Babs Camp sits in a unique coastal eco-system of Saadani National Park. The fine white sand beaches immediately to its East are the nesting site for endangered green turtles. The tidal salt flats which surround it are home to a profusion of wildlife, including the Babs lion pride who often hole-up on the tiny islets of raised vegetation which punctuate the sandy flats. It is on these islets that the pride females often give birth and nurture young cubs.

Elephants often use the area and can gather in very large numbers. Old male buffalo are found throughout, hiding in thickets during the day, whilst large breeding groups often wander onto the salt flats to rest in the evening. Giraffe herds are also usually found here along with many more species of large mammal. It is a fascinating place, which remarkably, is cut out of the Saadani National Park in an area of land belonging to Buyuni, a tiny fishing village, tucked close to the beach.

By day, avoiding the activities of the local human population, the magnificent wildlife of the area is usually hidden in dense tidal mangroves, bush thickets, river beds or in small tracts of coastal forest. By night, with the village folk tucked away at home, the bush comes alive.

The tower at Babs Camp, named Hoza after the man who guarded it for its first 10 years of existence, is the perfect perch from which to observe the nocturnal performance.

The following footage was all taken in a single 3-night trip to Babs Camp in January 2026.

Just after dark, elephants start to move and we often see them march past the tower, heading into Saadani National Park.

This often allows us to judge their direction of travel and jump in the car to get a stunning close up view

So in tune are the great pachyderms with the protective efforts of our team at the tower, they often take a break with us and literally put their head down to sleep next to us! This is behaviour very rarely seen and is a remarkable testament to the conservation efforts of the Babs Camp team.

As we scan the area with our scopes, small groups of old male buffalo pop out all over the place and may walk within a few metres of the tower.

Often, one of the large breeding herds will appear out on the sands or at the nearby march area and we hop into the car to get a close view.

Giraffe herds are never far away and we will usually spot a group from the tower and head out to watch them. They also feel secure around Babs Camp and may well move close to us and settle down for the night.

The Babs pride of lions love this area. They often den on the small islets within the bounds of Babs Camp. They are nervous in the day and very wary of over-zealous safari guides trying to get close to them. As such, they also are much more visible at night. The calls of Two Tone, our pride male, will often alert us as to his whereabouts, and we regularly hear the soft calls of the lionesses, reassuring cubs, when the lions are denning nearby. Here, Two Tone returns to the pride, passing on the main road, in the distance and frightening waterbuck in his vicinity.

When we know our lions are settled, we can move with the car to position ourselves to watch them, either relaxed on salt flats or moving towards us, so it is their choice how close they get.