Ruaha ; Mwagusi, 17 years after

[michael-ibk]

I had a look in my book, and for what it´s worth I think you´re right - it´s only the white throat which is making me think. But a Common would not have those spottings on the upperparts, and the very obvious eyering would fit with the Green Sandpiper.

[Dam2810]

Great start @@Bush dog. May i ask you when you went? Was it at the end of October/Beginning of November? I am thinking about going at this time of the year. Anyaway Ruaha looks beautiful

[TonyQ]

@@Bush dog

Lovely pictures of the elephants at the water - and the dik dik in beautiful light. It is also a beautiful leopard + a stunning mantis!

Very enjoyable

Edited November 29, 2014 by TonyQ

[graceland]

Always love the elephants at a water hole. They seem to happy and peaceful. A respite from the constant fear of what may lie ahead for the tuskers. The mantis certainly was lovely shot.

 

Thanks for sharing your travels.

[Bush dog]

@@Dam2810

 

Indeed, I was there at the end of October/beginning of November. It's a good period to go, not too many people and cars. The sky is often overcast somewhere and as a consequence, showers occur, but it was always where we were not. Besides, that kind of weather produces excellent lights. After, I went for 3 days in the Jongomero area, where each afternoon, there was a heavy shower of about 15 minutes.

[Bush dog]

@graceland@TonyQ

 

Thanks a lot for your kind words!

[Bush dog]

4rth DAY

 

Morning game drive

 

We decided to go and see if the leopard was still on the tree with its prey. On the way, we went to a place where a female cheetah and one cub had been seen on several occasions. We only saw impalas.

 

 

The leopard was still there, on another branch.

 

 

Then we went along the Ruaha. Where there was still water, there was a great diversity of mammals : elephants (they were everywhere), giraffes, buffaloes, waterbucks, great kudus, baboons, vervet monkeys, zebras,….. : the garden of Eden.

 

A group of males, with one big tusker, crossing the Ruaha.

 

 

Giraffes fighting. I suspect, it was connected with the presence of a group of females nearby.

 

 

On the way back to the camp, on each side of the road, there was a goup of 8 lions, lying in the shade of bushes. At that time of the day, temperatures are so high. Further, we crossed the bridge over the Mwagusi river. A group of 5 lions, including a big male, was sleeping, in the shade, on the fresh sandy bed.

[Bush dog]

Afternoon game drive

 

We went to the area where the Nomad camp (Kigelia) is, along the Ifuguru river. There are a lot of tse tse flies in this part. So as there was not a lot of activity, we decided to go to the open plain of « Little Serengeti » to try to spot cheetahs. The sky was overcast and dark. We saw lightnings on the skyline. It was raining almost all around us but we avoided it. No cheetahs in sight.

 

 

On the way back to the camp, 2 lesser kudus.

 

[Bush dog]

5th DAY

 

Morning game drive

 

We heard the lions roaring, at 5.30, on the other side of the Mwagusi. We went to have a look but in vain. Later, when back in camp, we heard that no car had seen any cat this morning. The sky was without clouds and the temperature, extremely high. Every inch of shade was occupied and the only visible animals were the big one, elephants and giraffes. The cicadas were making an uproar. Yet, we saw, amongst other birds, a quite uncommon raptor, a pallid harrier and this crowned hornbill.

 

 

Then, we decided to go to the hippo pool but the light was so harsh, that I did not make any pictures.

Back at the camp, we had somme difficulties to get back to our banda. There was a big bull elephant in the way.

 

Afternoon game drive

 

On our way to the Ruaha river, we first saw a buffaloes’ herd and then a couple of lions in the shade of bushes.

 

 

Then many birds, including a grey kestrel, a purple roller and a long-crested eagle.

 

 

Close to the river, we found those 5 lions

 

 

And a bit further, elephants.

 

 

On our way back, the 5 lions were not sleeping anymore. While, the male was baby-sitting the young one, the 3 females scanned the wide open space facing them.

 

 

Returning to the camp, we found the couple of lions, that we saw in the beginning of our game drive, mating. Being late, we did not stopped.

[michael-ibk]

Love the Kestrel and the Long-Crested Eagle. About the high temperature, how hot does it get?

[Marks]

Some excellent birding in the last few posts. I think you may have a Spiny Flower Mantis there, though I'm not 100% sure. Beautiful, in any case!

[Bush dog]

@@michael-ibk

 

Thank you for your comments. Temperature was around 30°C.

[Bush dog]

@@Marks

 

Thank you for your appreciation. Thank you also for telling me the name of the mantis. I went on wikipedia and it seems that it is indeed a spiny flower mantis!

[Bush dog]

@@michael-ibk

 

Sorry, I meant 40°C.

[FlyTraveler]

@@Bush dog : Love the leopard photos, the necking giraffes and the last elephant photo! Actually they are all very nice, those are just my favorites from the last two posts. We didn't have the luck to see lesser kudus while in Ruaha for six days...

[Atravelynn]

I am guessing you had intended to return far sooner than 17 years after your last visit. You may have seen some of those eles 17 years ago.

 

Not only is the tiny size of the hippo surprising, I'm surprised the Mom has it out of the water. It had to be days, maybe hours old.

 

The giraffe action is great. Most unique of your lovely photos is that praying mantis. How nice the lesser kudu showed up!

 

You mentioned more camps being built, but did you notice differences between your earlier visits and this recent one?

[pault]

Great updates. Very cool bird sightings and those are really nice leopard and lion shots. You seem to be getting some lovely light now, despite all those clouds.

 

I started going through my Ruaha pictures this weekend and two things I realised:

1) You are making my trip report redundant, as I am convinced we have pictures of the exact same animals (Don't worry, I'll start posting anyway - we can play "snap" ).

2) Ruaha just produces a steady stream of interesting sightings, and when you're finished and look back it is often so much more than it felt like at the time. There is good variety - and some very impressive birds.

[Bush dog]

Love the leopard photos, the necking giraffes and the last elephant photo! Actually they are all very nice, those are just my favorites from the last two posts. We didn't have the luck to see lesser kudus while in Ruaha for six days...

Thanks a lot for your kind words. I saw lesser kudus almost every day (6 sightings), at least in this part of the Ruaha.

[Bush dog]

@@pault

 

Thanks a lot. I do not think that your TR or any other TR, on a same place,are redundant. Indeed, everyone has his own different personal vision of it. If the actors (the animals) are the same, the plays are always different.

[Bush dog]

I am guessing you had intended to return far sooner than 17 years after your last visit. You may have seen some of those eles 17 years ago.

Yes of course, and I might seen some of them again in the future?

Not only is the tiny size of the hippo surprising, I'm surprised the Mom has it out of the water. It had to be days, maybe hours old.

I said that I did not know if it was born in, or outside the water, because some people say that female hippos are giving birth in the water, and others, outside the water? As far as I am concerned, I would say in the water! I'm sure that it was born during the night before. So yes, it was only hours old.

The giraffe action is great. Most unique of your lovely photos is that praying mantis. How nice the lesser kudu showed up!

Thank you for your comments. Lesser kudus continued to show up the 2 following days.

You mentioned more camps being built, but did you notice differences between your earlier visits and this recent one?

17 years ago, there was only one camp. So, just a few cars and much less visitors in the park. In those days, it took almost 4 hours, with a small Cessna, 4 or 6 places, to make the air link Dar/Msembe. Now with the Pilatus, you're there in 1hour and 20 minutes. Some species at that time were really shy, like leopard and lesser kudu, and difficult to see. I've got the impression that there are, now, more elephants and giraffes. In 1997, lions and buffaloes were already there in great number.

[Bush dog]

6th DAY

 

The night was full of incident : a lot of elephant activity in the camp, around the banda and in the river bed, also baboons making a hell of a noise because of the presence of a leopard.

 

Morning game drive

 

This morning, the sky was open, without a single cloud. Another hot and quiet morning. Our first sighting was a buffaloes’ herd.

When we had breakfast, some giraffes were around.

 

 

Later on, the 2 lesser kudus of the 4th day and further another one, a solitary male this time, but a bit shyer.

 

 

On our way back, just along the road, we came close to this very relax and friendly herd of elephants, agglutinated against each other under a kigelia, to have the best occupation of the shaded space.

 

 

Then, further, 6 lions lying in the shade of a tree, and 6 more a few hundred meters from the first group. With so many lions, it’s no wonder that it is difficult to see cheetahs. Ruaha has about 10% of the lions’ population in Africa.

 

Afternoon game drive

 

A leopard was pointed out to us by another car. It was close to the TANAPA cottages. We spotted the animal, a big male, with a prey, an impala, in the shade of a thick baobab, on top of a hill, quite far from the road. One can see in the bottom right corner of the picture, behind the small bush, the dead impala.

 

 

My young guide, Mrishio, and myself, we agreed to say that it could not defend properly and keep its prey on the ground. We assumed that, at night, it would probably drag it to the only suitable place close by : on a tree at 2 meters from the road or under the concrete bridge, over the gully, next to the tree. We decided to come back the next morning.

 

 

On the way back, we went to the place where we saw the lions in the morning. Some were still there and the others, a bit further, on the sandy river bed. They were all part of the same pride, the biggest one in the area, 26 lions.

 

[Bush dog]

7th DAY

 

Morning game drive

 

On our way to the river, we found this fluffy little bee-eater, still a bit stiff by the night’s coolness.

 

 

And also, on a tree, a swarm of bees, binded around honeycombs.

 

 

A bit further a rock python, crossing the road and slowly disappearing in the dry grass.

 

 

Then, we went to Kilimatonge Hills. There, a lot of greater kudus and a klipspringer. We found the lions we saw on the first game drive.

 

 

Not far from the lions, some more lesser kudus, males only.

 

 

We decided then to go and see if the big male leopard was where we expected it to be. Well, it was there, near the bridge and the tree, but no trace of the prey. It was very busy, marking its territory. I did not make any pictures, so far, the light was too harsh. It then moved and disappeared under the bridge. We asked the driver to move the car into the gully to be at the same level as the space under the bridge. There it was, with the prey under the second arch, looking at us. To imagine the distance between the animal and the car, here are some information about the taking of photos. The focal distance of the lens is 300 mm multiplied by 2 with the extender 2x. The 1D Mk IV gives the equivalent of 800 mm. The leopard was slightly stressed and showed it to us. So I quickly made my shots and asked the driver to move back.

 

 

On the way back, our guide received a call, telling him that a cheetah was about to make a kill close to « Little Serengeti ». It took us a bit of time to arrive there. The kill had been made. The victim was a female bushbuck. The big male cheetah was hidden on the river bed, in high dry reeds, and it was nowhere to be seen. We decided to come back in the afternoon. Our guide told us that it was a solitary male, not often, but regularly seen in that part of the park. I must say that I did not see any lions in that area.

[graceland]

I love your leopard shots, and the fact you left him alone as he was stressed.

 

Terrific pics all around, esp. the giraffes and kudu; as well as the small cubs.

 

When we were in Ruaha we were walking most days; the kudu, impala were all around but scampered of course. Had to drive to find the lions, and yes always sleeping.

 

Lovely bee-eater up close and personal. Nothing beats the colors of African birds.

[twaffle]

I am enjoying this very much, so much diversity in your sightings and photos. Thank you for sharing.

[Safaridude]

Love the elephant trunk and the close-up leopards!