A morning visitor

Rob and I were having tea yesterday afternoon at about 5 pm, a reed buck who was happily grazing near by suddenly gave a very loud alarm whistle,  we knew something was up so I dashed up to the tent platform to get a look, I needn't have, I would have seen here just as well form below, the lioness was sauntering along the road to my tent, she and I were in full view of each other only 15 m apart!    The giraffe and zebra also close by all looked to watch as she sauntered along not looking left or right, she was on a mission to some place else.

Everyone resumed their activities once she was out of sight!  Note how well she blend sin with the grass.

A little later on I was walking over to the shower  which is a short distance from the tents, I was still wondering where the big old female lioness had gone so was looking out for her. I heard a crunching sound not far off, so cast my gaze over to see Venus, our beautiful lioness who is frequently around camp coming along towards where I was, she hadn't seen me.  I dashed away behind the tent and softly called Rob,  we jumped onto the Kitchen platform to get a better look.  The old female that had gone by earlier was Venus' mother.  We watched as Venus walked into full view and were amazed and delighted to see she had 3 little cubs in tow!

Rob had his camera so began taking photos, this alerted them to our presence, Venus knows us well, she merely looked at us like a proud
Mum' showing off her babies,  but the cubs were first fascinated and then 2 took fright and dashed off into the long grass. The third, who stood close to Mums side looked at Mum for assurance,  but then he too followed his siblings off into the long grass where they sat completely hidden from view.  Venus wasted no time with her  deep but soft 'moo'  telling them that all was fine, and she continued on her way, the cubs did exactly what they were told and came scampering out of the long grass and ran playfully after Mum bouncing and hopping over every thing they could find, making  every step into an exciting game!

With a row of little tails happily  flopping about any which way  they  headed off, soon to be lost from view.

The sun was setting on another perfect day in Ruaha

Flowers, Colours and General News from Ruaha.

Greetings from Sue in Ruaha! It has been a while since I wrote, we have been enjoying camp life and getting back into our routine after being away in Ireland from mid February to mid March.

April is a fabulous month in Ruaha, the colours, weather, and general scene is very beautiful.  It is not the best month for game viewing as animals are still spread out after the rains, but there is plenty enough to enjoy.  Rob and I  spent a couple of days in the Ruaha Valley area of the park some 120 km from our camp and very different vegetation.  It was wonderful,  and as for some reason there are few visitors at this time, so we had the whole park to ourselves.! Which was a real privilage!   

I have put together a few photos of our time down there, the captions below each pic will explain the scene!

Giraffes snoozing in the afternoon shade.

A Beautiful sunbird  collecting the nectar from a Leonotis bloom right by our banda.

Scenic  family group of elephants as they float through the grass after drinking at the river. 

  Little bee eater  perching for me, I couldnt resist taking his photo!. 

More Birds -  Golden backed weavers  have a colony of nests on the river

 A  peaceful scene along the River, I love the Baobabs in leaf and the even looking grass enhances the pastoral quality of the park 

Kudu with her baby who is fascinated by the Ox pecker bird on 'mum's' back

 Hibiscus  yellow, these large, bright flowers always capture my attention.

Another Hibiscus, deep purple and like velvet to touch and look at.  Stunning!

These very unusual flowers are called Strophanthus, this shrub is used medicinally all over Africa, it has pretty toxic qualities so one doesnt mess around with it! 

70th Birthday, Ruaha Chat Accepted, TZ and Malawi Travels

 

 

We thought you may be interested to hear that Rob is going to be at the Dallas Safari Club on the 7th January 2010 for a few days, and at the Houston Safari club the following week-end. He hopes to catch up with you then but in the mean time heres what he has been up to.

 

 

Rob has been doing a lot of traveling over the past few months, in June we went up to Kenya to celebrate Robs 70th birthday.  We had a marvelous trip  organized by Mark and Kerry, Rob was able to spend time with his 4 grandchildren, Angus, Toby, Rufous and Daisy. We had a memorable time in many lovely locations including the Aberdare National Park, Kerry and Jamies Ranch, in Laikipia and time in Nairobi with Mark and Tones in their beautiful home.

 

 

Rob, whose other passion in life is birds, has been working on the bird list for Ruaha Park for many years, and is now writing the annotated list, which will be a very valuable asset for the Park. This is a time consuming job, but it is now nearing completion. We were also delighted that an unknown bird that Rob and I discovered some 7 years ago here in Ruaha has finally been accepted as a new species, we are delighted to call it the Ruaha Chat. This is the second new species we have found here. 

 

 

In September, we went on a very interesting safari to central Tanzania with some friends, this was ostensibly a ‘birding’ safari as the area encompasses some large mountains called the Rubehos which is one of the dividing lines between eastern and western species.  This was new country for us, not only did we find many interesting birds, but we stayed in some old historical towns, in original Mission houses built in the very early 1900s.

 

 

In October, Rob and I went on several safaris within the park, not only confirming bird species for the park list but  looking at the plants and vegetation as well, as I am writing a book on the flora of Ruaha. Ruaha is a huge park at 22,220 sq km,  (roughly the same size as Switzerland), only a quarter of it is used by tourists the rest is totally untouched.  The Park is then further surrounded by Game Reserves, so the total ecosystem is well over 50,000 sq km with very varied vegetation and habitat. It is a fascinating area, sitting on the convergence zone of northern and southern species of both flora and fauna. We never tire of exploring this vast untouched wilderness.

 

 

At the end of October Rob drove up to Nairobi, which is a 4 day drive from our camp, he had things to organize there before heading off to Italy to work at the foundry. He had a productive time working on waxes and a new lioness piece. He flew back via Nairobi again, and spent time with Mark, Kerry and the grandchildren before embarking on the 4 day drive back to camp. He was glad to be back in Ruaha after the long 5 week trip.

 

 

On the 28th November, we went on another safari with our friends, Liz and Jobst De Leyser,  this time up to the Livingstone Mountain area north of Lake Malawi. We stayed with an old friend of Robs, David Doig, who lives on a wonderful farm which is at 9,000ft, with magnificent views and amazing wild flowers. We then went along the Poroto Mountains, and dropped down to almost sea level to Lake Nyasa (Malawi).  Here we stayed in a lovely guest house right on the ‘beach’  and were able to watch the local fishermen out in their dug-out canoes, and enjoy a general ‘coastal’ feel despite being thousands of miles inland. We returned along the Tanzania/Malawi boarder road which was extremely steep country, with massive drops to the deep valleys below. It was a little used road and due to very heavy rain the night before we were lucky to get through, but Rob put his expert ‘safari rally’ driving techniques to good use and we managed to sail through the very, sticky, tricky sections without mishap! 

 

 

We will return to camp for the next few weeks until Rob leaves again to go to his exhibits in Texas in the new Year.