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!