Ramblings from Ruaha

Already filled with the excitement created by visiting somewhere brand new, we entered Ruaha National Park only to be greeted by hoards of fabulous birds filling the air with raucous welcome calls. Our first spot of the day was a beautifully ashy Ashy Starling, a species endemic to Tanzania and so very exciting to see immediately. As the months have ticked by here in Tanzania, I am becoming something of a bird enthusiast (incredibly amateur it has to be said but nonetheless, the enthusiasm is definitely there!) Part of the lure for me is that even after almost a year here, I am still spotting bird species that I haven’t seen before on an almost weekly basis. Plus it brightens up long field days watching flocks of brown headed parrots fly overhead or coursers and plovers skit across the burnt plains.
Ruaha’s backbone is the beautiful Great Ruaha River which flows along the eastern boundary of the park providing a year round lifeline to many.  With the dry season now in full force, a lot of the water has dwindled, leaving behind precious pools dispersed besides sandy beds. We spent the afternoon watching animals come and go to these pools; elephant bathing and squirting trunk fulls of water into their dry mouths, impala cautiously descending from the banks above, waterbuck and hippos grazing lazily on the grassy banks and crafty crocs lurking below the surface.  The bird life was particularly fantastic here with plenty of fish eagles and harrier hawks stalking the skies above and patiently taking their places in nearby trees.  Cranes and herons moving and fishing below in their awkward manner as kingfishers and bee-eaters provided elegance and colour as they darted back and forth along the river in streaks of blue and green.

An ele visits the precious pools

 

Goliath heron and pal

 

Grey crowned cranes in perfect synchrony

 

African fish eagle

We were lucky enough to be staying the night in a little hut right next to this incredible river. We were greeted by a rather handsome visitor at the shower block and it was the perfect spot to sit and marvel to our heart’s content as the sun set.

Hanging around the shower block..

After a night full of lion humming and chanting across the plains, we awoke early to watch the sun rise over the river valley, before setting off on a morning drive around the park. We started off up a track that curved its way beside the river, weaving through cool acacia groves full of impala, emerald spotted wood doves, ashy starlings and hornbills. The sunlight dotted the sandy floor creating beautiful patterns that were hard to capture with a camera but the whole atmosphere created a feeling of utter peace. On turning a corner, we came across a carpet of emerald green that fly up into nearby trees with the sound of our engine.  Stopping the car, we realised there were around 50 yellow collared lovebirds (another endemic species) fluttering between the high branches of the acacias and the woodland floor.

 

In the late morning we drove across into the arid, bushy plains and rocky hillsides which were a stark contrast to the lush green riverside groves. Hills full of ancient baobabs looked almost purple against the buttery yellow grasses. Tiny dikdik were perfectly camouflaged against the tall dry plains and shy, elegant kudu were quick to retreat into the thicket after just a glance. I would strongly recommend a visit here to anyone that can, Ruaha really does possess a magical beauty that seems to grip anybody who visits. One day was certainly not long enough to explore this incredible place but it was a wonderful taste of somewhere I hope to return to before too long.