Lions in Ruaha National Park

After installing the last pump, we took a couple of days off to go further south to Iringa and to visit another big game park called Ruaha. The drive is through the Mikumi national park to Iringa and is on tarmac. Iringa town itself is off the main road about 2 km up on top of a cliff. The main street runs along parallel to the cliff top. We chatted to a guiding company about whether to use them to get to the park or whether to drive there our selves in our Pajero. We had heard the road was not so good from Iringa to the park. After considering the options we choose to book a night at a lodge just outside the park entrance and rent their guide and vehicle from there. That meant us driving the 60 km to the lodge. It was mostly flat but corrugated and rough. It took 3 hours to get there. We got there at dusk. The lodge was way up on the side of a hill with great views of the planes and trees below. At that time of year though, it was very very dry. No greenery to see, most things including trees are covered in dust. No chance of seeing any animals in the trees below as there is nothing for them to eat there.
The Lodge included a fixed evening meal that we shared with a group of Germans who had come too. They had a great wooden log balcony to sit on with a cold drink and look out over the tree covered land below and low mountains in the distant inside the park. I must have eaten something bad in Iringa as my stomach was quite upset and could not face a meal. Ramona was fine thankfully. I later lost what little was in my stomach too.
In the morning I saw the Land Cruiser out front ready to go. They guy was letting it roll down hill to jump start it. Hmm I thought. It was 30 km to the park entrance on the same road as yesterday. The Land Cruiser had a lift up top on it so customers can stand up in it and view game. While driving around though the top is normally down. Most of the rubber seals had worn out and it rattled so loud we really couldn’t talk. Once in the park we stopped at a bridge over a river to watch alligators, some hippos, some baboons leaping over rocks and little water ways, so cute. Not long after the bridge the driver stops and gets out of the vehicle, something had broken. We look under the rear and see the sway bar lying on the ground. Two mounts that are meant to hold it up had come undone, the bolts fallen out and lost. He ties it up with a bit of rubber tubing which looked dubious. On we go for about another 15 mins and the same thing happens. He ties it up again and adds a bit of thin wire this time. Then he drives to the head quarters a couple of miles further up the road and into their maintenance compound. He asks one of the mechanics there if they can fix it. About 1 hour later they have it repaired and we have to push start the vehicle again. So at a little after noon we finally begin our game drive proper. A little irritated by now. But the driver knows his stuff and we soon come across Jackals, umpteen Zebra, Giraffe, Warthogs, Impala, and then Ramona says this looks like a good spot for lions. Sure enough we see a lion under a tree, then another and another. 9 all told sitting there in the shade on a raised river bank overlooking the near dry river and the impala out there. We park about 20 ft ( 7 m) from and just below them in the river bed and watch them for ages. They could care less about us, sleeping and watch the impala was the order of the moment it seemed. Eventually one got up and walked down the bank and started to walk out to the river bed behind us intently staring at an impala. Then another and a 3rd. They were fanned out. A 4th one who had been on our front right got up and started to walk past us to join the others. I had been videoing her but as walked towards us she filled the lens. I was backing off the zoom to keep her in the lens then realised there was no more backing off to do as she was just off to the side of the truck walking past us. Ramona was so excited to see this massive cat just right there walking past us. The lion joined the others now in a spread out pattern that looked like a military plan. They sat there so still and just watched that impala. Magnificent, such patience and stealth.
We drove off to leave them in peace. Stopped for lunch well away from the lions. Some others were there and said they had seen a cheetah not far away. So off we went in search of that. The driver found her quite soon stretched out on the ground under a big Baobab tree in the shade. Compared to the big muscled lions, the cheetah is very thin and wiry, built for speed. A movement under the tree caught our eye and out walked a little cub then another. So cute! They walk up to their mama then start playing with each other for a bit. They are very thin too. The mother spots an impala about 200 m away and gets up slowly and she too stealthily walks towards the impala. Seems like Impala was on the menu that day. The cubs follow off too after their mama. She disappears low in the brown grass and we loose sight of her and the cubs. But what a treat to see nature in action.
We head back as it is getting late. Along the way we come across a group of elephants, then a big group of water buffalo under some trees in the shade. Out of the park and almost back at the lodge we get a puncture. The driver rummages around and comes out with a little bottle jack and wrench. We take the flat type off and can’t put the new one on as the jack won’t lift the axel up high enough. I tell the driver we’ll have to dig down to make a depression in the road to put the tyre in low enough to get in on the studs. We do this and get the wheel on. But the truck engine has stopped and now the truck has one wheel in a hole so we can’t push it out with just the three of us. Fortunately just then a van comes driving by and he pushes the land cruiser to get it started and we get back to the lodge at about 4 pm. We say good bye to the staff there, told them their vehicle needs some good maintenance and jump in our Pajero and start the 3 hr drive back to Iringa, knowing that the last hour will be in darkness. Not recommended. But it all went ok.
The next day we went to the Isimila Stone Age site not far from Iringa. This is the site of some very old discoveries of some of the earliest humans. 2nd to the Olduvai gorge only where the Leakeys found their famous finds in the late 50’s. So quite an important site. Not that you would know by the way it was presented. A small confusing sign on the side of the road, then a windy track through some back yards of mud houses down to an over look site that at least did have some respectable buildings on it. There was no one around so we walked down the part to the bottom of the gorge even though it said not too. Once at the bottom, a guide saw us from the top and came running down to show us around. Basically a very dry sand and stony river bed with some old excavators huts on it. The area had not been excavated since the 50’s too. The guide took us on an excursion over to another nearby canyon that we could not see at all from up top. It had some spectacular rock towers in it about 10 m high, we were able to walk right in down amongst them. Fascinating to see structures like this.
After Isimila we headed back to Mikumi. The hills along the Iringa to Mikumi gorge are quite steep with a river at the bottom most of the way. Being steep they have not been grazed or cultivated hence they are still covered in bush. In addition to the usual wrecked trucks along the road, from punctures, to broken axels, to being tipped over, there were forest fires everywhere, not large ones, but smoke and flames were quite common. Some along the road side as the picture shows. This was a first for us to drive past fires like this. There were no fire men or anyone in attendance at any of these fires. They just burn themselves out eventually we concluded. Tanzania continues to be an adventure. Then it was back to Gairo.