Ruaha & Selous - January 2018

[ForWildlife]

20 hours ago, pault said:

 

You'll see it is  listed in here - and not as a migrant. Not a super-scientific source but put together by a guide I think, so rI thought it was elevant to your question.

http://www.adventurecampstz.com/selousbirds.htm

 

Then I think Birdlife should update their maps! http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/northern-carmine-bee-eater-merops-nubicus/climate

 

[Julian]

@mopsy

 

Excellent report and photos - so many good photos of lions, and 42 giraffes in one location  together is amazing. Also the really young hyena cubs ( I understand they are called cubs as hyenas are more closely related to cats than dogs) and some male kudu with fantastic horns. However what I like most about your photos are that they all have an amazingly rich, lush green landscape that they are set in.

I never realised just how beautiful the landscape would look in Selous/Ruaha after the rains, because they ( especially Ruaha ) are so arid in the dry season.

Looking forward to your next report, wherever that will be from.

[ld1]

@mopsy super report and some amazing sightings. I haven’t been to Ruaha but I loved Lake Manze and it was great to see both parks looking so green. We had a similar Giraffe encounter by the river one evening. We counted upwards of 60 and it’s a truly amazing sight to see so many Giraffe together. 

 

The Hyena pups are adorable and so many great sightings. Surely it won’t be long until you return!

Edited January 29, 2018 by ld1

[mopsy]

4 hours ago, amybatt said:

You had a great trip and a bonus boat ride!  Excellent report, thank you for sharing!  I really enjoyed both your narrative and the photos.

 

Thank you amybatt, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[mopsy]

46 minutes ago, Julian said:

@mopsy

 

Excellent report and photos - so many good photos of lions, and 42 giraffes in one location  together is amazing. Also the really young hyena cubs ( I understand they are called cubs as hyenas are more closely related to cats than dogs) and some male kudu with fantastic horns. However what I like most about your photos are that they all have an amazingly rich, lush green landscape that they are set in.

I never realised just how beautiful the landscape would look in Selous/Ruaha after the rains, because they ( especially Ruaha ) are so arid in the dry season.

Looking forward to your next report, wherever that will be from.

 

Hi Julian, thanks for your kind words.

 

I must admit I'm a bit confused as to the official name given to baby hyenas. I asked our guide for clarification as I was unsure whether it was cubs or pups. He told me pups.

 

I have just done a quick google search (not the most reliable source there is at times) and found them called anything from a pup, cub or whelp. Having said that I would much rather take the word of a safaritalk member over a quick google search, so thanks for the info.

 

Yes the green scenery was really beautiful. I only just watched a documentary on Ruaha a couple of nights ago that was filmed during dry season. It really rammed home just how much the parks can change once they have received rain.

 

 

[mopsy]

48 minutes ago, ld1 said:

@mopsy super report and some amazing sightings. I haven’t been to Ruaha but I loved Lake Manze and it was great to see both parks looking so green. We had a similar Giraffe encounter by the river one evening. We counted upwards of 60 and it’s a truly amazing sight to see so many Giraffe together. 

 

The Hyena pups are adorable and so many great sightings. Surely it won’t be long until you return!

 

Wow @ld1, 60 giraffe is incredible. It certainly is an amazing sight when you see so many together at once.

 

I would go back tomorrow if I could! Next trip will be to SLNP and LZNP, just got to pick the accomm at Lower Zambezi is all thats left, apart from finding the time of course!

[Julian]

2 hours ago, mopsy said:

 

Wow @ld1, 60 giraffe is incredible. It certainly is an amazing sight when you see so many together at once.

 

I would go back tomorrow if I could! Next trip will be to SLNP and LZNP, just got to pick the accomm at Lower Zambezi is all thats left, apart from finding the time of course!

@mopsy

dont forget Kafue in Zambia - three major wonderful parks, not two.

By coincidence we are also hoping to do a first visit to Zambia next - this year maybe.......

[pault]

10 hours ago, ForWildlife said:

 

Then I think Birdlife should update their maps! http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/northern-carmine-bee-eater-merops-nubicus/climate

 

 

For some  reason Selous is not named on the map but it must be very close to the blue area.

 

Nice site too. Never seen  that before and it'll be super-useful sometimes.

[Guy Storch]

On 1/29/2018 at 4:06 PM, mopsy said:

 

Thank you amybatt, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Great pictures of your trip, what type of camera and lens did you use ? We will be heading to Selous in Sept and hope to see and take photos as well as you did.  

[mopsy]

11 hours ago, Guy Storch said:

Great pictures of your trip, what type of camera and lens did you use ? We will be heading to Selous in Sept and hope to see and take photos as well as you did.  

 

Hi @Guy Storch

 

Thanks for for your kind words. I used a humble point and shoot Canon Powershot with a 20x optical zoom. I know absolutely nothing about photography.

 

Hope you enjoy Selous. Be sure to do a trip report here so we can all see how your adventure unfolded!

[Kitsafari]

Thank you @mopsy for sharing your trip to Selous/Ruaha, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The green season makes the parks look so lovely, and despite the high grasses, you saw so much! The tower of giraffes was just amazing  - i've never seen so many huddled together - what a privilege to barge into a Giraffe Convention! and those hyena cubs were so tiny - i hope the small little one survived. I've just watched the Lion Kingdom, a 3-episode documentary about the Ruaha Lions - and that has whetted my appetite for the parks. so your TR comes very timely.

[mopsy]

5 hours ago, Kitsafari said:

Thank you @mopsy for sharing your trip to Selous/Ruaha, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The green season makes the parks look so lovely, and despite the high grasses, you saw so much! The tower of giraffes was just amazing  - i've never seen so many huddled together - what a privilege to barge into a Giraffe Convention! and those hyena cubs were so tiny - i hope the small little one survived. I've just watched the Lion Kingdom, a 3-episode documentary about the Ruaha Lions - and that has whetted my appetite for the parks. so your TR comes very timely.

 

   Hi @Kitsafari i'm glad you enjoyed my report. The giraffe convention (great description!) was very special. It was so hard to photograph but I took a video which shows the scene properly.

   I have watched the first episode of Lion Kingdom and have the other 2 recorded ready to go. Its great watching doco's on places you've been, trying to spot places you remember. I found it hard in the first episode though, the bush is so different in green season!

   Hope you get to Selous & Ruaha soon, you will enjoy them very much.

[Marks]

Caught up on this TR today. Great stuff - everything is so green and lush. I enjoyed seeing such a large collection of giraffes, as well as the especially young hyenas. Dogs on your first drive must've been a nice surprise!

[mopsy]

 @Marks thank you, appreciate your kind words.

 

On another note, I have been sent several messages by Safari Talkers asking which place out of Selous and Ruaha I preferred the most, and other such details. To those people I apologise for my tardiness in responding. Instead of responding to each individually I will cover all questions here instead. I guess in future the info may be handy for people when deciding where to go on their next safari. I will also be interested in other peoples thoughts/experiences, especially when it came to our luck having a mostly private vehicle despite not having paid for the priviledge.

 

Will get started on it shortly.

[Atravelynn]

Thought I'd check out your visit in Green Season since I went to Ruaha (not Selous) in dry season.

You have a Quote of the Trip, I see, something I always like to included.  Actually it was Mrs. Mopsy who uttered the quote and it fits perfectly with your rainy season visit.  So GREEN!  I think the verdant green really enhances part of Ruaha's specialness, which is the magnificent landscape.

Edited April 4, 2019 by Atravelynn

[mopsy]

2 hours ago, Atravelynn said:

Thought I'd check out your visit in Green Season since I went to Ruaha (not Selous) in dry season.

You have a Quote of the Trip, I see, something I always like to included.  Actually it was Mrs. Mopsy who uttered the quote and it fits perfectly with your rainy season visit.  So GREEN!  I think the verdant green really enhances part of Ruaha's specialness, which is the magnificent landscape.

 

Ruaha certainly is a special place @Atravelynn I am go glad I saw it in its green season beauty. But now I want to see it in dry season too!

Looking forward to reading about your impressions and experiences.

[Atravelynn]

14 hours ago, mopsy said:

 

Ruaha certainly is a special place @Atravelynn I am go glad I saw it in its green season beauty. But now I want to see it in dry season too!

Looking forward to reading about your impressions and experiences.

I'm starting to think the converse--would it be?  Maybe green season another time for me.