Ruaha National Park
Ruaha National Park covers an area of 10,300 square kilometers, is the third largest game conservation area after Selous and Serengeti. Located in south central Tanzania, it is a remote a wild place which is way off the routes taken by most visitors to the country receiving a paltry number of visitors each year. In consequence Ruaha is considered to be one of the great "undiscovered" wilderness areas of East Africa, it is actually at the heart of a much larger ecosystem, which extends across the Rungwa and Kizigo game conservation areas (hunting blocks),
which totals an area five times the size, the main feature of
the park is the Ruaha river, which rises in the swamps to the
south and sweeps north and eastward through the park, turning
back south and passing through the Iringa Highlands in deep-cut
gorges to reach the Great Rufiji in the region of the Beho Beho
mountains in the western Selous, it is the presence of this
river which brings life to the broad valleys that make up the
main portion of the park, sustaining the wildlife through the
dry season, along the northern border of the park runs the
Northern Escarpment.
Ruaha is a wonderful place to visit, which if done correctly can
offer some superb game-viewing. One interesting little feature
down here is the little rope bridge spanning one of the
tributaries of the Ruaha, which when in flood cuts off Ruaha
River Lodge from the airstrip and was thus installed to make
sure that guests could arrive and depart on schedule. It is a
pretty precarious affair though,
Across the centre of the park lies a seemingly endless swathe of
featureless dry scrub, made up of combretum and comifora bushes
... which you may not have heard of now, but you will get to
know pretty well out here. They are remarkable for their red
flowers and orange seed pods, which are the largest flying seed
pods that we've ever seen.
The area immediately around the Jongomeru sand river is a
particulary nice section of mature riverine woodland, which
presumably plays host to a wide variety of game. Unfortunately
everything is so shy down here that it legs it at the first
sight of you.
One particular highlight in the area is a good hippo pool, with
a few dozen chubby chaps and quite a few good sized crocs too