Ruaha - wild, remote, and undiscovered
Ruaha in August was fantastic. We opted to go to Ruaha as we wanted to get away from the hordes of tourists in the northern (serengeti) parks. Yes it took longer to get to, but the drive out to Ruaha was part of the experience. The scenery was breathtaking, and it there were animals wherever you looked. I think for us was the fact that in many cases we felt we had the park to ourselves. We spent hours alone watching a pride of 24 lions. At one point we just spent an afternoon watching a herd of elephants bathe and play all around us. When we counted there were more than 80+ elephants in the horizon, and no other safari cars to be found. Our tour operator, tanzania adventure, was fantastic. Our driver new all the right spots, and was extremely experienced, and knowledgeable. All in all, Ruaha was the highlight of all the parks we visited in Tanzania.
Ruaha's Wildlife: The real deal.
I've visited Ruaha National Park as part of a field trip for Biology Students.
We got a very unique camp site at the side of the Ruaha River. The view was absolutely stunning. During our siesta's at noon, we could even see groups of elephants passing by and 2 huge fish eagles had their nest on the top of a tree on the other side of the river.
The weather was perfect. Warm, but not too hot, and cool (but not cold) at night.
The park is huge an you can drive for hours trough the beautiful nature without bumping in to another jeep. Some places of the park are really green, while others are more savanna-like and very dry.
Most of the time we had our own guide, but one day we had a guided walk by a park ranger. He knew a lot about the animals and their tracks and dangers. Very interesting! We even walked along the river revealing many kinds of bird species.
So, in short. Ruaha National Park is really worth a visit!!
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