Kigelia Ruaha
- Ruaha National Park, TanzaniaThis camp is the perfect spot from which to explore - the simplicity and focus on the essence of safari being totally in keeping with the Nomad way of doing things.
touch the soul of africa
Greystoke Mahale sits on a pristine, white sandy beach overlooking the turquoise water of Lake Tanganyika, with the forested slopes of the 8000 ft Mahale Mountains rising behind.
For many years the camp in Mahale was simple tents. So when Greystoke Mahale was built, while they wanted it to be as unique as its setting, it was important that it didn’t dominate its sensational natural surroundings.
That's why they've tucked the rooms back into the forest line, so that your only view is of beach, and the lake beyond. It’s also why they chose to make the rooms almost entirely from sustainable materials sourced on Lake Tanganyika.
All are open-fronted, with heavy canvas curtains you can pull across if you choose. Made of old dhow wood, not one is the same, but all have a dressing room behind and then a short boardwalk to the bathroom with flush toilet, strong showers and hot and cold water on demand. There's a "chill-out" deck upstairs, accessible by a rather clever canoe-ladder around the side of the banda. This is the place to while away a long afternoon with a glass of wine and a good book.
Most guests will see the chimps at least once in a 3 or 4 day stay, but a sighting is never guaranteed. Whilst they could be right behind camp one day, the next they could be high in the mountains. Chimp trekking happens during every full day that you'll spend at Greystoke, and you'll usually always head off - armed with water and snacks - first thing in the morning.
The camp shares the mountains and the lake with so many animals, but it's the chimps that inspire; hard not to compare their daily lives, their movements, feeding, squabbling, foraging and grooming, with our own.
Time spent with them is time away from everything else that is ordinary. The camp has watched, over the years, as families have grown, alpha males have come and gone, bonds and friendships have been created and then broken, and then created again. They are not so different from us.
It's all acted out on this natural chimpanzee stage, and witnessing it is something the camp and staff are privileged to be able to do every day.
The enormity of what the guests are seeing hits them for the first time. After tracking them, for an hour or two, maybe more, only aware of the sounds they are making ahead of us, we find them; suddenly they are everywhere. You sit quietly on the forest floor and take a deep breath, this is what it's all about.
