Rufiji

The basic lodge we are staying at in Kisaki village is owned by a lady, as is another small business that we frequented in the village. ‘The ladies are very aggressive’, said my colleague. I think he means they have had the audacity to open businesses, as any man has had the freedom to do unmolested since time immemorial. I doubt these women are conducting their businesses with particularly high levels of aggression, but woe betide a woman’s reputation after using her agency in places where the patriarchy is very strong.

We spent the day inside Nyerere National Park. On the drive towards the gate I learnt about the elephant conflict and pressure on surrounding communities. Presence of herds can delay children walking to school from outlying homesteads. If this persists it disadvantages them in their exams, and of course grades cannot feasibly be adjusted to account for this. Another intangible cost of living close to wildlife, which particularly affects the poorest, without the means to pay for transport or to move to safer locations. Human-wildlife conflict (as we say in the biz) and coexistence, particularly with elephants more than any other species, are the major conservation issues I am hearing about in Tanzania.

Nyerere is vast on its own, but in 2019 was cleaved out of the even larger Selous Game Reserve, the largest protected area in Africa at 50,000 square kilometres. During a whole day of driving, we covered a tiny fraction of the Park. Giraffes were everywhere and we drove past the ‘Selous Grave’ as an elephant strolled past in the distance. This marks the spot where the Brit Frederick Selous, for whom the Reserve is named, was killed in 1917 in combat against the Germans.

Nyerere is a site for potential rhino reintroductions, there being only dubious reports of them remaining here. Understanding the government’s position on this was the main reason we were here. We made it to the banks of the Rufiji River to visit a dilapidated ranger post that would become a strategic point for protection of a population of reintroduced rhinos. This is Tanzania’s largest river and it was fantastic to have a wide view over it as we gabbed with the rangers stationed here.

It was practically dark by the time we were driving back to the village of aggressive women. Driver Ernest had a USB stick inserted into the stereo with some unlikely but marvellous choons. Endless Love crooned out against a pink and orange sky against which I could see oxpeckers silhouetted on the necks of giraffes. It’s All Coming Back To Me Now topped off the medley. MeatLoaf was unparalleled at a rousing driving ballad and I defy anyone to disagree.