It had been a long day of traveling when I
arrived at Saadani, one of the 16 Tanzania national parks. Getting to
this remote tropical paradise was exhilarating in itself. After
hassle-free, but sweaty connections from Mikumi town in Morogoro, I made
my way to the Park's accommodation near Saadani village late in the
evening.
Within minutes, I started with a dinner (which is the most
substantial meal if you're sticking to local food) in which chef Emanuel
served me a huge feast for dinner: a free-range chicken (kuku wa
kienyeji) in an incredible stew, the best I've ever had, with boiled
potatoes, before settling in my room for the night.
It was bliss to fall asleep to the sound of pounding surf nearby with
water splashing all-night long engaging my senses to listen to the
sound of water and the creatures of the wild. The constant rolling of
waves onto the shore has a hypnotizing effect drowning out all other
sounds and adding to that the feeling of being alone with your thoughts.
Sunrise trickled through the blue sky and on the surrounding the
coastal vegetation, including the Indian Ocean beach front came into
view. This was my first daybreak in Saadani, with its unusual blend of a
unique combination of both marine and mainland flora and fauna in a
culturally fascinating, setting, Saadani feels otherworldly.
After a hearty breakfast, a park warden joined me, Mr. Gabriel Genda
and we walked down to the beach one of the most popular areas in the
surroundings where tourists gather to watch the low and high tide of sea
water, as well as used for early morning and evening meditation,
swimming and sunbathing.
I fell in love with its beauty and its open ocean, which, at the low
tide the sea retreats and forms a convenient passage for tourists who
want to savour the beachfront including wild animals. It is, home to
some of the richest wildlife in Africa.
The vegetation here is quite something else. Verdant; beautiful;
overwhelming - From east to west, the open ocean with coral reefs
changes to brackish water ecosystems characterized by mangrove forests,
salt pans and bare saline areas.
The marine extension of the park includes the Mafui sandbanks, whose
colourful coral reefs are important breeding sites for many fish
species. According to Mr. Gabriel, these beaches are the only place
north of Dar es Salaam where sea turtles still come to lay their eggs.
The most common species is the Green Turtle, the largest of the
hard-shelled sea turtles.
Feeling even more chilled out, Jumanne Sued (aka J4) a tour guide
took over from Gabriel. As we drove through the seeming expanse, through
the dense vegetation with the forest, savannah mosaic encompassing the
varied of the vegetation within the park. 'J4' pointed to a few birdlife
perched atop trees as well as guinea fowls that we saw near the road
feeding.
We further drove along the trail with nature enveloping us. Suddenly,
we entered a clearing, of interest where the Palm dominated grassland,
acacia zanzibarica woodlands, riverine forest and open grassland.
Despite the overwhelming, setting with the vegetation endlessly
surrounding us and the heat and humidity becoming more oppressive as the
day went on, the coastal forest home to the abundance of wildlife and
birdlife rewarded with sightings of herds of common waterbuck,
Linchtenstein's hartebeest, Maasai giraffes, Bohor reedbucks, gerenuk,
yellow baboons, bushbuks, zebras and more.
Meanwhile, the flat landscapes allowed us to spot large families of
animals easily and spent time watching buffaloes, warthogs and
white-bearded wildebeest happily grazing life away. We could not escape
the recurring howls that echoed through the forest, a haunting
soundtrack to our otherwise slow drive. The common waterbuck were aptly
named; there was no other way to describe the repetitive sightings that
resonated from their oblivious interest to the watching tourists.
Having been so inspired by our surroundings and having seen the range
of grazers and browsers, I felt completely contented. Just when I was
getting a bit too relaxed, we left for Mkwaja, driving through paved
roads to meet the chief park warden, Mr. Hassan Nguluma who implored on
me on how the Park has been an attraction to many residents and visitors
to Tanzania ever since the park was established in 2005.
The light conversations played out well along as Mr. Hassan ended his
comments by impressing the travel agents and tour operators to promote
the park, the only wildlife sanctuary in Tanzania bordering the sea, as
it has unique natural heritage and not-a- tourist-populated-park like
the north of Tanzania.
And so, Saadani national park has got to be one most interesting
divergences of land on earth, bordered by three districts, two in Tanga
region (Pangani and Handeni) and one in the Coast region (Bagamoyo).
Another popular tourist draw in Saadani is its location in the centre of
the historic triangle of Bagamoyo, Pangani and Zanzibar.
Saadani is like a paradise. Tourist brochures proudly proclaim it as
'Where the bush meets the beach' and I'm not one to quibble with them.
Saadani lived up to the brochure-speak of a perfect blend of 'B2B'. I
loved the friendly, chilled-out animals, the sticky humidity; it is hot
and humid - entirely related to Zanzibar, located in the opposite
direction, 40 minutes away, by boat.
Well, whatever this special feeling is, Saadani - is a marvellous
place to be, my favourite was the pristine beaches - the most untouched
I've ever seen it.
By Elisha Mayallah, 15 February 2014
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