Ruaha rainy season visit: April 2014 post 1 (A LOT of photos to show you!)

That bumpy dirt road again! Made more hazardous in some places after the rains though...

I loved Ruaha the first time we visited in September, and not only because of the luxury tented camp we stayed in but because the surroundings were so spectacular, and I didn't think it could get any better. Thanks to Sjak, Joke, and Bart I visited again during the rainy season, and I was absolutely astounded by the breath-taking beauty of Ruaha. The flowers, the plants, the trees: the whole scenery was just beautiful and lush; full of life, and we were still able to see plenty of animals despite the huge amount of foliage everywhere.

(These first photos to be accredited to Bart and Sjak van der Weegen, thanks guys.)

This time we stayed in the 'new', government-owned bandas, with a restaurant nearby cooking local food (rice, ugali, beans, chicken, chips....). Although there was a kitchen in the banda, it was unfurnished, so we were glad we had taken the kettle, mugs, tea, coffee etc as well as our own picnics for during the day. It was a nice place to stay: the bathrooms were en suite (setting these bandas apart from the 'old' bandas), there was a comfortable seating area, kitchen with sink so you could at least rinse out your mugs, and of course very importantly mosquito nets over the beds. Although we were in the park and had a lovely view out of the glass back door and windows, we didn't see any animals visiting us, unfortunately (although they may well have done of course, very quietly!).

This is the view from the banda: