Lake Manyara and Ngorongoro Crater

My season kicked off the other day with a 4-day trip to Lake Manyara and Ngorongoro. 

Lake Manyara is looking great this early in the season, with plenty of water still, and lots of Lesser Flamingos too.  Much of the lake is fringed with pink and flocks can be seen flying from point to point a lot of the time.

A herd of 19 giraffe comes thundering out onto the lakeshore, then turns to stare back into the woodland.  We scan and scan for lion, but the bush is just too dense.

As we enter camp, we are surrounded by a herd of peacefully munching elephant, shattered trees lying all around.

During the night, the peace is broken by a troop of baboon, barking out in alarm as a leopard does the rounds.

We leave at first light for a leisurely morning in the southern part of the park. Breakfast is on the lakeshore with a dense wodge of flamingos barely 30m away.  More keep flying in and, as we eat, there is a constant babble of goose-like honking.

Probably the highlight of our Manyara stay is a large tom leopard strolling along the road ahead of us.  He disappears into the trees as we approach and we catch a glimpse of spotted coat in the bushes, before he melts into a thicket.  We sit quietly for 20 minutes or so, hoping he will re-emerge or climb a tree, but no joy.  Another group saw him later, and a female crossed the road nearby – most likely a mating pair.

***

 A wonderful sight on the descent into the crater: a caracal, the most beautiful of all the African cats. She is carrying a mouse, and as we watch, a well-grown kitten comes out of hiding and proceeds to eat.  They aren’t at all shy and we spend a wonderful few minutes with them.

Up before 1^st light so as to make the most of the early morning in the Crater.  There is a thick fog and as we make our way around the rim, we almost run into a buffalo on the road.  In the weird light, its dark body is almost invisible and we all but nudge its bottom before stopping.

On the descent, there is the caracal pair again.  The kitten is once more feeding on a mouse, presumably caught by the mother.  The light is very uncertain, but we get close-up views of the wonderful facial markings and long tufted ears that give this cat such an exotic look.  Gorgeous…

On the Crater floor, a large bull elephant comes walking along the road towards us; we pull up and wait for him – he walks right by, pausing to glare and flare his ears at us, just in case we haven’t grasped quite how massive he is.

Not long after, a pair of hunting lions.  They are in a good position, with plenty of game nearby.  A wildebeest walks right towards them, oblivious.  A short rush… and the lion stops dead.  It turns out that he is a youngster, still short of his 2^nd birthday, and probably lacks the confidence to take on a fully-grown bull wildebeest like that, with scary looking horns!

And to round it off – a magnificent Martial Eagle atop an acacia, plucking and eating what looks like an Egyptian Goose.  What a spectacular bird….

Ndutu moments

NDUTU MOMENTS

It has been a fun Green Season. 

Regular visits to Ndutu have made for great opportunities to revisit the regulars there and see how they’re doing.

The 3 cheetah brothers (The 3 Mouseketeers?) were among the cast of stars; some of you will be familiar with these guys, if you’ve been to Ndutu in the last few years.  They are often to be found around the Marshes / 2 Trees area, and are very reliable hunters.  This has been made easier by all the recently born wildebeest calves.

For Cuteness Factor, it was difficult to beat the Striped Hyena mother and cub, who played endlessly.  Striped Hyenas are unusual animals: solitary and nocturnal, you usually only get a brief sighting of them on a night drive.  So to have these two playing together for hours on end in bright sunlight and in the open was a huge pleasure.

The lion pride often to be seen around the Big Marsh had 2 sets of young cubs; The younger set must have been born in mid- December so they also provided plenty of entertaining viewing.  (But see under ‘Cuteness Factor’ above…)

There was also a cheetah female with young cubs, gorgeous with their long silky-furred necks and backs.  One thing about youngsters: all that growing requires a lot of food, so she was having to work very hard to keep them fed.

****

Apart from these ‘regulars’, there was lots more going on. I had a beautiful sighting of a caracal mother with her cub; what a stunning cat!  Another noteworthy sighting was of a Patas monkey – as far as I know, the first ever record in the Ndutu area. Poor thing, he must have been very lost and very desperate to find some friends…

There is talk of a pack of Wild Dogs in the woodland to the south; we go that way a couple of times but no joy.  Well, plenty of joy actually, but none of the Wild Dog variety.

Bu there is so much more: elephant were plentiful and very relaxed.; great migration action; giraffe; and lovely flamingos on Lake Ndutu, once it filed up.  Viva Ndutu!

LAKE MANYARA, NGORONGORO, PIYAYA AND NDUTU – MARCH 2012

March saw my first ever Set Departure safari – and I’m glad to say it was a resounding success.

We all met up for a night at Rivertrees in Usa River – and a very diverse bunch we were!  We had a couple from Australia, a

Scots lady and two Filipinas, as well as myself – a Kenyo-Tz-Brit??

Our itinerary took us  to Lake Manyara in the Great Rift Valley, where Iain Douglas-Hamilton did his ground-breaking research into elephant in the ‘60s, before heading up to Ngorongoro Crater.  After the Crater, we spent a couple of days in Piyaya, the wonderful Maasai community area on the edge of Serengeti; and finally to Ndutu where we were hoping for the Great Migration, as well as good cat viewing.

Trip highlights included watching a lioness stalk a warthog, making excellent use of a concealed ditch as she inched her way closer.  Eventually, the pig sensed her presence and her final charge was in vain… but it was wonderful to watch a predator in action, all focus and stealth – quite unlike the usual lion sighting, with all four paws in the air, accompanied by loud snoring!

One of our number was a keen birder and he was fascinated by the colony of weavers that had taken up residence by the camp kitchen: all these gorgeous yellow birds, in a frenzy of courtship activity, oblivious to the goings-on below as the busy crew got on with the business of pampering us.

One morning, we decided to split up, with 3 of us opting to go for a morning game walk, while one of our number decided to go on a birding drive with Philip.  The walkers had hardly gone 200m when a radio call came through – the ‘birders’ had found a cheetah on a kill!  So we abandoned our walk and climbed into the car for a lovely hour watching this beautiful cat feeding on her fresh kill of a Grant’s Gazelle.  (Funnily enough, we walkers had spotted the kerfuffle of the chase, with gazelle and impala running in all directions; but had concluded that they had been disturbed by us).  It was great to be able to spend a wonderful morning with this cat within a couple of hundred metres of camp – and not another vehicle to be seen! We weren’t even inside a National Park, which makes moments like these all the more special.

We got to spend a fascinating afternoon with members of the nearby Maasai community when we were in Piyaya.  It is always an eye-opener for outsiders to experience first hand a way of life that goes back centuries.  Our host had a herd of several hundred cattle, so in monetary terms he was pretty wealthy.  To our ‘modern’ way of thinking, living in a cramped & smoky hut made of cow dung & with almost no personal possessions seems utterly inexplicable, when simply selling off his herd would enable him to upgrade to a different way of life… but that fails to grasp the self-evident fact that these folk are perfectly happy with what they have, and that living without their beloved cattle would itself be an intolerable existence.  In a world rushing ever faster towards bland homogeneity, that is something to be celebrated.  Vive la difference!

As is so often the case, one of the most memorable moments of all was at the micro end of the safari spectrum: in this case, a dung beetle earnestly pushing its precious ball of dung across the plain.  To the human eye, this is the epitome of pointless endeavour – where on earth can he be going?  The plain stretches for 40 kilometres in all directions, and it all looks exactly the same, so why not just… bury the stupid thing and be done with it? But beetles clearly know best, and so they trundle across the plain looking for THE perfect place to bury their ball of dung…

At the end, we all went our separate ways.  Which, in this case, meant the UK, Australia, Usa River, Hong Kong and Zanzibar.  All in all, it was a great week with plenty of variety on offer – and a fun group of people to travel with into the bargain!

Katavi and Ruaha moments - August 2011

The plane leaves early from Arusha airport on its long flight round Western Tanzania.

After Tabora ,the brown patchwork of maize fields gives way to the silver and sepia of the miombo woodland in the dry season. We fly over unbroken woodland for most of the hour-long flight.

Katavi is dry but there is still water in the Katuma river, small fetid pools full of hippo. To call it water is over-egging it somewhat. In reality it is a slightly diluted solution of hippo dung, pungent when you get down wind. Eau de Hippeau? Anyone?

The crocs are already somnambulant in their caves in the riverbank or under shady bushes. They won’t get active again till it rains in November.

In the afternoon a group of giraffes standing stiffly to attention, all staring the same way. A scan with binos reveals a sedately walking lioness who wanders to a shady spot - and there is the rest of the pride, several cubs and a big male, a lovely family portrait. The cubs are hungry, latching onto any nipple that presents itself, but it seems the females are out of milk. Sharp teeth and urgent sucking are too much and she pushes them away with a snarl and a grimace.

Off to Paradise, where the palm fronds clatter in the stiff breeze. In front of us, an idyllic pastoral scene. Herds of buffalo and impala graze peacefully alongside warthog, reedbuck and hippo. A fish eagle flies past and a great cloud of water birds lifts and settles again once the danger has past   The hippos sigh gustily in the spring nearby

To the Katuma again where a bull elephant in full musth is right by the road. He ignores us but gives himself an elaborate dust shower in the road. He turns to glare at a truck that appears round the corner and then ambles away into the woodland.

***

In Ruaha, the Mwagusi River attracts a steady stream of thirsty customers. It is largely dry at this time of year but the elephant are adept at digging water holes and siphoning the filtered water up with their trunks. When they are done, baboons, impala and wart hog take advantage of these shallow wells.

In pearly morning light baboon barking alerts us. We drive to the Mwagusi. the baboons are in a large tamarind tree, barking hysterically. We are about to change position when a leopard comes into sight, dragging a freshly killed baboon. This provokes a new volley of barks. She drags her prey across the sand river and disappears into a dense combretum thicket.

Later that morning, we pick up fresh leopard spoor in a wooded gully.  Moments later, there she is – a pretty young female sprawled on a low baobab branch. She blinks sleepy green eyes at us but does not move.

News comes in that 2 lionesses from the Mwagusi pride are stalking a giraffe. We arrive to find a stalemate. The bull giraffe is standing firm, staring at the two lionesses, who are not trying anything on. The giraffe is bleeding from a wound on his hind leg. Presumably, the lion will wait till he turns his back before making a move? In the end the giraffe wanders off unmolested but there is a significant pool of congealed blood on the grass

Down to the Mwagusi again, where a herd of elephant is slowly coming back to life after snoozing through the heat of the day. A large female makes her way to a favourite rock and proceeds to scratch herself  - first her flanks then under her chin and finally an intensely pleasurable work out on her bottom.

There is a flash of crimson overhead as a turaco flies into the canopy of a nearby fig.

What an intense pleasure there is to be had in these tableaux of everyday bush life – so ordinary, so very special.

Bush Fires - the beauty and the beast

It’s late January.  The short rains, which started so promisingly (and so early), are long gone.  The sun blazes down each day from a blue, blue sky and the wind howls – sucking the last of the moisture out of the soil.

We are headed home after a day in the office.  There is a dense bank of smoke hanging over the park.  As we reach home, we can see it clearly - great grey gouts boiling up from the burning bush below, the underside glowing a dull red in the fading light.

During the night, we keep an eye on the fire to make sure it doesn’t jump the boundary onto our side.  A couple of times, we have to back burn to stop its progress.  It’s all very destructive but weirdly beautiful too. 

Occasionally, birds fly out of the trees as the flames approach; unused to flying at night, they are disorientated and make crash landings in bushes a short hop away.

It’s controlled burning time – the National Park authority has decided to burn the area.  Ostensibly, this is to prevent a massive build up of dead grass and wood, which might lead to a catastrophic hot fire in future; and also to reduce the amount of parasites in the bush.

Hmmm. All very well in principle, but is it a coincidence that there are only 4 or 5 commonly found tree species in this part of the park?  The very species with hardy saplings, capable of withstanding fire even when small.   Surely diversity should be an important goal of park management? Regular annual burning of the same areas mean that the more delicate saplings just do not stand a chance of survival.

Also, this is the time of year when food is plentiful after the short rains: so all kinds of bugs, birds and reptiles are breeding, making the most of the windfall.  How many nests, eggs and hatchlings went up in smoke?

And finally, even the dead wood and fallen leaves and old grass have a role to play within the system, as protection, food, breeding areas. If it is burnt every year, this whole section of bio diversity is likewise gone

There is no doubt that burning is an important management tool for park wardens; it is equally certain that it is overused in many parts of Tanzania. With us, it is the same areas that are burnt each year.

Bush fires set for three days in a row and finally, one jumped our double firebreak, aided by a strong wind. Luckily, we had enough people on hand to beat it out before it took hold in one of the wilderness areas of our plot

On the plus side: what’s the betting that the ellies will pay us a visit soon?  With so much burnt, they should be looking for better foraging grounds… karibuni sana!

Western Tanzania

We had a very weird spell of weather in October and early November – tremendous rains, unusually early and heavy.  It was very patchy, so while everything at home was green and flourishing, and there was heavy flooding in parts of Serengeti, large swathes of Maasailand remained brown and parched.

So, November came around and with it a group of old friends from our days in Turkey.  We were headed out west, for a week in Katavi and Mahale.  Katavi will be at it’s best at this time, won’t it?  The long months of hot and dry mean that large numbers of game will be congregated near the few springs, so game viewing will be a cinch.  Except for that early rain (see above).  The whole park was freshly painted in luxuriant greens, the Katuma River was flowing and the air felt vibrant with life. 

Many of the hippos had moved out of the springs at Ikuu, their dry season refuge, and back into the newly formed pools on the Katuma.  The crocs were slowly coming back to life, although many were still more or less somnolent in their riverbank holes.

The downside to all this, of course, was that much of the game, released from the tyranny of the dry season, had scattered to the four winds.

It was gorgeous and we did find just about everything we wanted to see, but we had to work pretty hard to do so!

We found a lovely pride of lion with cubs (the Chada Pride), and followed them for a couple of hours through the bush as they made their way to the river, presumably changing hunting grounds.  They were lean and hungry looking, but with a healthy glow.  We stayed with them for some time, hoping for a hunt (they were clearly ready for action), but nothing came of it.

It was the same story with elephant – when we finally caught up with a herd, we had a long visit with them, following slowly as they fed through the bush.  There was a tiny calf with them, but we only got brief glimpses as Mama kept her close by her side.

It was strange to see so few elephant, but the mystery was solved when some of our group spotted a large herd, several hundred they reckoned, waaaay out on Katisunga Plain.  Too far to go and see them, sadly, but nice to know they’re there.  And always nice to solve the puzzle!

This happens frequently: elephant clans are forced to break up into small family groups during the dry season, because of the lack of resources, but when the rains start and food and water are plentiful, they gather once more into large groups.

Not long after we left, a herd of several hundred was seen just in front of Chada Camp – very likely the same clan.

One of our Chada highlights was this scorpion, found by one of the camp waiters.  Scorpions have this weird undead glow under ultraviolet light – perfect material for nightmares!

All too soon, our time was up and we upped sticks and moved on to Mahale Mountains. 

Again, the recent rain meant that the forest was bursting with new life.  Gorgeous butterflies flitting through the clearings and fresh new leaf everywhere.  The miombo woodland on the mountain slopes was resplendent in shades of copper, crimson and brilliant fresh greens.

We had high expectations of our time with the chimps: as you probably know, the Alpha male of Mahale’s ‘M’ community was killed by his own kind back in July (??).  Pimu was a thug who ruled by brute force and terror, and in the end, his subjects rose up against him.  If only Gaddafi had taken heed of this sorry tale…

Anyway, we were intrigued to find out how the succession struggle was working out.  There are 2 contenders: Alofu, the former alpha, deposed by Pimu; and Primus, a young buck with his eye on the top spot. In the event, we had unexpectedly mellow viewing, consisting of peaceable group grooming sessions and youngsters endlessly at play. Endlessly watchable.

We are still waiting to hear who will take on Pimu’s mantle, but we can expect a great deal of manoeuvring and wheeling & dealing before the dust finally settles on this saga.

Mara River and the Selous

 Q: What do you call it when, having waited patiently for several hours to watch the primeval drama of a herd of wildebeest crossing the Mara River, all you get in the end is a female and her calf picking their way across, without a care in the world?  Whistling a jaunty tune no doubt…

A: A double crossing.

Wildebeest are just like that sometimes and there’s not a lot you can do about it. You feel like rushing out and yelling at them, waving your arms about to start the process off.  But first off, that would scare them off completely; and secondly – we just don’t do that kind of thing.

So we just sit and wait. 

Finally, a huge herd gathers on the bank, full of nervous energy and staring at the other side; more are streaming in behind them, the pressure is building inexorably.  Yes, this could definitely be it! The level of excitement in the car rises several notches. I start to plan my approach to the river, once the crossing is well and truly under way… any minute now…

And then another vehicle goes past us, into the middle of the herd, drives in a wide circle scattering the lot of them, then comes up to us to ask if we know, by any chance, where the lioness with the kill is?  Well yes we do, as a matter of fact and what the @$#@***@!#$%!!!!!

I exaggerate of course: along with our double-crossing, we had plenty of superb wildlife viewing.  Memorable highlights included 3 cheetah brothers who had recently killed & fed, looking as though they had swallowed a basketball apiece; mating lions on top of a kopje; a Pennant-winged Nightjar (go on, you know you’re dying to ask!  Well, some of you at any rate…) and a musth bull elephant seeing off a younger rival.

But the real icing on the cake happened right in camp.  That night we had lions roaring close to camp, and in the early hours they killed a wildebeest about 100m out.  There followed a wonderful cacophony, as lions jostled with lions for their share, then took on the hyenas that had been drawn by the noise.  I’m not sure there was a lot of sleeping happening, but then who needs sleep with all that commotion going on?

At dawn, before heading out, we crept around the camp looking for an overview, to be rewarded by a glimpse of a large well-fed male lion leaving the thicket where the pride had been feasting.

***

After Serengeti, it was time to head south, to the vast Selous Game Reserve.  Our first stop was Beho Beho Camp, and we went off pretty much straightaway on the first of many wonderful walks.  This was a gentle hour-long womble, but we had fine up-close-and-personal views of elephant and a jewel-like Malachite Kingfisher in gorgeous evening light before sundowners on a viewpoint near camp.

Next morning was all about lions.  My favourite moment came when a big male, after mating right in front of the car and spray-marking a bush, turned and walked straight towards us.  This was by far our closest encounter (he pretty much brushed against the side of our open land cruiser, within easy touching distance) and I was watching the reactions of our 3 Intrepid Ladies.  Eyes opened wider and wider as he approached and all photographic activity was suspended.  In an effort to reassure, I said something along the lines of ‘Don’t worry, he’s not interested in us’.  Angela hissed back: ‘ARE YOU SURE???’  It was perfect– and we all made it, even if nobody recorded the moment when he stopped and locked his golden gaze on Grace’s eyes before going on his regal way once more.

***

Next day was the beginning of Our Big Adventure – a walking safari, taking us from Beho Beho to the banks of the mighty Rufiji.

We left early, heading east from camp, to the hot spring, where we stopped for a wallow in this gorgeous setting, a series of steamy, sulphur-stinking pools in a rugged valley surrounded by a graceful fringe of wild date palms.

After lunch in a shady spot by Lake Segesse, with water birds and peacefully grazing animals nearby, we settled down for a snooze – our camp crew had thoughtfully laid out bedrolls for us.  A gentle evening stroll took us to our fly camp by Tagalala, where we sipped our sundowners as hippos sighed and African Skimmers unzipped the mirror-silver surface of the lake with their strangely elongated lower mandibles, trying to snag small fish.

Photo by Matt... I'm SO jealous!

Having survived the night, it was time for our longest walk – a full morning’s hike to our next camp, Kogota, a remote spot right on the Rufiji.  En route, we spotted a lone buffalo bull, but were mystified when he crashed off into he bush as we started to approach; it just wasn’t possible that he had seen or heard us. A careful scan revealed a pride of lion lolling in the shade of a tree.  There was no way to get closer without scaring them off, so we went on our way.

It was pretty hot by the time we hit camp towards mid-day, so the first glimpse of the Rufiji was very welcome.  The three Intrepid Ladies sank gratefully onto the bedrolls thoughtfully laid out in the shade by our camp crew, and I had to wheedle a little to persuade them to join me for lunch!

Stiegler’s Gorge was our next stop, a 2-hour boat trip upstream from camp.  Named after a hunter killed here by an elephant in the early 20^th century, this is a rugged gash carved through the sandstone hills over the millennia.   It is a serenely beautiful place, especially as you drift downstream under the great ramparts on each side.  We were lucky enough to spot a troop of Colobus monkeys and a Crowned Hawk-Eagle, high up in a Sterculia tree. 

Back at Kogota once more, we had another delicious lunch followed by the traditional siesta and a wander 

All of a sudden, there was a loud moaning, roaring sound, coming from thick bush very close by.  Hippo?  Elephant?  No – mating lions!  We waited a few minutes, and sure enough, there it was again.  So we had a couple of large honeymooning cats within a stone’s throw of camp… but no way to get to see them, as the bush is so dense right there.  Still, it was terrific to feel their presence so close by.

Our walking safari came to an end that afternoon, with a short drift by boat downstream to Sand Rivers - our first view of the lodge was in gorgeous evening light as we drifted slowly with the current.

The lodge was the perfect place to unwind after our adventures over the past few days; and there was still time for one more.  As we walked out for sundowners on nearby Lizzie’s Hill, we watched a lioness striding along on the flat ground below.  She was either unaware or unfazed by our presence.  The perfect ending to a lovely trip.

Notes:

Nightjars are nocturnal insect-eating birds, which means that they compete with bats - a tough challenge!  Ground dwellers, they are all a mottled brown, blending in well with fallen leaves around them.  In the US they are often called ‘Night hawks’ or (occasionally) goatsuckers: they are believed to creep up on unwary she-goats and suck milk on the sly!  Funnily enough, some Tanzanians share this belief.

Mature bull elephants go into a condition known as ‘musth’ once a year, characterised by high testosterone levels, when they actively seek out oestrous females.  They are more aggressive at these times.