Our guide Rashid did the paperwork at the Ruaha National Park entrance gate while we read the signs about the park. Ruaha is Tanzania's second largest national park at 22,000 square km (8,500 square miles), and over 500 bird species have been sighted here. It's on the border between the East African savannah and the southern miombo woodland. The Great Ruaha River is the lifeblood of the park.

On the way to the camp, we stopped to watch a group of elephants drink and play. We saw several herds of impala, a giraffe, and a tiny dik dik, the smallest antelope. We crossed a bridge over the Great Ruaha River, and stopped to get out and look around. The view was like a mural in a natural history museum, with waterbuck, impala, baboons, crocodiles, hippos, and herons in and around the river. Continuing toward camp, we stopped to watch another elephant, zebras, imapala, and a hornbill along the road.

When we arrived at the Kilimatonge camp, we were greeted by the camp manager and cook with cool towels and mango juice. Kilimatonge is a seasonal camp; they set up tents during the dry season for one group at a time. They showed us the dining area, with covered table and a couch in front of a fire. Our tents had beds with sheets, and an adjacent bathroom area with a washstand, toilet, and gravity-fed shower.

Early in the morning, the camp manager came to wake us up for breakfast, and delivered a pitcher of hot water for washing. We set out at 7am for an early morning game drive, stopping to watch rock hyraxes, a jackal running ahead of us, guinea fowl, impala, and zebras.

While our guide Rashid unpacked and set up breakfast at the picnic area, we heard a noise in the bushes and spotted a nearby elephant. Looking the other direction across a dry riverbed, we watched giraffe and impala; we found a squirrel and vervet monkey in the trees.

Whenever we crossed paths with another safari vehicle, our guide Rashid would chat with the other guides to find out what they'd seen and where. About half an hour after leaving the picnic area, we saw some other safari vehicles, and then a group of four lions: two males, two females. Our guide said the males were likely brothers, since they weren't fighting each other. He said they were away from their pride for a couple of weeks to mate. We watched them lounge in the shade, yawn, roll over, and sleep.

We returned to camp for lunch, then lounged in our tents (hot) and chairs (a bit of breeze). We saw mongoose and monkeys run across the dry riverbed near camp.

At 4pm, we set out for a game drive, and standing up in the truck with the wind steaming past felt much cooler. We drove to a hippo and crocodile pool, and stopped to watch lots of other wildlife (impala, greater kudu, giraffe, hyrax, dik dik, baby zebra) in the gorgeous late afternoon light.

Paul had left some clothes on the floor in the morning, and couldn't find them in the afternoon. When we got back from the early evening game drive, the clothes were clean and folded on the bed! We definitely did not expect laundry service in a camp with no running water. Once we discovered that, we left the shirts we'd worn that day on the bed, and had them ready to wear again the next day.

After dark, the camp manager came to our tents and said to come quick, the'd found a leopard nearby. They'd heard monkey alarm calls earlier, and knew that meant there was likely a leopard nearby. Evan and Kimberly got a brief glimps of the leopard in the spotlight before it vanished into the bush.

We had breakfast in camp before setting out at 8am with a packed lunch for a full day game drive. Our guide knew where to go on the network of dirt park roads. We'd drive on a road for a bit, then turn off onto a track or across a riverbed, watching for wildlife.

In the afternoon, we stopped under a tree and were amazed at how much there was to see from one spot. In the distance, an elephant and giraffe walked along the dry riverbed. Baboons ran up and down the tree, dropping flowers for the browsing impala. A group of zebra grazed on the other size of the truck.

Wildlife was everywhere around us; it was absolutely amazing to drive right by elephants and share the picnic area with giraffes. We hardlly paid attention to the birds, but lilac breasted rollers flash turquoise when they fly, and ostritches can run really fast. Every time we stopped there was something interesting; a list doesn't capture the wonder, but maybe a sense of the incredible variety we saw in one day: impala, greater kudu, Thompsons gazelle, waterbuck, elephant, giraffe, crocodile, monitor lizard, hippo, baboon, vervet monkey, zebra, warthog, buffalo, hyrax, black backed jackal, ostrich, tawny eagle, fish eagle, snake eagle, bee eater, saddle billed stork, crane, guinea fowl, green ibis, hornbill, lilac breasted roller

We woke up early the next morning to meet park rangers for a walking safari along the Great Ruaha River. We followed the armed rangers single file, watching for wildlife; we also learned a lot about poop. A male impala starts a dung meeting, and his herd joins in to mark their territory. Hippos have poor memories and eyesight, and leave a dung trail to find their way back to water. Our guide called these as GPS points; Evan said that means "giant poop sites." Crocociles often hang out near hippos, because tilapia eat the undigested plant material in hippo dung.

We had to take an alternate route around a hippo blocking our path, then watched lots more hippos and crocodiles in the river. Our guide Rashid met us on the same bridge we'd stopped on the first day, and set up breakfast at the picnic area. He'd noticed how much Evan enjoyed the dessert pancakes after dinner, and asked the cook to make some for breakfast.

After breakfast, we found the same group of lions we'd seen the previous day, now in a different spot. This time they were interested in mating, and seem unbothered by the four safari trucks lined up like a drive-in movie. On the way back to camp, we stopped as a herd of more than 100 buffalo crossed ahead of us.

In the morning, we packed up to leave Kilimatonge Camp for the long drive back to Irigna, east to Mikumi, then south to Udzunga Mountains National Park. Even driving on park roads on our way out we saw lots of wildlife, including giraffe, impala browsing around the airstrip, elephants, zebra, kudu, hippos, and crocodiles.

Just outside the park, we visited a traditinal Maasai village. Our Maasai camp manager translated as a village man showed us his belt tools: a big stick and machete, next to a cell phone in a leather pouch. He also showed us the goat and cow enclosures, and explained that the men and older boys were out with the cattle during the day.