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.