Tanzania: Discovering Ruaha and Nyerere (formerly Selous) (page 2 of 3)

H i Muriel,

Yeah, we wanted to see Africa during the rainy season... and well, we did!

Hi Alain,

The worst part is that we had hiking ponchos, bought in 2025 for our trip to Costa Rica, but we never imagined we’d need them this much in Africa. So they stayed in France😕

What followed:

Still early in the morning, a magnificent tantale ibis:



trying to have lunch:



Among the hornbills, here’s the black-billed one:



Breakfast in peace... dear to Stéphane Eicher, but also to us. The tranquility and beauty of the place make us appreciate these moments:



Don’t you think the long-tailed roller looks like a painter’s palette?



Less colorful but still quite "chic" in its own way, our black-bellied bustard:



They strike a pose together—the African finfoot and the red-necked francolin:



While it’s true that the parks in southern Tanzania are rich in birds, you also encounter mammals like giraffes and wildebeest:



But this morning, one giraffe was missing from the roll call. We came across the largest pack of spotted hyenas we’ve ever seen—at least fifteen of them having giraffe for breakfast:



Unfortunately, the distance between the track and the scene, plus the tall grass, didn’t let us see this wild feast clearly. Some of them apparently needed to digest afterward:

A group of wildebeest seem relieved it's a giraffe serving as a snack for the hyenas:





Of course, not far from the giraffe’s carcass, a vulture waits. You can count on the African palm-nut vulture:



Near a hippo pool, a great egret with its beak open:



The quiet hippos wallowing in their pool:





A few male impalas rubbing against each other:



A grey heron:



Far less graceful but very useful, I present the marabou stork:



And what about the brightly colored beak of the Jabiru:

A little further on, we come across a hyena with a "little bone" from that poor giraffe:



Let’s admit it—nothing goes to waste in nature, unlike us humans...

What luck—a golden pipit shows itself to us. Very rare, according to Sulu, our guide, who says he hasn’t seen one in quite some time:



It’s time to wrap up the morning drive, and we’re getting closer to Laba Laba Siwandu. Less than 500 meters from the lodge, we’re lucky enough to stumble upon another pack of African wild dogs. Two parks = two packs of wild dogs 🙂 This pack consists of 5 individuals—1 female and 4 males. While one takes a dip, the other four doze under the trees:









What fascinating animals these African wild dogs (or painted dogs) are. Unmatched hunters—the most efficient in African wildlife. They’ve figured out that alone, they’re nothing, but as a pack, they’re unstoppable. A warrior’s rest:



Our turn to head back to the lodge for lunch. In the afternoon, we start our drive with a quick stop at the spot where we’d seen our wild dogs. They’re still just as active:



We leave them to their long daytime nap, imagining what they’ll put some herbivores through tonight.

We come across a beautiful herd of elephants crossing the forest—we’ll see them again later in the day:



It’s not one of the tourists’ or photographers’ favorite animals, yet it deserves more recognition. I’m talking about the warthog, which never travels alone:

Hi there,

Thanks for this travel journal 🙂 It makes me want to discover Tanzania! That warthog photo is hilarious! We were in AFS at the same time this year and only had 2 days of rain during our trip. But there were major floods a month before and another downpour the week after we left. It's really hard to predict the weather these days...

Thanks Pascale, and on top of that, this warthog is playing the balancing act by lifting its hind legs!

A young giraffe alone to our surprise. But actually, we’ll see its mother a little further on. Just a reminder that some African wild dogs are resting not too far away.



The wildebeest often shares with the warthog a modest interest among visitors, who tend to be more keen on spotting felines:



We meet up with our elephant group again, and we’ll spend a good while following them:









Water games:





The end of our 6th day in Tanzania is approaching, and we’ll get our first sunset of the trip:



So we’ll have our first sundowner with this view:

Sunday, March 1, 2026

To start near the lodge, a grey-headed kingfisher:







White-fronted bee-eater:



Very colorful crested barbet with a black crest:



White-headed lapwing spreading its wings:



Breakfast time at the foot of a thousand-year-old baobab:



During breakfast, we watch a male intermediate weaver building its nest:



Note the differences with the female intermediate weaver:



On the track, a Nile monitor lizard crosses our path at its own risk:

Then the monitor lizard heads back to the wetland:

Actually, even though we didn’t see many felines during these 8 days, we made up for it with birds in Ruaha and especially in Selous:



A family of Egyptian geese:



Worth noting is the unique slate-colored heron with its one-of-a-kind fishing technique. When hunting for food, it fully spreads its wings to form an umbrella:



A trio of scarlet bee-eaters:



A duo or pair of blue-cheeked bee-eaters:



A traditional African spoonbill fishing:



As we drive, our vehicle stirs up lots of insects, which are chased and gobbled up by a swarm of scarlet bee-eaters taking advantage of the opportunity by following us for a long distance:



More calm and less daring, the European roller patiently waits for an insect:



After a morning entirely dedicated to birds, we return to the lodge for a "boat lunch"—or, in plain English, a private lunch on a boat that will gently cruise the lake:



A very pleasant lunch:

During lunch, we’ll see a slice of life from the boat, like this red Lechwe:



The yellow-billed oxpecker also shows its independence and doesn’t rely solely on large mammals:



But it’s not just the wildlife that matters—some landscapes are simply stunning:



African palm tree:



Worth noting was our unusual sighting of a red velvet mite (also called a trombidiid):



Just a few meters from our lodge, we spotted a vervet monkey:



The afternoon game drive will be by boat, just like lunch. This boat safari will bring back memories of other boat safaris (Uganda, but especially the Chobe River in Botswana—check out our YouTube channel):



We’ll definitely come across hippos:



and buffaloes:



Lighter and more discreet than hippos and buffaloes, a palm weaver:

Along the river, we come across some beautiful buffalo:



The river is teeming with Nile crocodiles. Swimming is strongly discouraged:







The river’s teeth:





A few "birdies" like the striped kingfisher help us forget the dozens of crocodiles we saw in the river:



White-headed lapwing:



African fish eagle:



Nice rack, great ears—this kudu:

...

This warthog with no ... back legs is really weird!!!??? Is there some kind of trick here?

...

And then, at the end of the boat safari, we come across some spectacular concentrations of cattle egrets:



Zoomed in:



After endless noisy squabbles, each one finds its spot and doesn’t move for the night:



Monday, March 2, 2026

Today is our last full day, so we’re making the most of it.

One of the many hyenas we encountered:





Unfairly lumped into the "Ugly Five"—the five ugliest animals in Africa—my wife and I love hyenas. They’re amazing parents and suffer from an undeserved bad reputation:



Breakfast under the sun:



A Nile monitor lizard strolls by just a few meters away while we’re having breakfast. What’s it hoping for?



An open beak:



A hadada ibis:

No tricks at all, Alain—he just lifted his hind legs at the exact moment the shot was taken.

One last afternoon game drive:

What would African wildlife be without its monkeys? A yellow baboon deep in thought:



A little guy, quite tall, still nursing from his mom:





A tender moment:



A herd of zebras in the forest:



A group of particularly wild and elusive elands—hard to photograph:



For a change from mammals, here’s another bird—a grey-headed kingfisher:



A group of widowbirds:



A complete family of Egyptian geese out for a stroll:



The day’s coming to an end, and we’ll get to enjoy a sundowner. It’ll only be the 2nd and last one of the trip out of 8 possible. A bit frustrating.

Tuesday, March 3, 2026

Our last day in Tanzania. We’ll of course do a game drive this morning. Then we’ll head to the airstrip around noon. In the meantime, we’re enjoying the golden morning light:



A few puku antelopes come to say hello:







One last bee-eater... this one’s a Böhm’s:



Hi there, little dwarf mongoose!

A few birds of prey greet us on our final drive. Steppe eagle:



We head back to the lodge, grab our things, then make our way to Mtmere airstrip:



The modest "airport" but it does the job:

The flight back with our "favorite" pilot:



Flyover of Dar es Salaam:

Wednesday, March 4, 2026: Flight back to France via Kigali. Worth noting: a violent storm over Kigali forced us to wait nearly an hour on the tarmac inside the plane. Return to France without major issues, just a few waves of melancholy.

The recap of our 10 nights in southern Tanzania, with 4 nights in Ruaha and 4 nights in Nyerere (formerly Selous):

The positives: - Gorgeous lodges that were quite quiet at this time of year, especially Ikuka Safari Camp where we were the only "guests" for the first 3 nights, - Top-notch support from young but highly motivated and knowledgeable driver-guides, - Mild temperatures between 20 and 28°C, - We wanted to see "green" Africa... and we got our fill. - We wanted to see birds... and we were spoiled: A quick bird tally: we spotted 84 different species, mostly in Selous. We estimate there are about 400 species in Selous, and we only saw 55... - In both parks, we saw a pack of African wild dogs. It’s not exceptional, but it’s not very common either since only 6,000 to 7,000 remain across Africa. However, it was only the second time we’d encountered bat-eared foxes.

The negatives: - Very wet weather that didn’t help—or even prevented—game drives, and sometimes left us frustrated (few sundowners), - Where were the lions? Ruaha is home to 10% of Africa’s lions. We only saw 2, dozing by the side of the track. We even joked that the park staff must’ve paid them to show up. - In reality, they were around but hard to spot because the tall grass made observations tricky. We often followed fresh lion tracks but never actually saw them. - The other big cats (leopards and cheetahs) seemed to be on vacation.

After a dozen years of safari experience, we know it’s all part of the game—you can never count on what you might see. The animals don’t wait for us. That’s what zoos are for, but they offer no real pleasure and feel more like imprisonment for the animals, so they’re pretty much pointless.

Looking forward to new adventures... because there will be more at the end of August/beginning of September.

For reference: the video of this trip is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPyn9VB2eKI&t=112s

Hi Loïc,

First of all, THANK YOU for taking (us) back—without the travel fatigue—to my two favorite reserves in Tanzania.

We get to experience a very different vibe from the overcrowded northern reserves. Plus, you chose the "green" season, a bold and risky move, but one that lets you see "another Tanzania." I made the same choice in 2020 and didn’t regret it.

- but where did all the lions go? Ruaha is home to 10% of Africa’s lions. We only saw 2, dozing by the track. - the other big cats (leopards and cheetahs) were off on vacation.

True, the lack of lions in Ruaha is odd, and "concerning for Selous": In June 2024 at Selous—over 8 days—we only saw one emaciated lioness, but luckily spotted lions several times in Mikumi over 3 days.

Leopard sightings are rare and all the more special when they happen. From what I know, there are no cheetahs in Selous. There are some in Ruaha, and I’ve spent a day each trip searching for them in their usual area, but always without success in 5 visits...!!

Really happy for you about the rare encounters with bat-eared foxes and African wild dogs. We’ve seen bat-eared foxes in Ruaha on 2 out of 5 trips. As for wild dogs, it was on our 2nd and 3rd trips (out of 5) that we saw them—first in Ruaha (one long encounter) and then in Selous (4 separate sightings).

In June 2024 in Selous, our guide got reports of wild dogs almost every day, but each time they were too far away (over an hour’s drive) to hope to see them. In an hour, they can cover kilometers. The best chance is to "stumble upon them" when the pups are still at the den...

--- Safari in Africa is UNPREDICTABLE...

Hopefully, your (and our) story will inspire other forum members.

For readers interested in experiencing "green" Africa for a bit longer, here’s a link to our February 2020 trip report in the same region:

https://spottingaviation.forumactif.com/t14678-safari-photo-dans-le-sud-de-la-tanzanie-fevrier-2020

Greetings to all.

Puma2A

- May I ask what gear you use for photography and video?

...

Thanks, Alain, for your interest in this first travel journal. I usually only make videos, but well, there had to be a first time, and this was our trip to southern Tanzania.

To answer your question about gear, we had: - my wife: Nikon D7500 + Google Pixel 6A smartphone - me: Sony Alpha 6700 with two lenses (18-135 and a 200-600, which is especially good for birds) + Xiaomi 15T Pro smartphone

There you go.

Next travel journal in autumn 2026: "Namibia for the 4th time... not the last!"

Loïc

Next travel journal in autumn 2026: "Namibia for the 4th time... not the last" Loïc

Thanks for your reply about the gear.

We’ve also been to Namibia four times, the last time in October 2012 (KTP + southern part of the country). It’s too far now, given my age and physical condition. In fact, it’s unlikely I’ll return to Africa... sadly.

Best regards.

...

...

As for our encounter with the Otocyons in Ruaha, it happened in 2018 under ideal conditions.

There was ONLY us. The pair with their young were at the edge of the den... and we were able to return to see them the day after next, still without any other spectators.

Here, starting from image #36 for the first encounter. https://forum.image-nature.com/viewtopic.php?f=162&t=64394

The kind of "thing" that only happens once in a lifetime!!

Best regards.

Puma2A