June is traditionally the start of the safari season in southern Tanzania so this week my partner and I took the opportunity to visit Ruaha while we still have the park literally to ourselves.
Now the largest park in Tanzania, Ruaha is my personal favourite escape from Dar es Salaam.
We were camping at the private campsite we have been using for several years and on the first night around the fire the conversation drifted to what we find important in making the whole safari experience so special and why we are continuously drawn to areas like Ruaha and Selous.
We decided that our safaris are based upon personal indulgence, we like our creature comforts such as a bed and a shower. Good food is essential as is cold beer.
But the most important factor is the environment itself and the creatures that inhabit the areas which we visit. The best way to experience this is obviously to pitch the camp in areas of outstanding natural beauty and as close as possible to wildlife. And at that point, as if on queue, the nights’ silence was broken by the call of a male lion calling his pride reverberating from the stone massif opposite the campsite. We smiled!
It is obvious from the vast choice of safari accommodation available in Tanzania that not everyone would share my view that to truly appreciate your surroundings you should separate yourself from carnivores with a piece of canvas and netting.
However do visitors who stay in an air conditioned hotel and sit down to a buffet dinner with 200 strangers in an enclosed dining room take home the same feelings as a few friends sitting around a table under a vast night sky listening to the sounds of the bush?
To be taken from the day to day safety of existence in the modern world and be placed in the midst of a wilderness with wild animals outside your tent is undoubtedly a life altering experience for anyone and takes some adapting to.
But surely one of the draw cards of Africa is removing yourself from home and placing yourself in a totally different environment then discovering how you will react to new situations. Camping in the wilderness offers such opportunities and I would even dare to call some evenings I have experienced camping out in Selous and Ruaha as close to holistic as can be.
Once we had moved on to the topic of holistic experiences we discussed the increasing number of safari lodges that are offering new products to set themselves apart from the competition. I fully support new initiatives to expand beyond traditional game drives – for example walking safari routes, boat safaris, educational safaris for children or even astonomy sessions but the latest fad is for me a step too far.
Safari spas – really what is the point?
I’m not being funny but Tanzania has some of the most beautiful untouched coast in Africa and the beaches of Zanzibar, Pemba and Mafia islands are idyllic. Most visitors to Tanzania quite rightly combine some time on safari and some time at the beach.
Given the option of lying on a beach all day toasting myself or finding some alternative way to pass the day I will grudgingly admit that a spa session is as good as any other way to relax. And let’s face it how many hotels at the coast/the islands don’t have a spa these days since that particular fad is now de rigueur at most beach hotels.
But in the bush? For most people there is a limited amount of time to be spent on safari and if you have traveled such a long way to visit unique wildlife parks it surely makes sense to spend as much time as possible trying to gain an appreciation of the different environments and the animal and birdlife which will only be found in Africa.
I realize that gaining an holistic experience means different things for different people but surely the Tanzanian national parks offer enough opportunities for tranquility without the need to stick a load of spas in the middle of them.
Try watching the movement of a giraffe’s legs in motion, a baby elephant playing in water, the orange full moon rising over Lake Manze in Selous, the tension of a lioness about to uncoil as she starts a hunt, a fish eagle swooping down and plucking a fish from the water, the nervous quiver of an impala’s haunches, the evening sun turning a baobab tree pink ……. Every day brings something fresh, natural and unique.
Compare this with a few hot stones on your back followed by a herbal enema whilst listening to some tantric chanting.
As the night wore to a close we moved up a notch and reached the pinnacle of safari marketing gone mad – the plastic surgery safari.
You can probably guess my real opinion on this but my only word of advice if you do feel the need to enlarge your breasts whilst game viewing is to do the safari first.
Or pack a good sports bra.
For more information on natural wildlife safaris in southern Tanzania view –
www.authentictanzania.com
