Getting everything to work and fall into place and stay there until the day arrives for the plan to be realized can be somewhat wishful thinking. You don't plan, Africa plans for you! :)
Taking 11 villages into the park meant selecting 110 people every month, planning dates, dodging between 2 camps, charging phones, laptops, electronics (always a MAJOR problem as electricity is very difficult to find) spending enough time in Iringa to fuel up, develop photos and stock up on food and other essentials can be unnerving sometimes. Especially when weeks or days of prior planning suddenly seem to evaporate with one car breakdown, or an extra day needed at the fundi (handyman, but in this case the mechanic) or the ATM machine allowing us to withdraw the right amount. SO ….. we were often left with down-time when things needed to be fixed or schedules were reworked for whatever reason.
It was definitely nicer to be in Chogela camp than in Pawaga if you had downtime. At chogela you could go to Tungamalenga, sit in the tin bar, or at camp there was always someone to shadow and observe if you were tired reading your book or writing your journal. And sometimes we hiked to Ruaha Hilltop Lodge. A tiny lodge, very modest, perched on a hill with the most breath-taking vistas I have ever seen.
It was a 45-60min hike one way and once I made a detour through a masai boma. A very dirty place filled with smiling masai women and children and goats and sheep. One of them even walked with us back to the main road so that we wouldn't lose our way.
at the masai boma
And then a short uphill climb on a rough jagged path landed us at hilltop lounge. On the way we often saw Hyena spoor and it was great leopard country. Once a couple of dazzled Kudu sprinted right in front of us as we were ascending up to Hilltop.
We were always the only ones there and they made us a lunch of chips, salad and sauteed veggies with a nice tomato sauce. And there was olive oil and balsamic :) We would sit there all afternoon listening to music, writing, reading, talking, joking, drinking beers or whatever. It was a great place for reflection, contemplation and introspection.
view from hilltop
We also did fun trips in the park. Which meant just the volunteers and rowland (other staff were welcome and once we even had ex volunteers join us). It was great because we would spend long hours seeing the things we wanted and exploring areas we had never been to before. We would break for lunch at Msembe (park headquarters) where there was a mess for the staff. And even go to our favorite breakfast point and just lie on the rocks and nap while elephants grazed around and socialized. Fun trips were wonderful.
We even stayed in the park on two occasions. The first time for a night at Mdonya Old River Camp, when my friend Gilles (who managed the place) invited Michelle, Rachel and l out for a small party he was having with friends from Dar-es-Salaam. It was lovely meeting people who we could converse with without using hand-signals and animation. And some of us sat around the fire till late into the night under a blanket of stars talking about Africa, adventure and traveling. Gilles told us many interesting stories and even offered to take us for a small walk in the forest surrounding the camp. So armed with a torch we walked thought the forest watching impala and zebra foraging. The place was alive in darkness! We saw so many bush babies too. Lesser bush babies. Soon after we returned from our walk we heard lions roaring not far away. So exciting to know that they were so close. It was so interesting to walk thought the bush, very different fro being in the car. The sights and smells are mch more magnified.
The next morning we departed and spotted a leopard on the way out! My first and only glimpse of this abundant (relatively) but elusive cat in the 2 months i spent in Ruaha.
rain at Mdonya
On another occasion Michelle, Rachel, Kylie and I went back on easter weekend to spend 2 nights at Mdonya. The first evening Gilles took us to a dry river with an icebox filled with beer. We sat at the bank, watching the sky turn into a myriad of colours as the sun set and listened to the birds chattering and the night jars all came out. We heard lions too. What a beautiful sunset! and once it got dark we returned to camp after making a short detour in the hope of catching a glimpse of the lions we had heard a few minutes earlier. That night lions roared very close to camp and they continued until the early morning hours. In the morning we packed our lunch and departed on a full day game drive through an area we had never been to. The tsetse flies were abundant and really attacked us in certain areas. We stopped on a escarpment and climbed to the top to a beautiful view of the park and beyond. It was a lovely morning. Driving on we discovered 4 female lionesses in a swampy area observing giraffes. It was a beautiful area and we were for miles the only vehicle out. That day we spotted 21 lions and lots of elephants. The last pride we saw had made a giraffe kill and had devoured it and were resting in the river bed. It was a magical moment. On our way back to Mdonya, we almost ran over an old lion from the Mdonya pride. Poor boy was stunned and jumped to the side. That night too lions roared very very close. In the morning before we left we were joined by Charlie the elephant at breakfast. He shook the acacia tree vigorously and then collected the fruit and pods that fell to the ground. He ventured very close to us and we spent a long time looking at him before we departed. He expressed his warmth and excitement at our presence through a series of elephant farts. :)
the poor old lion we almost ran over!
It was an exciting, beautiful weekend (or was it even a weekend?…. hmmmmmmm).
On our fun trips i realized how much I had grown to love Ruaha. It wasn't like the Serengeti or Ngrongoro that instantly work their charm on you. Ruaha had grown on me….
And it continues….
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