Geoffrey Dean finds that
Tanzania’s safari giants — the Selous, the Serengeti and Tarangire
— complement one another surprisingly well.
Deep in the heart of the Selous Game Reserve
in southern Tanzania a wild dog is regurgitating some of the contents of a kill
that must have been made an hour or so previously. Its digestive system has
only just begun to break down the lumps of meat, which are hungrily consumed by
another adult wild dog. They are its reward for baby-sitting several young pups
while the rest of the pack, some dozen-strong, went hunting.
To
witness such a welfare system in animals renowned for being one of
Africa’s most formidable predators was almost humbling. A pride of lion
would never countenance such selflessness, but wild dogs are quasi-human in
valuing the lives of their own species. “They would even feed a sick or
injured member of the pack,” said Augustine, our guide.
With
their need to roam vast areas, wild dogs, or “painted wolves” if
their Latin name is translated, have found a spiritual home in the Selous,
which, at 54,000km2 (twice the size of Belgium), is the largest protected
wilderness reserve in Africa. The latest estimates of Africa’s wild dog
population put it at no more than 4500. Of those, around 1400 — nearly a
third — inhabit the Selous. It is, therefore, the reserve in which to see
what is now an endangered species. And there can be no better place from which
to find them than the Selous Safari Camp, set on Lake Nzelekele, which runs
into the Rufiji River.
There are no wild dog at all left in the
Serengeti, Tanzania’s other great home to wildlife. The two could hardly
be more different. While the Selous has a thick cover of vegetation, with its
hot volcanic springs, placid lagoons and many channels from the Ruaha and
Rufiji Rivers (which bisect the reserve), the Serengeti possesses a special
openness: that apocalyptic sense of space with its 360° views which seem to
reach to the ends of the earth. For sightings of the big cats, especially
cheetah, it can have no peer. In one morning, after setting out early from
Kusini Camp, we saw lion, leopard and cheetah without coming across a single
other vehicle. It was as if we had Eden to ourselves.
Those seeking a
very private safari should, therefore, look no further than Kusini. Meaning
“south” in Kiswahili, it is aptly situated at the southern end of the
park, close to the path of the wildebeest migration but 40km away from the
nearest camp. Perched on top of a kopje, its mess-tent nestles under an albizia
amara tree which happens to be a landmark for migrating birds as it is located
on a high spot. Small waxbills, Red-billed queleas and seedeaters, among
others, like to rest in it. From it, they can see Kimali Hill some 90km
away.
“Other drivers don’t like to come down to our part of
the park,” says Colin McConnell, the Kenyan-born guide and manager of
Kusini. “It’s out on a limb and uncharted, and they get lost. The
land is quite confusing, with its kopjes, ridges and mini-valleys. One driver
became so disorientated late one afternoon that he and his clients had to spend
the whole night in their vehicle. They weren’t too pleased.”
McConnell, however, knows every contour of the southern half of the Serengeti.
He has absorbed much of its wildlife history too, and recounts wryly how rhino
were rediscovered in the park several years ago. “It was thought by the
authorities that we didn’t have any rhino here. But then one day a male
walked here from the Ngorongoro Crater, well over 100km away, because he had
picked up the whiff of some females in oestrus. Incredible sense of smell. He
was spotted and led us to them.” The park now has seven rhino, all of whom
are closely watched and protected, partly so that they do not wander over the
Kenyan border into the Masai Mara.
Thanks, I suspect, to
McConnell’s skill in finding wildlife, modestly dismissed as good luck on
his part, we are treated to a string of excellent sightings, some rare. We
catch a serval cat out in the open for a couple of minutes before it
disappears; we get within ten metres of a honey badger, a largely nocturnal
creature that this time lies flat in the grass, thinking we cannot see it.
“Never been that close before,” muses Colin. “Not sure that
I’d want to — they’re fearless and very vicious. If they attack,
they go straight for your private parts.”
We see a rather
comical, and ultimately unsuccessful, attempt by a young cheetah to climb a
tree. Another morning we spot a female adult cheetah dragging a kill, a
Thomson’s gazelle, under a lone bush whereupon, exhausted, she leaves her
cub of nearly a year the task of breaking through the skin. The cub has no idea
what to do, and only when the mother obliges and begins to chew at the soft
inner thigh of a hind leg can the cub begin his meal. “See how she leaves
the stomach area completely alone,” says Colin. “That’s to stop
any smell wafting downwind which a hyaena could pick up.”
Unlike
the Serengeti, the Selous has few cheetah, but in both reserves we come across
plentiful lion. While one magnificent male, with a thick honey-blond mane that
flaps like a rug around his shoulders, is typical of prime Serengeti specimens,
the Selous males are noted for much less hirsute manes. They have evolved
without them because a long mane would get caught up in the far denser
vegetation of the Selous.
Despite the fact that these two reserves are
at opposite ends of Tanzania, it is possible to get from one to another in a
day, cutting out a time-wasting stay in Dar es Salaam. An early morning flight
with Air Excel took us from Kusini’s own airstrip via Arusha to Dar, where
we connected with Coastal’s daily scheduled service to the Selous Safari
Camp’s strip. The camp’s waterside location enables it to offer more
varied forms of game viewing than the Serengeti, most obviously by boat.
On our numerous forays up the Rufiji River, we encountered elephants
swimming, using their trunks as snorkels. While the numbers of crocodiles and
hippos visible seemed to exceed even those on the Zambezi, the birdlife, with
its 440 species, was no less exceptional.
On a tiger-fishing trip
late one afternoon, as we cast from the banks, Senegal coucals and Water
dikkops maintained a nonstop chorus of calls. With such a backdrop, few
settings could have been more perfect, especially at sunset with its riot of
pinks, reds and oranges.
A major attraction of Selous Safari Camp is
the opportunity to walk in the bush. When Princes Charles, William and Harry
stayed there in 1997, they were all taken on a walking safari. “Don’t
get caught by the black-thorned acacias,” barked our guide, Vonan, a South
African with an encyclopaedic knowledge of trees and wildlife.
“They’re known as ‘wait-a-bit’ as their thorns point both
ways, which means you can’t move if you get stuck.”
From
Vonan we learnt to identify all forms of animal dung and that giraffe are the
only antelope who defecate while walking. On foot, we surprised both a pair of
elephant, swiftly moving downwind of them, and a leopard feeding on a giraffe
(which, judging by the pungency of its smell, had been dead for some time).
Quite different from either the Selous or the Serengeti is Tarangire
National Park in the north of Tanzania. Lacking the celebrity status of the
other two, it is nevertheless a gem within the East African crown. Situated not
far from Arusha, it is reputed to contain some of the largest elephant herds in
Africa. We saw only small groups, but what we did witness in Silale Swamp was a
herd of some 1000 buffalo strung over a kilometre, as well as 300 zebra. The
park is also home to two rare species — Greater kudu and Fringe-eared oryx
— as well as Ashy starlings.
Selous may have a good number of
baobabs dotted around its huge expanse, but Tarangire seems to have forests of
the grand old trees. And many of them are very, very old, dating back to the
first millennium. One particularly famous one, known as Poachers’ Lookout,
has a small man-made entrance that admits you into its cavernous, hollow
interior. With room for half a dozen to sleep, it was used by poachers to avoid
detection by aerial patrol.
Swala, meaning “gazelle” in
Kiswahili, is an ideal place to stay, although it should be rechristened
“elephant”. The venerable beasts all but live in the luxurious tents
there, seduced by the smell of water from the borehole in front of the
mess-tent, from which staff dutifully top up a drinking hole. A resident pride
of lions is never far away, and at night tends to wander between the tents,
trying to extinguish the artificial path lights. Some, though, have burnt their
muzzles in trying to do so.
Such painful experiences do not overly
bother them. On the morning we left, we later found out that a lioness and two
cubs had been lying in some long grass no more than ten metres from our vehicle
assembly point. No one saw them until they got up and left five minutes after
our departure. That is what makes these three parts of Tanzania so special. You
feel assimilated by them.
The Selous, Africa’s largest game
reserve, is home to significant numbers of almost all African mammal species.
It is divided into two unequal sections by the Rufiji River; most visitors go
to the smaller northern section due to ease of access. The roads within the
reserve become impassable after heavy rains and camps close towards the end of
the wet season (April) and reopen in July.
Getting There The reserve
can be reached by road from Dar es Salaam, taking about ten hours on poor
surfaces. All camps have access to an airstrip and flights can be chartered.
Accommodation There are half a dozen privately run camps in the
reserve, all of which arrange game drives, boat safaris and walking safaris:
Sand Rivers – luxurious lodge on the banks of the Rufiji River.
Has a strong reputation for walking safaris, with flycamping if necessary.
Impala Camp – basic budget standing tents overlooking the river.
Stiegler’s Gorge Camp – self-contained cabins in an exclusive
area overlooking the Gorge.
Rufiji River Camp – standing tents
on a bank overlooking the Rufiji.
Mbuyu Camp – luxury
self-contained tents on the river bank, built around a large baobab tree.
Selous Safari Camp – self-contained cabins situated on a hill
overlooking the plains around the lakes; swimming is possible in nearby hot
springs.
Factfile: Selous, Serengeti & Tarangire
The Serengeti is among
Africa’s most famous game reserves, with vast plains and enormous numbers
of animals, most notably the wildebeest which migrate to the Masai Mara between
April and June. There is little permanent water so migration is strongly linked
to rainfall and there is less game here during the dry season.
Getting There The only practical way to get to the Serengeti is in your own
vehicle or with a safari company. The main park headquarters are at Seronera,
which has an airstrip handling charter flights. Precision Air flies between
Arusha and Seronera, usually twice a week. Most vehicles enter at the Naabi
Hill gate to the south-east of the park, 45km from Seronera.
Accommodation There are numerous lodges in the park and its adjacent communal
lands, and seven campsites about 5km from Seronera Lodge, as well as special
campsites at Lobo, Kiwara, Moru Koppies, Lake Ndutu and Naabi Hill. These are
rarely used, so offer relative solitude, but they lack facilities.
Even in the dry season (June-November), Tarangire abounds in game attracted to
the permanent water of the Tarangire River. The park supports similar large
mammals to the Serengeti, but the denser vegetation makes predators such as
lion and leopard harder to see.
Getting There Tarangire lies about
7km off the main Arusha–Dodoma road (tarred as far as the park turnoff).
You will need to join an organised tour or have a private vehicle. The main
gate is in the north-western corner of the park, 5km south-east of Kwa Kuchinia
village.
Accommodation: Tarangire Safari Lodge, the park’s
oldest, overlooks the river and has standing tents and bungalows. Tarangire
Sopa Lodge is high-standard, with luxurious rooms and excellent food.
Oliver’s Camp is a tented camp among the Kikoti Koppjes, specialising in
walking and vehicle safaris. There are also two or three campsites.
When to Go You can visit Tanzania at anytime of the year. However, the rainy
season (November-April) is the best time to see wildlife in the Serengeti
(animals migrate to the Masai Mara in the dry season).
Citizens of
most countries, including Britain, need a visa to visit Tanzania.
