Mikumi National Park: Lion on the road

 

A strange time of day to see a lion on the road.

 

One of the coolest features of the highway from Dar es Salaam going west is the passage through Mikumi National Park. Although photography and stopping to view animals is permitted, you can easily see several different kinds of animals in what I dub a, “poverty safari”. It’s not unusual to have to stop to let a giraffe or elephant cross the road and although game viewing is much better in the dry season, the rainy season can still offer some surprises.   

I’ve driven through Mikumi dozens of times but I had never seen a lion from the road. Well, my luck changed the other day when we saw a sturdy lioness come on to the road at 11am. She was completely unbothered by our car and oncoming traffic and continued to stroll for about five minutes before she went off the side of the road.   

For some reason, the national park posts signs in the park indicating that photography is not permitted if you are passing through, and thus to technically get permission to take and post this picture, I had to stop at the national park office and pay the admission fee for the national park. It’s a shame because Mikumi National Park in transit is the only opportunity the majority of Tanzanians get to enter a national park. In my opinion, the sharing of pictures should be encouraged to raise awareness about domestic tourism as well as encouraging positive feelings towards wildlife. 

Emerging.

Mikumi National Park: Trip III

Sunrise

After a few months of self-isolation and limited movement, we're finally getting a chance to get out. Luckily, visits to national parks are quite good in the times of a pandemic due to limited interactions with people. We had to attend a meeting in Mikumi so naturally parlayed a trip to the national park (Trip I, Trip II).

One of the best things about Mikumi is that one can stay in reasonably priced accommodation in Mikumi town and still make it inside the park early enough to take advantage of prime wildlife viewing hours. On the road in we actually saw three hyenas cross the road, an exciting sighting in any national park. We made it to the gate when they opened at 6:30am and spent the morning leisurely driving around. At some point we decided that we'd like to check out the miombo woodlands in the NE side of the park and headed up the western side of the park. I'm a sucker for exploring areas of national parks that are seldom visited or areas that have not previously visited. It appeared they had recently repaired the roads and we passed through some uneventful recently burned miombo woodland until we reached Choga wale Ranger Post. The ranger post was surrounded by more grassland and we happily greeted the rangers at the seldom visited post. We attempted to drive east to loop around to the gate but the road was impassable.

We thought we would have a meeting after lunch time but the meeting was delayed so we poked around the hippo pools and main area just north of the gate. Unfortunately we got notice that a huge pride of lions was spotted in an area of the park that was too far for us to reach. We did enjoy views of a solitary buffalo, solitary eland, a pair of Bohor Reedbuck, and all the other usual suspects. We were also pleasantly surprised to see quite a few domestic tourists, mostly whom I assumed were from Dar es Salaam. It's good to see Tanzanians plugging the gap missing from international arrivals!

Hippo pool with low water level.

A pretty accurate map.

Kilombero River: Trip II

It has been over five years since we last visited Kilombero River (Trip I) and we were excited to get back on the river. Unfortunately the area was struct with a deluge of rain that is not typical for the year and thus the river was pretty quiet in regards to wildlife. We were lucky to have no rain the day we went to the river though it threatened throughout our trip.

We headed down to the bridge, which was a ferry crossing when we last visited. We parked our car at a police check point nearby and took a bijaji to the river. We met a group of fisherman and negotiated hard for a good price on a big boat to take us out for a few hours. There were four of us and we found a big boat with two boatman. We even managed to get the seats (in actuality they were just pieces of wood nailed to together) so we didn't have to sit on the floor of the leaky boat. From our previous trip we remembered it could be both sunny and rainy and brought along umbrellas for cover.

We headed west on the river and enjoyed the calmness. We saw a crocodile carcass that the guys claimed died of natural causes. We saw several fisherman that were fishing from boats as well as from the shores. The river was very muddy and high but was relatively calm. We puttered around in the boat until mid-day and then headed back to the boat landing, dry and satisfied!

At some point we stopped and our lead boatman bought a bunch of fish. He plopped this poor bottom feeder right in front of me and it occasionally flailed around. You get what you pay for!

Mikumi National Park: Trip II

Vultures stopping for a drink.

This weekend we took our second trip to Mikumi National Park (Trip I). Mikumi NP offers something different than Ruaha National Park and being only 3 1/2 hours away it's a doable trip on a weekend. On our last trip to the park we explored the northern part of the park which mainly consisted of flooded grassland and some man-made pools of water. On this trip we decided we'd drive the northern section in the morning and in the afternoon head south to the Miombo woodland hills.

We left Iringa mid-afternoon on Friday and arrived to our guesthouse Friday in time for dinner. It was only a half hour from the gate so we were ready to go at 6am on Friday and spent the morning on the main tourist game drive circuit in the north. We didn't see any carnivores but managed to see wildebeest, elephant, zebra, giraffe, eland, warthog, Bohor Reedbuck, and stunning views of a male Bushbuck and an up close encounter with a big crocodile. My favorite part of the morning was getting stuck between a herd of over 100 buffalo. All of them skittishly faced us and smelled for us. It was a bit unnerving to have them all focused on us!

Ana watching a croc slide by.

We lucked out and found the cottages/headquarters with some dining options. We were a little early at noon but had a coffee and some overpriced (15,000tsh) chips and chicken, then headed back out. All the bandas and campsites that we visited were quite well done with a range of amenities from cottages to camping sites.

The real highlight of the trip was venturing into the less visited Vuma Hills part of the park. We explored the southern side and found a waterhole with over 70 vultures drinking. We followed the road along east and saw a half-constructed and dilapidated lodge overlooking a waterhole with loads of waterbirds. We then headed south and up into the hills passing through some gorgeous Miombo woodland. The landscape shifted from a mosaic to a well developed Miombo woodland surrounded by rolling hills. The area was quiet and felt very wild. We ended up on the far western side at a lodge and were unsure if we were in our outside the park. We took a road that had likely been used no more then once this season and it proved adventurous with detours at treefalls, and unexpected termite mound holes.

When we arrived to the lodge we weren't sure how to get out. We shouted for assistance but no one came and we kinda checked out the lodge until 15 minutes later someone came to point us in the right direction. We took a road straight down and managed to get out of the park by 630pm. After a long day it was nice to get out and the vastly different landscapes of the park made it feel like we had done two days in one!

Lone Zebra in the grass.

At man-made waterhole with some other wildlife.

In the Miombo woodland.

Mikumi National Park: Trip I

We finally got the opportunity to visit Mikumi National Park, a unique park that's often less visited by foreigners due to its location and lower density of wildlife compared to the northern parks. It is, however, widely visited by local Tanzanians as a result of being in relative close proximity to Dar es Salaam and thus the animals are reasonably habituated allowing for easy viewing. It is also unique in that a major highway runs through the park, the TANZAM highway, which means it provides a free opportunity to view wildlife for locals and foreigners alike that drive through the area. It's somewhat overshadowed by other parks in Tanzania since it's not on the northern tourist circuit and lacks the abundance or variety in wildlife but it's still relatively easy to see lions, elephants, buffalo and a variety of other species.

The park is mostly dry miombo woodland and flood-pain grassland so dry season allows for much more accessibility in the northern half of the park. We weren't so much focused on seeing any particular animal but we were more interested in seeing the different areas of the park. As a result we drove to the northeast and looped around to the northwest and back south towards the more touristy areas. It was very different than Ruaha National Parks with multiple coasters and buses full of people but once we got off the main track we did not see any other cars. Although the wildlife density was low, the variety of ungulates was impressive. We saw hippo, warthog, zebra, eland, giraffe, buffalo, bushbuck, suni, natal duiker, bush duiker, Bohor Reedbuck, impala,  and wildebeest.

We realized that we have been unfairly neglecting Mikumi NP and that with its proximity to Iringa (3.5 hours) it's an easy weekend for laid back wildlife viewing. It has several man-made waterholes which make wildlife viewing in the dry season more predictable and the grasslands make viewing much easier. We'll definitely take more trips in the future!

Udzungwa National Park: Sanje Waterfall Hike

What a view from the top of the falls into the valley. 

We hiked in Udzungwa National Park before (5 day Lumemo Trail) but with some visitors from America we decided it may be better to be slightly less ambitious. We settled on the Sanje Waterfall hike, a day trip climb up to the top of a waterfall. It is only about 6km but climbs more than 700m resulting in frequent rest stops. The first nice place to rest is a viewpoint showcasing the falls (pictured below). Of course the joy and beauty is also mixed with the feeling of, "ugh, we have to hike up THERE?!".

The hike is steep but winds through beautiful patches of forest. We were there at the very tail-end of the rainy season but were lucky to not get rained on. A tree had fallen across the trail the night before so we got a bit of a bonus hike as we blazed a trail around the tree. It was muddy and slippery with fallen branches creating a hazardous obstacle course. We were happy to get to the other side unscathed and luckily it was only about 100m from the top.

The top of the falls was stunning with seemingly endless views of the plains below. We also walked up river a bit and saw two more waterfalls, both full of water this time of year. We passed a small rope bridge crossing the river and our guide informed us that it is possible to walk a loop back down to the road. Another time!

Another smaller waterfall

We climbed to the top of that waterfall. 

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!

A rainbow spread across the sky on our way back to town. 

How we have even have dry patches on our shirts, I don't know. 

Udzungwa National Park: Lumemo Trail

Classic rainforest trail at the beginning of the hike. 

Beautiful waterfall. 

Ana with a forest backdrop. 

Cloud covered mountains greeted us in the morning. 

Very green!

View of Mwanihana peak (2080m). 

Looking out into the forest. 

Classic view of the forest. 

Rain was on it's way. 

Hiking through the grasses. 

With a long winter holiday and a desire to get out of the city, we decided to try to go to one of the lesser visited national parks in Tanzania, the Udzungwa Mountains in the south of Tanzania. We narrowed down our choices by looking at the different places where we could go hiking for extended periods of time and avoid paying outrageous national park fees. It seemed fitting we would choose Udzungwa as it is part of the Eastern Arc mountains, the same chain that contains Kindoroko (1,2,3), Minja forests, and Amani Forest Reserve, all of which we have visited.

Udzungwa forest chain is in the southern part of the Eastern Arc mountains. We have previously explored the North Pare and East Usambaras. 

After some research, we decided to go for the longest hike we could possibly do in the park. We did a 5 day/4 night trek covering 65 km (40 miles). The trail was called "Lumemo" trail and the ranger told us that usually only two groups a year do it and we were the last group of the year. The trail follows a few rivers as it weaves through tropical rainforest, mountain forest, miombo woodland, grassland and steppe. The rainy season (January-May) makes the trail impassable and they usually do one clearing in June, though the trail is typically constantly overgrown due to lack of use.

During the planning process, the information was a bit unclear so we came with all our food and camping supplies, though we later learned that we could have hired a cook and porters if we would have liked. Still, we were happy as we could keep it relatively cheap as we would end up paying over $500 in park and camping fees anyway. Taking a guide and an armed ranger was compulsory and although we would have preferred to hike alone, both proved invaluable, to say the least.

We were the only ones on the trail and from the first hour, we didn't hear a sound of civilization until five days later. I could go on and on about the beauty of the place but I'll let the pictures do the talking.

If you look at the grass on the left of the river you can see its been trampled by elephants. 

Bush-whacking while enjoying the view. 

Miombo forest offered a change of landscape. 

Walking along the ridgeline. 

Descending down. 

Beautiful forest!!!

The grass was at times, above our heads. 

The river was never far. 

Elephants and buffaloes frequented this place high up in the mountains to scratch for minerals. 

One of our campsites. 

Picture of the tallest peak in the park, Luhombero Peak (2579m)

Ana is not pleased with the elephant skeleton that we saw.

Being a forest, most wildlife was either heard but not seen, or evidence scattered throughout. Aardvark burrows, elephant dung, civet shit, bush pig burrows, and other evidence was scattered among the trails. We even saw a full elephant skeleton! I was shocked to know that elephants lived in the forest habitat and feared "bumping" into one as the dense vegetation was conducive to panic. Although we didn't see any, we did FEEL a group as we passed through a point in the trail. As we passed an area on the trail we stopped at some rustling and heard a trumpeting alarm call, then felt rumbling from elephants no further than 10m from behind us!

We spotted some African buffalo in the river as they bathed and grazed and the armed ranger came in handy when we arrived at one of our campsites and there was a herd of buffalo hanging out in the river. They looked edgy as we tried to scare them with loud noises, so one shot in the air cleared them out. However, the biggest wildlife spotting was of the rare endemic elephant shrew, the grey-faced sengi (Rhynchocyon udzungwensis), discovered only in 2005. The bizarre animal was easily identified by the guide due to its peculiar gait, size, and shape.

There were also a handful of primates that we saw like the black and white colobus (colobus guereza, highland), yellow baboons, and the endemic Iringa red colobus. But the forests here aren't known for their big mammal wildlife, rather they're known for their startling number of endemic species of insects and plants.  In fact, 25% of the plant species in the mountains are endemics! The Eastern Arc mountains are known as the "Galapagos islands of Africa" for good reason and I saw more species of bizarre insects than I ever could have imagined.

Overall the experience was unforgettable. It was one of the most physically demanding trips I have ever taken and the worst was finishing a strong day of hiking and reaching camp, only to have to clear space for camp with a machete! The numerous endemic insects and plants also had a field day irritating my skin and I came out bumpy and rashy, but thoroughly refreshed!

Posing for a pic on the ridgeline of a miombo forest. 

Ana and I pose in the high grasses. 

End of the trip, everyone with a happy face and shirt full of sweat.