Ruaha National Park - Day 4
Last full day in Tanzania and last day of safari drives. The morning drive was fairly quiet. The afternoon drive was a bit more exciting with a cheetah spotting and a fantastic encounter with several herds of elephants.
In the afternoon while we were watching the cheetah, one of the jeeps from another camp blew a tire. So the guide/driver pulled the jeep next to a tree and got out to change the tire. This would have been a really dangerous move if there had been lions around -- fortunately there hasn't been a documented case where a cheetah has killed a human.
My time in Tanzania has been fantastic -- even better than I thought it would be. If I were to do it again, I would make some minor tweaks to my itinerary -- but overall it was great. I'm really glad that I did both the Northern & Southern circuits.
If you ever do a trip like this -- my recommendations for "don't miss" national parks: Serengeti, Ruaha, and Tarangire (ok -- you could probably skip Tarangire -- but I loved it!).
Also, the airports in Tanzania are really basic. I'm really glad that I was booked into a "day hotel" in Dar es Salaam (I arrived in the afternoon and my flight wasn't until 10:30pm) -- it would have been pretty horrible to have spent all that time at the airport.
List of animals that I encountered at Ruaha National Park (there were some birds and one snake that I couldn't identify 👀):
In the afternoon while we were watching the cheetah, one of the jeeps from another camp blew a tire. So the guide/driver pulled the jeep next to a tree and got out to change the tire. This would have been a really dangerous move if there had been lions around -- fortunately there hasn't been a documented case where a cheetah has killed a human.
My time in Tanzania has been fantastic -- even better than I thought it would be. If I were to do it again, I would make some minor tweaks to my itinerary -- but overall it was great. I'm really glad that I did both the Northern & Southern circuits.
If you ever do a trip like this -- my recommendations for "don't miss" national parks: Serengeti, Ruaha, and Tarangire (ok -- you could probably skip Tarangire -- but I loved it!).
Also, the airports in Tanzania are really basic. I'm really glad that I was booked into a "day hotel" in Dar es Salaam (I arrived in the afternoon and my flight wasn't until 10:30pm) -- it would have been pretty horrible to have spent all that time at the airport.
Video alerts: none!
List of animals that I encountered at Ruaha National Park (there were some birds and one snake that I couldn't identify 👀):
- African fish eagle
- Agama agama
- Bare-faced go-away-bird
- Black-backed jackal
- Buff-crested bustard
- Cape buffalo
- Cheetah
- Dik-dik
- Elephant
- Giraffe
- Greater kudu
- Hamerkop
- Helmeted guineafowl
- Hippopotamus
- Holub's golden weaver
- Impala
- Leopard
- Lesser kudu
- Lilac-breasted roller
- Lion
- Long-crested eagle
- Martial eagle
- Nile crocodile
- Ostrich
- Pearl-spotted owlet
- Pied kingfisher
- Rock Hyrax
- Ruaha red-billed hornbill
- Saddle-billed stork
- Steppe buzzard
- Stierling's woodpecker
- Tawny eagle
- Vervet monkey
- Von der Decken's hornbill
- Warthog
- Waterbuck
- White-bellied bustard
- Verreaux's eagle-owl
- Yellow-billed stork
- Yellow baboon
- Zebra

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