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Understanding Geographic Location of Accommodations in Ruaha
Ruaha National Park - Contents Table
Whether a visitor decides to drive or fly to the Ruaha National Park, there are four main accommodations they have an option of staying at, namely: Mwagusi Safari Camp located on the banks of Mwagusi Sand River, Jongomero Tented Camp located in Jongomeru overlooking a sand river, Mdonyo Old River Camp located in the remote Mdonya Sand River and Ruaha River Lodge literally on the Ruaha River. All these accommodation are located in their own strategic locations focusing on the different aspects they wish to represent and promote. With this having said, a lot of the wild and bird life watching is done on the southern and eastern section of the Ruaha National Park because of the attraction to the Ruaha River.
An AfricanMecca customer care specialist can help you plan your specialized program with ease because of our in depth knowledge and personal visits to these accommodations.
With these accommodations being located in their specific sections of the park, AfricanMecca thought it would be beneficial for guests to learn about the locations and characteristics they bring forth to our guests.
Ruaha River Lodge Within The Mwayangi and Msembe Vicinity
Upon entering Ruaha National Park from Iringa town, a superb hilltop view greets you. The striking mix of dark rocky-river underneath the new designed bridge gives you the opportunity to view crocodiles, hippos and bird life. After settling the park payments, one enters the area closest to the Ruaha River Lodge, some few kilometers down to the left called Mwanyangi. As you follow the road heading down to the lodge, you pass some rapids caused by the underlying terrain of the riverbed. These rapids are known as Nyamakuyu Rapids, pronounced Nya-mah-ku-yu. If AfricanMecca guests are visiting Ruaha during the dry season, which is also the preferable period for visit, the rapids may not be noticed due to low levels of water.
The area on the opposite side, which runs down stream from the Ruaha River Lodge is called Msembe, which has wonderful viewing points. The vegetation in this section of Ruaha has mixed plains savannah grass, tall palm trees growing near the river with a beautiful horizontal landscape, and a mix of thorny trees in between. Heading further towards the Msembe area, you can see the park headquarters, which handles all the administrative and logistics work for Ruaha National Park. Here you can meet with the Tanapa (Tanzania National Parks) armed rangers or step in to speak to the local administrators. The park headquarters also has airstrips where some of light aircrafts from Arusha and Dar es Salaams arrive and depart.
This area of Ruaha National Park ascertains variety of animal and bird species that include: Defassa Waterbuck, Kudus, Wild dogs, Lions, Elephants, Hippos, Von Der Decks and Batleur Eagles. It was in this section of the Ruaha where we had a unique opportunity to see a huge Batleur Eagle on the path of black cotton tracks. At Ruaha River Lodge, we had the opportunity to see an elephant that had been getting personal with the permanent structures and walked right to us. We urge our guests not to treat any elephant or wildlife for that matter as harmless. Wildlife you encounter in Tanzania National Parks are wild and untamed.
Jongomero Camp Within Jongomeru Vicinity
From the Mwanyungi taking the road straight down to the left for 35 kilometers displays a wonderfully hilly landscape, to the left of which you can watch the water from the Ruaha create a collage of colors: lush green, dust brown and dark brown among the bushy acacia backdrops where the buffalos, elephants, and giraffes are commonly seen. The road to Jongomero Camp creates a superb opportunity to view the African Baobab tree found along the many locations along the way. The Baobab is a famous locally known tree because of what locals associate them with. From a young age, we would hear myths about ghosts and spirits living in the tree thus the reason for a hollow trunk. We look back to our child days and laugh about these stories considering the advantage of the Baobab from an ecological perspective. The Baobab has provided humans and animals with the mabuyu seeds that are enclosed in a velvet green-brown pod. The tree provides good cover for wildlife, bats that frequent the tree at night and trunks that holds water for use during dry season. As you drive closer to path marked Jongomero airstrip, a left turning leads you to the beautiful camp overlooking a sand river.
Mdonyo Old River Camp Within Mdonyo Sand River Vicinity
The Road to Mdonyo Old River needs to be enjoyed with a game drive. As you head down the park tracks, the vegetation begins to turn from grassland plains to a mixture of patchy grass, bush thicket, acacia, tamarind, and tall sausage trees. The tracks that run parallel to the Mdonyo Sand River make it hidden from the view by the trees and bushes. On this path we had the opportunity to document plenty of elephants working (eating) on the many tree barks and Maasai giraffes having their share from the tall tree leaves. Continuing the scenic drive leads you right into Mdonyo Old River overlooking the plains and the forest region, with a small stream that attracted lions while we were there.
Mwagusi Safari Camp Within Mwagusi Sand River Vicinity
The drive to Mwagusi Sand River is superb mixed terrain. In the dry season, the hills seem to reflect a perfect hue along with the mixed vegetation of tall palm trees, small short bushes and savannah grass when trekking down hill. All in all, the feeling must resonate accurately in the whole area of Mwagusi especially with the opportunity to cross the white sandy dry riverbed by vehicle. At a distance we could see a herd of elephants on the riverbed and along the banks of the Mwagusi; many wildlife have also been documented. After crossing the bank heading to Mwagusi Safari Camp, we startled a huge heard of buffalos that created a sandstorm as they trampled hard on the dry earth of the Ruaha, one of who stopped midway and gave a stare as if saying "I am alone and very dangerous." At that point we turned off our vehicle and waited for a safe passage through when the buffalo felt it was ready to move on.
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