The Tanzam Transcript

Driving yourself across Tanzania on the Tanzam highway to Dar es Salaam on the East Coast, all 921 km of it, is not a decision to make lightly. Although the route is generally good by East African standards, your attention is really put to the test. Potholes are a hindrance to making good time and present a real danger if not carefully avoided, not to mention the cargo trucks that have jack-knifed, blown tyres or the drivers have just run them off the road from fatigue or inexperience.

Thankfully there are a few interesting places to stop along the way. One of these is Ruaha National Park, in the heart of Tanzania. Arguably less famous than the Serengeti and Kilimanjaro National Parks also located in Tanzania, Ruaha is the largest and most populated with wildlife but the least visited by international tourists because it is off the beaten track to the more well-known parks located near it’s boarders with other destination countries.

After taking the turn-off at Iringa and driving for what seems like an eternity into tundra that looks identical in every direction, we begin to climb a rocky mountain. Our ascent is careful but eventually we arrive at the hot and surprisingly windy lodge at the top of the hill face.

The building is a wood and thatched roof construction, with a balcony that wraps right around the front of the lodge and gives over the landscape below from a dizzying height. The baobab trees here are so numerous that they are impossible to count, but it is time to apply the mosquito repellent and move to the mezzanine for a ‘sundowner' or 3.

We find out from our hosts that there are group safaris that leave just be dawn and even a night one that leaves after dinner but we prefer an early night and to make out own way at first light.
Being your own guide can really pay off- close encounters can be had with hippo, giraffe and zebra.

Other more intense moments involved a protective mother elephant, or the ultimate- stumbling upon a male lion dozing on the roadside, and just beyond the scrub-the silhouettes of a lioness and her baby cubs bouncing around. Just make sure you read and follow the information about how (not) to handle certain animals in case of danger.

If the prospect of coming face to face with an angry elephant or hissing crocodile is too much to bear, you can always pay $20 at the ranger headquarters for a guide who will spend the whole day with you and can radio around the park to find out where the animal action is.