Tarangire

Apparently, Kirurumu was owned by Gibbs Farm, but they've since changed ownership, and with the change in ownership the quality of service has fallen. After breakfast, we stowed our luggage and set off for a game drive at Lake Manyara. Lake Manyara is on the western edge of the Rift Valley, under the escarpment. We didn't see any cats in there, but we did see a palm nut vulture, and many other birds. We saw a few elephants. One of the more interesting sightings was of some baboons stripping the bark off gum trees and eating it.

Back to the Kirurumu for our luggage, and off to Tarangire. We made two stops on the way. The first was Mtu-Wan-Bu (Mosquito River) to visit a market. Lots of grains on display and a few souvenir shops. I bought naught. Then on to a basket shop near Tarangire, where I bought naught. (My mother bought some place mats, my sister bought everything else.) Pulled into Tarangire for a late lunch at 3PM. Our camp was in a river valley, and was supposed to have a cooling breeze, but that breeze did not arrive. Instead, it was hot, humid, and still.

After lunch, we went on a game drive to try to find leopards. We didn't see any, but we did get a good look at a fish eagle. While on the game drive we were hit with a bit of rain, so I skipped a shower on my return. Dinner was pork chops, and I went to sleep.

I did not sleep well due to the warmth. After breakfast, we went on a game drive along the river. We did not see much apart from a few new birds (pied kingfisher) and the occasional giraffe. Worse, I forgot my sun block that morning, and was stuck in the back again. (At this point, I was in the back for 11 out of 15 game drives.)

A word about the vehicles: These were standard Range Rovers, with holes in the roof for game viewing. The front had two bucket seats for the driver (right-hand drive) and a passenger. This passenger had no top hatch. The middle was three bench seats. There was a top hatch for observing. The back was the cargo area. Instead of adult sized seats, there were fold-down benches that were less than 12 inches deep. Not really large enough for an adult to sit comfortably; one was forced to stand in the hatch. It was not an ideal vehicle.

We came back to a hot brunch with shish kabobs, but, in my opinion, it was too hot to eat. The mid-day air was hot, humid, and still, and the tents were in the sun. The heat was unrelenting. It was actually too hot to think clearly.

Red-billed hornbill

Verreaux's Eagle Owl

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The afternoon game drive was the game drive of the tsetse flies. During this drive I was bitten at least 25 times, mainly on my back and arms. The bites of the tsetse fly are quite painful, like an injection, but fortunately they don't itch afterwards. We did see a verreaux's eagle owl, the largest owl in Africa. We also saw some weavers and butterflies. After this, we headed to the lodge for a cool drink, in my case, a bottle of ice cold water. It really hit the spot!

The rest of the game drive was down the main road where we saw lions in trees. One lion, a female, had a bad gash behind her head, and seemed very tentative in the tree. Back to the camp for vegetarian stew over rice for dinner. Slept, sort of.

Mongoose

Fish Eagles

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The next day continued hot and humid, as we went down to Silale swamp. Tarangire is known for its elephants, but on the first day we saw very few. The tsetse flies seem to have abated a bit, though. We headed south to the swamp after breakfast. Not much was seen until we arrived, when we saw a few fish eagles, and a pair of verreaux's eagle owls. Finally, we saw elephants. There were probably about 80 of them, and they moved across the road. For a while, we were surrounded by elephants. I took a few pictures of them.

When we could escape, we did, and we headed back up to the lodge for some shopping. I bought naught. (I bought the bulk of my African gifts on my trip in 1999.) We headed back to camp for a late lunch, a cold buffet. I didn't eat much, as it was still very hot and humid. We waited for the last Tarangire game drive, and finally, for a few minutes, a breeze came up and a dust devil appeared. Then, it became still again.

The last drive was a desperate search for leopards. We were unsuccessful. Back to camp and dinner, and a final pack for Arusha.

We left the following morning after breakfast for Arusha and Arusha National Park. A few elephants were seen on the way out of the park, and another stop was made at the basket shop to purchase weaved rugs. We reached the city of Arusha at about 11 AM, from which we bought some carvings (I bought an ebony giraffe and lion), and I visited an Internet cafe. Lunch was tense. Some chicken and beef dish, and chips (French fried). After a while, we set off for Momela Camp in Arusha national park.