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Communing with chimps
Dean Polley • wildlife photographer
Greystoke Mahale Camp, nestled on the eastern shores of Lake Tanganyika, is unique. The main dining
area, with its soaring prow-like wings of thatch, is on the beach overlooking the lake, while the magnificent
Mahale Mountains provide an incredible backdrop. These mountains are home to groups of chimpanzees
which, as the end of the dry season approaches in October, spend most of their time on the lower slopes. Accustomed to human presence,
they allowed us to sit peacefully among them. Viewing groups were limited to six people for just one hour a day and a 10-metre distance
had to be maintained at all times, although on occasion the chimps literally brushed past us on the forest paths.
Rushin’ to Arusha
Cheryl-Samantha Owen • marine biologist, photojournalist and
contributor to Africa Geographic
The town of Arusha is familiar to most Tanzanian travellers, but its
national park is one of the country’s often-overlooked gems. Home
to Mount Meru (which was taller than Kilimanjaro before it blew
its top), the park’s variety of habitats make it rewarding to explore
in a short time. Since my first journey into its hauntingly beautiful
afro-montane forest, where old man’s beard (a hairy lichen) and
tree ferns embellish the trees and black-and-white colobus monkeys
dance through the canopy like spirits, I have been drawn back time
and again. The dainty suni antelope and Harvey’s duiker, two very special
residents, occasionally appear, while the Hartlaub’s turaco and bar-tailed and
Narina trogons flash by in their coloured regalia. Below, standing out from the
rolling grasslands like disco lights on the jungle floor, are the seven ‘Momela’
lakes. Ranging from emerald green to turquoise, their alkaline waters are
jam-packed with algae and are a haven for flamingos. The lakes’ edges are
also lined with giraffes – one evening, they were so relaxed I could get close
enough to see the bumps on their tongues. Watching these Dr Seuss-esque
creatures chewing nonchalantly on thorny acacia branches makes for a
comic end to a day’s safari. (Oh, and if you’re looking for a local operator, you
can’t beat www.maps-edge.com)
A rising star
Tim Jackson • science editor, Africa
Geographic
Saadani is one of Tanzania’s most
recent national parks and the only
one that fronts onto the Indian
Ocean. As the crow flies it’s pretty
close to Dar es Salaam, and you
can connect by light aircraft (or dhow!) to Zanzibar and the northern
circuit. It’s a great coastal alternative to the hustle of Zanzibar, but
be warned: you’ll be swapping the bright lights and music of the
island for the light of the moon and the sound of the sea. You can
camp or stay at the Tanzania National Parks-run guest cottage, while
Saadani Safari Lodge offers some pretty upmarket accommodation
that’s popular with both the Dar es Salaam set and overseas visitors.
It’s early days for the park, which is still off the radar, but the unique
mix of river, beach and bush set it apart from many of Tanzania’s
better-known haunts.
Walking with wildebeest
Jean du Plessis • star of Ultimate Africa Game Rangers, a TV
series taking viewers behind the scenes of conservation
The Serengeti National Park has always been one of my favour-
ite wild places. Yes, there are those critics who believe that the
park is overrun by tourists and, although
this might be true for the Seronera
Valley section, only 20 per cent of this
14 700-square-kilometre park is utilised.
The remainder is completely wild, with no
roads and no permanent human presence.
It is here that Wayo Africa operates some
of the most remote walking safaris on the
continent. My preferred route traces the
banks of the Mara River at the time when
thousands of wildebeest are preparing to
cross its waters.
Secret south
Tim Davenport • country director for the Wildlife Conser-
vation Society and discoverer of the kipunji
The remote south-west will always be my favourite part
of Tanzania. It’s an enigmatic area of natural beauty,
fascinating cultures and astonishing di-
versity, both in its habitats and its wildlife.
Rarely explored by outsiders, it is also full
of surprises. Framed by the north of Lake
Nyasa (Malawi) and the south of Lake
Tanganyika, there is nowhere else that of-
fers flower-strewn plateaux such as Kitulo
and Ufipa; globally significant montane
forests like those on Mount Rungwe, with
an abundance of endemic species; deep
riverine gorges with chimpanzees, such
as Tembwa; and 3 000-metre peaks and
steep-sided crater lakes like Ngozi (left), punctuating
volcanic landscapes. Unbeatable.
MY TANZANIASome of Africa Geographic’s contributors, collaborators and
readers share their favourite getaways in this extraordinary country.

dean Polley
jean du plessis
tim jackson
tim davenport
Cheryl-samantha Owen

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The open secret
Robert J. Ross • photographer and author, whose book
about the Selous is currently in production
Proclaimed in 1896 and bigger than Switzerland, the
Selous Game Reserve in southern Tanzania is Africa’s
oldest and largest protected area. I have spent much
of the past two years photographing diverse corners of
this amazing place, where a fortunate few camera-laden
tourists visit well-appointed camps along the Rufiji and
Ruaha rivers in the north and big-game hunters test their
skill to the south. Despite fierce fighting on the plains
below the Beho Beho Hills between German and British
forces during World War I and out-of-control poaching
during the 1970s and 1980s, the Selous remains one
of Africa’s largest undisturbed ecosystems. It teems with
life, including tens of thousands of elephants and nearly
half of all of the remaining free-ranging African wild dogs
(not to mention the occasional photographer – that’s me
chilling in the rock pool).
Of monkeys, mangroves and man
Katarzyna Nowak • conservation scientist, who spent two years on Uzi Island and is
currently co-ordinating the Udzungwa Elephant Project
Cut off from the main island of Unguja by a three-kilometre isthmus of mangrove swamp,
Uzi Island is the unspoilt face of the Zanzibar archipelago. Together with the adjacent
and uninhabited Vundwe Island, Uzi boasts the region’s second-largest population of
Zanzibar red colobus. Behaviourally distinct from their cousins on Unguja (pictured here),
these colobus rely almost exclusively on mangrove swamps to survive – they clamber
along prop roots, feed on tough and salty leaves, and heed to the tides. To counter their
salt intake, they must search daily for fresh water and supplement their diet with the
succulent leaves from the island’s coral rag forest thicket. Sadly, the forest is disappear-
ing at an alarming rate, destined for restaurants in Stone Town where it is used as fuel
wood. Awareness of Uzi’s unique habitat matrix, its people and wildlife is needed, so I
hope you visit these off-the-beaten-track islands.
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Hurrah for Ruaha
Simon Espley • director of Africa Geographic Holdings
Ruaha National Park is very special. In dry country, with lots of huge majestic
elephant-scarred baobabs and rocky koppies, it straddles a transition zone between
southern and East Africa, so you can expect to see animals you would find down
south, plus eastern species like Maasai giraffe, Kirk’s dik-dik (left), lesser kudu and
Defassa waterbuck. This holds true for birds as well. Large flocks of noisy yellow-
collared lovebirds rocketing overhead are a special sight and the superb starlings
are just that. The white-headed buffalo-weaver cuts a dashing figure
with its conspicuous blood-red bottom and the white-bellied go-away-
bird is rather handsome compared to its drab southern cousin, the
grey go-away-bird. Expect to see D’Arnaud’s barbet, ashy starling,
western violet-backed sunbird, black-faced sandgrouse and many
other avian jewels.
robert j. ross
www.gregdutoit.com
phyllis lee