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Published: July 19th 2005
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One Unhappy Mama
I think we got a little too close for comfort as the Mama Elephant mock charged our car, complete with sound effects. Good work Jessica with the photo duty... According to one of Jessica’s colleagues, you can just show up at Ubungo bus station and hop on any number of buses heading in the
Iringa direction- easy, no problem. Following this advice, we made it to the crazy chaos that is Ubungo just after 7:30am. Now being accosted by the aggressive touts is no fun on any given day, but becomes especially unpleasant when they haul you around to the various bus counters and in the end, you have nothing to show for it. After close to half an hour of bouncing from counter to counter, we were rapidly losing hope of finding any vehicle even remotely heading towards Iringa when we come across a random guy sitting around who showed us to the minibus that was leaving for Iringa
sasa hizi (immediately). After haggling on the price we settled in for the 7 hour journey and consigned ourselves to the fact that “immediately” involved waiting for an unspecified length of time at at least 2 different locations, all for unknown purposes.
Surprisingly, the bus ride was more enjoyable than previous experiences. I only had one smelly man that sat on me (yes, literally - he sat on bag,
bag sat on me) for a few hours until I tired of him and his smell and politely gave him a death glare that made him slide off onto the floor. At any rate, we made it to an unmarked bus station and after some discussion, decided it was Iringa, and disembarked. We had arranged to meet with Ignatius, one of Jessica’s colleagues from NOLA at Iringa. He showed us around the town and found us a place to stay (at a college dorm-like setting run by nuns) for a mere 3500Tsh/night (with HOT water too!). Ignatius was amusing because he had decided that Jimmy, an American intern who works with me at LHRC, was not only to be named
“this” but was also an inconvenience for two girls to travel with (luckily the dorms separate between male and female).
Iringa is in the southern highlands of Tanzania, surrounded by the Udzungwa Mountains, and has a very cool climate (chilly in fact). The mountains are an earthy red/orange colour and dotted with many large pale coloured boulders. The town itself has retained some of its German roots as the streets are much more organized and intersections might even be
"The Lion Sleeps Tonight..."
Well, it was afternoon, and not in a jungle, but this lion was definitely not going anywhere anytime soon. perpendicular? We breakfasted at Hasty-Tasty Too where I found
Girl Guide Cookies - was very exciting! But alas, were rather stale…
Alex was due to arrive in Iringa the following morning and after establishing that no, there was no petrol station anywhere near Ruaha National Park, we spent the morning finding and filling jerry cans in order to avoid the unpleasant situation of being stranded in the middle of nowhere with wild animals. Before setting off, we climbed up the gynormous Galilongo rock, which had great views of Iringa, and was where this chief meditated in order to discover when the Germans would attack.
We arrived in
Ruaha National Park safely (despite some scaring driving on my part - it’s hard driving on the wrong side of the road!) just before the sunset and had time to do a mini game drive. We encountered a large herd of elephants crossing the river and were so close that the mama elephant got aggressive and mock-charged us. It was a little scary but made less so because we were on top of a 2 metre ridge and the elephants were below… very impressive sight though! Ruaha is known for its
I wonder where the smoke is coming from?
Not the brightest idea to seek out the source of the smoke... yup, those flames are hot alright. large population of elephants and it certainly did not disappoint!
Despite bringing tent and sleeping bags, we opted to stay in the government-run bandas inside the park. While not quite as rustic as camping, we were still one with nature on our stumbling walks to the outhouse, shining our torch in the direction of any weird noises… After dining on the vast array of yummy goodies that Alex had brought (we contributed some stale peanut butter and honey sandwiches), we gathered around the bonfire and star-gazed. It’s amazing out there - have never seen so many stars before!
The next day, I was awoken by the flash of Jessica’s camera at a very inhumane hour…… but the early morning was worth it when we saw the beautiful sunrise. The skies here are amazing, no matter what time of the day (well, except when it’s raining). During the rest of the morning, we watched all the animals exercising: impalas wrestling then competing to see who could jump the highest, giraffes galloping in slow-motion, fish eagles soaring from tree to tree and warthogs chasing after each other. We were also mock-charged by
another unhappy Mama Elephant and found one lone
Goodbye Mikumi
And so another safari comes to an end... male lion lazing under tree. Note that it took all our combined efforts to find this elusive lion -
“I think that’s an ear?” Leaving behind the elephants and the one lion, we headed back to Iringa to make a quick pit-stop to refuel the car and our stomachs. I laughed when the man at the local restaurant tried to give me my take-away avocado shake in a plastic bag (triple-bagged for safety) - complete with straws. Mental note= take-out cups do not exist in TZ. Declining the inevitable disaster of bagged liquids in moving cars, Alex deftly and safely maneuvered his way through the winding dark roads to Mikumi, where we stayed at Genesis Motel and Snake Park (don’t ask - I didn’t see any snakes…).
The next morning we headed to
Mikumi National Park with high hopes of seeing more big cats. I was (un)pleasantly amused when the ranger at the gate said,
“you, I thought might be a child.” Yes, it is all well and good to look youthful, but when the cut-off for a “child” is 12, it’s not a compliment. That, and we were traveling with Jimmy, who is
19. Incidentally, the
Ubungo Chaos
"Rafiki, rafiki... Bagamoyo? Arusha? Lushoto? Morogoro? I take you, you come with me, I know where..." age gap was exemplified by Jimmy’s lack of recognition of such songs as
“Total Eclipse of the Heart”,
”Piano Man” and
“When Doves Cry.” At any rate, the morning found us watching more elephants and the pool inhabited by one croc and one hippo. About mid-morning, I was starting to feel a little queasy and alas, had the unfortunate pleasure of re-experiencing breakfast of boiled eggs and toast in the middle of the national park. I think I am officially off of boiled eggs now…… yuck.
During that weekend, the rangers were burning off the old grass to stimulate new growth, which might explain the lack of animals? In search of the elusive cats, we drove through almost all of the roads through the park. Spotting one new road we had not yet explored, we drove up and encountered heavy smoke. Stopping to take a picture, we didn’t think twice and headed straight into the heart of the smoke. As the visibility started to decrease rapidly, and the side of the road filled with flames, we still ventured forward, confident that it would clear within a few metres. Finally the intense heat and the smoke filling the car
Back in College?
Our little dorm room at Dr. Amon Nsekela Bankers Academy. instigated the need to get out of the area - some quick maneuvering to shift Jimmy from the driver’s seat and Alex had us back into blue clear skies and air. Looking back, we questioned our judgment and thanked our good fortune that our tires and/or fuel tank did not explode. Well…… let me clarify - the three of them were extremely worried/stressed by the situation but the thoughts going through my head at the time were: (1)
“I’m glad I got rid of breakfast earlier;” and (2)
“We should really take a picture of the flames outside the window.” Leaving Mikumi for a late lunch in
Morogoro, we concluded that if we were big cats, we probably wouldn’t stick around the burnt grassland either.
Safari Tip = it is not advisable to drive into downwind smoke.
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tara
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hey
those pics r real gud of all the animals....i live there!! its a great place!! eva been to mufindi!?!