Welcome

Welcome to our African Safari blog, dedicated to our recent trip to Tanzania. Hopefully, it will combine my journal with appropriate pictures taken on the trip in a format that will allow the reader to tackle as much, or as little as they like at one time. Clicking on any picture will enlarge it.

You can start at the beginning, or use the Blog Archive at the right to pick up where you may have left off. Don't forget to check out the Picasa Web Album for more detailed individual captions, too!

Comments are welcome on each post and are strongly encouraged!

Enjoy!!

Final credits and information

I would first like to thank Timothy Parenti for his help in setting up this blog and his parents, Helen and Mike for watching over our home and keeping the fish and plants alive for two weeks.
Special thanks also goes to our local travel agent Terry Sage who helped to set up our itinerary. Terry worked with "Absolute Travel", who worked with "CC Africa Safaris & Tours Arusha", who worked out the itinerary and set us up with "Ranger Safaris ltd." which supplied the vehicle and expert driver/guide Eustace. I would recommend Ranger Safaris to anyone planning a tour of Tanzania.

Things to take on the trip

I was surprised to see some people on safari who didn't have binoculars with them. Many things are seen quite close to the vehicle but many aren't ,take a good pair with you. Almost everyone had a camera. Mine is a Cannon S1-IS. They now have an S2-IS, etc. This camera has a 10X optical zoom and the IS stands for "image stabilization" which is important to reduce blurring at high zoom. Set the camera at high resolution and take plenty of memory with you. This way if the 10X zoom isn't enough you can enlarge the picture with "digital zoom" on the computer. (see the pictures of the flamingos in the crater) Most of the pictures I took used the automatic setting. Which means it was mostly "point and shoot mode" except for using the zoom feature. Most of the pictures were down loaded to the web site at 30% of the total resolution the picture allowed. This greatly reduced the amount of time that it took to download them and still gives a little enlargement when you click on a picture.
Using sunscreen seems like a no-brainer, but we saw many people with quite red faces after a day under the sun that close to the equator. Our vehicle had a pop up sunroof (Toyota Land Cruiser), most of the Land Rovers didn't. This is an advantage or disadvantage depending if you want to look at any soaring birds directly over head. Our sunscreen had an insect repellant built in, "Sun & Bug". We ended up with a few bites, mostly around our ankles by biting flies, we saw and heard few mosquitoes.
The tour companies will sent you a list of things to take. You can take more clothes if you are not planning on including any local, small planes in your itinerary(ours didn't).

If you have any other questions about a safari trip comment on the blog and I will try to answer.

Jim

3/11-12/07 continued

At lunch today there was a three piece band and four native dancers performing all through lunch (two hours). They made 3 or 4 costume changes. Whether this was a typical Sunday entertainment or meant for the Aga Khan I don't know.

We arrived around 7PM for our flight to Dar Es Salaam continuing to Amsterdam. Since the security check was just inside the airport door there was a long line outside waiting to go through security. We made it in plenty of time. In the waiting are there were a number of gift/duty free shops. Surprisingly , the prices for the souvenirs were equal or less than we had paid before.

Our flight left about 15 minutes late which didn't seem so bad considering that the Tanzania (TSL) flight to Nairobi , Kenya left just before ours one hour late.

During the flight on our DC11 we had a poor excuse for a supper, two movies, and an even worse breakfast, served just before we landed in Amsterdam around 6:50 AM local time. We decided that the meals originating in Amsterdam were much better than the meals originating in Tanzania. :(

Our flight to Detroit was scheduled to leave at 10 AM but the security check before boarding started around 8:20 AM. We found out that our bottle of "Sun & Bug" lotion was too large for carry on luggage (237 m vs 100 ml maximum) I had put it in our checked luggage for the flight over, but put it in my back pack to use during the trip and never thought about the restrictions. Of course we didn't have access to our checked bags and I had to toss the lotion. :(

We now had an 8 hour flight into Detroit, our choice of movies, a little better meal and a snack (a cheese sandwich and an ice cream sunday).

In Detroit everyone had to pick up their luggage and go through customs, then recheck the bags going to Erie. After clearing customs we had about 2 1/2 hours until our flight to Erie so around 3 PM we decided to have "dinner" at an A&W food stand. I had a bacon-cheeseburger and a vanilla shake. Carolyn had a hamburger and a Root Beer and we shared a fries. Now that's a real American meal!! :) To welcome ourselves back into the good old USA.

Helen and Mike arrived to pick us up just as the luggage started to arrive, unfortunately, my duffel with all our souvenirs was not on the plane. ( it showed up the next evening) Our flight from Detroit to Erie was on a regional Canadaire jet and took just 30 minutes from wheel up to wheels down.

3/11-12/07 Arusha to the USA

We "slept in" in our king-sized bed until about 7 AM, had a buffet breakfast and packed to check out. We found out that Ranger Safaris will be taking us to the airport sometime between 6 and 6:30 this evening so we won't be needing a taxi, :) There is a nature walk around the lake here that we could have done but Carolyn had on her sandals for the trip home and I wasn't feeling up to par today so we skipped it. We sat around on the chairs on the lawn in front of the main building and took our own brief nature walk around the grounds. Mid morning it was obvious that they were expecting a VIP visit as a large part of the staff gathered near the front gate. We found out later that the Aga Khan, owner of the Serena chain of lodges was visiting today. As far as I know we didn't see him.

Some history: ala Wikapedia

Prince Karīm al-Hussainī became the present Aga Khan IV upon assuming the Imamat of the Nizari Ismailis on July 11, 1957 at the age of 20, succeeding his grandfather, Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah Aga Khan (Aga Khan III). His father, Prince Aly Khan, was a high-profile celebrity in the mid 20th century owing to his relationships with Hollywood stars, including a marriage to Rita Hayworth. He was passed over from the succession, and was later appointed Pakistan's permanent ambassador to the United Nations.

In his will, Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah elaborated the conditions that led him to select his grandson as successor to the Ismaili Imamat:

"In view of the fundamentally altered conditions in the world in very recent years due to the great changes that have taken place, including the discoveries of atomic science, I am convinced that it is in the best interests of the Shia Muslim Ismaili community that I should be succeeded by a young man who has been brought up and developed during recent years and in the midst of the new age, and who brings a new outlook on life to his office."

Prince Karim Aga Khan IV is the 49th Ismaili Imam, tracing their lineage to Ali, cousin of the Prophet Muhammad, and his wife Fatima, the Prophet's daughter. The title His Highness was granted by Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom in 1957, and His Royal Highness by the Shah of Iran in 1957.

3/10/07 Back to Arusha

We awoke this morning to the sounds of rain. Apparently it had rained quite hard during the night. So after our buffet breakfast we loaded up our Toyota Land cruiser for the trip back to Arusha. Eustace had already put the vehicle in 4WD. The "road" which had been rough, rutted, and dusty was now slippery mud. One of the first drivers to leave this morning was apparently inexperienced in this type of conditions and got stuck within several miles of the lodge. A long line of cars quickly formed behind him. There was no alternative route due to the washed out bridges. After 20 minutes or so the other drivers got him going and so we continued, sometimes straight sometimes up a hill at a 45 degree angle. :(

We had to pass through two "dry washes" on the way out and I was concerned there might be a problem there. When we arrived at the first one no water was flowing, but as I looked "up stream" I could see the leading edge of the water approaching less than 50 yards away. we made it across with no problem. We soon reached the entrance gate, passed the now infamous "ant cache" and were onto paved roads again for the drive back to Arusha. About half way back the rain stopped and it was sunny by the time we reached our hotel, the "Mountain Village Lodge" a Serena property." All the cottages are designed to look like native round grass roof covered huts but with all the amenities and comfort of civilization inside. We even had a TV for the first time on this trip.

Driving into the lodge we passed the local market, and since it was Saturday it was full of shoppers. I took some pictures, trying to be subtle about it, through the open window of our moving car.

They had a buffet lunch set up and we enjoyed it. then we rested for awhile and I took a hike/bird walk finding three new birds to add to my list. the "fanciest" was the Brown-breasted Barbet which has a bright scarlet throat and cheek patch then the brown breast and a white belly.

Tomorrow may be interesting. When we inquired about who was taking us to the airport they said that they would call us a taxi and the cost would be about $50 US. We had a voucher for this ride so some inquires will be needed to be made to straighten this out. Check out tomorrow is 10 AM and they would not give us an extension. Since our flight doesn't leave the airport until 9:45 PM we will have a lot of time to kill. They said they will store our luggage in a safe place.

We were able to use a computer here this evening to catch up on our BB teams of interest. Our boys lost two heart breakers; one point to North East and two points to Farrell, but our girls are still playing and winning. We also registered the three caches that we have done here in Tanzania.

3/9/07 A trip to the far side

We started off this morning at 8AM after a good buffet breakfast. We had a picnic (boxed) lunch with us so that we could be out all day. We plan on taking a game drive north and eventually crossing the only remaining bridge and thus visit the other side of the park.

A pair of mating lions had been seen with a mile of the lodge. Eustace slowed down as we approached this area where they had been seen, suddenly he said,"They're right here". I was on the right side of the car and couldn't see them. I was looking out over the grass. Carolyn said, "They're right beside us," and sure enough the male was lying just off the road with the female about six feet behind him sleeping. Needless to say I got "frame filling" pictures of them. Some of the cars passing later got to see them mating.

We got some good pictures of Male and female Waterbucks. Our guide told us an interesting story of how the waterbucks got their distinctive white ring around their rumps. It seems that the elephants had a party and invited all the other animals. However, they neglected to tell the waterbucks that they had just painted the toilet seat white. When the waterbuck sat down on the toilet it got its rump covered in white paint and of course, all future waterbucks carry this mark to this day.
As we worked our way north we traveled a lot of small side roads. Our first new birds of the day were a flock of Wattled Starlings. Later, near the river we were watching Woodland Kingfishers when we heard a low hooting sound coming from a large tree nearby. After some time Eustace spotted a pair of Verreaux's Eagle Owls sitting side by side and softly calling. These are large owls similar to our Great Horned Owls, but gray and white instead of brown.

Earlier we had seen and heard a group of Vervet Monkeys high in the trees across a large dry wash. They were calling and scolding quite loudly. Obviously some predator was below or nearby them. We watched for some time but never saw what was disturbing them.

As we traveled on we came upon a pair of Helmeted Guineafowl with just hatched little ones in the road ahead of us. We stopped so I could get a picture when another vehicle roared up behind us and zoomed past us only to have to slam on its brakes to avoid hitting the tiny chicks. Several fell over in their hurry to try and get out of the way. As I said , they were just hatched and not fast on their feet yet. So I got no picture thanks to some people in a big hurry.

As we continued working in and out of overlooks near the river we saw a large herd of Impala near the river. Some of them were drinking, something our guide said they seldom do since they can get most of the moisture they need from what they eat. There were to many of them for just one Alpha male and , sure enough, the head of another group spotted the alpha in the group near the river and chased after him. He then ran off another large male. The encounters ended quickly once one of them ran away a short distance acknowledging the others dominance. In a real fight those long horns could be wicked. As we started to leave the impalas I noticed several
oxpeckers cleaning a large male. These turned out to be Red-billed Oxpeckers, new to our list. I later saw at least six oxpeckers working on a giraffe.

Excitement at the picnic area

We ate our box lunch at a nice picnic area with a good restroom (running water) nearby. Another couple and their guide were just finishing there meal when we arrived. Suddenly there was a commotion at the table as a large female Vervet Monkey had grabbed one of the box lunches and was running off with it. The people ran after it and made the monkey drop the box just before it had made the safety of the shrubs. Later, another group sat at the same table and we and their guide said the same thing, "Watch out for the sneaky monkey". They chased it away several times but it still snuck up and made a grab for one of the lunches. In the meantime our only "beggars" were a ground squirrel (imagine a fox squirrel with a gray squirrel tail) and a white-headed buffalo weaver (one of my favorite birds) that had no fear of swinging feet.

We finished our lunch and enjoyed the nearby birds including a Cardinal Woodpecker, new to our list. As Eustace carried the lunch boxes back to the car, the monkey spotted some new arriving "victims" and headed for the parking area. Eustace threw some stones at it and the monkey ran back the way it had come and, quick as a flash made a pass at the lunch boxes it had missed before, creating another loud commotion as the folks defended their lunches.

After lunch we continued our journey north into an area called the "small serengeti loop". This was a rather large, mostly treeless area similar to the southern serengeti plain. Here we saw several elephants and a number of Ostrich. As we passed one large shrub I noticed a small hawk sitting quietly on one of the lower branches. We backed up for a better look and the bird retreated into the interior of the bush, but we good good looks at it and Eustace decided that it was a sub-adult Gabar Goshawk. Also in the area were Red-billed buffalo weavers and a paradise whydah (picture a 5" black bird with a yellow nape and a flowing 8" tail.)

Soon we crossed the only remaining bridge over the river and started south. We saw some more Ostrich and many elephants on this side. Many of the trees showed signs of the elephants having used them as scratching posts. One in particular was worn smooth, so I took a picture of it. We continued south fro about 10 miles or so and then started back north along the river. One of the side roads had several interesting sightings.

First were a pair of Black-faced Sand Grouse sitting on the road in front of the car. I got some pictures, but when our driver pulled forward they refused to fly until we literally ran over them. (they did get out of the way) As we continued on down toward the river I spotted a chocolate-brown eagle soaring over the river valley. It landed in a nearby tree and we got good looks at it. It was all brown, but it had a tuft of feathers on the back of its head and when the wind blew against them it exposed a white base to the feathers. It reminded me of a lady in need of redying her hair to cover up the white roots :) This turned out to be a Brown Snake Eagle.

As we continued down to the river a large group of Banded Mongoose, at least 9 of them ran ahead of us on the road. They would stop just out of sight and then run on as we approached. Finally Eustace got tired of this "game" and gunned the car forward. The animals all jumped at once to the right side of the road and into the tall grass there. Laughing about this encounter we proceeded forward several hundred yards and saw three large elephants ahead. Two were off the road to the right about 50 yards the other was quite close to the road and as we approached it moved onto the road and slowly walked toward us throwing road sand up onto its back. I had asked Eustace earlier if he had ever had any close encounters with elephants. He said that the elephants in this park were quite aggressive and that he had once had a rear window broken by one. So...our vehicle weighed about one ton, the elephant in front of us about seven tons. Eustace decided to yield the right-of-way to the larger and heavier "vehicle". Eustace backed up and rather than try to turn around in the narrow road he pulled forward into the grass off road and took a semicircular path up and around and back to the road heading back the way we had come. On this off road impromptu adventure we passed a small pond that had some Egyptian Geese beside it and a warthog with two young approached them. The feisty, much smaller geese charged them and drove them away. So we had to double back from this loop to the main road.

Soon we crossed the bridge and started south toward the Sopa Lodge. We could see large black storm clouds building up behind us so Eustace hurried along the poor roads, (did a mention that Carolyn and I both had a number of bruises from being thrown around and bumping into the unpadded arm rests, etc.) At one point he spotted a small owl right beside the road and quickly stopped. I saw it briefly in the middle of a dense tree for just several seconds but Carolyn missed it. It was a Pearl-spotted Owlet. We hurried on and saw the lions still lying quite close to the road where they had been this morning. Our guide said, "they don't move far when they are mating".

The rain now started and we had to put our top down just before we made it back to the lodge in a light sprinkle. In a few minutes there was a downpour but the storm passed before we had to go to dinner. at 7:30.

After dinner, around 9 o'clock they dimmed the lights and the staff entered the dinning room lead by a large torch and much singing. They wove through the tables and presented Carolyn with a cake with two sparklers on it as they gathered around us and sang a song. Apparently they do this for anyone staying three nights or more at this lodge. This was quite surprising for us. We tried the cake, but it was barely edible.

Just as we were about to leave they dimmed the lights again and went through the same torch-lit procedure except this time they stopped at the head of the VENT (Victor Emmanuel Nature Tours) group of about 15 members and sang Happy Birthday to the leader.

I talked briefly with one of the ladies at this table. I had checked into taking the VENT bird tour last fall but it was sold out. Apparently they fill up almost one year in advance. So we did almost the exact trip on our own and had a great time for a little less money and a much less crowded car. :)

We leave at 8 o'clock again tomorrow for the drive back to Arusha with a free afternoon at the Serena Mountain Lodge. We are also free all day Sunday until time to leave for the Airport for our trip home Sunday evening.

3/8/07 Tarnagire N.P. contined

Up again at 6AM. enjoyed a buffet breakfast and then off on another game drive. We cannot travel to the western part of the park because the severe rains several months ago washed out all the bridges except for one near the park entrance to the north. They will repair them when the dry season arrives. We looked at one former crossing andcouold see where the cement had been washed away.

New birds and animals are becoming harder to find but we managed Egyptian Mongoose, two female Reed Bucks, and good looks at a Steinbok in the road. We added Speckled Pigeons outside our balcony this morning. On our drive we also added D'Arnaud's Barbet, African Crowned Eagle, Long tailed Fiscal(a shrike), Levant's Cuckoo and Black and White Cuckoo near each other. Also a Eurasian Marsh Hawk that we watched hunting over the marsh then dive and pick up a hapless baby rail and eat it near our car.

Returning to our lodge we passed numerous elephants. One group had over 24 in it. We again had a pool side lunch and enjoyed resting before starting out again at 4 PM for an afternoon game drive. There is no internet service here so we won't be able to check on our Basketball teams until at least Sat.

This afternoon I got good pictures of one of my favorite birds, the Liliac-breasted Roller. We saw one about every 400' and many were right by the road. We also had a "harem" of 30 female and young Impalas with the alpha male. they actually walked toward our car and cme within 100' of us. On our way back to the lodge we saw 8+ Little Bee-eaters right beside and on the road.

As mentioned before there are numerous species of Francolins and Spurfowl here. These partridge-like fowl liked to dust themselves and sit on the road not wanting to fly. They would often run ahead of the vehicle and flush only at the last moment. Thus we got good looks at many of them. The new one this afternoon was the Coqui francolin.

We stopped by a place where a bridge had been and we could see the road on the other side but the bridge was completely missing and a 6-8' high sheer wall was exposed on the other side of the stream.

3/7/07 On to Tarangire National Park

We left the Ngorongoro Serena Lodge about 8 AM and traveled around the rim and down to the entrance gate and PAVED ROADS. The vehicle parked beside ours when we prepared to leave this morning was from "Bush buck Safaris" and their motto is "It's rough, It's dusty, but it's an adventure!" That's pretty accurate.

After about an hour we turned off the east/west road and headed south to the Tarangire N.P. At the parking lot at the entrance we searched for a mini-cache while Eustace did the paper work for our entering the park. the cache is rated 4 1/2 stars for difficulty, 1 1/2 for terrain. It was only about 75 feet from where we parked and the write up told us exactly where to look. Why the high degree of difficulty? Well, we searched around the large rock for some smaller rocks to move. A shrub was obscuring the obvious side, and when I finally moved the two rocks to expose the cache I was immediately attacked by a swarm of ants around the cache. At least one bite me. I could see the cache but needed a long pencil that Carolyn had to dislodge it enough so that I could flip it out into the open and make sure there were no ants on it before we opened it. The last previous entry was Feb. 20th --no mention of any ants!

Soon we were on our way into the park. Just past the entrance we saw a Common Waterbuck and its calf. Later, as we toured the park we saw a large number of elephants and several Dik Dik, and lots of birds.

We arrived at the Tarangire Sopa Lodge around 1 PM and checked in and then had a buffet lunch set up near the circular pool. We then rested until almost 4 PM when we went for an afternoon game drive. New birds for the day sere Ashy Starlings, Yellow-collared Love Birds, Bearded Woodpecker, Red-billed Hornbill, and Namaqua Dove. There were two of these doves on the road ahead of us and they were about the size of a sparrow, very tiny. We also saw many species of Francolin. These quail-sized birds were usually seen on or near the road and ran ahead of us rather than fly most of the time. We saw Crested Francolin, Gray-breasted Spurfowl, Yellow-necked Spurfowl, and Red-necked Spurfowl.

Many of the elephants had covered themselves with the local red earth, giving them a very red appearance. We returned to the lodge around 6:15 PM ., We cleaned up, rested for awhile and ate our five course meal from 8-9 PM. We will be off again at 8 AM to explore more of this park.