Selous GR & Ruaha NP - Tanzania

Morogoro is a picturesque town set below the Uluguru Mountains about 200 kms west of Dar es Salaam. With no obvious attractions it is barely visited by tourists but we normally stop here on our way through Tanzania as going North - South it is about as far as you can reach in a day.

After driving all day we were looking forward to reaching our hotel and having dinner followed by a movie in bed but sods law just as we arrived the town had a power cut, a common occurrence in this part of Africa. Dinner was still nice ate by candlelight on the verandha but the film and a hot shower were sadly out of the question.

We were driving to Selous Game Reserve the next morning so we had to be out early, at least the power came back on during the night so we could have a hot shower before we left. After breakfast we topped up with fuel and headed off for Selous, the normal route to Selous is from Dar but there is also a hardly used alternative through the mountains from Morogoro.

We had been to Selous once before in the 90s when we did a fly in but today's journey would be completely new to us. The road from Morogoro is not sign posted so we had to guess the way out but once we had left the tar roads of the town behind we were heading towards the mountains on a dirt road.

It was hot and humid and the road was bone shaking but the scenery was stunning with lush vegetation and the mountains as a backdrop. At first we passed a few settlements but after a while even these petered out and from then on it was just us and the bush. It wasn't until we crossed the Wamu River and the road began to climb steeply that we came across another vehicle which very nearly proved fatal when a large truck came careering round a bend on our side of the road almost resulting in a head on collision! Luckily we swerved out of the way just in time but it was a timely reminder of how even on the remotest of tracks driving in Africa can be very hazardous.

Eventually though we came down from the mountains and onto the plain, here the road was narrow, deep rutted and potholed, evidence of how bad it must get in the rainy season. Finally at 3pm we reached the Matambwe gate into the Selous Game Reserve. Selous is the Africa's largest wildlife reserve so we were really looking forward to exploring it for the first time on our own.      

As we parked up two old boys chatting in the car park came over to greet us. Finding we were from England they started to shoot the breeze about football, we really just wanted to get on into Selous however guessing they were senior park officials we played along hoping it would stand us in good stead and for the next five minutes chatted amiably about the merits of Chelsea v Man U!

Eventually they asked if we wanted to go into the reserve (as if we had come all this way just to chat about football!) we said yes "fine just pay the lady in the office then pick up your ranger and you can go in" said one who seemed to be the boss! We were gobsmacked, pick up a ranger? What was this about? We never had to do this anywhere else. We explained this and showed them Rupert had virtually no space to fit in another person and anyway where would he sleep and what would he eat?

They explained he had his own tent and food and if we wanted to camp in the reserve then we must take him for our own protection. We asked protection from what and they said the animals, we said we were experienced bush campers and well used to having animals around us so we wouldn't need a ranger but they were adamant we couldn't go in without one!

This was not good, taking a ranger would negate all the reasons for coming here, namely to experience Selous on our own. We also knew there would be no privacy as he would watch our every move while we tried to relax in camp.

We told them no other national park in Africa insisted on taking a ranger so why Selous? In essence their answer was Selous is a reserve not a national park and they could do what they liked so deal with it. We could have pointed out the Masai Mara in  Kenya is also a game reserve and they don't have such a rule but we sensed we would could argue this till we were blue in the face. This simple truth is over two thirds of Selous is given over to hunting where the Mara has no hunting anywhere so we strongly suspected the ranger was there to protect us from animals of the two legged variety!

As a last resort we offered to pay for the ranger but not take him but still they refused. We now had a tough choice either squeeze the ranger in or abandon our plans altogether and go back to Morogoro although by now it was around 4pm too late for us to get back today.

The crazy thing was even though it was late they said we could still enter the reserve providing we kept going and exited at the Dar gate where there are a number of lodges with campsites then we could drive into the reserve each day to do our game drives. 

We now realised the problem with entering by the gate we were at is that there is only one lodge, Sable Lodge, outside the reserve and we had already checked with them on the way in but the only accommodation on offer was a room at US $200 per person per night!

We weren't happy with the suggestion of transiting the reserve either a) because after Selous we planned to go West to Ruaha and this would add 200 kms to our journey and b) even transiting and then entering each day to do game drives would cost us US $160 a day not including what we would have to pay a lodge to camp. Even more we begrudged paying this much and still miss out on experiencing the nights in the reserve.

This left only one choice, to turn back and bush camp overnight then go onto Morogoro tomorrow. The decision wasn't taken lightly as after coming all this way it was really disappointing not to get into Selous. Clearly the old Tanzanian's thought so also and rather than have a wasted journey we would back down and pay up but their greedy stubbornness was just too much.

Normally we wouldn't bush camp in this part of Africa as there are too many people about and at the very least you will be hassled but we had seen very few people on the road and fewer settlements especially near the reserve boundary so we decided to find ourselves a spot in the bush and spend the night in the roof tent.        

Retracing our steps we headed back towards Morogoro, we knew we couldn't go too far as we would start to hit the settlements again, equally we needed to get beyond the outer boundary of the reserve which was about 10km from the gate.

The trick to bush camping is to find a track preferably disused or which looks like it isn't used very often which you can get far enough away from the road so your lights can't be see. You don't want to just bush bash and make a new track as that will stick out like a sore thumb and you could have some unwelcome visitors in the night.

The catch 22 is that in remote areas tracks are few and far between anyway but shortly after passing Sable Lodge we noticed what looked like an old track which was starting to be overgrown again so we turned off and headed down it. Sure enough after a reasonable distance the track disappeared and the bush took over, then we found a small clearing, perfect for our needs. To be sure we wouldn't be detected we even went back and smoothed out our tyre tracks as they left the main track.

As we set up camp in the late afternoon sun the light with the  verdant green bush was really beautiful, the bush here was probably the same as in Selous so we felt very cheated that we wouldn't get to see it.

During the night we heard a few vehicles go past on the main track but we were undetected and after a light supper and a few drinks we retired to the roof tent for a good nights sleep. Before sunrise we suddenly heard a Leopard calling close by followed by Monkey's alarm calling, unfortunately it was too dark to see anything but it felt like Selous was having one last laugh at our expense.

First task in the morning was to call the New Acropol in Morogoro to make sure we could get a room for the night, then a quick breakfast and we were off. It felt frustrating to be retracing our steps so soon but at least the drive was very pretty.

The journey back was uneventful except for one strange incident, as we climbed into the mountains on the narrow track something ahead of us was lying smack in the middle of the road. It wasn't until we got to just a few feet away that we realised it was dog, totally still, not moving at all!

There was no room to around so assuming the poor thing was dead we carried on, but just as we passed over it he suddenly shot up like a scalded cat and ran off barking like mad, unscathed but very pissed off. He must have been in a very deep sleep not to move like that, he could count himself lucky Rupert has such high ground clearance!

Next day we were off again, this time our route would take us on the main East - West highway which runs from Dar on the East coast to Mbeya and beyond in the west some 900 Kms in total. Our destination was Ruaha NP but first we had to reach Iringa some 300 Kms away, from there we would leave tar roads behind and travel another 120 Kms on dirt roads to Ruaha.

The highway cuts through the Mikumi National Park so animals from Elephants to Antelopes can and do cross the road and even though there are signs, speed limits and speed humps  many vehicles especially the trucks and buses still go at ridiculous speeds. Today alone just off the side of the road we saw Ele, Giraffe, Zebra, Warthog & Impala plus two road kills of what we couldn't make out!

150 kms from Iringa as we drove through the mountains we passed three Livingstone 4x4 DE landrovers coming the other way, the same mob we had all the  trouble with in Malawi last year (Oct 06), at least we wouldn't clash with them again in Ruaha. 

100kms from Iringa we were stopped yet again by police with a speed gun this time claiming we were doing 62k in a 50k zone and once again they are waiting at the bottom of a steep hill  demanding a 20,000 Tshs fine, however this time I managed to get us off without paying a bean, kissing the blarney stone in Ireland many years ago was paying off!

At Iringa we stopped just to refuel and then headed straight onto Ruaha, by now it was nearly 3pm and we still had 130kms to go.  Now we were on dirt roads all the way and an hour later we reached the famous Never Ending Road, 60Kms of track which runs straight as an arrow all the way to Ruaha's gate.

At 5pm we finally reached Ruaha, not an ideal time but better than staying in Iringa overnight. After paying our park fee's of $140 per day we headed on to one of the public campsites. Ruaha has three public campsites and a number of special private sites. Normally we prefer specials as they are much nicer but we knew from the rangers that in Ruaha they are in the bush away from the Ruaha river and this being Tanzania that means only one thing - lots of Tsetse flies.

Of the three public sites one is also in the bush but the other two are on the river, one of these, number two, is the first one you pass coming from the gate. It is nicely situated with lovely views up and down the river but has virtually no shade except for a thatched Lapa and when we arrived that was already occupied by a mobile safari group so not for us, luckily it's not our first choice site, that one lies further on near to the park head quarters.

We had camped there last year so had a place in mind and as we approached our hopes lifted as it looked unoccupied but then as we got nearer we saw two tents right in the spot we had last year. There was no one around and we could have camped just along from them on the riverbank but we would have been very exposed to the elements as they had grabbed the only shade, however by now it was nearly 6pm so we had to make a quick decision.

We parked up and as we do on virtually every site anyway we walked the grid to look for our best option and in doing that found a spot we had not noticed before with great views down the river and actually more private than our old spot - so happy days.

Now the race was on to get the ground tent up before it got dark, we could have used the roof tent but as we would be here for a few days and wanted to get out early on a game drive in the morning we decided to bite the bullet and put the ground tent  up. It was a risk as it normally takes at least an hour to do and it would be dark in about 45 minutes but at least as we worked a troop of banded mongoose came around to check us out, always inquisitive and great fun to watch they put a smile on our face before they climbed down to forage in the dry river bed below.

By 7.30pm the camp was up, chicken was defrosting, lamps and lanterns lit, Savannah and beer in hand we sat by the fire. Dinner was a late affair at 9pm but was a lovely Durban curry with G&Ts. As we ate a Genet came mooching around then we heard something moving in the undergrowth and spotted three Hippo's grazing very close by, later around 11pm as we settled down for bed we heard a Lion calling in the bush very close behind us, he must have been watching and waiting for us to settle down, a bit worrying as I had dozed off a couple of times while we sat by the fire but luckily Sue didn't!

Probably a male on patrol he continued to call for the next hour then his roars began to fade as he started to move off and we we were able to drop off to sleep.  However, it was to be short lived we were awoken at 2am by roars very close by indeed, was it the same Lion or another, whatever he continued to roar for at least another hour until sheer exhaustion caused us to fall asleep again.

Up at 6.30am to a lovely sunrise and a calm still morning, we could still hear Lions calling in the distance, unfortunately we could also hear noise from the rangers headquarters about a mile away. The biggest problem with Ruaha is the rangers headquarters are inside the park and only about half a mile from the campsites.

This wouldn't be too bad except it is more like a village with wives, kids, chickens the lot and it creates a fair bit of noise at times. It is typical of the Tanzanian's attitude that they don't care if this disturbs the campers who are paying big bucks for a bush experience!

This morning we spotted about eight women walking from the headquarters towards the river to wash clothes in the small pools of water left in the riverbed. Why they did this when they had a huge water tank at the headquarters was beyond us, it certainly wasn't fair on the wildlife who rely heavily on the river at this time of year for survival.  

We could still hear the Lion calling some way off in the distance but this clearly didn't bother the women, in fact we have seen them washing clothes in the river while a pride of Lions sat under a tree just a few hundred yards away, not what you would expect at the local Laundromat.

After putting out the solar shower we headed off on our morning drive along the river. Ruaha is a nice park to drive through as on the Eastern boundary the Ruaha river runs throughout it's length. Although it has nowhere near the volume of game as in say the Mara, Serengeti or Katavi nevertheless at this time of year even though the river is virtually dry all the wildlife gravitates there.

Like Tarangire another feature of Ruaha is the large numbers of the iconic Baobab tree. Normally seen bare branched this was one of the few times we found some in flower. The Baobab flower is a large white affair with no obvious scent, they never seem to fall to the ground while in bloom, only once they have started to wither and as the branches are high it very difficult to pick one, nevertheless there is an African belief that if you pick a flower from the tree you will be eaten by a lion so it's probably just as well!

There is another special tree in Ruaha which we rarely see anyway else, we don't know its true name and it looks nothing special but it's fruit is very distinctive, it is the Wooden Banana tree, so named because the fruit looks just like a peeled banana! 

The great thing about Ruaha at this time of year is the weather, very hot and sometimes humid of a day at night you can sit out in just shorts. You never know what might come round the camp, from Elephants to Lions however tonight just the Genet came around again looking for scraps other than that it was very quiet so we went to bed.

Then at 1am we were suddenly woken by a Lion roaring in the river bed right below us, he was close very close. When you are in a tent with something as big as a male Lion just outside you wake up quick, there is no protection other than the hope that he won't try and get in. I'm not too worried while they roar as you can gauge where they are, it is when they suddenly go quiet that the pulse quickens!

Tonight the Lion kept calling until around 3am then he went quiet or so Sue told me, by then I had gone back to sleep and was snoring in unison so missed it all!

The next day was again very hot, a relaxed start we got up late at 7.30am and had breakfast. A Hippo had arrived during the night and was now resting in the pool below us, as we ate the view was idyllic looking down the river to the distant mountains with some Impala grazing in the riverbed.

After filling the solar shower we headed off, today we planned to explore inland away from the Ruaha river and take a look at two of the special campsites. The rangers had given us their rough location but as none of them are sign posted it would be tricky.

While the Great Ruaha is the main river in the park there are a number of other small watercourses and tributaries which like the Great Ruaha are dry for most of the year. We eventually found both special campsites situated along one of these tributaries, deserted it appeared no one had camped at either for quite a while, their main advantage was their isolation but they had no water, just a long drop loo and being in thickish bush lots of Tsetse flies so were glad we hadn't gone for one of them. 

One thing that was a bit weird was near to one site we found a small rope suspension bridge over the dry river bed, it was strange because there were no tracks on the other side so we wondered who would use it, maybe in earlier years people had travelled here on foot? The interesting thing was the bridge was well made and it's very presence was a sign how full the river must get when the rains come.   

On our drive we came across a large herd of Buffalo at the confluence of the Great Ruaha and the Mwagussi rivers, both dry at this point, as far as they were concerned the rains couldn't come soon enough. Arriving back at camp just before 5pm the Hippo was still in the pool below us and a small group of Ele's were further out in the river bed.

Being back early we thought we could relax with a beer before having our showers but no such luck as we discovered one of the brackets holding the water tank under Rupert's rear wing had snapped and not only was it broken it had ripped the floor of the back box away so we now had a gaping hole.

This was a potential disaster as the only thing holding the tank was the other bracket and if that broke while we were on the move then the tank would collapse taking out the exhaust and god knows what else!

It urgently needed welding but there was little chance of getting that done here, we would have to secure it as best we could until we could get back to town but first we had to drain the tank to reduce the weight. Once the water was drained we secured it as best we could with wire and cable ties and just hoped it would hold till we reached Iringa or Mbeya where we could get it welded.

While we were decanting the water into containers we suddenly realised the Hippo that had been in the pool below us had crept up unnoticed and was now just a short distance behind us looking to graze on the grass, but just then a vehicle drove past spooking him and he ran off, we gave him no more thought.

By now the wind had got up so before we could have our showers I needed to re-stake the shower cubicle. Sue was busy doing something in the tent and I was crouched down banging the pegs into the ground when suddenly I heard a noise and looking up the first thing I saw was the Hippo less than 20 feet away - charging towards me!     

I shot up and that stopped him in his tracks which was just as well as there was no way I could have got away. For a second or two we stared at each other then with a grunt he turned and ran back down to the river bed - phew that was close!

We felt sorry for the Hippo as all he was trying to do was graze on the bush around our camp but the traffic from the rangers HQ and the other campers kept disturbing him, which is precisely why the size of the rangers camp at Ruaha is totally out of order!

Eventually we enjoyed our showers and with a beautiful sunset, a good fire, chicken stir fry and a few drinks we had a nice uneventful night until around 3am when we were woken by the sound of something heavy walking through the dried leaves around the tent, had the Hippo come back? then we heard a low rumble and branches cracking, it was an Elephant, at least two, probably the group who were in the river bed when we got back to camp.

The Ele's eventually moved on and we went back to sleep but soon after we were awoken again this time by a Leopard calling close by which in turn kicked off some Baboon in the tree's, we were certainly getting our money's worth tonight.

Despite the disturbed night we were up around 7am to another lovely sunrise, today was our last day in Ruaha so we wanted to get out and about as although we had heard Lion each night we had yet to see them.

All morning we drove along the Great Ruaha river but still no luck, plenty of Giraffe, Ele's, Buffalo and Impala but no Lion so we headed back for lunch, the good thing was at least the water tank had held up.

We had almost decided not to bother going out again after lunch and just chill in camp but then we suddenly saw movement further up the river bed, at first we couldn't make it out then to our surprise we could see it was a young male Lion walking along the river bank.

It is unusual for Lions to move much in the heat of the day so we knew there was a good chance of catching him if we could get to him quickly. In a straight line he was about 800 yards away so we jumped in Rupert and drove over hoping he wouldn't disappear while we took the long way round and he was out of sight.

Luckily the Great Ruaha doesn't have thick undergrowth along large stretches of its riverbank so we found him quite easily. He had settled down in some shade but soon was on the move again as if he was looking for something, maybe his pride if he had one?  He was moving towards our camp but we couldn't follow him directly without going off road which is not allowed in Ruaha so we played a hunch and went back to camp hoping he would come close enough to photograph.

By the time we got back to camp we had lost sight of him so we waited, it was a long shot that he would come by so we were still surprised when he suddenly appeared a very short distance away, we just had time to take a few quick shots before he took off into the bush, probably spooked by our scent.

Throughout the night the Lions were very vocal indeed,  slowly getting closer it sounded like there was about four of them answering back and forth, Sue was in her element. Around 4.30am we woke up needing to pee, that in itself was not unusual as most nights we need to get out of the tent, a consequence of all the fluids we drink during the day!

Before getting fully out of the tent we always listen carefully and check the surrounding bush for eyes, always an adrenaline rush  but even more so when you know for sure there is Lion around! By now it was deathly quiet, which is even more disconcerting as that probably meant the Lions were hunting, still we couldn't see anything so we got out and went to pee then suddenly a Baboon somewhere in the darkness let out a loud alarm call which in turn kicked off all those around him.

We couldn't see them as they were up in the tree's but they could obviously see us which must have spooked them, little did they know they had spooked the hell out of us in return!