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THE RICHNESS OF RUAHA
Some 600 km west of Dar es Salaam lies the hidden treasure of Ruaha National Park. I say it is a hidden treasure because while most people have visited the Serengeti and Ngorogoro Crater, very few seem to have traveled the nine hours from Dar to this most beautiful of parks. Last week we did just that. The road to Ruaha is long, but it is a good road of tarmac until the last 100 km, and even that is well graded. Provided one gives a wide berth to buses carrying "Be Safe with Jesus" stickers who swerve past at unnerving speeds, it is an enjoyable journey, passing through Mikumi Park and the beautiful Baobab Valley and Ruaha Gorge.

We did not book a place to stay but decided to take whatever came, which turned out to be Tandala Tented Camp tucked in the trees about 17 km from the Park gates. We were the only guests of managers Isabelle and Philippe for this last week of the low season. Or at least the only human guest, for the camp was full of life. We saw elephants wandering through every day. While we were enjoying our first beer, David the barman remarked casually "There are two elephants just behind the restaurant. Quite close". They had sneaked up on us and were now standing about 5 metres away considering us thoughtfully. Our camera, naturally, was in the tent, but that was the last time that we went anywhere without it. One night was particularly exciting when a large bull elephant decided to munch on a shrub just outside our tent. As I listened to his breathing I reflected that perhaps I did not want to be quite so close to nature. The camp had notices warning us to keep away from the animals, but none telling us what to do if the animals would not keep away from us! We heard a lion and were told the next morning of jackals and wild dogs that had visited. The tents are large, luxurious and scrupulously clean, with the additional welcome benefit of gas-heated hot water for the showers. It is a lot cooler here than in Oar. However, it is not a camp for the nervous. We were escorted to our evening meals each night as wandering around in the dark was likely to lead to close encounters of an unwelcome nature with the local wildlife. But watching giraffes, elephants and the prolific birdlife through binoculars each morning and evening compensated for the slight inconvenience. After all, we were seeing the sort of animals that you can drive around in other parks for hours hoping to catch sight of. Entry to Ruaha National Park costs $20 per head for a 24 hour pass, which makes it one of the cheapest to visit. But this does not make it tame by any means. Its greatest attraction is its ecological diversity that gives a variety of landscapes: one moment you are in woodland that is reminiscent of an English park, only the deer are impala; round a corner and the rugged volcanic Kimilimitonge Hill rises spectacularly in front of you; the next moment you are breathlessly watching lions sprawled under a baobab tree on the edge of the dry savannah. There were lions, and giraffes, and zebra and warthogs and jackals and vultures and lions and ground hornbills and saddle bill storks and elephants and hippos and crocodiles and lions..... Well, you get the picture, or rather we did. Pictures of lions eating a giraffe kill. Pictures of lions sleeping, lions posing for the camera and lions strolling to flop down in the shade. The weather was perfect. There had been enough rain to result in velvet covering of new grass and there was some cloud Cover so we did not fry. For we could not tear ourselves away. We spent nine hours in the park on the first day and six hours the second, and could easily have stayed longer if our itinerary had allowed. We entered the park and turned North-East (right at marker R8 for those who think like I do) along the Great Ruaha River which was gradually filling from the rains. There we saw grazing hippos, great white egrets, openbill storks, woodland kingfishers and on the banks and in the trees banded mongoose, yellow baboons, impala, greater kudu and baby vervet monkeys. By far the most prolific of birds was the redbilled hornbill (tokus ruahae), now known to be a separate species unique to Ruaha (Mercer and Jafferji, p.69). Glancing to the left, we saw vultures circling and below them the remains of two buffaloes. Under a bush a few metres away lay seven young lions, sleeping off their breakfast. One lazily opened an eye at the sound of our vehicle, dismissed us as of no interest whatsoever, and snoozed on. We switched off the engine and enjoyed some quiet moments. Lunch at the confluence of the Great Ruaha and Mwaguzi rivers allowed Us to spot even more hippos and enjoy the sight of saddlebiU storks dibblIng for fish and grey and purple herons watching their progress, ready to seize their share. Following the Mwaguzi at this time still mainly a sand river, we spotted two ostrich grazing alongside the zebras and for several minutes our way was blocked by a lone of giraffe who were exercising her right to stroll just where she wanted later in day we crossed the Mdonya sand river (with a little bit of difficulty and a lot of reliance on four wheel drive) and continued west (left) in the hope of seeing buffalo or cheetah. But we found tsetse and rather tricky driving (as might be expected in rainy season in an area called Mwayembe swamp!) and crossed back and turned south again to visit the hippo and crocodile pool where we saw .... hippos and crocodiles, and yellow baboons who had no regard whatsoever for their own safety. Or maybe hippos and crocs don't like the taste of baboon? On our second day in the park we had intended to drive further south-west to an area called Jongomero but were advised by Philippe that the tracks there were very overgrown, so we drove straight to the Mwaguzi intending to cross it, only to be told that it was too wet and we may well get stuck in the middle. Not wanting to start our day by digging the car out of the mud, we followed the Mwaguzi east, backtracking on our previous day's drive, and were soon rewarded by the sight of at least a dozen lions resting in the shade near the confluence of the rivers. Rounding the corner we spotted a group of vultures doing their macabre dance around a giraffe kill that bore little resemblance to the living animal. We wondered where the lions were, and then we spotted him, a very large male lying under an acacia bush with a piece of giraffe skin that he was rasping with his tongue. As we watched, three jackals came creeping out from the scrub and ran at the vultures, who reluctantly flapped a few meters back from the kill, watching sulkily until it was their turn again. Knowing that it had probably taken more than one lion to pull down a giraffe; we were on the look out for the male's accomplices, and were rewarded by the sight of three lions sprawled replete under a very small bush. They all looked pregnant with their swollen stomach but as two of them were obviously males, we concluded that they were stuffed to capacity with giraffe. My visit to Ruahae also changed my mind about where to spot lions. Lions can fit under very small bushes into the tiniest patch of shade, and my stops to answer natures call will be conducted very much more cautiously in future! Most of the roads in the park are in good condition. And some of the markers have lost their markings. Its very large 10,300kmsq and a good map of the route and GPS are both helpful. We were advised by the rangers that the eastern end of the park would yield to most to see and so it turned out especially in the areas near the river. We could easily spend another three days there. We left Tandala in the afternoon and drove to Iringa to stay overnight. So we could see the Isimila Stone Age early the next morning.