The 1999 Big Trip: Africa

Part 4: Tanzania

 

Unfortunately, not everyone had applied in advance for a Tanzanian visa. This meant we had to wait for thirty minutes in the hot van, Tanzanian immigration would only accept US dollars for the visa, and we had to scrape around to find them. I had them, and took payment in pounds, since I'd be heading to London on my way home.

In Kenya, the road wasn't so great, but in Tanzania, it was appalling. Often, the pavement would just disappear. Worse, every now and then we would pass through villages that were abandoned because of AIDS. There were a few ghost towns on the way to Arusha.

Arusha itself was nothing notable. A very dusty town, perhaps closer to the stereotype of an African city than anything else I saw. One hotel in town, the Novotel. That's where we went for lunch. Memo for my next trip: Try to get a bag lunch from Nairobi instead of eating at the Arusha Novotel. It was the least impressive place to eat in Kenya or Tanzania. The really bad news: We would eat here again on the way back.

Worse, I could not change my traveler's checks. They were "too big," and since Tanzania did not have any ATM's, I was forced to exchange US cash. Fifty dollars got me 33,600 Tanzanian shillings.

Next, we got to fly from Arusha to the Serengeti. We were booked to leave Arusha at 1530 on Precision Air. As it turned out, the flight was a code share with Air Excel. It was a 10-seat single engine Cessna, and was really tossed about by thermals and air currents. I sat in the back where I could stretch my legs. I was still hunched over, though.

Apart from a few bumps, the flight was uneventful, and landed safely at the Serengeti Airport. So, we were there. The air strip was really just a cleared piece of land. Several flights arrived at about the same time, and people went to their respective vehicles.

We were met by our guide for Tanzania, Tedei. He preferred to have his name pronounced "today." Our first game drive would be from the airstrip to the lodge. Our vehicle was a converted Land Rover, where there were three roof panels removed. I sat in the back, it was not easy to stand on the floor, so I ended up standing on the seat to look out.

In Kenya we had used a Toyota van where the entire roof lifted up. At the time in Tanzania I preferred the Toyota, simply because you could move around easier, and had shade, but as time passed, the Land Rover proved more comfortable.

Topi

Waterbuck

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I unpacked my lens and slathered on some sun block, and away we went! Lots of animals. The first ones we saw were elephants (Loxodonta africana) (one of the "Big Five:" elephants, rhinos, lions, hippos, and buffaloes.) This was followed by hippopotomuses (Hippopotamus amphibius), a go-away bird, blacksmith plover (Vanellus armatus), Egyptian geese, and our first lions! There were two lions (Panthera leo) lying under a bush. As we watched, the male went over the female and mounted her; right about now (late January) there could be a new lion cub as a result.

Walk this way.

Piggyback ride?

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Sleeping in a tree

After the look at the lions we went down a road by a river, where we saw a leopard (Panthera pardus) relaxed in a tree. It was difficult to see, since it was getting dusky and the leopard was in the shade.

This was followed by a party of baboons, and vervet monkeys (Ceropithecus aethiops). I was mildly upset with the driver, since he did not seem interested in stopping for birds. I recalled seeing an attractive blue bird, but the driver would not stop for it.

Sun and clouds

The last animals were zebras, wildebeest, eland (Tragelaphus oryx), Thompson's gazelles, giraffe, and grants gazelles. We pulled into the Serengeti Sopa Lodge at about 7PM, after a long, fast drive in the twilight. Checked in, it was a fairly large room. I also saw that I made the wrong exchange; the rate of 680 shillings to the dollar did not compare as favorably as 10 Tanzanian shillings to the Kenyan shilling. The Kenyan shillings were around 73 to the dollar, so it made more sense to exchange Kenyan shillings. I had quite a few from the airport ATM, so the rest of my exchange in Tanzania was spending Kenyan money.

When at the lodges, you were seated with your safari party, so we got to know each other a bit better. You are presented with a list of four main courses, two soups, and an appetizer. There was a consume that I had, as well as Swahili chicken. I skipped the salads, since I don't like cold leaves. I don't remember the dessert.

I slept quite well that night.

The next morning, the lodge provided an English breakfast, starting at 7AM. I was well awake by then. So, before breakfast I went out walking on the patio. It was quite windy, and cool. From the patio, I was able to see giraffe, wildebeest, and zebras wandering in the fields below the lodge. They were also visible from the dining room. It was quite different from other places where I have eaten.

The day's schedule consisted of two game drives, each of about 4 hours length. The first was quite intense. As we headed away from the lodge, our first siting was an augur buzzard (Buteo rufofuscus) and an unspecified bee eater. We stopped to see more hippos and vervet monkeys in a water hole. Shortly thereafter, we saw another pair of lions, and again they copulated. Randy animals, the lions.

Go Away Birds
Male lion	Kori Bustard

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Our next stop was to swing by a lake, where there were more blacksmith plovers and a few lesser flamingos (Phoeniconaias minor). The birds were quite distant, so I didn't get any good pictures here.

We then went wondering near some skopjes (piles of rocks) and we saw a cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) layed out on top of a hill. She kept looking around, and there we saw six cheetah cubs, sleeping together in their lair. Wow. It is amazing how skinny a cheetah appears to be, they seem to have no waist.

Momma Cheetah	She sees us
Her lair

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After enjoying the company of the cheetah family for a while, we saw some circling birds. They were Egyptian vultures (Neophron percnopterus), lappet-faced vultures (Aegypius tracheliotus), and rueppell's griffons (Gyps rueppelli). Getting closer, we saw a cheetah on a kill. It was being chased off by a spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta), who fed for a while until sated, and then the vultures hopped over to finish off the carcass. After the hyena finished, it walked near the cheetah, who was watching his hard work go down the gullets of the scavengers.

The vulture lead us

He watched his meal get stolen

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After watching the kill, we went back towards the river. Here, we saw some elephants come almost close enough to touch. Too close for my lenses... While we were watching the elephants, I identified some more birds. There was another buffalo weaver, superb starlings (Spreo superbus), and a little green bee eater (Merops orientalis). On the drive back, we saw another pride of lions, this one was a group of mothers with their cubs. We saw a Kori bustard (Ardeotis kori), which is one strange looking bird.

A Family of Elephants

Hippos out of the water

A pride of lions

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Lunch was some form of beef. After lunch, I saw a red agama (agama agama), which is a type of lizard.

Some Mongooses

For the afternoon game drive, we all wanted to see some crocodiles. So we set off for the crocodile pool at the Grumeti River. It was a fairly long drive, past where we'd been seeing animals before. (The Sopa Lodge is in the southern part of the park, and the crocodiles were in the north.) Still, we got there after about 75 minutes. We were also able to exit the vehicle to look at the hippos in the pool, and crocodiles (Crocodylus niloticus) on the far bank. We got out and watched then for a while. The hippos were fighting with each other every now and then, and one noticed me and gave me a grunt. After a while, we had to leave.

Elephants on Parade

The hippos in the sun

There be dragons!

Look hungry, don't they?

Hippos in the water

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Basically, we drove back to the lodge. We saw a red-billed hornbill (Tockus erythrorhynchus), a verreaux's eagle owl (Bubo lacteus), and a huge herd of cape buffalo (Syncerus caffer). We also saw more vervet monkeys, baboons, topi (Damaliscus lunatus), eland, wildebeest, and Kirk's dikdik (Madoqua kirkii). We were blocked for thirty minutes by some elephants, who were eating and standing on the road. Eventually, we went around. It was quite dark by the time we got back to the lodge. Our last stop was to watch some sleeping lions. The bird highlight, after the owl, had to be the secretary bird (Sagittarius serpentarius).

The herd of buffalo
A Dik-dik	Verreaux's Eagle Owl
They're not dead... They're sleeping

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Personally, I found the eagle owl very impressive. It is a close relative to the great horned owl of North America, but this bird dwarfs our owl. It was very impressive to see.

On getting back to the lodge, one's first item of business is to shower. No matter how hard you try to stay clean, you get coated with dust and dirt while on safari. I also found that my laundry had been done, at a much more reasonable price than asked in Nairobi.

Sometime in the afternoon I had a nasty insect bite on my shoulder, despite a good covering of DEET. Good think I was taking larium.

Dinner that night was a Swahili beef stew, which wasn't too bad. I slept well.

The next morning was still quite windy. There were some Thompson's gazelles near the lodge in the morning, and a few more red-headed agama. I also saw a white-necked raven (Corvus albicollis) near the lodge. One problem I experienced in Tanzania was a lack of diet soda. I really don't like sugary sodas, but like the flavor of a cola. All I really could drink at the lodges was water and tea. I had a lot of both.

We left the lodge at 8:30, after breakfast, and went looking for more lions. We found a pride on some rocks near where we saw the flamingos the previous day. This pride had one female and 7 cubs. They were happy to hang about and let us photograph them. I also finally got to identify the blue bird I saw earlier, a lilac-breasted roller (Coracias caudata). That is a very attractive bird. This morning we didn't see many mammals. We headed off to a rest stop, where there were more superb starlings and white-bellied buffalo weavers. After the rest stop, we started heading out to the east gate. We saw more cheetah, and a lion hiding under a bush.

Momma lion and her cubs

Isn't he cute?

Our lunch was at the east gate, and here I found a diet Pepsi. For me, it was bliss. The lunch was some fried chicken, fruit, and a bunch of other stuff. The superb starlings were quite interested, but I was more interested in climbing to the top of the hill, and in investigating the maribou. Also saw a hoopoe (Upupa epops) there.

Flamingoes!
A superb starling	Another look
White-bellied buffalo weaver	A resting lion
Secretary Bird	African Hoopoe
White-backed vultures	A weaver

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The afternoon was a hard drive to Ngorongoro. We stopped at Olduvai Gorge, which was a disappointment to me. Here is where the Leakeys and other anthropologists have done their work studying the origins of man. All that was there was a small museum with a casting of the Laetelli footprints, and a covered lecture area. The gorge itself was not entered, and we didn't get to see the actual sites where the discoveries were made.

On the drive, I saw a pallid harrier (Circus macrourus) and a common buzzard (Buteo buteo).

We opted to skip the Maasai village, since we were scheduled to see one later. So, we arrived at Ngorongoro at 5:30 PM. This was in time to watch sunset across the crater. We were very dusty. Before showering, I saw a tree hyrax (Dendrohyrax dorsalis).

Sunset from Ngorongoro

Dinner was some chewy beef dish, the choice for the native African dish did not sound appealing.

After dinner, I looked at the stars. I could recognize Pegasus, but the southern sky is a mystery to me. I even slept with the curtains open so I could watch the night sky.

Larium is a strange chemical. One of the side effects listed in the warnings is vivid dreams. That, they certainly were! This night, I dreamed I was having open heart surgery under a local anesthetic. I could watch the operation in my own chest in a mirror mounted over the operating table. The surgeon was removing a part of my lungs because "it is easier to breathe thin air with small lungs." I was even stitched up by the surgeon in time for dinner.

I also had a mildly erotic dream about Kathy, a woman I knew at Duke. I hadn't thought about her in ages.

After surviving the dreams, I woke for the full-day game drive in Ngorongoro Crater. This crater was once a large volcano (there are active volcanos in Tanzania that have erupted within the last ten years). It collapsed about two million years ago, and provided a natural bowl where animals could live. Ngorongoro probably has more wildlife per square mile than anywhere else in the world.

Vultures are always interesting

A zebra

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The first thing we saw upon driving into the crater was a flock of vultures dining on a carcass, with hyena and lion nearby. On reaching the crater floor, we saw a herd of wildebeest, walking in a line that was probably a mile long. This was the largest herd of animals I saw on the trip. We then headed off to a hippo pool, where there were hippos! Also, African spoonbills (Platalea alba), Night herons (Nycticorax nycticorax), cattle egrets (Bubulcus ibis), flamingos, and grey-crowned cranes (Balearica regulorum).

A line of wildebeest

It is a long line

Crowned crane	Thompson's gazelle
Sacred Ibis

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Then, what for me was the highlight of Tanzania: We saw lions kill a cape buffalo. First, one of the lions was able to leap onto the back of the buffalo pulling it down. Next, a second lion came to administer the killing bite on the throat of the buffalo. As it died, twelve lion cubs came to feed on the buffalo. We saw a second buffalo carcass that was also used for lion food. There were no male lions.

Start the kill	The buffalo fights
Getting in position	Take it down!

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After the lions, we went looking for rhinos. We saw one off in the distance, but it was barely visible. We did see an African fish eagle (Haliaeetus vocifer) near the woods.

More flamingoes
Flamingo in flight	Warthogs
Augur Buzzard
Am African fish eagle	Looking at us

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We took a break for a box lunch. This was an exciting experience, as the black kites in the area were very aggressive. One kite stole my fried chicken when it was less than four inches from my mouth. It actually hit my head with its wing and grabbed the chicken. These are quite smart birds, to have figured out this hunting technique.

A hyena

After the kite attack, we went wandering over the crater just too see more. We were caught for about 15 minutes in a rain squall and we saw more hyena, buffalo, and flamingos. We did see vervet monkeys (one of whom was startled by my shadow, and then startled me since I didn't know it was there) at a rest stop. Also saw a bearded woodpecker (Dendropicos namaquas) at the rest stop.

The baboons

The last notable bird of the day was a black goshawk (Accipiter melanoleucus), seen near the fish eagle. On the way out, we passed a large family of baboons.

Back at the lodge, after a shower, I again watched an orange sunset. Dinner was beef skewers and a polenta-like corn paste. The skies were crystal clear. I could make out Jupiter, Saturn, Andromeda, Pegasus, Cassiopeia, Aquila, Lyra, Scorpio, and the Milky Way. Beautiful. I slept well that night.

The plans for the next day were to drive to Gibbs Farm, then from there to Tarangire for a game drive. We had a brief stop at the crater's edge to say good bye to Ngorongoro, and then we were off.

Gibbs Farm is a Tanzanian coffee farm, which has become a bit of a rest stop for safaris. The place was absolutely aflutter with birds. We saw yellow-bellied greenbuls (Chlorocichla flaviventris), eastern violet-backed sunbirds (Anthreptes orientalis), long-tailed fiscals (Lanius cabanisi), and yellow-backed weavers(Ploceus melanocephalus). Some of us hiked to a waterfall, and on the hike we saw a little bee eater (Merops pusillus), little weavers (Ploceus luteolus), common fiscals (Lanius collaris), and a cinnamon chested bee eater (Merops oreobates). We also saw the top of a 35 meter waterfall. It was good to get out of the vehicle and get some fresh air and exercise.

Yellow-backed weaver	Yellow-bellied greenbul
Violet-backed sunbird	Little Bee Eater
The waterfall	The same sunbird

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We had lunch at Gibbs Farm, which was mainly a salad buffet. After the stop at Gibbs Farm, we went to a souvenir shop, where a minor disaster struck. The Land Rover's fuel line had a leak, and we were leaking diesel. We waited for about an hour as a replacement vehicle came. At that point, we transfered to the new vehicle. This was something of an upgrade, a newer model Land Rover. The breakdown greatly reduced our time in Tarangire, though.

Rock Hyrax

We descended the rift valley wall and went past Lake Manyara, and arrived at Tarangire at 5PM. Essentially, the game drive is just a straight drive to the lodge. On the way we say elephants (including a five-legged elephant), giraffe, zebras, grants gazelles, wildebeest, Hildebrandt's francolin (Francolinus hildebrandti), long-crested eagle (Lophaetus occipitalis), tawny eagle (Aquila rapax), augur buzzards, common buzzards (including a dark morph), banded snake eagle (Circaetus cinerascens), black shouldered kites, and vultures.

An elephant

I was very pleased to find that there was diet coke at the Tarangire Lodge. It was luxury to me. Things were not as good for some of my fellow travelers, the time in the land rover was wearing on Patsy, who fell and bloodied her nose when she arrived at Tarangire. She and Mary were discussing ending their safari in Nairobi.

Dinner that night was a chicken dish, otherwise unmemorable. I slept well in my last night in Tanzania.

The next morning, we left early for a brief game drive, then the trip back to Nairobi. I truly regretted spending as little time in Tarangire as we did, as it was a birders' paradise. Driving out, we saw another long-crested eagle, vultures on a kill, and a bataleur (Terathopius ecaudatus). The kill was very close to the land rover, so we had an excellent view of the vultures fighting. It appeared to have been a wildebeest before it was killed by lions. There were even some maribou at the carcass to eat, but they had to wait for the vultures to finish. The last ungulates we saw in Tanzania were some more elephants.

Another elephant	A Baobab Tree
Vultures	Do I smell food?
Chow time!	A giraffe eating

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We left the park just after nine, and stopped at a snake farm. Here, several African snakes were kept in cages. I did some shopping for gifts at the souvenir stand. We arrived at the Novotel for another very bad lunch -- The Arusha Novotel had the worst food in continental Africa, and that includes the food in Egypt that made me ill.

We left Arusha at 2. The roads in Tanzania are extremely primitive, the potholes would swallow New York City busses. In some places, it is better to have no pavement. Arrived Namanga and cleared Tanzanian customs. Back to Kenya.