this literally sounds like rain pounding down on your car and given that our car does not have air conditioning, we choose to suffer in the heat than open the windows.

Many camps put up these contraptions of treated material to lure the tsetses.

All personal discomfort aside, the tsetse flies have quite an interesting story that I'll shamelessly copy/paste from Wikipedia. Some of the species of tsetse flies carry trypanosomes, which cause human sleeping sickness and animal trypanosomiasis, both of which can be fatal to humans and livestock. Luckily, the tsetses by us do not carry this!

From Wikipedia:

The depopulated and apparently primevally wild Africa seen in wildlife documentary films was formed in the 19th century by disease, a combination of rinderpest and the tsetse fly. In 1887, the rinderpest virus was accidentally imported in livestock brought by an Italian expeditionary force to Eritrea. It spread rapidly, reaching Ethiopia by 1888, the Atlantic coast by 1892, and South Africa by 1897. Rinderpest, a cattle plague from central Asia, killed over 90% of the cattle of the pastoral peoples such as the Masai of east Africa. With no native immunity, most of the population – some 5.5 million cattle – died in southern Africa. Pastoralists were left with no animals, their source of income; farmers were deprived of their working animals for ploughing and irrigation. The pandemic coincided with a period of drought, causing widespread famine. The starving human populations died of smallpox, cholera, typhoid and diseases imported from Europe. It is estimated that two thirds of the Masai died in 1891

The land was left emptied of its cattle and its people, enabling the colonial powers Germany and Britain to take over Tanzania and Kenya with little effort. With greatly reduced grazing, grassland turned rapidly to bush. The closely cropped grass sward was replaced in a few years by woody grassland and thornbush, ideal habitat for tsetse flies. Wild mammal populations increased rapidly, accompanied by the tsetse fly. Highland regions of east Africa which had been free of tsetse fly were colonised by the pest, accompanied by sleeping sickness, until then unknown in the area. Millions of people died of the disease in the early 20th century.

Unexpected trip: Camp to Madibira to Jongermero and back

Usually we plan our weekends with a clear idea of what type of trip we'd like to take, where we'd like to explore, and an estimated time frame for the activity. On very rare occasion, we throw all the planning out the window and, well, we get a bit carried away. This past weekend, we definitely got carried away.

On Saturday we passed through a nearby village and ran into a guy we know that is in the process of building a lodge near the park. We had a brief chat and he remarked that the previous week he went into the community managed buffer zone (Wildlife Management Area or WMA) and had seen Sable in the woodland. We had seen them in that area last year and decided that it might be fun to go out there on Sunday morning and see if we could find them.

We woke up around 6am on Sunday morning, had a small breakfast, and then packed a coffee for the road. We also brought along one bottle of water, our binoculars, and a small tube of sunscreen. We hadn't really discussed the plan in detail but Ana thought we were going to a small lookout point about 45 minutes away and I thought we would drive a little further down the road into a miombo woodland. Well, we started driving through the woodland and we found a road we hadn't taken before. It was a very nice wooded area so we thought, what the heck, let's just drive here for a while. After a short while we were hit by a massive swarm of tse-tse flies. We sealed up the car and continued on, which wasn't so bad since it was still early and the woodland provided adequate shade. Keep in mind, our vehicle does not have air conditioning so the only way to protect ourselves was rolling up the windows.

I'm not sure how time got away from us, I'd like to think we were just intrigued by the various habitats we kept passing through. We assumed that no one had taken the road in the past year (no tracks since the rains) and it felt undoubtedly very wild. We passed through some grassland, acacia woodland, miombo woodland, and various seasonally flooded areas. At some point I thought we were actually getting quite close to a town called Madibira and since the road was in such a poor condition I thought we might as well try to reach there instead of turning around. The road in fact got worse the closer we got to Madibira and around 1030am we pulled into a small village. Our car was absolutely teeming with tse-tse flies and the villagers at the water pump were less than enthusiastic that we brought them from the bush. There were about ten wide mouthed villagers getting water and we engaged one of the younger guys. He was shocked we had come through the bush and remarked that we were actually not in Madibira, it was still further down the road. We thanked him and headed off

Now at this point we actually decided to address the predicament that we were in. We both agreed that we did not want to drive back through the WMA as we felt we barely made it through unscathed and it wouldn't be wise to test our luck. We could drive out to the highway, circle up to Iringa town, and drive back to camp from there, but it seemed to be a long and boring route home. My idea was to drive up through the headwaters of the Great Ruaha River and the southern end of the park to circle back around. We only had a picture of a poorly marked map but it seemed like the most exciting route to me. Nevermind that we had no idea if there actually was a road connecting where we were to the main part of the park, I thought we'd figure it out as we went.

Since we had been dangerously under prepared, we stopped in Madibira to buy some water, chapati, and four watermelons (they were delicious!). We also began to ask locals about a road through the park and several seemed to indicate that yes, it was possible. We started to move north of Madibira to find the road to the park.

This watermelon was so clutch.

At this point I should mention that we were in what was known as the Usangu wetlands, the most recent addition to the national park. Gazetted in 2006, the Usanga wetlands are a bit of a disaster for a few reasons. First, in the 1990s there were several projects to encourage rice growing in the region which unfortunately resulted in so much water being drawn that the perennial Great Ruaha River began to run dry for large portions of the year. There has also been overgrazing from the pastoralists which has also contributed to environmental degradation. Now, in 2006 the government decided to gazette a huge portion of this area to the national parks and there was quite a bit of controversy over relocation programs. Based on the GIS maps I have and first hand observation, it appears this issue has never really been settled.

It was impressive to see the huge rice field and irrigation canals and people were quite friendly in pointing us in the right direction. At a point it was pretty confusing to choose the proper road in the labyrinth of rice fields but we finally got on the right track. I was drunk with confidence that we'd actually navigated to the proper road but I should have known my confidence was soon to be shattered.

Long story short, there are basically two roads into the park from where we were. One goes to the headwaters of the Great Ruaha River and one cuts up north to the southern part of the park. I thought there was only one road and numerous people assured us that we, quote, “couldn't get lost”. And they were right, we didn't get lost but we sure didn't end up where we wanted to be. We passed through several small settlements of mostly pastoralists and finally hit an open area that was obviously the park. The area changed from a high impact zone to  a nicely conserved seasonal wetland. We were pleased to see a group of sable and a group of roan. My spirits were high but as we kept on our journey it became clearer to me that we were heading not the interior of the park but for the headwaters. I was hopeful for a road cutting to the north but I was not so lucky. At some point I decided to cut our losses and we turned around. We continued to ask people if there was a road through the park and coming from the opposite direction it was more obvious that yes, there was a road that cut north. We were told it was unmarked by a school that has a metal roof, and the school was also unmarked.

Remarkably, we were able to discern the school from other buildings and began to take a rough road behind it. Now it was around 2pm and not only had we been driving for seven hours but we were still a looong way from home. We followed the road past several livestock enclosures and I was not very confident it was the right road. Trees and grass soon became a bit more prominent and eventually we saw a child grazing livestock. I got out of the car to ask them if we were on the right track but as soon as I stopped the car the child fled. I chased after them shouting that I was looking for help and I wasn't a ranger but they either hid or kept running. Either way, I seemed to have gotten my answer by their reaction.

We continued on the road and we soon were confident that it was the correct road. We passed through some decent woodland on a very rough road filled with jagged stones, narrow passages thorn laden trees, and several small detours to avoid a treefalls. I continued to be hopeful that at some point I thought we'd get to the Great Ruaha River and there would be a crossing. After we crossed we'd be in familiar territory on clearly graded and marked national park roads. Then it was maybe 2-3 hours until we were home. But we had to get there first.

Naturally I was elated when the Great Ruaha River came into view. The gamble had paid off! I even got out of the car to observe the scene and stretch my legs. It was a beautiful scene with low water levels and fresh green grass and small marshy areas sounding the river. Waterbuck and impala grazed among herons and other waterbirds. I felt a huge sense of relief...until I realized there was no actual crossing. I could see across the river there was a spot where cars had obviously come to view the river but it looked like a place where cars would come and park and then turn around. I paced up and down the river to see if there were any obvious crossings and there weren't. We saw some faint traces of a crossing and frankly what we saw caused great distress. We could identify a spot where a car had tried to cross and then sunk down in the mud. The tracks were old and they didn't appear to continue on the other side. The river looked like it could be crossed but I worried about the mud. Then I looked at our car and saw one of the tires looked to be flat. No worries, we have two spares. I bent down to examine it and heard the hissing of air coming from the tire. Except the hissing wasn't from the tire I was examining, it was from another tire behind. Not an ideal situation.

I scoped the river and decided we'd better try for the river crossing and we better try before our tires went flat. If we were successful in crossing we still had about 50m after the river to navigate jagged rocks and sand and if one of them burst a tire it was better one that was already punctured! And to guard against getting stuck in the mud, we chose an area of the river that was quite rocky.

We held our breath and luckily we passed with ease. We reached the other side and quickly went to change our tires. Any feeling of success I had was immediately erased when I realized we had not two, but three flat tires. One had a pretty significant tear and needed to be changed, one was losing air fast, and one seemed to have a slow leak. I prioritized the two tires that were pretty low and told Ana we better get moving. If the slow leak wasn't so bad we could at least make it to the ranger post or a lodge about an hour away and fill it up before heading back to camp. We were far out of the tourist area and it was around 430pm so if our tire didn't make it or we got another flat we'd probably have to sleep in the car.

Luckily we made it back to camp with out incident at around 730pm, 12 hours after we left for what we thought would be a nice little morning game drive. The next day we saw that we actually had another slow leak, which meant we managed to have four flat tires. We weren't surprised as the road was extremely wild and rough but we counted ourselves lucky to have made it back!

Ruaha National Park: Kigelia Camp

View of our tent

There are several lodges in the park each with their own unique vibe and services. We love Kigelia Camp for both the rustic tented camp feel as well as the amazing service. Located far from other camps, Kigelia is set on a small sand river close to the Mwagusi River. Tents are well constructed with all the amenities one would want.

If one wants a bush camp experience but not the pain of sleeping on the ground and bathing from a bucket, Kigelia is the camp for you. Delicious food was literal icing on the cake and we loved taking our meals at a big table set out in the open by a campfire at night.

Very nice inside of tent. 

Breakfast area. 

Kisolanza Farm House

Beautiful afternoon walk. 

The airport in Iringa is being repaired resulting in an unfortunate relocation of flights to the nearest airstrip. This airstrip is about one hour drive south of Iringa located on a private farm in the middle of nowhere. We had a journalist at camp and he needed a ride out to the airport so we decided to look and see if there was anything nearby. We discovered there was a nearby farmhouse B&B type place and although it wasn't a "wild" area, we were quick to remember that one of our favorite spots in the north was a farmstead. We decided to check it out for a weekend coming in with low expectations, at the very least we'd have a change of scenery and some decent meals.

The farm is located not five minutes from the main highway but it felt isolated enough. The grounds were very tastefully manicured with several large trees, flowering shrubs, and plenty of space. We arrived for breakfast, which was delicious, and after having a brief chat with the owner we went to our room. We were staying in a small cottage with a huge veranda that had all the amenities for a long term stay. We had heard the farm was a popular destination for overlanders and we could see why. We were also happy to see a fireplace inside as the farm is located quite high so the nights are chilly.

The farm has a variety of walking trails around with a mix of cultivated and secondary vegetation. There is a pair of very cool reservoirs with some nice birdlife and lush surroundings. The food at Kisolanza was pricey but excellent, some of the best food I've had in Tanzania. We found the setting to be extremely relaxing and look forward to going again soon!

Sunrise walk 

Checking out the lake in the morning. 

Looking at some birds in the field. 

Local Tribe: The Barabaig dancing events

Jumping!

One of my favorite events to attend are traditional Barabaig dancing events. Because the Barabaig live in very low densities and spend the majority of their time herding livestock, social events are rare and an opportunity for the young people to get to know each other and find a partner. The most common dancing event occurs when young warriors have had a successful hunt and meet to celebrate their success. Our organization hosts traditional dances whereby any young man and woman can participate regardless of their success in hunting. This event has been wildly successful for not only giving the young people a chance to socialize but also for them to get an introduction to our project.

A mother with her child passes. She is above the dancing age!

A view from behind the women

Even the young ones have at it!

Traditional clothes from cow skin.