DAY 48: Scenic Ruaha

Last night was a restless one, at least for me. Ji sleeps very deep and didn’t wake up from the multiple hyena visits throughout the night. I, on the other hand, had to chase the spotty away a number of times, first when it knocked over our tub full of dirty dishes and later when it decided to chew through our red plastic basin. In the hope to keep it away from our stuff tonight, Ji has put up a barrier around our camp consisting of fishing line tied to tent pegs with empty Coke cans hanging from it. Each can has a few pebbles in it of course, which will hopefully make a noise when the hyena walks into the fishing line. Let’s hope it keeps it from bothering us again. For those of you who are wondering - the camp facilities include two flush toilets and two cold showers. They're some of the neatest we've had in the Tanzania Parks, so we're not complaining. The best, however, is the view! 

The view of the Ruaha River from our campsite

Ji designs his hyena barrier

We left camp at 06:00 in search of the lions we saw yesterday. Surely we would find at least one of the five prides, we thought. And so we did, but they were far from the road and just as lazy as yesterday, so we decided to explore a new area north of the camp. Before long Ji spotted three cheetahs sitting on a low termite mound. Again they were very far, but it was a special sighting none the less. The rest of the day, including the afternoon drive, was extremely quiet. We hardly took photos, not because we didn’t want to, but because there were no animals posing for us. The odd herd of elephant did make an appearance, along with smaller creatures such as bat-eared foxes, black-backed jackals and colourful agamas on the rocks. But all in all it was quiet. Very quiet. So I focused on the landscape instead. 

One of the more relaxed elephant herds in Ruaha

A pair of agamas on a rock

Ruaha is incredibly scenic! The vegetation and terrain changes around every corner and over every hill. Baobab trees are particularly abundant and dominate the landscape throughout most of the reserve. We drove past rocky outcrops, next to dry sandy riverbeds, over open grass plains and on the bank of the Ruaha River. Despite the animal strike we still had a fabulous day. 

Our sunrise view this morning

A typical Ruaha scene

Both Ji and I took a long afternoon nap, because we plan to watch Arsenal play Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League tonight. Yep, we’re allowed to drive to the park HQ where there’s a canteen. I’m sure we won’t be the only ones watching – it’s a big game! Let’s hope tomorrow’s safaris are more productive and that the sun decides to shine a bit longer. 

Have a fantastic Wednesday! 

Villiers

Highlight of the day:

Villiers: The three cheetahs

Ji: Thinking that I'll have a hot shower today

Lowlight of the day:

Villiers: Taking so few photos

Ji: To find out that a spotted hyena chewed through the basin I was going to use for my hot shower!