The magnificent Mwagusi River, 

back in camp early this year!

2 Months earlier than last year...

Only a fool tests the depth of water with both legs.

Water towers of the Savannah

290 million years ago, with the breaking up of Gondwanaland, the Indian ocean shelf forced its way underneath the African continental shelf. With this unrelenting pressure, new mountain ranges were forced upwards and between 280 and 190 million years ago the Eastern Arc Mountains were formed. These 13 mountains ranged from Taita mountains in Kenya to the Southern Highlands of Tanzania.

The Eastern arc forests are the oldest forests on the continent of Africa. They have provided a stable refuge through the last 30 million years whilst the earth has undergone dramatic climatic change. Through the Pliocene and Pleistocene ages, the poles became colder, while the equatorial regions of the planet became warmer and drier. 

This changed the humid forested Central African landscape, from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic. Savannahs were created in large areas of eastern Africa causing forest animals such as primates to come down from the trees and to travel for greater distances to find food.

They had to evolve differently to adapt to this change. Humans evolved with longer legs and had to change their foraging habits to become more and more hunter gatherer. 

Forests remained on the tops of mountains, beside rivers and alongside lakes and the sea. In short anywhere humid and wet enough for them to survive. 

Evaporation from the Indian Ocean and the prevailing winds from the east, carry moist air across the vast lowlands (in southern Tanzania this encompasses what is now the Selous Game Reserve). This warm air reaches the great mountains and escarpments and is lifted instantly, thousands of meters high, immediately cooling and precipitating as rain and dew, soaking the great ancient sponge of forests, along all the ranges of these Eastern Arc Mountains. 

The water that is not used up in growing vegetation and various fungi, or supporting the rest of their great biodiversity, transpires through the leaves to fall as precious rain elsewhere, or it emerges from underground in the many springs that feed the streams and rivers that, in southern Tanzania flow, either east into the great ecosystem of the Selous, or west into the greater ecosystem of the Western Corridor and particularly it’s Great Ruaha River. The surplus flow eventually makes its way into the wide Rufiji River and then back out into the Indian Ocean through the meandering labyrinth of water ways in Rufiji Delta. 

The Forests of the Udzungwa and Southern Highland Mountain ranges are the ‘water towers’ of the surrounding savannah, without which huge wildlife populations, including great herds of buffalo and large numbers of elephant and could not be supported, especially in the dry season, In fact we are witnessing a massive decline in buffalo populations since 1988 rooted in water reduction combined with unsustainable bushmeat trade.

Behavior of the Bushpig

The Bushpig (Potamochoerus larvatus) is a species of wild pig (Suidae) not uncommon to the moister parts of Eastern Africa. The species occupies forested and woodland habitats throughout its range, displaying a distinct preference for valley bottoms, soft soils, and dense vegetation clusters. Both males and females appear to display territoriality (albeit seasonally), occupying home ranges of an estimated 10km², in which family bands may conduct nightly foraging walks. Bushpigs take anything from roots, bulbs, and tubers to fungi and various animal matter. The species is even known to scavenge. 

Although predominantly nocturnal, bushpigs display frequent diurnal activity within colder parts of their range, suggesting poor tolerance of cooler temperatures. Behavioral adaptations include nest making by gestating females during colder seasons. The gestation period is relatively short (approx. 120 days) within this species, after which females retire to their nests to give birth to litters of up to 10 young. Sexual maturity is reached after approximately 18 months. 

Of the even-toed ungulates that remain in the scarp forests of Mufindi, the Bushpig is likely the largest and most heavy-bodied, making it a prized reward for subsistence hunting or for bushmeat sale. The species is experiencing heavy hunting pressure, which may lead to localized declines; old and discarded pitfall traps are often encountered during anti-poaching patrols within Mufindi’s remaining forest patches. Constrictions in habitat suitability by tea-plantation and altered forest mosaics might further affect local bushpig populations.  

Guest review

"A wonderful holiday experience. Thank you to all the staff for such a special time. Everything worked well, the game drives were informative and much wildlife was seen thanks to the guides incredible eyesight.
The food was the best by far of the four different camps we stayed in. Delicious.
The setting was special..... lovely to loll in a hammock by the river (though dry in the yellow season) and see giraffe, elephant, impalas and baboons wandering through. I had rock plated lizards visit and a python too! Nature at her best and best of all, a leopard sighting, perfect. Thank you."

J. Montana