Saadani on sea – Chilling in Tanzania
Text and photographs by Tim Jackson.
Source: This article was taken from the December 2010 issue of Africa Geographic.
You’ve probably never heard of Tanzania’s Saadani National Park, but if you’re in the mood for carnivores and herbivores, birds and sea-life and beaches and bush, seasoned with some riverine environment and a soupçon of culture, then it’s the sort of place that should be high on your agenda.
Our scientific editor Tim Jackson was invited to investigate the many aspects of this young sanctuary, and found the adventure satisfied both his mind and his soul.
Saadani straddles a 50-kilometre strip of land along the Tanzanian coast some 130 kilometres north of Dar es Salaam and is the only national park in the country that affords any beach frontage. Actually, you can take that further – it is also, somewhat alarmingly, the only coastal wildlife sanctuary on the East African mainland. And having been established in 2005, the protected area is also Tanzania’s second-youngest national reserve; the more embryonic Mkomazi Game Reserve to the north is the most recent.
Earlier this year I was fortunate enough to visit Saadani, hosted by Saadani Safari Lodge, whose accommodating managing director Costa Coucoulis took it upon himself to show me around. Perhaps more spiritual guru than managing director, Costa (as I got to know him) set himself the challenge of initiating me into the spirit of the place. He is something of an unusual hero for the area – a Burundian national of Greek descent who moved to Tanzania in 1994 after war broke out in his adopted country.
Costa first came to Saadani in 1999 in a quest to find somewhere to build a tourist lodge, drawn by the legend of the elephants that wander down to the beach and swim in the sea. It’s a sight he has yet to see, but the place created such an impression that he elected to stay. ‘I came to Saadani,’ he explains, ‘and fell in love with one tree. People may think I’m a little bit crazy, but it’s true!’ The vestiges of his original camp remain, enshrined within the structure of the lodge.
I have so much to show you!’ Costa enthuses. He is right, for Saadani includes a wealth of landscapes, from wooded savanna to grasslands, coastal forest, mangroves, rivers and the ocean. We orientate ourselves within the grasslands, meshed together with a tapestry of trees, most prominently the lala palms that so characterise the area. Given the park’s history, partly as a reserve where game was regularly shot, it’s no surprise that many of the animals shy away from our vehicle. It’s hoped that they will calm down in time.
Roadworks ahead: the proposed highway across the Serengeti National Park may be dominating news headlines, but Saadani faces a similar conservation nightmare.
Access to the sleepy dirt road that runs through the park is controlled during the day by TANAPA, and there is no entry at night. Unfortunately, the condition of the roads that link the sanctuary to Dar es Salaam in the south and Mombasa, in neighbouring Kenya, to the north is unpredictable. A tarred highway between the two centres is the planned solution.
It’s an obvious economic development for the area, but ask any interested party about the park’s greatest challenge and the reply is simply ‘the road’. ‘It needs to go around, not through, the park,’ says Costa Coucoulis. TANAPA officials indicate the obvious security risks faced by wildlife if a major international highway runs through their home. For the people of Saadani village it’s an unacceptable idea too – they equate the uncontrolled movement of traffic in the area with an increase in crime.
This was once Big Five country. Now, one of the quintet – the rhino – is missing, having been poached almost to extinction in most of its former haunts. In terms of the large mammals though, I perk up at the number of Lichtenstein’s hartebeest we see – they’re one of Africa’s more uncommon antelopes. Reedbuck, waterbuck and giraffe are regularly seen here too, and there are plenty of smaller species.
Our drive is interrupted by no other visitors save some German students busy with research on the region’s grasses and a few dusty locals wandering along the road. Unlike what occurred at Tanzania’s other parks, the communities here were not relocated when Saadani was created. In fact, the village after which the sanctuary is named features prominently in local history. It bears the scars of a darker past, as throughout the 19th century it served as a terminus for both slaves and ivory being exported from East Africa. Later the village fell under German occupation until the end of World War I, when it passed into British hands. Today evidence of these former conquests remain, including a number of English and German graves.
Continuing our pilgrimage, Costa determines that we should spend some time at sea; more specifically a trip to the Fungu Buyumi coral reef a short distance offshore. On the way we stop at Madete Beach, recognised as a critical nesting site for green turtles in the area. The beach, which Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA) is keen to see developed for turtle tourism, forms part of a marine protected area that extends to the reef, an important breeding ground for marine species.
Here my serenity falters when I see fishermen from further along the coast working illegally, their net caught up on the coral formations. We chase them away and watch as another boat arrives and its crew starts harvesting octopus on the low tide. No park authorities arrive to put a stop to the activities and by the time we reach the poachers their haul is in excess of 20 kilograms.
stepping ashore is like landing on a previously uncharted private island
Yet the reef is still wonderful. As the tide goes out a sandbank appears above the water, indicating the reef’s position. We set off to explore it. Because it has been covered by the sea, stepping ashore is like landing on a previously uncharted private island. Snorkelling is imperative, and I gaze in awe at the beds of sea anemones so numerous and colourful they almost outshine the corals. Later, as the tide drops even further, I explore the shallows, a veritable basket of ocean life. The starfish are undoubtedly the main event, their massive size and gaudy colours equally spectacular.
I am keen to hear a few other opinions about the park, so later that day I speak to Angela Nyaki and Sebastian Gambares from TANAPA, park wardens for tourism and protection respectively. Like Costa, they are very upbeat about Saadani. The lack of year-round water, they tell me, is one of its major obstacles – hence the inclusion of the Wami River into the sanctuary. ‘The slaughter of wildlife for bush-meat is also a problem, as the park is close to big cities like Dar es Salaam,’ adds Gambares. ‘Our main challenge is controlling the animals that move outside the park where there is no protection; inside, there is more security.’
We discuss the positive relationship between the park and concessionaires such as Saadani Lodge and the inhabitants of Saadani village. ‘For the community, the value is what they get in their pockets and for their families,’ Nyaki comments. Indeed, income from sales of fish and prawns is now boosted by employment at and trade with the lodge. In addition, TANAPA, along with Saadani Lodge’s SANA (Saving Africa’s Nature) programme, supports secondary schools and medical facilities, among other services. Saadani’s projects include helping villagers to grow vegetables and timber, and building a new mosque, primary school and water project. The lodge is also backing the earth-friendly, community-based Miseni Retreat just outside the park, and its SANA Scholarships Programme has seen a number of pupils through secondary school.
Village life in Saadani has prospered since the sanctuary was established. ‘It’s good to have the park,’ says Mzee Mlekwa, one of the village elders who was born here in 1925. ‘Since TANAPA arrived, the village has expanded and there is employment for the people. There is no killing of animals or collection of firewood, but we are still allowed to do our fishing.’
Travel Notes
How to get there The roads leading to the entrance to the reserve are convoluted and often in bad condition. The journey from Bagamoyo alone can take 3-4 hours. Saadani Safari Lodge can arrange transfers, and scheduled flights are available from Arusha, Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam (check beforehand as a minimum of two passengers is required per journey). Zanzibar is about 40 kilometres away – a dhow transfer from the island to Saadani Lodge is available on request.
Where to stay There are a number of accommodation options within Saadani National Park, the most sophisticated of which is Saadani Safari Lodge (above) www.saadanilodge.com. TANAPA manages both guesthouses and budget campsites www.tanzaniaparks.com, and there are camping facilities and guesthouses in and near Saadani village (contact angelsolow@yahoo.com).
The highlight of my visit is our trip up the Wami River, close to the southern border of the reserve. We take a boat from the lodge and travel along the mangrove-lined estuary mouth. Here the prawn fishermen from the village are fishing their designated spots. The mangroves are their lifeline; they are the breeding ground of the prawns as well as many marine fish species. But the incessant plundering of the trees to make charcoal, timber and poles for shipping to places as far afield as Mauritius and the Middle East together with the large-scale commercial trawling of the prawns offshore have seen catches diminishing.
Within the park, the mangroves are protected and we are fortunate to come across a mangrove kingfisher. (All in all, birding on the Wami is a very positive experience.) We also see crocodiles basking on the banks, but it is the hippos that steal the show. When the tidal waters retreat, they expose the mud banks that the hippos enjoy resting on. As we pass, we’re able to observe them at close quarters. Unlike the other wildlife we’ve encountered at Saadani, the hippos appear laid-back.
As we glide down the river, Costa proudly shows me his private retreat being built on the bank in the shade of a tamarind tree. ‘That tree,’ he enthuses, ‘is one of the reasons I love Sadaani so much!’ We have reached his Holy Grail.
For more information about travelling to Saadani National Park and other destinations in Tanzania, or to make reservations, contact the Africa Geographic travel team at:
- +27(0)11 762 2180, fax (SA only) 0800 00 4464 or +27 (0)21 762 2246
- e-mail info@africageographic.com or go to www.africageographictravel.com
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