Selous, Ruaha, Katavi, Serengeti Mara - Sept 23rd to Oct 9th 2015

[ZaminOz]

Wonderful report and photos so far @@Julian

Looking forward to the next instalment.

[xelas]

Wonderful storytelling and excellent photography! Looking forward to Ruaha part.

 

If not looking for the spots on purpose, they are not visible in a way to distract the viewer.

[TonyQ]

I love the elephant sequence -and I amsure the champagne went down well!

A nice touch.

[Julian]

@@Julian

 

That is a hadeda ibis.

Thanks for that Safaridude.

(That was the answer to what the bird is in photo 4 in post 42)

[Julian]

Thanks fellow safari travellers for all your encouraging and kind comments so far.

[Marks]

Really nice photos of the eles crossing the water. Looking forward to seeing some more here!

[Julian]

I have edited and uploaded a couple of videos from the time we spent at Selous. So , if this works, here are two videos of elephants.

The first video was from the second cruise on the Rufji ( post # 50).

Please excuse the filming - this was first attempts at video on safari , and they are using the Canon 100-4000mm lens on a small boat -

so the videos are not very steady.

 

 

The second video is longer, and was from the first cruise, with the elephants on the bank- post #40. (I had intended editing out the last 40 seconds as the filming is very poor,but couldn't get the 'cut' facility on youtube to do what I wanted)

 

Edited December 4, 2015 by Julian

[Marks]

The videos are very nice. They really convey the size of the elephants (and also provide a nice bit of background ambience for the office here...).

[Hads]

Great stuff Julian , looking forward to Ruaha.

[optig]

Your photos are just wonderful, as is your writing. I just love your trip report.

[Atravelynn]

Happy 20th and many more.

 

The explanation of the mother ele leveling the mud with her leg is yet another example of the intelligence of these creatures.

 

Along with your comment, "coming back on a safari it all felt so surreal" you mention how early you had gotten up to start your journey. Those odd hours and extended waking hours that can leave you trance-like I think add to the surreal nature of African travel. It's like you pass through an alternate universe before arriving, at least for people who live far away like me.

 

You got some real closeups of the croc! It was like a dental exposé. Having your boat slammed by one of those guys had to be exciting.

 

I really like the combo of animals in your photos.

Edited December 10, 2015 by Atravelynn

[Julian]

Thanks for your recent comments - Marks, Hads and optig.

[Julian]

Happy 20th and many more.

 

The explanation of the mother ele leveling the mud with her leg is yet another example of the intelligence of these creatures.

 

Along with your comment, "coming back on a safari it all felt so surreal" you mention how early you had gotten up to start your journey. Those odd hours and extended waking hours that can leave you trance-like I think add to the surreal nature of African travel. It's like you pass through an alternate universe before arriving, at least for people who live far away like me.

 

You got some real closeups of the croc! It was like a dental exposé. Having your boat slammed by one of those guys had to be exciting.

 

I really like the combo of animals in your photos.

Thank you Atravelynn.

The croc was already so close to the boat that when it launched itself at the boat there wasn't enough distance for it to build up much momentum- it did however really make Gerard jump, as it happened so suddenly - as is usual with crocs.

 

The Ruaha section will be posted soon - been delayed by the usual thing at this time of year - Christmas preparations.

Edited December 10, 2015 by Julian

[Ayacucho]

Great trip report and pictures so far.

 

My wife and I just came back from Serengeti and Tarangire in early November. Now that I have gotten my wife addicted , we're talking about going to Selous, Ruaha, Katavi and Mahale (ok maybe not all 4 in one trip). Anyway, I will be following with great interest in the change in landscape and experiences!

[Julian]

 

Great trip report and pictures so far.

 

My wife and I just came back from Serengeti and Tarangire in early November. Now that I have gotten my wife addicted , we're talking about going to Selous, Ruaha, Katavi and Mahale (ok maybe not all 4 in one trip). Anyway, I will be following with great interest in the change in landscape and experiences!

 

Thanks Ayacucho, we couldnt stretch the budget to do Mahale as well as the other three and Serengeti, but having read up more on it recently I wished we had , as its somewhere we would very much like to experience. However we did get a quick look at the location as the plane stopped there on the transfer from Katavi to Serengeti. It looks beautiful and Lake Tanganyika is like a vast clear deep-blue ocean.

 

[TonyQ]

GRat elephant photos, and very enjoyable videos of the elephants - such beautiful animals

[Ayacucho]

The Rufiji river cruise looks adventurous. I bet the crocs were right beside you at times whether you knew it or not! Great pics of the eles crossing the muddy river. Selous is definitely on my list now.

 

With regards to Lake Tanganyika I can't agree more. When we were late teenagers, my brother and I went to Kigoma and tried to convince a fisherman to take us to Jane Goodall's Gombe Stream Research Center. We failed miserably in trying to convince the fisherman to take us... anyway a story for another time.

[ravipatel888]

Just catching up with this report - a brilliant start with Selous...looking forward to the next installment!

[KathBC]

Wonderful report & photos Julian! Thanks so much for taking the time.

 

Am currently researching Selous & Ruaha myself so am really looking forward to your next installments. Keep it comin'!

[Julian]

I will be continuing the report soon - I upload my photos for posting and friends viewing, etc to Photobucket, but they currently have some technical problems that are causing problems with editing, sorting, uploading, etc.

As soon as they have resolved those issues I can finish sorting the Ruaha photos and get on with my trip report - so shortly after Christmas I hope.

[miguelkatavi]

Waiting for your KATAVI ones!! I've been there twice ( the last one in sept 2015 ) and both at chada, did you take any aerial of katavi?

[Julian]

Waiting for your KATAVI ones!! I've been there twice ( the last one in sept 2015 ) and both at chada, did you take any aerial of katavi?

 

I took some video footage from the plane over some of Katavi - but its really poor quality ( too much vibration and poor dull light) so wont be posting the aerial video footage. However plenty of photos, and decent video footage at the hippo pools for you to look forward to.

Edited January 4, 2016 by Julian

[Julian]

Day 5: Sunday 26^th Sept – Morning flight to Ruaha, to spend the next four days at Mwagusi camp

 

Some white-browed sparrow-weavers and a yellow weaver (village weaver I think?) accompanied us at the table for our final breakfast and then we said our farewells to the staff, and our guide drove us to the airstrip. Just after 9.00am we took off and we looked at the magnificent maize of channels that makes up the vast Rufiji river as we departed westwards towards Ruaha National Park.

 

 

 

 

Still three more locations to experience – four days at each – it was a great feeling to have experienced so much in the last three days, but knowing there is so much more to come.

 

A brief stop at the airstrip for Jongomero camp in Ruaha, where the plane picked up two guests who were heading on to Selous. They had enjoyed their time there but strangely they told us that all the morning game drives at that camp started at 8.30am (not one I will ever visit then!). A short while later we landed at Mesembe airstrip and waited for our driver to arrive (as we were about half an hour earlier than scheduled).

 

A few minutes later the landcruiser arrived and within another half hour we had arrived at the camp. Staff were waiting to greet us - the first two being Yvonne the camp manager and Simon who also helped manage but was in charge of the guide training school. We were taken to the main dining/lounge location for the usual orientation talk.

 

The camp lounge/dining area:

 

 

 

 

View from the lounge/dining area:

 

 

 

We would be in a long wheel-base landcruiser with Geoffrey our guide and Vincent our driver (separate driver and guide is the policy here). For the first afternoon game drive there would be three other guests in the vehicle, the following day only two, and then for the whole of our last two days just us - a nice surprise as we were expecting to have to share with other guests all of the time. Time to see our accommodation.

 

The bandas (‘tents’) are definitely striking, stylish and exceptionally well designed and positioned. Stone flooring and bathroom area, with some canvas walls covered with a dense layer of thatch (elephant grass)– and they are spacious, including a separate lounge area with a desk, hammock and seating. The entrance provides a beautiful scenic view overlooking an almost dry sand riverbed. This all creates the comfort and quality of more expensive camps, but with greater character and at a lower cost.

 

Our 'room':

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

View from our room:

 

 

 

Room viewed from the riverbed:

 

 

 

Next on the agenda was lunch - all the guests and managers/ other staff sit together – a style of dining we definitely prefer. One person seemed to be the centre of attention and after a few minutes we realised it was the owner – Chris Fox. Yvonne and Simon were also at lunch, as was Erica who is the camp accountant and looks after the office. Two other guests were also clearly friends of the staff – Mike and Debby Ghaui (Mike being a well-established wildlife artist and sculptor). They were all very friendly and sociable - keen to know as much about the guests as we were keen to know about them – and as we would quickly discover Chris, Simon and Mike each had between 40 and 50 years of experience of living in the African bush.

 

Lunch was a cold meal, buffet style, with an interesting variety of dishes to chose from - most people trying some of everything, and all very tasty. After a fairly long and sociable lunch it was back to our room to sort our belongings (we had already taken our passports, cash, credit cards, etc to the office to be secured in the camp safe), change the memory cards in our cameras, back-up the Selous photos on our hard-drive, and to chill out briefly before heading off on our first Ruaha game drive.

 

Yvonne the manager on the right , with Rachel:

 

 

Erica the camp accountant:

 

 

 

A short time to chill out:

 

[Marks]

Very stylish accommodations indeed! I love seeing various camps; thanks for posting several pictures of this one.

[Julian]

Although it was nearly 4.00pm it was very hot as we set off on our first dame drive. The landscape looked arid, in comparison to the Selous, but just as picturesque, and it was noticeable how nearly all the trees leaves had fallen, and that most of the riverbeds were completely dry. Another major difference to the Selous was the abundance of baobab trees – everywhere we went in Ruaha. A few of the common species of game were soon spotted, including a family of elephants in one of the dry sand riverbeds.

 

 

 

 

 

Geoffrey was clearly a very experienced and enthusiastic guide and both he and Vincent, the driver, were very cheerful and friendly throughout our stay at Mwagusi camp. Ruaha has a tall mast on top of a very high hill which meant that the guides used mobile phones to contact each other. I think I preferred it when they only had radios, getting away from mobile phones is one of the elements of a safari that I have always enjoyed. However Geoffrey used the phone very infrequently and only when there was some useful information. A leopard had been spotted by another guide some distance from our location and Geoffey asked us if we would like to go to the location, but that it would mean it would take up the most of time left for this afternoon’s game drive to get there, and that the leopard may have moved off before we arrive there. All five of the guests in the vehicle said yes immediately, and we were particularly keen as we had yet to see a leopard on this safari.

 

The location was a very hilly area and it became obvious where the leopard was as we came round a corner and several other vehicles were stopped close together. Within a few minutes a couple more vehicles turned up and there was a line of seven vehicles with the guests all very eager to see and get photos of the leopard. (It turned out to be the only time while in Ruaha where there were more than just two or three vehicles at most at any of our sightings). The leopard was very obliging and came up to the vehicles and walked along the track past all the vehicles - giving everyone a chance to get a good clear view and photos. Having decided that we were of no interest to it, the leopard headed off into the grass and perched on top of a rock some distance away.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After that we had to make our way back to camp, but not before spotting another leopard in a very rocky area, but too far away to get photos. We had our sundowner drinks without stopping as it was a long way to camp and the sun was setting.

 

 

 

The last half hour of the drive was at twilight and much to our surprise, even though we were going quickly and it was half-dark our guide spotted a lion at some distance from the track in the long grass. As the vehicle pulled up the lion stretched its neck up to observe us and then one lion quickly became seven lions as the rest of the pride stood up to look at us. We stopped just long enough to get a photo and as we pulled into the camp it was now completely dark.

 

 

 

A great start to our Ruaha game viewing. We needed to freshen up and change quickly as it was nearly time for dinner. A pleasant and amusing surprise when we arrived back at our room was that all our clothes had been immaculately folded up and stacked neatly, and toiletries and other items had set out in straight lines, everything in precisely the ‘correct’ place, order and position. (We soon learned that the guests who had the OCD housekeeper s always became a talking point.)

 

Time for dinner and as we were escorted from our room in total darkness, with our escort using just a torch, we realised that we were not being taken to the central camp area but to a clearing behind some bushes. Spread out before us were large lanterns spaced out, a long table very neatly set out for dinner, a large camp fire with a semi-circle of seats facing it, a table with drinks and glasses, and a ‘clay oven’ on the ground (ie a long oblong raised area of fire for cooking on) with about eight large pans containing all the different dishes for the meal. Commencing with drinks round the camp fire, the next two hours were very sociable with the managers and guests all joining in the conversation, and the food was excellent and varied.

 

Each evening the meal was rotated to one of three or four spots, and we spent an increasing amount of time chatting at each dinner, and lunchtimes, with the managers, Chris Fox, and also with Mike and Debby Ghaui who had some great stories to tell from a long time ago – such as a rhino charging at a car, getting its horn stuck under the bumper and ending up on the roof of the car ( back in the days before there were any camps, visitors arrived in their ordinary cars, and rhinos were common). Everything about this camp is turning out to be wonderful.