Fantastic New Camp in Tanzania

Brad Horn has just returned from safari in Tanzania and Kenya. At the end of his travels he visited a fantastic new camp in Ruaha National Park which is due to open in the very near future. For those that don’t know, Ruaha is one of the jewels of East Africa. Located in the south of Tanzania, Ruaha is as far off the beaten track as it gets and superlatively wild. Indeed in Brad’s view it is one of Africa’s best kept secrets. Ruaha is a unique transition zone where East and Southern Africa species of fauna and flora meet against a dramatic topographical backdrop; massive granite outcrops, elephant-battered baobabs in prolific numbers, brilliant ochre-red earth, pale russet grasses and parched tentacles of wide sand rivers.

Kigelia Camp is a seasonal mobile camp ,aptly named for its situation among a grove of sausage tress (Kigelia Africana). Comprising 6 rustically elegant tents, the camp is situated on the Ifuguru sand river, at the heart of “game central”. Brad had lions kill a warthog one evening immediately behind his tent. Needless to say a very noisy night with the squabbling and roaring. Kigelia is a great addition to Ruaha which, up until now, has seen a dearth of upmarket options in the “game hotspot” of the park.

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Pregnant Cheetah Kill

Following his trip to the Ruaha, Rob made his way to Kenya and Tanzania with a New York family. They travelled to the Masai Mara, Ngorongoro Crater, Sasakwa Lodge Grumeti Reserves in the northern Serengeti, and then went on to Mnemba Island on Zanzibar.

In the Mara they witnessed the wilderbeest migration, by hot air balloon, as it started to head south into Tanzania to follow the rains. They also had an excellent sighting of a female white rhino and her calf.

One of the highlights of the trip, for both Rob and his clients, was being patient enough to wait and finally watch a heavily pregnant cheetah stalk and then kill a Thompsons Gazelle at Sasakwa. See below an image of her as she maintains the throat hold to kill the gazelle prior to quickly eating it before any other predators (lion or hyena) become aware of her presence and try to steal it away from her.

The other images were taken on the floor of the Ngorongoro Crater where Rob was lucky enough to capture a flock of Crested Cranes as they took flight in the early morning against the dramatic back drop of the Crater wall. You will also note some flamingos and one lonely wilderbeest. The other photograph is of a line of zebra as they slowly and carefully came down towards a water hole to drink, stopping intermittently to test the air for lion. The Crater is certainly a special place for its concentrated wildlife, incredible scenery and light.

Best Lion Sighting - Ruaha, Tanzania

Rob Barbour, Epic's partner in East Africa, has just returned from four days in the Ruaha National Park, Tanzania – staying in the new Kigelia Camp. He had some fantastic game sightings, particularly in the early mornings. As the park becomes drier animals are moving towards the Greater Ruaha River in numbers. Rob's group saw herds of 20 elephant on a regular basis, lovely greater and lesser kudu, buffalo, plenty of plains game and fantastic lion sightings too. On one early morning game drive they came across six young lions drinking at the confluence of the Mwagusi Sand River and the Greater Ruaha. After watching them drink they drove on and heard a lot of roaring. They zeroed in on a large male trying not to share a young giraffe with six lionesses. As they watched, so did two black backed jackals. The large male then had to defend his carcass against another male who came close, a lioness and five 6 -7 month old cubs. Once they had left the kill site, they saw two other large male lions crossing the road, just 2 km away.

The following morning at dawn Rob came across six young cubs about 1 km from camp. They were on their own and were very playful in the early morning light as they waited for Mama to come back from her night’s hunting. According to Rob: "This would have to be my best lion sighting for a while."