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12th October 2006

Location: Iringa, Tanzania
Distance Travelled: 8700 km

 

The journey continued as we headed north along the western edge of lake Malawi to another of the famous doctors naming legacies: Livingstonia. We hiked up to the spectacular plateau which hosts the small missionary town with the help of some local boys, who then invited us down to their village to a customary dance festival. A lot of their "native" costumes had the distinct appearance of recycled clothes from the USA, but we let that slip and a good time was had by all.

From Livingstonia it was only a short drive to the Tanzanian border where we entered country number seven. The bikes struggled a little with the mile high altitude as we spent several nights in small towns well off the tourist track. Arriving one evening in the dusty settlement of Makambako we stayed at a guest house where the staff yelled abuse at us in Swahili, the toilets overflowed, and someone operated heavy machinery outside our window from 5am. Welcome to Africa.

Onwards to Iringa where we organised a three day tour of the Ruaha national park. Guided by our trusty driver Frank we saw the full splendour of the park and its thriving big game populations. Staying at the government Bandas (huts) Juls and Nick retired to bed one night to find a hungry elephant waiting to greet them. Luckily he was only interested in the lush tree next to their door. A definite highlight of the safari was watching a lion wrestle with an Eland (the largest antelope) before finally overwhelming then devouring it. Words can’t really do the Ruaha area justice, check out the Ruaha Game park chronicle!

Ruaha Game Park Images

Chronicle blurp

We went for it. In a moment of weakness we decided to forgo seeing Serengeti Game Park for Ruaha Game Park west of Iringa. The costs where cheaper, the tourist numbers down and we placed a gamble that we would see some amazing wildlife that africa is renowned for. We hired a Land Rover Defender and a guide, Frank who spoke little English but had 7 years experience in the park. Loaded to the hilt with gear and supplies we drove the 2 hours into the park. Giraffe and impala littered the horizon, hippo and crocs overflowed the park entrance pools. We camped in government bandas, small cylindrical steel shells that protected us from bull elephants and lions that frequented the site. The site overlooked a riverbed, currently dry that held a banquet of game. From our location we could see giraffe topping trees, worthogs rooting, elephants drinking, impala grazing, monkeys and baboons playing and zebra frolicking. We rode on the land rovers roof for most of our first game drive, even while parked 5 metres from three juvenile male lions. What a start to an African safari! We spent the next day finding as many game species as possible including buffalo and an old male lion. The next morning we encountered a herd of Eland, one with a female lion attached to its hind leg. We watched an entire lion kill take place over an hour and a half, as the lioness tackled and ate alive a 600kg animal from the top of a truck 10 metres away. African wildlife safari complete.