Iringa and Ruaha National Park

We got up early as we had a 6 hour bus ride ahead of us.  And from what we’ve learned, it always takes longer than they say it will.  We took a daladala near Festo’s house to the Nane Nane station to get a big bus.  While I grabbed some snacks for the road, Tico got harassed by a ticket salesman.  He convinced us to take a coach bus and as it was a long journey we thought it was the best idea. 

We accepted the price he offered us and headed towards the group of waiting people.  After asking others, we realized we were significantly overcharged, but with all the madness of people boarding and loading their things we gave up the fight and got on the bus.

After 8 hours, we arrived in Iringa and were ready to straighten our legs.  The bus was filled to the max and had people sitting in the aisle as well the space between the driver and the door.  This also happened to be where our feet were.  Once we got our things off the bus, we went out in search of a home for the night.  Behind the bus station along the main road, we found the Embalasasa Motel.  It was a better price than the hostel and close to everything.  

 

We wanted to arrange a safari to Ruaha National Park for the following day so we went in search of the only tour company we had heard of.  The map led us to the wrong spot so we opted to call a number we’d got from another hotel.  George met us at our hotel and we discussed prices.  We felt like it was too expensive and thanked him for his time.  As it was already 5 pm, we gave up and went to find food.  Our hotel recommended a local cafeteria, which turned out to be a great option.  

After eating, we decided to walk over to the Alizeti Hostel to see if anyone else wanted to join a safari and help with the transportation cost.  There were very few people there, but we found an American who had just come back from the park.  After listening to him talk and hearing about the price he paid, we decided we actually had a good deal and hoped to see some of the action he had seen.  

We stopped by another tour operator on the way back into the town center.  They gave us a breakdown of the costs and we went for a beer to make a decision.  After sending texts back and forth with George, we agreed on a price and he came by to pick us up so we could pay a deposit.  We arranged to leave the next morning.

Ruaha National Park

Day 1

George called just before 8 am to say he was outside.  We were actually having tea and mandazis (donuts) in the bus terminal, but finished quickly to grab our bags and go.  George took us out of town to a dirt road, which took us the rest of the way to the park.  We passed through Maasai villages and then the game reserve.  Similar to Zimbabwe, the parks are ringed by game reserves that allow hunting.  This serves as the fence and encourages the animals to stay in safety within park boundaries.  We saw kudu, giraffe, impala and elephants as we drove through.  

 

Once in the park, we reached the Greater Ruaha River and finally saw hippos out of water.  We tried multiple times in Botswana, but it was too hot.  Now that it was winter, they were basking in the sun with the cool breeze and snacking on the grass near the river.  It was great to see so many walking about and there were several crocodiles soaking up the sun as well.  A few kudu and water buck were taking advantage of the water, but scattered quickly as we think a crocodile made his presence known. 

 

We continued on and started seeing more animals.  There were giraffes, elephants, zebras and impala around almost every bend.  We reached headquarters and paid our fees before dropping our bags at the banda (metal hut).  While getting things set up, we were enjoying the view of the river and the elephants in the distance.  One of the staff members called us over and there was an elephant in camp.  It was slowly going from tree to tree on its way to the river.  We were within meters of it and he continued on while keeping an eye on us.  

 

 

 

George then drove us to the restaurant for lunch before we went out to try our luck.  We worked our way along the road spotting animals on the way.  Tico and I were both standing up as the safari vehicle had a pop-up roof.  We’d  point at things as we moved and typically keep going.  There were 2 buffalo under a tree and around the next bend appeared more.  We hadn’t been in the middle of such a large herd before and it was impressive.  They were on both sides of the road and everywhere we looked.  

 

Once we’d gotten enough, we carried on.  Not long after we saw a car off the road.  We went to them and found 5 lionesses and a lion under the shade of a tree while another lion was enjoying his meal.  There was a buffalo that had been ripped open from underneath and the lion had his head inside pulling meat off the bone.  We really wanted to watch a lion hunt, but this was as close as we’d gotten. 

 

 

We stayed as long as we could, but the sun would set soon and we needed to be back.  As sun ducked under the horizon, we stopped on a hill to get a better view.  There was time to shower before dinner and then we grabbed a beer at the staff bar before calling it a night.

 

 

Day 2

We were out the door at 6 am and headed straight to the lions and buffalo carcass from the day before.  The assumption was that the lions would be done and there would be hyenas, jackals and vultures having their turn.  When we showed up, the lions were still hanging around, but there were only 6 lions.  A male and female were missing, but there was a small cub that we hadn’t seen before. 

 

 

The male was laying to the side while one of the lionesses had her turn at chewing through the skin, meat and bones.  Another lioness was resting next to the buffalo while the others were scattered about.  The cub was nursing on his mother while she was resting her full belly.  Vultures were in the trees and a couple tried to get close, but the male lion made his presence known.  There were 3 jackals also waiting in line for their turn.

 

We watched and listened to the noises of the crunching.  Occasionally, you could hear the missing male lion make noise somewhere else in the bush, but he never came out.  As we were off-road, George didn’t want us to stay too long.  So we made our way to the riverfront road to see what else we could find.  There was another safari truck stopped in front of the missing lion and lioness.  They laid in the shade, but not long after, got up to mate.  It was quick and involved growling by both parties.  We couldn’t believe we were witnessing this.  As we stood watching out of the pop-up roof, we waited.  Every 10-15 minutes, the action repeated.  They would move behind a bush and then into the middle of the road before they finally went for the shade under an acacia tree.  

 

 

Once we felt like we’d had enough animal pornography for one day, we went for breakfast.  We passed twin young giraffes with their mother on the way back, who were easily startled.  Then we grabbed a box lunch and went the opposite direction we’d gone previously.  George wanted to find a leopard so we were headed to the rocky hill.  We asked where we should be looking and slowly made our way through the trees and around the boulders.  

 

We spotted a few more giraffes and kudu, but never found a leopard.  It was getting close to lunch time so we made our back towards a dry river bed that had a picnic area.  There was a herd of elephants nearby, but we scanned the area for predators.  Once we felt it was safe to get out, we sat down and enjoyed our lunch.  We pulled out the binoculars and looked at all the animals not far from us.  They kept their distance as they were just as afraid of us.  

 

 

 

We drove around looking for more animals, but were curious as to what the buffalo looked like now.  George didn’t want to go as it was far, but we convinced him otherwise.  We raced through the roads to make it there and found the lions still feasting on the animal.  We had about 20 minutes to watch them before George said it was time to go.  

 

The sun set as we drove and when one would normally turn on their lights, George didn’t.  We asked why he didn’t want to turn them on and he said that the rangers could see them in the distance and we weren’t registered for a night drive.  Once we passed a lodge, he turned them on as he could then say we’d left there.  We headed straight to the restaurant for dinner and then were ready for bed.  

That night I woke up and couldn’t fall back asleep for whatever reason.  After a bit, I was glad that I was awake.  I heard something outside and woke up Tico.  There were 2 elephants eating off the trees directly in front of our banda.  We waited for them to get closer and watched through the windows.  At one point, the elephants didn’t get along and we could hear their ivory tusks banging against each other.  One left the area while the other relived itself on our pathway.  It was hard to go back to bed after such excitement, but the morning would come quick.  

Day 3

After insisting that we start at 6 am again, George arrived as planned.  We loaded our bags into the truck and he noticed that one of his tires was low.  He changed it while we wandered around camp.  Tico documented our banda and the evidence of the elephants the night before while I watched 2 hippos finishing their nightly grazing.  

 

We headed back towards the buffalo carcass and checked the river multiple times along the way for any sign of life.  The elephant carcass was still being taking care of by a hyena and there were at least 4 jackals carrying off pieces that fit in their mouths.  As we carried on, we got a rare sighting of a serval, which quickly hid behind a bush.

 

We reached the remains of the buffalo and the lions were gone.  There was a skeleton with very little meat on it and the skin pulled to the side.  A leg was separated from the body and the vultures and jackals were enjoying the feast.  We wanted to see if we could find the lions so went close to the river to where the couple was mating the day before.  

 

Although we didn’t find the lions, we did find another buffalo skeleton.  This one was older as it was missing the skin, a few ribs and its legs.  We scanned the river, but only found storks and a hippo.  As we were loading back into the car, something caught our eye.  Through the binoculars would could see the massive buffalo herd crossing the river.  We watched and waited until they were all on our side of the river and then moved closer to them.  The road followed the riverfront and we found the herd scattered amongst the trees.  They weren’t happy to see us and after scanning the trees for any sign of lions hunting, we went for breakfast.  

 

 

 

Unfortunately, our time in the park came to an end.  The rules were we had to leave at the same time we entered so following breakfast we made our way to the gate.  We saw a few more animals along the way, including more crocodiles and hippos at the river.  As we passed back through the game reserve, a large kudu crossed in front of us just before civilization began again.  We drove along the dirt road through the villages and added more dust to our clothes.  There were several Maasai people taking care of their cows as well as kids playing on the side of the road. 

For months, we’ve had Botswana’s parks on a pedestal for the wealth of wildlife.  Not that we would change our experiences, but Ruaha was full of animals and let us see things we’d yet to see.  The dry season was definitely on our side and it was wonderful to see the typical orange African sun again. 

Helpful tips:

• While sometimes difficult to determine, always try to make sure your guide is fluent in English (or whichever language you speak).
• We have a habit of going with the cheapest company, which doesn’t always prove to be the best.  Try to find reviews on a guide as they make or break the safari. 
• Some will say camping is not allowed, but there are public campsites.  The category just above camping is tourist bandas, which are en-suite huts.