Tanzania: Discovering Ruaha and Nyerere (formerly Selous)

Hello,

We got back from Tanzania a month ago, on March 5th. I’ve started this trip report at the link the moderator asked me to use:

https://voyageforum.com/forum/decouverte-ruaha-nyerere-ex-selous-en-fevrier-mars-2026-d11466010/

You’ll find a video of our trip on my YouTube channel there.

Now I’ll tell you about our 10-night trip in Tanzania, with 8 nights spent in two parks we didn’t know. Tanzania isn’t new to us—it was even our first African safari destination back in 2012. https://www.youtube.com/@lolodetoul54 Since then, we’ve visited several East and Southern African countries: Kenya, South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, some of them multiple times. We usually travel in September during the dry season. We tried March 2024 for nine nights in the Okavango and loved it, except everything was dry, which wasn’t normal for the rainy season.

So for this second March trip during the wet season, we really got what we asked for… rain. But before that, we had to fight just to get to Tanzania.

Saturday, February 21, 2026:

It’s D-Day—the departure. What a hassle to organize flights to and within Tanzania! I’ll tell you all about it in another post: https://voyageforum.com/forum/toutes-compagnies-aeriennes-tanzaniennes-interdites-d10758360/ On top of that, Rwandair canceled our outbound flight a month before departure. They offered to reschedule us 3-4 days later—ridiculous for a 10-night trip we’d already booked. We had to cancel our tickets and buy new ones with Kenya Airways. We’re still waiting for our refund from Rwandair!!!!!!! So on Saturday, February 1st, our bags were packed. We headed to the Lorraine TGV station, about 30 km from home. Direct train to Roissy—just 1h15. Quick and efficient. All that was left was to wait for our overnight flight. We took off on time, just before 11 PM. Smooth flight, nothing unusual. Arrived in Nairobi around 9 AM. A few hours’ wait, then a flight to Dar es Salaam, landing at our first destination around 12:45 PM. Our local contact, Anne from Asanterra agency, picked us up at the airport. It was hot and humid—it was raining.



Our first night was at the Alexander Hotel. That evening, we treated ourselves to fish and shellfish at the hotel restaurant:



Sunday, February 22, 2026:

A driver picked us up at dawn to take us to the domestic airport so we could finally head to our first destination: Ruaha National Park. We flew with Auric.air for a 2-hour flight with two stops (Nyerere and Zkima airstrips).





I’m always amazed at how easily these Cessnas take off and land on dirt runways—especially when they’re wet:



Aerial view of Zkima airstrip, where we’d landed just minutes earlier:



Flyover of Iringa, a "big" city in the country near Ruaha National Park:



We’re getting close. The plane descends and flies over the Ruaha River, which gave the park its name:



We land for the third and final time that day, reaching our destination: Msembe airstrip, the gateway to Ruaha.

View of the "airport waiting room"—very typical of airstrips in Africa:



Idriss, our guide-driver from Ikuka Safari Camp lodge, is waiting for us. After greetings and loading the luggage, we head to the lodge. It’ll take at least an hour and a half to get there, so we start our first game drive of this trip with a giraffe—our very first creature:



Over the course of our 4 days in Ruaha, we’ll spot just over 40 different bird species. The first one is a European roller:



Then a white-browed coucal:



Along the way, a Senegal bustard challenges our vehicle’s wheels, just like all its kind:



A few red bishop weavers with their signature nests:



Dik-diks will be our first antelopes. Did you know dik-diks are so small and light that they’re just a snack for lions?



Halfway between the airstrip and our future lodge, we cross the Mwagusi River, which is almost dry. A few hours later, we’ll see it’s no longer the case:



A little further on, a young elephant crosses the road in front of us:



Followed by its mother, who, of course, isn’t happy our vehicle is so close to her baby. She lets us know with a few trumpets:

Still on the way to the lodge, an Oustalet's bustard:



Our striped friends by the track:



One of Ruaha’s iconic features is its baobabs:



Arrival at Ikuka Lodge. Okay, let’s not kid ourselves—this is high-end with top-notch service. The lodge itself is flawless. Well, there’s one tiny flaw: its location on the heights at the edge of Ruaha National Park. As a result, it takes nearly an hour on muddy, rough tracks to reach the most interesting areas, but hey...



Of course, we got the afternoon game drive.

Ruaha hornbill:



Ashy starling (formerly ashy spréo):



White-headed lapwing:



And for the first time, we saw a paradise whydah. Too bad the photo’s bad, and it didn’t give us a second chance:



More classic—a grey-winged sparrowhawk:



What would Africa be without its helmeted guineafowl?

A family of elephants with very young ones:





A group of impalas feeling comfortable next to the pachyderms:



A little later, an encounter with a male... inevitably solitary:





The sky grows increasingly threatening. Thunder rumbles. This late afternoon will be marked by heavy rain that catches us on the trail. We’re not the only ones bothered by these downpours:



The rain eases up, and it’s time to head back to the lodge. Just in time to spot a masked turaco:



Monday, February 24, 2025:

Hi Simon,

I'm off on a new safari... which is starting well! 🙂

Welcome aboard, Muriel!

February 24, 2025

One of the downsides of the wet season is that the vegetation is extremely lush. Elephants could almost hide in the tall grass. Well, almost:



Many elephants in Ruaha sometimes go a little too far with the trees:



A vigilant herd of impalas:





A majestic giraffe on the track:



Classic red-throated francolin:



With overcast skies and frequent showers, the park is incredibly green. We enjoy our breakfast every morning in stunning settings:

Encounter with a swallow-tailed bee-eater:



Ruaha or Tanzanian hornbill:



Black-faced sandgrouse:

The morning continues with a three-banded courser:



A little further on, an elephant temporarily blocks the track:



On our way back to the lodge, we come across a family of elephants drinking at the river:





Before arriving at the lodge, a black-chested snake eagle:



Resting at the lodge:





Encounter with a still-colorful agama:



and a male scarlet weaver:



The day ends in a downpour, preventing us from doing the afternoon drive:

Wednesday, February 25, 2026

And we're off again for the morning drive:

A red-throated francolin drying off on its rock:

A very pretty courtship scene between red-cheeked cordon-bleus, where the male shows off all his seductive talents:



What a shame the light is so poor with this gray weather:



In the tall grass, a Southern Ground Hornbill:



A white-crowned lapwing:



A side-striped jackal walks past us:



A grey crowned crane in flight:



A malachite kingfisher:



A jabiru:



A savanna scene:

Of course, in Tanzania, Grant's gazelle is everywhere:



whereas the Arnaud’s republician is rarer. Its name is dedicated to the French engineer and explorer, Joseph Pons d'Arnaud:



Aren’t royal cranes just stunning?



That’s not entirely the case with the Knob-billed Duck, with its such a peculiar beak:



Our morning drive started nearly 3 hours ago when, in the plains and of course in the tall grass, we came across two bat-eared fox families. Also called bat-eared foxes, this was only the second time we’ve seen them. The first was in the central Kalahari in Botswana back in 2024. So, it’s a pretty rare sighting for us:









Then, a few bird encounters, including a tree colonized by open beaks:



and also a fire-crowned bishop, which was quite tricky to photograph:



That’s definitely not the case with giraffes—they’re so easy to spot:

Since Ruaha National Park is so deserted, we can't rely on anyone for info about animal sightings. I think in 4 days we saw... just one other tourist vehicle. But we didn't count on the English owner of the lodge who alerted us to African wild dogs by the river. Idriss quickly takes us there: At first, we see Ruppell's vultures... which is a good sign because it means there's a carcass somewhere:



Then about ten African wild dogs seem to be lounging by the river:



Actually, during the night, the wild dogs hunted and killed a kudu. A little later, an opportunistic spotted hyena took the carcass. Meanwhile, the well-fed wild dogs rest or play:





We even see the very rare two-headed African wild dog:



A Ruppell's vulture is admired soaring above the pack of painted dogs:



On a riverbank, the thieving spotted hyena finishes feeding on what's left of the kudu killed a few hours earlier:



After such a rich morning drive, it's time to head back to Ikuka Lodge. On the way, we flush out a giraffe hiding:



During the afternoon drive, we decide to revisit the wild dogs by the river. Along the way, a Heuglin's bustard eats some flowers:



The wild dogs are still there, probably waiting for nightfall to leave:



Unfortunately, the storm rolls in again. It's only 5:30 PM, but it's no longer possible to continue in the pouring rain.

Thursday, February 26, 2026:

We’re starting our 3rd day in Ruaha. Will we see as many animals as the day before? It’s early, the sun is rising:



What was just a river with a thin stream yesterday has turned into a full-blown river after the storms from the previous day and night:



Our first bird of the day is a Von der Decken’s hornbill:



The African wild dogs haven’t eaten all the kudus in Ruaha, because we come across some beautiful ones this morning:



We spot a Pin-tailed whydah with its stunning plumage:



A pied crow:



African shoebill:



Arnaud’s barbet:



Let’s not forget a few colorful lizards:



The day ends gently with this beautiful elephant enjoying a snack:

February 27, 2026:

This is our 4th and final day. We’ll leave Ruaha National Park late in the morning on a domestic flight with Auric Air to Selous, now called Nyerere. We say goodbye to the team at Ikuka Lodge, then head out a little later around 8:00 AM for our last game drive—about two good hours—that will take us to the airstrip.

Along the way, we spot a Scarlet Weaver:



On the track, a troop of yellow baboons moves along. Some mothers have little acrobats:





Just a few hundred meters from the airstrip—and after not seeing any since we arrived—two large lions are resting under a tree near the track:



It’s incredible—bordering on unbelievable—that we didn’t see more lions. Ruaha is home to nearly 10% of Africa’s lion population! That’s saying something. During a game drive two days earlier, we’d easily spotted tracks from about ten lions belonging to the same pride. There were small, medium, and large paw prints. We spent nearly two hours searching for them. As you can imagine, while tracks are very visible and easy to spot on damp trails, spotting animals like big cats in such dense, tall vegetation is really tricky. Just for the sheer joy of it, another shot of one of our two lions:



To wrap up, here’s a sight of a herd of elephants passing under a baobab:



We reach the airstrip, where we briefly wait for our Cessna to take us on to new adventures.

Hi Loïc,

Thanks for taking us back to Ruaha through your travel journal. I love this reserve. It seems you were lucky not to be bothered by tsetse flies! Good for you.

We visited this reserve at the same time of year, in 2020, with the same greenery!!

...

Otocyons + African wild dogs ... that's lucky! 🙂

Hi Alain,

I was lucky not to get bitten by tsetse flies, but that wasn’t the case for my wife, who suffered from intense itching around the bite areas. The itching lasted a whole week, though.



The reassuring part is that the risk of African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness) is almost nonexistent in Ruaha. That’s because—thankfully—there aren’t herds of cattle, which are the obligatory intermediate hosts for the parasite. The Democratic Republic of Congo reports over 60% of notified cases, while some countries haven’t reported a single case in over 10 years. Tanzania has declared fewer than 10 cases in the last five years.

Have a great day, and see you soon for the next part in Nyerere (formerly Selous)!

Loïc

Hi Muriel,

Yes, seeing wild dogs and African painted dogs is really lucky—over the last 15 years of safaris in Africa, we’d rarely come across them.



We’ve spotted lions quite often, and to a lesser extent leopards and cheetahs. Plus, these are game drives we’re doing, so there’s always a lot of uncertainty about what we’ll see next. Have a great day! Loïc

Here’s my wife processed the photos from the second part of our trip.

February 27, 2026 We leave Ruaha Park in the morning for the second and final park of our trip—Nyerere, better known as Selous. The same pilot with the same plane picks us up from the Ruaha airstrip, and in less than 90 minutes, we’re in Nyerere.

We fly over the river, swollen from the previous night’s thunderstorms.



At the Nyerere airstrip, we’re greeted by Sulu, a young driver-guide from Laba Laba Siwandu Lodge. He’ll be our companion for the next 4 days.

Park entrance:



Sulu, our guide-driver:



Our chariot for 4 days of safari, covered in the ever-present mud:



Fun fact: "Laba Laba" means "butterfly" in Yoruba, a Central African dialect. Along the way, we spot some yellow baboons—here’s one representative:



Our arrival at Laba Laba Siwandu Camp:



The lodges overlook Lake Nzerakera. As we’re about to head out on safari around 4 PM, a violent storm hits, forcing us to wait out the downpour:



The camp’s sandy paths turn into rivers:

When the storm lets up, we head out for a safari that’s bound to be a wet one. It won’t last long. We come across a drenched giraffe:



and also a family of elephants:



Soaked, we decide to head back to dry off and hope for better weather the next day:

That evening at the lodge restaurant, we spot something hiding in the rafters above our heads—a gremlin, or more accurately, a bush baby, also known as a galago. This small nocturnal primate is related to lemurs. It has a long tail, big ears, and large, bulging eyes:



Saturday, February 28, 2026

A buffalo seems to be directing traffic. We don’t feel like messing with him. He’s just tolerating his red-billed oxpecker, which is busy removing parasites. A beautiful symbiotic relationship:



Beauty and the beast:



White-browed coucal:



A pair of long-tailed shrikes:



A yellow weaver bird spreads its wings, showing off their delicacy:



While another defies gravity:

I thought you’d left during the rainy season 😏 (which isn’t at the same time in the south as in the north). Impressive!

Hi there,

Not surprised (and sorry) to hear about the rainfall Loïc and his wife experienced at this time of year—we had the same thing in those two reserves a few years back, during the same season.

Given the type of vehicle used for game drives/safaris in these camps, I’d recommend future visitors pack a rain poncho for protection, as well as a large (new) garbage bag to quickly wrap up your camera bag in case of a downpour.

Here’s the type of poncho or similar: https://www.decathlon.fr/p/poncho-de-pluie-de-randonnee-forclaz-mt-50-10l-gris/_/R-p-339021?mc=8737843

I know plastic bags are banned in Tanzania, so I stash it in a lining of my camera bag, and of course, no matter its condition, I bring it back with me...

...

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

Thanks Loïc for the travel journal 🙂

The boat lunch with the crocodile-shaped bread was really fun!

As for lions, we weren’t much luckier than you this year in Kruger during February/March...

Thanks Loïc for this travel journal 🙂

Some great sightings despite the... wet weather 😎 (but not all the time, thankfully!)

Thanks Pascale for the comment. Oh, the lions! It wasn’t the right season... that’s all :)

We wanted to see Africa during the rainy season. We did. Next time it’ll be Namibia in September... dry season. See you soon! Loïc

Hi Loïc,

I have a question for you:

You’ve done quite a few other trips/safaris, including in Tanzania and Kenya (etc.). What’s your take (trying to set aside the weather aspect) on these two southern Tanzanian reserves? Specifically, the overall vibe you experienced during the game drives/safaris compared to Kenya or northern Tanzania?

Thanks in advance if you’re up for answering this!

Puma2A

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Hi Loïc,

I have a question for you:

You’ve done quite a few other trips/safaris, including in Tanzania and Kenya (etc.). What’s your take (trying to set aside the weather aspect) on these two southern Tanzanian reserves? Specifically, the overall vibe you experienced during the game drives/safaris compared to Kenya or northern Tanzania?

Thanks in advance if you’re willing to share your thoughts on this.

Puma2A

...

Hi Alain,

These two reserves really don’t have much in common with the well-known, busy ones in northern Tanzania. They’re different in terms of landscape—few open plains but with forests, rivers, and dense vegetation. I wouldn’t recommend Ruaha or Nyerere to first-timers. They’re stunning parks but best suited for experienced travelers because the wildlife is harder to spot and doesn’t let you get close. It’s nothing like the northern parks, where animals are used to the sound of engines.

That’s my take on it. Have a great day, Loïc

Hi there,

I’ve visited these regions both in the dry season and, like you, in January/February (the lush green period). Honestly, you *do* see the animals better in the dry season. (Check out my latest travel journal in this forum for comparison.) That said, I find the "wild nature" vibe incomparable to the northern reserves, thanks to fewer crowds and the smaller size of the camps or lodges. (Just my personal take.) In these reserves, you’re on a whole different kind of safari—it really makes you forget the hustle and bustle of the world...

Happy planning for the southern hemisphere’s spring!

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