Nyerere National Park in August

Lake Manze sunset

 

I have written about Nyerere National Park once before (Trip I) but wanted to write a little more about the park due to the growing popularity. This time of year is a fantastic time to visit the park. The dry conditions result in the majority of the wildlife being found around the lakes and the Rufiji River. Many of the roads found on the seasonal floodplains are now passable albeit bumpy and slow. 

There has been an influx of day trip safaris from Zanzibar. Packages are available from $400-500 with a flight and game drive included. It's a smart package especially for those that came to Zanzibar for a beach holiday and have perhaps become a bit bored with the offerings of the island. Whatever the motivations, it works, and from 8 to 9am you can expect a steady stream of small planes dispensing Zanzibar day trippers. This can result in some overcrowding as well as a clash in "vibe". The day trippers come with a kind of care free exotic day trip energy while there are still tourists who sought the solitude of the bush. 

The bird watching is fantastic and I personally feel the best feature of the park is actually the game drives via river cruises. Exploring the channels and viewing wildlife from a boat provides an entirely different perspective from the safari vehicle. It is also more comfortable and for bird watchers, there is a lot more action from the water. Wild dogs are relatively common as they do den in the most visited area north of the lakes but seeing them simply depends on luck as they range far and wide.

Nyerere NP is still a great park to visit but planning your trip and timings is important. Wildlife densities are low and if you overlap with the Zanzibar blast, you might have a high tourist/low wildlife density trip, a less than ideal outcome!

Surrounding the lakes are grasslands and plains

Rufiji River Camp

 

There are a lot of things that I love about our Rufiji River camp. The location on the edge of the riverine forest provides habitat for all sorts of wildlife, both resident and passing through. It is about 400m from the river, safe enough to avoid the season flooding but close enough to enjoy the views or stroll down to the water. 

In August the climate is not as humid as the rest of the year and some cloudy days accompany very random and extremely light showers. The camp has resident Brown Greater Galagos that cry throughout the night. Elephants come through camp regularly, passing through to get to the river to drink. I was excited to see a Southern Giant Pouched Rat as well as a pair of dikdiks one evening. There was a troop of Banded Mongooses that were caught seeking shade in our banda one afternoon.

I was also happy to see Angolan black-and-white colobus monkeys. The baboons and Blue Monkeys were also around though not as aggressive as in times past. I think my previous visits to the camp have been dominated by building logistics and I haven't had time to properly reflect on and enjoy the environment. But now that I have time to enjoy it, I absolutely love the camp. The evening walks down by the river to view the sunset are epic!