Ruaha - Kwahili Camp

The last of our five safaris. More elephants than you can shake a stick at. When the young males make a mock threat our guide just snaps his fingers at them or says a few calm words and they back off. He says it is just a matter of letting them know you are there and speaking calmly.

Baby elephants are quintessentially cute. The mothers actually take pains to place themselves between us and the babies so getting a good photo takes time. Sometimes the mothers square off and face us with a somewhat menacing demeanor, but no aggression.

Not photographed was the very odd courtship behavior of the Buff Crested Bustard in which the male sort of helicopters up about 50 feet and then turns over and drops with outspread wings - all to impress a female with his style. The larger mammals are much more direct - such as lions, giraffes and impalas where the males sniff the private parts of the females to smell if they are ready.

The terrain here is very interesting. The park is the size of the Denmark so variation is to be expected, rolling hills scattered with boulders, flat areas alongside riverbeds, heavy bush and tall grass frequently encountered in this, the short rainy season - not the torrential rain season of March and April when the camps close due to the impossibility of using the roads. The roads are hard-packed dirt or sandy and the Toyota Land Cruisers can move on them at speed. But there are times when the vehicle inches down or up some very steep and tricky portions. And there are improvised off-road movements as when trying to find what interested circling vultures and finding the carcass of a baby elephant deep in the bush. We saw one vehicle fail to make it up a river sandbank which we had earlier crossed. They had to cross at another point.

Thankfully, the temperatures are lower here than in Selous. We are not allowed to go to our tent or leave it after dark without an escort. Someone comes to wake us at 6AM with coffee and cookies. We hit the road at 6:30 and have breakfast on the hood of the vehicle or a table extended from the vehicle's side at about 9:30. We return to the camp at about 1PM for lunch at 1:30. Then we rest until it's time to go out again at 4PM returning around 7PM for shower and dinner at 8PM. That amount to about 9 hours a day on "game drives." Quite tiring. Cocktails at the end are welcome.

On to the Seychelles after this.

Self-portrait presenting an elephant.

Typical group

They are sucking up water from holes they dig in the sandy riverbed.

Playful baby

Elephant tracks crossing riverbed

Curious giraffe

Elephant track analysis: Moving to the left, it first placed round front foot and then oval rear foot.

Good water is close to the surface of riverbed.

African sunset.

Guinea hen in tree making warning call  - a sign a predator is somewhere in the area

Jackals

Army ants on the road.

Army ants

Vultures circling indicate a recent kill.

In this case, a baby elephant killed by lions.

40-day-od lion cub makes an appearance.

This antelope likes rocky terrain.

Egg cases of orb spider

Hawk takeoff

Into the mudhole for cooling

Mother and child

Toyota Land Cruiser in landscape. It's the tall grass, rainy season. Makes finding animals harder.

Young and guide in hollowed-out Boabab tree. Those are fantastic trees which characterize the area. Really succulents, not trees, because they have only outer layer and inner softer center.

Closeup

Monkey on Termite mound

That tail grows during mating period to help male attract female

Typical rocky landscape where leopards hang out  - but we failed to find one

Chameleon

This vehicle failed to get up the sand bank

Inside tent

Ants entering termite nest in center. Ultimately, after suffering losses, termites closed entry and ants retreated.

Hyena

Young males skirmishing

Big bull in musth - high testosterone period of extreme aggressiveness - indicated in part by dripping of fluid from penis. Notice radio transmitter on top of head. Held by collar placed a few months before to help study movement in park.

Grey crowned cranes with zebras

This fellow blocked us for ten minutes with behavior that looked like he was about to charge but our guide said was not dangerous. At times like that you really have to have faith in your guide. He could easily turn over the vehicle.