Mwagusi River Ruaha Sand Camp

The Mwagusi River is probably the best part of Ruaha National Park for dry season game viewing. Starting on the escarpment, it runs east for some 30 km to meet the Great Ruaha. The banks of the Mwagusi are lined with riverine forest, doum palm stands and in places, wide open grassy plains.

Where to stay in Ruaha National Park - As the name suggests, Mwagusi safari camp is right on the banks of the Mwagusi Sand River. Mwagusi Safari Camp was the first tented safari camp in Ruaha. Built and managed by owner Chris Fox, it's the obvious choice if you're serious about seeing the best that Ruaha has to offer. At the other end of the park, Jongmero Camp is a luxury tented camp on another sand river. Ruaha River Lodge is set on the banks of the main Ruaha River.

why a sand river attracts so much game- The bed of the Mwagusi is mainly dry throughout all but the wettest months. However, despite its barren appearance, the river holds some of the freshest water in Ruaha. Water flows beneath the surface (the sand preventing further evaporation) throughout even the driest months of the year. Consequently animals are drawn to the Mwagusi to drink in large numbers throughout the dry season. Because the sand acts as a crude filter, many animals choose to drink here in preference to drinking in the Ruaha River where your drink is likely to have a crocodile in it.

Animals such as elephant, baboon and zebra are adept at digging small wells in the sand to reach the fresh clear water. Others either use existing holes, or are drawn to the bends in the river where the water table reaches the surface. With so much activity following the Mwagusi, it's a superb place to find lion and if you're lucky even leopard. In the early mornings the cats tend to lie on the sand, warming themselves up in the sun, and, as the temperature rises, they move into the nearby shade.

Some of the biggest herds of buffalo in east Africa drink regularly at Mbagi on the Mwagusi River. This is one of the few areas of Ruaha where there is nearly always surface water (still only a few inches deep). The herds, which can number as many as three thousand, are drawn to slake their thirsts daily, with almost clockwork regularity. The lion of course know this.

Further down the Mwagusi River, nearer the confluence is one of the best places to find very large concentrations of elephant drinking from wells they dig in the sand. On our last visit we counted well over 150 in small cow and calf groups, which came and went over a period of about twenty minutes. At meetings like this, there's plenty of noise; rumblings, growls, screeches and trumpeting and the whole spectacle is mesmerising with most elements of an elephants behavioural repertoire being played out somewhere in the herd. Playing, fighting, feeding, drinking charging and courting.

As well as the more common species to be found all along the Mwagusi. This is also somewhere you have a great chance of finding lesser Kudu. The guides from Mwagusi will make sure you see them, because without their help these creatures are all but invisible.

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