Happy New Year!
The Mwagusi family
sends you warm and
happy wishes for 2020!
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A new year starts with a great article!
We had the pleasure to welcome Fiona Sanderson to Mwagusi camp not long ago. We are very pleased to read on The Luxury Channel that Fiona had a good time with us and was very much impressed by Ruaha, Mwagusi and its history.
"Tucked away in the far north east corner of the Ruaha National Park, I came across the banks of a sweeping bend on the Mwagusi Sand River in southern Tanzania, which is where I found Mwagusi Safari Camp – hidden amongst the baobabs, volcanic rock and sparkling pink quartz. The Park, with its dramatic landscapes, has an abundance of elephants, well-maintained roads and few visitors, making Mwagusi the perfect camp for those wishing to experience a true wilderness safari. Situated far off the beaten track in Tanzania’s largest national park, the Camp is a rare gem on the safari circuit. One of the very few owner-run camps in the area, I arrived at Mwagusi Safari Camp to find a charming, small, exclusive tented camp of 13 bandas, which snake along the sandy banks of the river."
Read the full article on The Luxury Channel.
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If you wish to move mountains tomorrow,
you must start by lifting stones today.
(African proverb)
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A long lost friend
We ended 2019 with a very special meeting. It has been a long time since we spotted a pangolin. This time we were lucky to spot one of them together with the guide students, in the middle of the day, only 20 minutes' drive from camp. In the beginning, he was a little shy but that didn't last for long.
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Did you know...
It’s believed pangolins are to be the world's most trafficked non-human mammal. There are eight species of pangolins. All species face declining populations because of illegal trade. Tens of thousands of pangolins are poached every year, killed for their scales for use in traditional Chinese medicine and for their meat, a delicacy among some ultra-wealthy in China and Vietnam.
A pangolin scales cover its whole body except its belly, which is covered with soft hairs. Pangolin scales are made of keratin, the same material that makes up fingernails, hair, and horn. Pangolin scales, like rhino horn, have no proven medicinal value, yet they are used in traditional Chinese medicine to help with ailments ranging from lactation difficulties to arthritis.
A pangolin's tongue can be longer than its body and it attaches near the pelvis, below the last set of ribs.
Pangolins are solitary and active mostly at night. The only time pangolins spend time together is when they mate and bear young. Some pangolin fathers will stay in the den until the single offspring is independent. Babies are born with soft scales that harden after two days, but they will ride on their mothers’ tails until they’re weaned at about three months.
They range in size from a large house cat to more than four feet long. They are largely covered in scales made of keratin—the same material as human fingernails—which gives them the nickname "scaly anteater." When threatened, they roll into a ball, like an armadillo, and they can release a stinky fluid from a gland at the base of their tails as a defense mechanism.
Like anteaters, pangolins have long snouts and even longer tongues, which they use to lap up ants and termites they excavate from mounds with their powerful front claws. They’re able to close their noses and ears to keep ants out when they’re eating.
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A big 'Thank you' to Unilever!
Amos Mwila, talented and dedicated leader of our forest antipoaching team (supported by Unilever) started feeling unwell and sick. He went to a mission hospital where he was given tablets and told to go home.
On Christmas Eve Unilever kindly took him into their Lugoda Hospital where he was given 2 litres of blood and hospitalized.
We owe Unilever a big thank you for saving his life!
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Evolutionary footsteps
22 million years ago the ancestor of all African antelope walked its evolutionary journey from Asia, crossing into Africa across temporary natural bridges. They were a small bovine which had to have thrived in dry semi arid country to have survived.
15 million years ago these animals had evolved into an animal which is the direct ancestor of those tiny forest and thicket dwelling antelope of today.
The Suni Antelope (Nesotragus moschatus), along with its other forest-dwelling near relatives in western Africa, the pigmy antelopes (Nesotragus pygmaeus and Nesotragus batesi), are the nearest living relatives to this original ancestral immigrant.
The smallest antelope in Eastern Africa, the Suni today inhabits forests and thickets and is adapted differently from its relatives in Western Tanzania, because of the geological faulting, the pulsing aridification in the Pleistocene and Pliocene period, and the dramatic climatic and environmental changes that resulted. Their populations are healthy in the montane forests of southern Tanzania, and are an important prey source for carnivores and unfortunately the thriving bushmeat trade.
A suni's favorite meal? At the moment 5 suni's visit and share our vegetables in our organic garden in Mufindi on a regular base. We are happy to share with them.
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Guest review
"Second trip to Mwagusi this year for wildlife photography. Excellent location, staff, safari guides, and Management team. Totally recommended. This time we booked a night-time safari and came across Bat Eared Foxes, Serval, Civit, African Wild Cat, Lions, Bush Babies, and an Aardwolf. The evening meals are an experience in themselves, under the stars, on the dry bed around a large fire. It doesn't get much better."
Tony and Sheila Hammond
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