We departed Iringa at 9 a.m. for the four-hour journey to Ruaha National Park. Three hours of our trip were on rough gravel roads, but this didn't suppress our excitement as we entered the park with early sightings of giraffes, impala, baboons, and greater kudu.
We were able to see some of the skulls of the animals that are found in the park. The size of the animal skulls, especially elephant, gave us a humbling sense to the massive animals found in this region.
Within an hour of entering the park, we arrived at Mwagusi Camp, where we would be staying for the next two nights.
We ate a tamo sana ("delicious") lunch to give us energy for the afternoon safari. During lunch, however, it began to rain. We hurried to our bandas (huts used as rooms) and were impressed by the high quality of the accommodations.
We split up into three safari vehicles to begin our first safari at 4 p.m. Returning to the camp at dark, we all ate dinner together and gathered around the bonfire to play and sing some music.
The next morning, we left at 6:30 a.m. for our morning safari. Our safari experiences were one of a kind. Some highlights include eating breakfast in the bush with everyone and spotting a wide variety of large and small animals. These animals included the classic elephant, giraffe, zebra, impala, lion, hippo, and baboon as well as species such as hyrax, jackal, ostrich, and the world's smallest antelope, called "dik-dik."
The final highlight of the morning safari was seeing a pride of lions stalking, taking down, and eating an impala - a very rare event. It became more and more exciting as the lions picked up their activity levels to hunt the impala. The lions ate the impala in less than 10 minutes!
We can't wait to see what is in store for the next trips.
