Entries about flamingos

The day does not start well. I have a dreadful night, wheezing and squeaking, and constantly waking up in a panic thinking I can't breathe. This is too much like our trip here in 2017, when I was suffering from pneumonia, and I feel very concerned this morning.

Trying to get out of bed, I drop my mobile phone on the floor, and it lands on the charging lead, which promptly bends. Thankfully I always carry a spare, but when I get that out of my bag, I discover that I have picked up a wrong cable and it doesn't fit! Doh!

Finally making it to the bathroom, I find the toilet full of excrement and blocked. In his sleepy state, David flushed the toilet during his night time visit, but didn't hang around to ensure the flush worked – which obviously it hadn't.

Bleary eyed, I look in the mirror. Last night as I got back to the room, my lips felt sore, and this morning I wake up to a large blister on my bottom lip. I suffer from photo-sensitive dermatitis, and am quite freaked out by this – last time I sun-burnt my lips, I ended up with a secondary infection and three lots of antibiotics. I do not want a repeat of that, so I cover the blister with a couple of Compeed cold sore plasters. They are great for helping to heal cold sores as well as keeping dust out of the wounds and make the sores almost invisible.

As we open the front door, we see that the safari has come to us this morning, in the form of a herd of impala right outside the room.

We have the last room in a row of 12, so we look out onto the bush. I do love this place.

As we walk to the restaurant, we also see some birds along the path. I particularly requested to stay here at Ndutu Lodge for this safari, partly because the grounds usually attract a number of feathered friends to its lovely bird bath near the restaurant. Unfortunately, as a result of the recent heavy rains, the bird bath is completely overgrown and even if there were birds in it you wouldn't be able to see them!

Superb Starling

Fischer's Lovebird

I'm sure there's a bird bath in there somewhere!

With Malisa getting back so late last night from his adventures stuck in the mud, we suggested he slept in this morning. We are therefore having breakfast in the lodge before heading out today – an absolute rarity for us.

We finally leave around 08:00 to “see what nature has to offer us today” as Malisa likes to say.

Red Necked Spurfowl

Elephant

We notice that this guy only has one short tusk. Not sure what happened but he could have damaged them while trying to bring down a tree.

We thought we were in trouble yesterday getting stuck, but this water tanker really is well and truly bogged down. It will take quite some effort to get that out again!

Hippo

It is unusual – and always exciting – to see hippo out of the water. This guy is going for a little stroll in the shallows.

It looks like he is going for a roll!

Ruff

Red Bishop

The Great Migration

The annual movement of wildebeest and other grazing herbivores across the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem is one of the greatest spectacles in the natural world.

Today we watch the wildebeest – and a few zebra - running and jumping, then turning back the way they came from, fickle creatures that they are.

A few zebra join them

Maternity Ward

We head for the lakeside where a lot of expectant mothers are gathered, plus a few with newborn babies. Again we are hoping to witness a birth.

Looking at the way this young lady is lying down and the shape of her rear, we feel sure she is going to drop a baby any minute, and we spend the next fifteen minutes or so watching her stand up, sit down, walk a few steps, then sit down again. Is she going to give birth?

No such luck. We do see a number discarded placentas around though, but we seem to be either too early or too late to witness the birth itself. We do see a couple of wildebeest sparring, however.

Crowned Lapwing

A pair of Lilac Breasted Rollers

The wildebeest all start moving en masse towards the water, and soon they are crossing the shallow lake, one by one in a single file.

First it is just adults, then the odd youngster appears too.

There is a gap in proceedings, which the zebras take advantage of. They are much more nervous than the wildebeest.

The second wave of wildebeest cross in a slightly different place, where the water is considerably deeper. There is a lot of jumping and splashing going on.

We worry for the youngsters, as they can barely hold their heads above water.

We move along the shore a little to get a different view of the animals as they cross.

As soon as we see this little baby set off across the lake, we hold our breath – the water is way too deep for him.

Thankfully mum realises the dangers and turns around.

Flamingos

More and more birds arrive at the lake.

It's a miracle that they don't collide when they land!

It looks like we missed a birth over at the Maternity Ward – this baby is just a few minutes old, and mum still has the afterbirth attached.

And a slightly older one – maybe one or two days.

He still doesn't look too steady on his feet.

Another new-born, still wet with and the afterbirth still attached to the mother.

We move on to have out picnic breakfast and to see what else nature has to offer us. Stay tuned.

Thank you Calabash Adventures for arranging this amazing safari for us.

Picnic Time

We took breakfast in the hotel this morning, but for lunch we have the first of many picnic boxes we will enjoy on this trip. We climb to the top of a small hill where picnic tables have been arranged overlooking Big Momella Lake.

We are joined for lunch by this damselfly.

And a Speckled Mousebird, trying its best to hide behind a thin branch.

Helmeted Guineafowl

They may be 'just a chicken', but their babies are cute – a family of guineafowl attempt to cross a muddy path.

Some of you will already know the story behind the 'just a chicken' comment: many years ago in a vehicle in Sikkim, India, David exclaims: “Oh look, a colourful bird!” With more than a hint of disdain in his voice, the driver replies: “It's a chicken!” Malisa has cottoned on to the joke (as did Lyn and Chris when they travelled with us a couple of times on safari) and every time we see a guineafowl, at least one of us makes this 'joke'.

Flamingos

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, one of the main reasons for visiting Arusha National Park on this trip, is to see the flamingos that spend part of the year on Big Momella Lake.

Normally at this time of year they will mostly have flown to Lake Natron (where we are going tomorrow), but because of the recent heavy rains, the vast majority of them are still here.

Cape Buffalo

I love how each of these bovine animals have a completely different look and personality!

Banded Mongoose

A band of mongooses frolic in the grass. The collective noun for these animals is band; and the plural of mongoose is mongooses, not mongeese.

You looking at me?

Look at those claws! Her nails are longer than mine. Just right for digging out termites.

Who knew mongooses liked dust baths?

More and more join them.

As we make our way towards the park gate, we see our injured waterbuck again; apparently lying down to die. It is always sad when nature takes its course like that, but there is nothing we, as visitors to their domain, can, or should, do.

Malisa's Family

We consider Malisa almost as an adopted son, and he calls us Mama and Papa. Today we get the opportunity to meet his family for the first time while visiting his house.

We are made to feel very welcome, offered refreshments and given gifts and lots of hugs.

The track leading to and from Malisa's house is more like a river than a road.

Kilimamoja Lodge

At Mto Wa Mbu we once again leave our comfortable ride behind and head off down another dirt track towards our accommodation for the night.

On arrival at the lodge, we are greeted by an army of helpers who take every piece of luggage we remove from the car; we are not allowed to carry anything! A few staff sing and dance for us, and adorn us with a traditional Maasai necklace.

The lodge is fairly large, with 49 rooms spread around sprawling grounds, perched on a cliff overlooking The Great Rift Valley.

Sculptures in the grounds

The pool with the Rift Valley beyond

The palatial lobby sports high ceilings and grandiose furniture; much like Palace of the Lost City in Sun City (South Africa) – the only six star hotel we have ever stayed in.

The reception has a life size sculpture of an elephant; another similarity to The Lost City.

After a welcome drink and paperwork formalities where we are introduced to Lilian, 'who will be looking after us during our stay' (a bit like having our very own butler-esse), we are shown to our very impressive room.

I do like my mosquito nets to be away from the bed at night, for two reasons: I have been known to wake up in the morning with my knuckles covered in insect bites where my hand has been resting against the net overnight; and I so hate to have to fight with the net before I can even put my feet on the floor when I get up to use the bathroom in the night. This room has got it right, with a good foot on all sides of the bed (the net pulls around the canopy above the bed), and even the bedside tables are inside it - another pet hate of mine is having to find the opening of the net if I want to have a drink in the night.

There is a comfortable armchair and foot rest in the room too, which we have filled up with some of all our stuff, as well as a chaise longue . A fireplace offers warmth on a chilly evening and beyond that you can see the double (!) shower unit! That is a first for us!

Double hand basins, naturally.

Every comfort has been thought of – there is also an outdoor shower should you prefer to shower in the fresh air - which is something I love, especially in the rain – there is nothing quite like standing under the African sky, with the hot shower mixing with the cool rain. But on this occasion we take a shower side by side in the bathroom. It certainly speeds things up, leaving more time for a pre-dinner drink on the balcony.

The spacious balcony wraps around two sides of the room, with great views over the valley beyond. It is furnished with a circular day bed, two wicker chair plus a table, and a hanging egg chair.

The entire wall of the bedroom is made up of sliding doors, giving the impression when open that the balcony is very much part of the room. I love it!

Dinner

We reluctantly tear ourselves away from the luxurious room to wander up to the restaurant for something to eat.

Lilian, our 'personal assistant' is there with the menu. There are four other tables occupied, and a plethora of staff milling around. The service is professional, yet very personal, with Lilian and the waiting staff using our first names at every opportunity.

'Design your own salad' for starter, with a choice from tomato, bell peppers, carrots, onion, black olives and cheese. All drizzled with a tasty 'chef's dressing'.

The menu shows a choice of main courses, or so we think. It turns out that we get all of it: beef fillet stir fry, pan roasted king fish in a Swahili sauce, and chicken rubbed with mild mustard and herbs. Three waitresses walk around the table at the same time serving us both simultaneously from platters. The meats are accompanied by a potato and chick pea curry, roasted herb potatoes and Swahili chapatis.

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Dessert is a choice of fruit custard or chocolate fondant, and the latter is to die for. It comes out as a bit of a dull-looking pudding, but once I cut into it and the melted chocolate starts oozing out... O.M.G.

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The chef later takes a walk around the tables, and we see him chuckling to himself as he meanders back to the kitchen after I tell him the dessert was “better than sex”.

Back in the room we enjoy a glass of Amarula and Captain and Coke on the balcony before going to bed.

While we were at dinner, staff have been in to perform turn-back service, leaving us a couple of little chocolates on a dish, with the message: "La la salama", which means "sleep well" in Swahili. While turn-back service is fairly common in higher class establishment, providing chocolate as part of it is not so prevalent these days. Last time we experienced that was when we were in Tanzania with Lyn and Chris in 2018, staying at the Ole Serai in Serengeti. We later learn that this hotel is part of the same chain.

Thank you Tillya of Calabash Adventures for booking us in to this amazing lodge, as well as arranging our seventh safari in Tanzania.

Despite the long journey, I was way too wired to sleep last night: I only managed one hour and 20 minutes in total and am really hanging this morning. Malisa didn't get much sleep either apparently, as sharing out the presents we brought for his family created a Christmas Day atmosphere.

It is still raining when we leave the hotel this morning, and I am amused to see a number of motorcycles with large umbrella attachments. This is not something I have seen before, but my attempt at photographing them through a wet windscreen is rather unsuccessful.

Arusha National Park

Another change of plan this morning – as a result of recent heavy rains, large parts of Lake Manyara National Park is under water. The lake itself has swelled so much that some lodges – including Maramboi, which we have stayed at three times previously – are closed due to flooding. Tillya therefore suggested we go to Arusha National Park instead. Another reason for doing so is that the flamingos are largely still there, rather than having migrated to Lake Natron, where we were hoping to see them tomorrow.

It is still raining as we enter the park, but that does not deter the animals, of course.

Common Waterbuck

Cape Buffalo at an area known as Little Serengeti

A somewhat damp Olive Baboon

One of the rarer species, which is not found in the other larger northern parks, is the Black and White Colobus Monkey

Giraffe

I can't believe how small the Dik Dik looks next to the giraffe.

The tiniest little Olive Baboon baby - probably no more than two hours old, still struggling to walk

Warthogs

A sounder of warthogs are startled by our approach, and make a run for it.

Others join in, not realising why they are running. Warthogs are known for their stupidity and the way they blindly follow their leaders. These two, however, appear to be unsure about which way to run initially.

They soon realise the errors of their ways

They reach the road and cross right behind us, much to our delight.

They might be ugly creatures, but they have such elegant legs!

A little one gets left behind and makes a mad dash for it.

This surely has to be one of the highlights of today: a warthog mother in her den with a two-week old baby suckling.

Hadada Ibis

I find it interesting how certain birds and animals are more prevalent at certain times of year - we've only had a couple of brief sightings of this bird on our previous six safaris in Tanzania, whereas here there are a number of them!

Augur Buzzard

Trying to balance on a thorny bush, he has a bit of a flap on.

They are seriously impressive birds when they spread their wings.

It is interesting how different cameras and lenses render colours differently. The previous images were taken with a Canon 1DXII with a Canon 100-400mm and a 1.4 extender; whereas the one below was a Canon 7DII with a Canon 600mm f/4. Both shot with a Cloudy White Balance, yet the green colour is very different.

A six-week old baby giraffe - look at those ears!

We stop for ages in this one place, as it seems to be all happening around us: birds aplenty, mongooses, giraffes, buffalo, warthogs.

I always find it amazing how giraffes can eat around the thorns on the acacia trees

Ashy Starling on a giraffe

Banded Mongoose

The Cape Buffalo attracts the flies and the flies attract the Red Billed Oxpecker

Common Fiscal Shrike

Masked Weaver

Hammerkop

Red Billed Oxpeckers

Common Waterbuck

While photographing the backside of this antelope to demonstrate the difference between a Common Waterbuck (with the toilet seat shaped white marking on its rear), and the Defassa Waterbuck with its more solid markings (see inset), we notice that he is struggling to walk.

On closer inspection, it seems he has a nasty flesh wound on his upper thigh, probably caused by a hyena. It is causing him a great deal of distress, and he appears very weak and painfully thin. Not long for this world I fear.

We move on to “see what else nature has to offer us”.

Hippo in Big Momella Lake

Pale Flycatcher

African Scops Owl

Without warning, Malisa grinds the car to an abrupt halt and reverses back. What has he seen? There, skilfully camouflaged in a tree, is an owl. An African Scops Owl – one of the handful of birds / animals on my wish list this year. Good job Malisa!

He is well hidden, but we leave the vehicle and explore on foot to try and get a good viewpoint. Thankfully there are no big cats here in Arusha National Park, so it is reasonably safe to do so.

He changes position, we follow.

Owls looks seriously weird when they blink!

Eventually he flies off to another tree, and we move on.

Common Sandpiper

Juvenile Augur Buzzard

He is such a noisy bugger, squawking loudly

African Pied Wagtail

Big Momella Lake

As I said at the beginning of this blog entry, today's visit to Arusha National park is totally unscheduled, with a plan to see the flamingos. And see them we do!

Lesser Flamingos are much smaller but brighter in colour than the Greater Flamingos.

And thus ends the first morning in the bush. Thank you once again to Calabash Adventures for arranging our latest safari.

More Elephants

This time under the shade of a tree

Black Faced Vervet Monkey

This young lady is carrying the tiniest of babies, but she doesn't seem to want to show him off to us.

For a moment it looks like the baby is losing his grip on mum's belly.

Whirlwind

We've seen a lot of these mini-tornadoes on this trip, with more windy weather than we've ever experienced in the past.

Another Leopard Tree

Just like before, the leopard has jumped down from the tree before we arrive, and could be absolutely anywhere by now.

Kill in Tree

This is beginning to be the 'Story of Our Day' as we see the carcass of a reedbuck in a tree. The predator has deserted her kill to go off hunting again. Knowing that she is likely to return to move the kill to protect it from lions, we wait. And wait. And wait. “Just ten minutes more”. Eventually, after what seems to me like an eternity, we take a vote and decide to move on to “see what else nature has to offer us”.

Helmeted Guineafowl

I know they are birds, but it is still unusual to see the guineafowl in a tree.

Warthogs

Heading for the waterhole

Rolling around in the pond, the warthogs are essentially 'applying sunscreen' using the thick mud for protection.

Seeing warthogs walk makes me think that they look like ladies in stilettos.

Thomson's Gazelles

Also at the waterhole are a few Thomson's gazelles.

Reedbucks

The shy reedbuck stay in the distance, hoping for the gazelles to vacate the waterhole so they can go down to drink in peace.

Elephants

This herd includes a couple of really young babies, just two and three months old.

Mum is very protective over her baby.

Note the dust devil in the background – as I said earlier, we saw more of these on this trip than we have on all the previous safaris put together.

Lioness

This young lady is having an afternoon siesta under a tree, all by herself.

Topi

Surveying the landscape from the top of a small mound. As they do.

White Bellied Bustard

Steenbok

Not sure what this steenbok has done with his ears – he looks rather odd.

Short Grass Plains

Looking out over the area that they call Short Grass Plains, I can understand how Serengeti got its name: Endless Plains (the meaning of the name Serengeti in the local Maa language).

Dust

At this time of year, vehicles travelling on the dirt tracks of the Serengeti throw up huge clouds of dust, especially the large trucks.

Common Kestrel

He has a little lizard in his talons, but seems more interested in looking around than eating, but eventually bites its head off and flies off holding the rest of his lunch in his claws.

Steppe Eagle

Chipped Windscreen

The problem with these dry gravel tracks is not just the dust, there are also little stones being thrown up. This started as a small chip less than an inch long a few days ago, but with the vibrations of the uneven surface and the vacuum effect caused by driving at speed, it is now almost a foot long. Every time we pass another vehicle, Malisa holds on to the windscreen with his spare hand to lessen the chance of it shattering. Fortunately there is very little traffic today.

Naabi Gate

By the time we reach the gate to exit Serengeti, both David and I have the runs; thankfully the toilets here are clean and modern these days.

Ndutu

After completing the formalities and leaving Serengeti, we enter one of my favourite places in Tanzania: Ndutu. Part of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Ndutu encompasses a lake of the same name as well as Lake Masek.

Baby Golden Jackal

There is no sign of the rest of his family, I am guessing (hoping) they are hiding somewhere nearby.

Spotted Hyena

Fireball Lily

Unlike our last two visits, which have been in May when the plains are turned into enormous, colourful meadows, at this time of year it is unusual to see any flowers, making this fireball lily all the more special.

Flamingos on Lake Ndutu

The way they move when they are feeding, tripping up and down, lifting one leg, then the other, always makes me think of little children needing the toilet. They are, of course, doing it to try and disturb algae.

Yellow Necked Francolin

Giraffe

As I said earlier, the dry soil means that the car kicks up a large amount of dust as we are driving along the dirt tracks. While we are moving, it is not so noticeable, as the dust is mostly behind us; but as soon as we stop, the fine powder seems to catch up with us, making photography impossible for a minute or so until it settles.

While I was complaining about the dust a minute ago, I love it when we get back-light from the setting sun and the animals themselves kick up the dust. It adds a magical atmosphere to the photographs.

Elephants

Wait for me!

The elephants are heading to the Big Marsh area to have a drink before bed time.

Fork Tailed Drongo

More Elephants

We notice one of them has a broken tusk, probably destroyed it while trying to bring down a tree.

The light is really failing now as Malisa makes his way to our camp for the night.

Tawny Eagle

Black Backed Jackal

Striped Hyena

I always travel to Tanzania with a wish list of some animals I would really like to see. While I am of course excited by whatever “nature has to offer us”, there are still some animals that we have yet to encounter in the wild. Striped Hyena is one of those. It has been on my wish lists every single one of the six times we have come to Tanzania on safari.

Just before we arrive at our night stop, Malisa abruptly stops the car as an animal crosses the track in front of us at the speed of light. “What was that” I ask as I instinctively grab my camera. Malisa is almost too excited to speak. “Striped Hyena”. Wow. Not only is the light so low by now (ISO 20,000 for my photography friends), the hyena is such a fast mover, that he is way into the bush by the time I press the shutter.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am very excited to announce that this is a STRIPED HYENA. Honestly.

Lake Masek Tented Camp

This is the third time we have stayed at this charming camp, and it never fails to delight us.

After completing the usual formalities, we check out the new deck that has been built since we celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary here in May last year.

The view from here has always been spectacular, overlooking the lake of the same name.

This evening a welcoming camp fire is burning in the elevated fire pit, with director's chairs surrounding it, facing the stunning outlook.

We also see there is new and a very inviting-looking swimming pool on a lower deck. It is a shame we never have time to enjoy the facilities of these lodges – it's a balance between making the most of the animals on safari or the accommodation and the wildlife wins every time.

Spacious tents on wooden platforms come complete with a four poster bed, large bathroom featuring a stand-alone bath, double basins, a separate toilet and an open air shower.

The latter is a new experience for Lyn and Chris and causes much amazement and amusement. At dinner Chris regales us with an entertaining account of the conversation that occurred while they were getting ready:

Lyn: “The shower has no roof”
Chris, not taking a great deal of notice: “Oh yeah”
Lyn: “No, really, there is no roof.”
Chris, a little more interested now: “What do you mean 'no roof'?”
Lyn: “I can see the stars”
Chris, a little confused: “Really? Don't be silly”

Unfortunately it is not raining this evening, as having a warm shower in the cool rain is an unforgettable experience. Mind you, so is star gazing while showering.

It is not until I take my watch off this evening that I realise just how much sun you can catch even though you are inside a vehicle and using a factor 20 sun tan lotion.

We just about have time to enjoy a pre-dinner drink on the mosquito-screened balcony in front of our tent.

One of the many things I like about this camp is that Malisa is permitted to eat with us, and we have a terrific evening with lots of raucous laughter, excellent food and free beer and wine. Thankfully the lodge is not full this evening, with only three other tables taken for dinner.

All this was, of course, arranged by the ever-helpful Calabash Adventures, our favourite safari partner.