Sep 26 Serengeti to Ruaha

Today will be a very long one. We got up at 05.15 and left camp at 06.00 for a final game drive and transfer to Kogatende airstrip for the 08.45 flight to Jongomero in Ruaha. It is another beautiful morning and hot air balloons are rising majestically into the skies above the plains.

We drive through the rocky area in the hope of seeing a leopard but it is not to be this morning. However we are not disappointed for as we drive along the bank of the Mara River we spot a lioness.

She starts calling and we see her sister approaching in the distance. They greet each other playfully on a termite mound and then walk off across the plains side by side.

We continue our relaxed drive to the airport. We watch some hyenas and then find the cutest family of rock hyrax basking on the rocks. Although they look like rodents, their closest living relatives are elephants and manatees.

We leave the hyrax and shortly arrive at the airstrip.We have been given packed breakfasts which we eat in the vehicle whilst waiting for our plane to arrive. There is way too much food but I select the toasted egg sandwich with bacon and sausage which goes down well with a cup of coffee. We say goodbye to our wonderful guide Qamara. He has been such great company, knowledgeable, instinctive, unassuming and a great photographer. One of the very best guides I have ever had.

We walk across to our plane and say goodbye to the green grass of the Serengeti.

Ruaha is far south, hot and dry, and about as remote as you can get. It is a two and a half hour flight down there and then a 63km road transfer to the camp. Thermals have built up and the plane is buffeted around in the thermals and winds. We land and the heat blasts at us as we exit the plane.

There is the usual unnecessary African paperwork to complete and we then climb into the vehicle which will transfer us to Usangu Expedition Camp. The vehicle is a converted Land Rover that has had mesh and removable side panels added. I think this is strange and our guide Anderson tells us that it is because we go through an area with a lot of tsetse flies. They do not carry disease here but they are pesky and their bite really hurts. I am grateful for the protection.

After an hour or so we stop at Maji Moto Springs for lunch. These are hot thermal springs and we put our hands in the water. It is very hot and you can only dip your fingers in very briefly.

A picnic area has been set up by the springs of rather unattractive concrete seats and tables. However, they are practical, animal proof and in fact very cool to sit at.

We continue on and arrive in camp at about 15.00. We were welcomed by all the camp staff, who enthusiastically sang a welcome song to us,. Manambo the camp manager gave us a brief orientation briefing and then showed us to our tents. There are only four rooms here and we are the only guests. We thought we would be sharing but we have come up trumps again and the camp have allocated us separate rooms. They are not really rooms or tents. Mesh sided with a canvas awning, wood interiors and brand spanking new. The camp only opened in June. I have tent one – located under a huge baobab tree.

We then have a briefing at the research centre and head off on our first game drive here at 16.30. It has all been a bit hectic but hey, we can sleep when we get home!

We set off down the very dusty track and through scorched bush. The landscape is scarred by recent fires, one of which was out of control and very nearly impacted the new camp a couple of weeks ago. We do not have to drive far before we find a pair of lions.

We also should not have been surprised to find them mating. It clearly is that time of year. We are now very knowledgeable about lion courtship. It lasts 3-4 days and the guides can work out which day of courting it is by the interval between mating sessions. Day Two is 12 minutes and Day Three is 20 minutes and very unenthusiastic. Apparently, the mating sessions lead up to making the female ovulate on Day 3.

We continue on our drive, spot some elephant in the scrub and park a short distance away for sundowners, hoping that the elephants may walk past us. They are shy and remain in the bushes. In fact all the game is very skittish here and that results from much of the area being inhabited before it was taken back by the Tanzanian National Parks.

We return to camp and have drinks around the camp fire followed by stir-fry cooked over the charcoal from the fire. Magical.