R&R in Ruaha

[Atravelynn]

I needed a little R&R this morning as a blizzard rages outside. This did the trick.

 

Any plans for a future workout or more R&R?

[pault]

@@Atravelynn Well I think I should finish this report first (got distracted by the arrival or multiple family members over a period of a month) but yes, there will hopefully be an announcement of further R&R this year in the trip planning thread over the next few days.

 

@@AKR1 @Swahealy43 @@cheetah80 @kuduu @@Caracal @@KathBC @Marks @@FlyTraveler @@Bush dog ... Glad you enjoyed catching up with it and thank you for your kind comments, which I didn't repsond to as I planned to add the final post long before now.

[gagan]

Nice pics but where are the cheetahs ..did u see any??

[pault]

@gagan "Where were the cheetahs?" is a highly sensitive topic in the pault household.

 

We were unlucky (actually luck may have had little to do with it, but let's not go back there again). Best we had was a very fresh footprint. Most people who wish to (including us in the past) will see a cheetah or two in Ruaha.

[pault]

At last we can take this more or less to the end.

 

The buffaloes were massing for most of the morning, but grazing on the other side of the river and so we had to decide if we were going to wait it out (doesn't this sound familiar?) or travel on and see if we could find something else. I'd never considered waiting for a buffalo crossing of what was a very shallow river before, but there was always the chance that something could be waiting in the bushes, and there is no way to know whether it would be a spectacle or a disappointment until it happens, is there? So we decided to wait out, and eventually at around 10.30 or 11 the crossing started. It's a bit more orderly that a wildebeest crossing, but when they got to the other side of the river, where the bush was thick, they got quite agitated and there was quite a stampede.

 

Unfortunately by this time there was quite a bit of heat haze around, but that would have been the case whatever we had decided to do, so it was no reason not to stay and not photographing the event would have been silly. Anyway, I think a couple of shots aren't bad.

 

Ambling rather that hurtling across the river....

 

 

 

 

 

Many stopping for a drink

 

 

But they picked up the pace when they got to the other side and visibility wasn't as good. It would have been the perfect spot for a lion ambush.

 

 

 

Another vehicle showed up at this point and unfortunately went down the bank to get a head-on shot. I understood the photographic intent but didn't think that forcing the buffaloes to change course was very ethical, given that there was absolutely no need for it. I am biased since if messed up a shot that I had planned (without getting in the way) but I think in such circumstances you have to think about the fact that you may be herding the buffaloes right into (or away from) a lion ambush, or that calves will get separated from their protection during a stampede, rather than just thinking "Wow... got to get a shot of that!" and diving in. Assess the situation first. No harm was done, except for my own missed shot, but it did spook the buffaloes.

 

 

 

Especially the elderly, who suddenly found themselves separated from the herd.

 

 

A group of bulls bringing up the rear refused to be spooked though.

 

 

One group very happy to see the buffaloes back were the oxpeckers - no more dealing with swinging giraffe necks - lots of nice stable, slow-moving buffalo backs to feast on.

 

 

It was really wuite an impressive experience having hundreds of buffaloes thunder past us - on both sides for a while. The ground was literally shaking and it got quite dark for a few minutes with all the dust being kicked up. Well worth the wait.

[pault]

Our last game drive was the same evening and after driving down to the Mwagusi River we headed out to an area we hadn't visited yet, near Little Serengeti. It didn't produce much until later, but it was home to some impressive Baobabs, and that was why we were there. Unfortunately, the evening light was a real let down, with the sun disappearing behind a thick bank of cloud just before the light was going to turn golden. The shots I had planned weren't going to happen and it seemed we would have an appropriately low key ending to our trip.

 

Impala feeding

 

We saw a jackal, hyrax and dik-diks, as well as the inevitable baboons, giraffe and elephants but only hte Rock Hyrax produced a photo better than those of the same animals many others taken on previous days.

 

 

 

 

We stopped at this old baobab and had a sundowner - well the others did but I kept on trying to work something with the tree, even without any of the light I wanted.

 

 

A tiny moon is no substitute for a blazing sun!!

 

A tiny bit of orange light!!! Quick, quick!! This tree has been nearly hollowed by elephants over the decades, and signs of fresh excavations are there to see..

 

 

I found the inside very interesting, with both the recent elephant damage and what appears to be a huge vein. The textures were great, but without contrasry light the photo doesn't really show it as it could.

 

 

 

But Ruaha wan't going to say goodbye to us like that. On the way back to camp we met another vehicle and they told us there were some lions a short distance away. Even though it was nearly dark (and dangerously close to 7 pm, when either all vehicles turn into pumpkins or lights on the plains can draw a hunting party of heavily armed rangers) we decided to take a quick look. It was a part of a larger pride, with one cub (who was limping) to which the mohican lion of the day before (elephant day) belonged.

 

The shots aren't much - ISO 12800 or something probably - but it's a better way to end than with a failure of the light!

 

 

The pride male stayed still long enough to reduce the ISO, but he wasn't really posing the way I would have wanted!!

 

 

 

And then we really did have to go. Bye bye, Ruaha ... we will meet again.

 

[twaffle]

I'm very attracted to the little moon, it seems somewhat less brassy than a sunset shot. Subtle!

[Marks]

Impressive baobab...looks so gnarled and old.

Good points about interfering with the animals for photography...always a shame to witness, even if there weren't any major consequences.

[pault]

Impressive baobab...looks so gnarled and old.

Good points about interfering with the animals for photography...always a shame to witness, even if there weren't any major consequences.

Yes, they really didn't mean to do it. The guide was a apologetic when he saw our guide's face and realised what he had done. Wouldn't have mattered in the slightest if it wasn't done just where the buffaloes were heading up a slope and into some thicker bush..... and if there hadn't already been another vehicle there, whose perfect position was suddenly no longer perfect! Just a case of acting without thinking I guess. It stood out because the guides in Ruaha (even the ones coming outside) seemed to be very careful and considerate.

[Geoff]

Just getting around to continuing this report...

 

 

 

Things got worse. We would be leaving at 7 the next morning because everyone else wanted to have breakfast in camp. In fact our vehicle mates wanted breakfast in camp every morning since there was no brunch here. And they wanted to get back by brunch time anyway as they didn't want to be bumping around too long - it was uncomfortable.

 

@@pault You sound like you are too nice. Breakfast and leave @ 7 and back by brunch time !?! ~ The air would have turned blue with my response.

 

Edit: ~ Lovely images too, very impressed with the landscapes.

Edited February 8, 2015 by Geoff

[ravipatel888]

Amazing trip report - and some brilliant photos. I especially liked the lion and leopard in the same spot on the road near the baobab. @pault - you've definitely got me thinking about Ruaha this year!

[pault]

@@ravipatel888.... Thanks. Highly recommended. If you like Tarangire and Meru vibe I am pretty sure you'll love it. Pretty amazing place and you'd have seen a lot more from my trip report if we'd been able to get out all day as we would have wished.

 

@@Geoff .... I probably am too nice. It was only two days that it was that bad though. Other days we managed to squeeze an early departure or a later return somehow. Not what should have been though. And thanks!

[Geoff]

@@ravipatel888.... Thanks. Highly recommended. If you like Tarangire and Meru vibe I am pretty sure you'll love it. Pretty amazing place and you'd have seen a lot more from my trip report if we'd been able to get out all day as we would have wished.

 

@@Geoff .... I probably am too nice. It was only two days that it was that bad though. Other days we managed to squeeze an early departure or a later return somehow. Not what should have been though. And thanks!

 

@@pault you can join me on safari any time. What i say goes!! OK?

[Alexander33]

@@pault

 

I have thoroughly enjoyed your reports, both on Uganda and now Ruaha, over the past several months. Thank you for your inspiring narration and envy-inducing photographs.

 

Do you think that by starting in Uganda, with such a vastly different landscape and experience than the more typical safaris of east Africa, that might have led to a bit of a letdown or denouement afterward than if you had reversed the order of your itinerary? I have to say I would have been inclined to order things exactly the way you did -- a more familiar, relaxing safari after the grueling but unforgettable time with mountain gorillas would strike me as just the right solution. A few others I have tracked have followed the same general itinerary -- start in Rwanda or Uganda, and then go to Kenya or Tanzania.

 

But, as I look back on your recounting of Uganda, and your fabulous photographs and unique experiences from your time there, it seems that it would be hard to top that in terms of new adventures. (After reading your TR just for Uganda, I was ready to retreat home and just savor the experience, and I didn't even take the trip!) So what do you think? Absent the birdwatching games, and all things being equal, of course, do you think starting at Ruaha (even as much as you love it) and then going to Uganda would have made a difference in your mindset?

[pault]

@@Geoff ..... Yes, dear. Yes, dear......(of course I am listening dear)

 

@@Alexander33 .... I thought about that and I think the order was right. Just the execution that was wrong.

 

If I were able to rewind the clock I would have just done a week in Kenya as it would have been less traveling and it is so familiar - or I would have stayed at Mdonya Old River in Ruaha, which we are familiar with. I think less travel and more familiarity might have been a better idea.

[Geoff]

@@Geoff ..... Yes, dear. Yes, dear......(of course I am listening dear)

 

 

@@pault ~ Good. And don't call me dear.

[gagan]

Ruaha is considered as lion battlefield ...also frequent clashes of lion and buffalo are common....did u manage to see any???

[ZaminOz]

@@pault

I don't know how I missed seeing this trip report! Great photographing and great telling as usual!

[Super LEEDS]

Nice one, @@pault.

 

I'm one of those that would love Ruaha - it has that 'true wilderness' look about it, like anything could happen, like Tsavo without the red earth. Beautiful.

 

Sorry about your lack of drive and cause thereof. For your vehicle partners too.

[Super LEEDS]

Oh, you mentioned wrong time and place for dogs et al; what's the formula for these?

[Gregor]

Hi @@pault

 

I really enjoyed this trip report. Great stories and superb images.

[pault]

@@Super LEEDS Dogs aren't that easy to see in Ruaha.I am not aware of anyone yet having got enough of a handle on it to make dog sightings highly probable - seems to be mostly luck. But I am sure you would have a better chance May to August when they are more liklely to have youngsters in tow and so not likely to move around, (that's only a supposition though). In roughly the same part of the country Selous is more reliable for dogs and I believe around late-May or June to August is when they are most regularly seen.

 

Edit: "I am sure"...... should be "I suppose"..... Not a minor error.

Edited July 16, 2015 by pault