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August Newsletter We have now been at the camp for almost 3 months and it has been a very interesting period for us. In order to work in Tanzania, one has to fall into the groove of the "Tanzanian Way", which is somewhat different to our previous experiences of working in the bush. Anyway, we are beginning to get the hang of it and even managing some Swahili along the way. One of the first phrases you learn is 'pole-pole' which means 'slowly-slowly' which is the general pace of life out here!
As far as the camp is concerned, it seems to have been a great success so far as all the guests who visited us have seemed to be very happy and pleased that they stayed with EMC here in Ruaha. An extract from our guest book which makes us really proud says "In over 50 visits to Africa, this has been the best camp ever!" This wouldn't have been possible without all the staff. The team has been great and obviously has had to work hard to achieve the standards and goals we had set for the camp. It has been good to see everyone's efforts being rewarded by the guests' comments both on departure and once back in their home countries. The game viewing is improving all the time as the dry season takes a stronger grip on the area. The only remaining water sources are the larger rivers, and even they have been reduced to meager trickles. It is because of this very fact that the game is now concentrated in the vicinity of the remaining supply and it is in this area that we are concentrating our game drives. The lion viewing has been exceptional with some guests seeing in excess of 40 different lions during their stay (once in only 4 drives!). Elephants, giraffe, zebra, impala, hippos and crocodiles abound. Some of the more unusual sightings have been of bat-eared foxes, eland and both lesser and greater kudu.
Most nights in the camp we are serenaded by either lion or hyena and on some occasions even both. Last night two male lions were positioned either side of the camp and roared insults at each other all night. Elephant, zebra, giraffe and impala are also frequent visitors to the camp area and we awoke the other morning to find 2 lionesses on the verandah of tent 2. A very inquisitive hyena has been reshaping some of the mess tent furniture but luckily our attempts to barricade it at night have worked so far, and the hyena has moved on. We have also been having a bit of a challenge with all the small mice of various descriptions that enjoy camping as much as we do. However, we have found that they don't like fresh chili (which we smear over anything they have been nibbling) and so are also managing to kept them largely at bay. We (and all the staff) are getting larger by the day thanks (or maybe no thanks) to the fantastic food the chefs are producing. Each night one of the chefs (Dastan, Winston or Godfrey) comes down to announce the menu which only whets the appetite so we are flourishing. It is amazing how the bush telegraph works out here in the absence of any reliable 'normal' communication methods. A letter simply addressed to 'The managers, EMC, Ruaha' found its way to us with no problem at all from Dar-es-Salaam. When it works, a quick sms to Mr Ng'owo in Iringa (who is in the nearest town to us which is 140km away, but a 4.5hour bone-crunching drive) can mean a box of fresh vegetables delivered to the camp the next day - somehow! We have managed to source most things by now but are in need of good chocolate and a hairdresser if anyone can oblige. By the end of November we will have had to move camp which will be an interesting experience to say the least. We aren't sure where we'll be but hopefully it won't be too far from our existing site. Our next newsletter will be able to tell you more… Well, that's about it. We send our regards to all the guests who have been and look forward to welcoming those who will be coming out to Ruaha in the future.
All the best
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