Ruvuma

Although I had to get up at 4.15am, I had the time to dream about being in a Brexit discussion group where I was making pointed remarks about the concept of togetherness. I never give it a rest, even in my sleep.

At the absolute crack of dawn but with the sun rising quickly, I was drinking coffee and in the far distance a herd of elephants upstream was making its way across the Lugenda River, with the water level low at this time of year. As Mozambique’s mass generally falls in a south-west to north-east direction, the north of the country has very early sunrises. Longitudinally it’s aligned with Tanzania and Kenya, which are one hour ahead.

Wim and I set out early to drive to the north of the Conservancy, which is a current focus of new road cutting and additional infrastructure for scouts thanks to some recent funding. The wildlife was rewarding and we saw a lot through the course of the day: sable antelope, zebra, Niassa wildebeest (a sub-species specific to this area which seems much bigger than the blue wildebeest we’re familiar with getting chowed by crocodiles as they cross ferocious rivers during their migration), eland, kudu, buffalo, impala, bushbuck, waterbuck, reedbuck, hartebeest and warthogs and litters of adorable tiny hoglets.

This image is from the Ruvuma River, where we stayed for the night on the border between Tanzania and Mozambique. In the late dry season, the river is relatively low and exposes a huge rocky and sandy area perfect for sleeping. I was a little hesitant to sleep under the stars in only a bedroll, and only a small fire to ward off unwelcome guests, as the Reserve is home to between 800 and 1,000 lions, thousands of elephant and plentiful leopard and hyena. However I was with Wim, who is as much of a self-sufficient old hand as it is possible to be, so I placed my trust in him. After gorgeous sunset colours, we both fell asleep at about 7pm, knackered after a day of driving.