I watched the sun rise over the African bush today. It started as a pink band and began to overtake the dark night sky. Acacias in silhouette dotted the landscape. We rattled along in a beat up land rover bouncing over the dirt roads and kicking up dust in our path. We arrived in the village of Kisanga in the early morning light. 10 villagers clambered into the car with greetings of “habari ya asabuihi!” (good morning). Then we headed for Ruaha National Park.
After rattling along the roads for a few more hours we arrived at the park entrance. It’s the dry season which means the ground is sunbaked and the trees are bare, except for a few acacias. This setting is prime for wildlife viewing. We stopped at a bridge next to the Great Ruaha River for breakfast and watched hippos and crocodiles as we ate bread and tea. The villagers were very excited to watch the snorting hippos and so was I. As we drove through the park we passed a few other cars. I realized that we were the only car of Tanzanians on safari. I was happy to be in the park with Tanzanians and to share this experience with them.
The animals were all clustered around the few remaining water sources in the park. You could see herd a elephants, giraffes, buffalo, impala and zebra all at once. We watched giraffe grazing on high acacias, saw zebras plodding along, and spotted ostriches running through the grass. The animals didn’t even seem to notice the car and carried along with their business in front of us. The villagers were excited to use the cameras to take pictures of the animals as well as themselves. They helped me to learn the Swahili names of the animals like twiga (giraffe), tembo (elephant), and kiboko (hippopotamus). One of the highlights of the trip was watching an elephant browse an acacia. He would stand up on his hind legs, grab the branch with his trunk, and pull the branch away from the tree until it snapped off. Every time a branch snapped off the whole car would burst out laughing.
In addition to the destructive elephants the lions were also a highlight. All of the lions we saw were lazing around in the shade with full bellies. These ferocious beasts didn’t look very intimidating while they were sleeping. They looked more like house cats. As soon as they opened their mouths and exposed their teeth we remembered why they are called the kings of the savanna. The villagers were most excited to see the lions. I think this is because they are the ultimate symbol of the wild.
I felt like I was in an episode of planet earth and was in complete awe of what I witnessed, but the most rewarding part of the trip wasn’t watching the amazing animals. It was watching the villagers as they watched the animals.
Julia Bennett
