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Northern Tanzania safari, Sept.-Oct. 2013


Zubbie15

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Maramboi Tented Camp

 

Our lodging during our time in the Tarangire region was at Maramboi Tented Camp. I really enjoyed the camp itself, it was a good compromise between a lodge and a true tent experience. My only complaint, really, was that the location was not great for the time of year. The camp is located 25 minutes from the park gates, meaning extra travel time each way and no possibility of stretching your time in the evening. That, however, is the only reason I wouldn’t recommend the camp, and perhaps in the green season it would work better.

 

The camp is situated on a plain, with distant views of Lake Manyara and the escarpment.

 

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It consists of a central area for eating and lounging, as well as a pool.

 

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I remember the food as being fairly good. At night, dinner was served by candlelight under the stars, while breakfast and lunch were served in the hall, under a roof. The rooms are all stand-alone structures, with a permanent wood base and canvas sides.

 

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The interiors were spacious and comfortable, although we didn’t spend much time in them. The bathrooms were also large, and had continuous hot water (no bucket showers).

 

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There is a permanent waterhole near the lodge, so there was some wildlife visible, particularly Zebra and Wildebeest, with Giraffes occasionally visible in the distance.

 

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(Note, this was taken before an early morning game drive, when it was just getting light, which is why there is the purplish hue)

 

Overall, I would wholeheartedly recommend this camp if it was located in the park, being outside definitely has to come into consideration so I would probably ultimately go elsewhere (and am when we go back in 2016).

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Tremendous flamingo activity in Arusha! Were there any comments on your good luck or timing for flamingos? Was all of your viewing in Arusha from the vehicle on a full day in the park? You did really well with colobus, and everything. Hoopoe is my favorite!

 

"I really enjoyed watching the various primates, especially the Colobus, and that is probably a major reason we’re going to include Rwanda next year in our travels." Will you be visiting Nyungwe?

 

Tarangire next.

 

Thanks @@Atravelynn, we didn't specifically ask about the flamingoes, but no one seemed particularly surprised at the numbers so we assumed it was fairly normal. We spent about 6 hours, I'd estimate (10AM until about 4PM) in the park, all in the vehicle. We had considered the canoe or hiking, but weren't sure how the jetlag would hit us and so thought it better not to get tied down to a particular plan.

 

We aren't going to Nyungwe this time, sticking to Volcanoes. I would've loved to, but not enough time! Our next visit...

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Brings back memories of Tarangire on our first ever safari. Can you recap on the actual dates and which tour company you used? Pen

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Tom Kellie

post-49296-0-26858000-1432607004_thumb.jpg post-49296-0-82242400-1432607021_thumb.jpg post-49296-0-56559800-1432607040_thumb.jpg post-49296-0-34261700-1432607055_thumb.jpg

~ Zubbie15

 

Magic images!

The above quartet reinforces my feeling that you have impeccable aesthetic taste.

I'm learning from your photography, which has an immediacy which I admire.

Thank you for lavishly sharing such fine images on Safaritalk.

Tom K.

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Brings back memories of Tarangire on our first ever safari. Can you recap on the actual dates and which tour company you used? Pen

 

@@penolva, we were there September 22 to October 5, 2013. At the time, I was unaware of this site, so I did what I normally do, I relied on TripAdvisor. The experts for Tanzania recommend contacting several companies and choosing one that you feel comfortable with and like the interactions with. We went with Access2Tanzania, which is partially US based and partially Tanzania based. I liked the responsiveness, as well as the fact that their guides are full-time employees. I think there are over 1000 companies in Tanzania at this point, so it's hard to choose one, but we were happy enough with them and with our guide that we're using them again next year.

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attachicon.gifgallery_47376_1200_88683.jpg attachicon.gifgallery_47376_1200_17427.jpg attachicon.gifgallery_47376_1200_6022.jpg attachicon.gifgallery_47376_1267_40117.jpg

~ Zubbie15

 

Magic images!

The above quartet reinforces my feeling that you have impeccable aesthetic taste.

I'm learning from your photography, which has an immediacy which I admire.

Thank you for lavishly sharing such fine images on Safaritalk.

Tom K.

 

 

Thanks @@Tom Kellie, I really appreciate your kind words. I have to admit, there's something in the third picture you chose that really speaks to me, but no one else has ever seemed to feel the same way. I'm glad you do. :)

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Tom Kellie

Thanks @@Tom Kellie, I really appreciate your kind words. I have to admit, there's something in the third picture you chose that really speaks to me, but no one else has ever seemed to feel the same way. I'm glad you do. :)

 

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~ @@Zubbie15

 

That's the MAGIC image!

The color tones and luminosity...the sharp focus...the proximity of the aged tusks...the sense of being privileged to view an interaction in an utterly alien society...it's all there, and more.

I HAD to include it, because it's hauntingly lovely, like a promotional clip of a scene from a Star Wars film.

It's truly lovely, @@Zubbie15!

Tom K.

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Thanks @@Tom Kellie, I really appreciate your kind words. I have to admit, there's something in the third picture you chose that really speaks to me, but no one else has ever seemed to feel the same way. I'm glad you do. :)

If I can hazard a further guess, I'd say that the incredible texture on the eles' tusks really speaks to their age and experience, as well as lending an "earthiness" to the composition in general.

 

I'm really enjoying this TR and its photos; even your shots that you say are good only for a record (i.e., the owls) look good to me!

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Thanks @@Marks, you're probably on to something there. And thanks for the kind words, always appreciated.

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Day 5 continued… On the road to Karatu

 

We're back from a short hiatus. Just a quick note that this begins a few entries with minimal wildlife, as we did a detour to visit the tribes of Lake Eyasi.

 

After eating a late lunch at Maramboi, we departed and slowly made our way toward Karatu. Traveling up the escarpment, we stopped at a viewpoint to look back over Lake Manyara park and toward Tarangire. It was quite cloudy, and not the greatest time of day for photography, so we didn't linger too long.

 

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We then stopped at the obligatory souvenir shop, and spent a lot of time bargaining with the employees to get our gifts for family back home. We then continued on the Ngorongoro Farmhouse, which was to be our base for the next 2 nights. We essentially ate dinner and then passed out today, as we had to be ready to leave by 4:30AM the next morning.

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Day 6, morning. Visiting the tribes of Lake Eyasi

 

One of the requests I’d had from a couple of members of our group was to include some cultural tourism into our trip, so this stop in Karatu was specifically to visit the Hadzabe and Datoga tribes. I wasn’t as enthusiastic about this, but figured it would be interesting. Because this potentially included going on a hunt with some of the men, which only occurs early in the morning, we left while it was still pitch black out in order to arrive on time. Because of that, we arrived in the correct area just as the sun was coming over the horizon. The golden hour light, combined with the shades of red and brown in the dry landscape, really combined to go well together.

 

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I didn’t take too many pictures of the visit to the Hadzabe, who still practice a “traditional” hunter-gatherer style of living, but it was definitely quite eye-opening to see this group of people living a very basic lifestyle. After a brief visit to the residential area, we left with some teenage men for the hunt.

 

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We continued through the dry landscape, which was pretty much barren of all life forms beyond some birds off in the trees. Whether this was typical for that time of year, or reflective of the hunting pressure from the Hadzabe, it’s hard to say.

 

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They had a hard time locating anything to hunt, and eventually seemed to get tired of doing it, so they picked up the pace to the extent that we could no longer see them. Eventually, they returned with a squirrel, which they proceeded to cook over an open fire. Not exactly how I wanted to see the wildlife, but that’s alright. I used quotation marks for the word traditional earlier – we asked whether we should tip the hunters, and were told that it was not a good idea as they would go and buy marijuana with any money they could get.

 

After trekking back to our vehicle, we then went to visit a Datoga settlement, which had one male leader, along with several of his wives and children.

 

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It was interesting to see them work the metal that they had, and to generate a variety of items.

 

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Of course, at the end of the visit there was a fairly hard push to have us buy some of their trinkets, for what seemed to be a fairly high price. We eventually did give in a buy some items, but nothing overly fancy.

 

Overall, I would say this morning was interesting enough, but having done it once I wouldn’t need to do it again. It certainly, for me, had a little 19th century feel of having the natives perform for the white people, which I wasn’t overly comfortable with.

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Day 6, afternoon – time to relax

 

We finished our visit with the tribes fairly early, and after driving around the region a little (not much to see, very arid with not a lot of human or animal activity) we returned to the Farmhouse by early afternoon. A couple of members of our group had, at this point, developed some minor intestinal issues (not enough to miss a game drive, but enough to feel uncomfortable), so the decision was made to relax around the grounds. The farmhouse is, as the name suggests, a working farm, and in particular there were a lot of coffee plants on the grounds. There were also a lot of flowering plants, which was quite attractive.

 

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While walking on the grounds, we came across this Common Fiscal sitting on her nest. The nest was in a tree right beside the path, and so she was very calm around us.

 

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I spent most of the afternoon on our balcony, alternating between reading a book and trying to photograph the bird life in the garden. There were three birds that in particular were very common, and which I was able to get some reasonable pictures.

 

Common Bulbul:

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Black-headed Weaver (I believe):

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And more Common Fiscals:

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It was interesting, just sitting there quietly, what would come along without realizing I was there. The first mammal was not as desirable as some others…

 

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Then, a large group of Helmeted Guineafowl came walking back, making quite a bit of noise.

 

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Finally, as it was getting a little later and things quieted down a little, some surprise animals appeared.

 

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There were several of them, presumably a family.

 

Having gotten up early, we went for dinner at a reasonably early hour, and then headed back to the room with the goal of getting some rest. However, living in the East Coast of North America, it’s not always easy to get away from substantial light pollution, so I was hoping to try my hand at some night photography. I noticed, after we returned from dinner, that the Milky Way was in a reasonably good location, and that the room beside us had a minor gap in their window blinds that meant that there was a faint illumination of a Palm Tree in the garden. The result was as follows:

 

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It certainly, for me, had a little 19th century feel of having the natives perform for the white people, which I wasn’t overly comfortable with.

It can be difficult for a cultural experience to strike the right balance between authenticity and the uncomfortable feeling you describe. It's something I've encountered, as well.

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Day 7, Morning

 

We continued our relaxing two day stretch (I was starting to get antsy, knowing we were in Africa but relaxing in a hotel!) by spending the morning on the hotel grounds. I took advantage to do a little birding, but it was fairly quiet.

 

African Pied Wagtail

 

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Black-headed Heron

 

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It was, however, a fairly beautiful day in the garden.

 

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The light in the early morning landscapes is beautiful.

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Ngorongoro Farmhouse

 

The Farmhouse was a very nice location to stop, with the rooms spread out over a working farm. There was a central area, with the reception, the dining/lounge building, a pool and a small souvenir shop.

 

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From the reception, the rooms were spread out quite far, offering a walk through the grounds. The distance was sufficient that they had Maasai men there to help haul the bags to and from the room. The rooms were located two to a building, and were surprisingly spacious.

 

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One feature that we didn’t use, but were a little surprised to see, was a very large soaking tub.

 

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Considering how precious water is in the country, it didn’t seem to be the best potential use.

 

The rooms also had balconies overlooking the garden, as mentioned before, which I took full advantage of.

 

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The grounds were quite good for birding, there was a wide variety of species that we saw but were not able to photograph.

The main lounge area has both an internal area, predominantly for eating (buffet style – reasonably good), and an outdoor area for sitting.

 

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In the evenings, they would have a fire in the outdoor area prior to serving dinner, while a group from a local tribe would come and explain their history and put on a bit of a show.

 

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Overall it was a very nice hotel to stay in, but certainly not a true wilderness experience.

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@@Zubbie15

I have been really admiring your photos in this report. Excellent imaginative elephant pictures, and as others have said, the sunsets are excellent!

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Atravelynn

Exceptional sunset and ele shot in #34. Tarangire really brought out the eles for you, including your own private viewing, even mating eles! Lion in the tree, great find.

 

"One of the things that some of us wanted was a picture of the Vervet Monkey’s most distinct anatomical feature." Success here as well. I always thought it was the vervets who should be named "Blue Monkeys" for obvious reasons.

 

 

Good point on staying inside vs outside the park.

Edited by Atravelynn
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Thanks @@TonyQ and @@Atravelynn for the kind words. I agree about the Blue Monkey name change, that's an excellent idea.

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Hotel grounds, perhaps, but rather lovely hotel grounds (looking at the last pic in post #64).

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Tom Kellie

 

Thanks @@Tom Kellie, I really appreciate your kind words. I have to admit, there's something in the third picture you chose that really speaks to me, but no one else has ever seemed to feel the same way. I'm glad you do. :)

If I can hazard a further guess, I'd say that the incredible texture on the eles' tusks really speaks to their age and experience, as well as lending an "earthiness" to the composition in general.

 

~ @@Marks

 

Thank you for explaining that.

What you've expressed makes good sense to me.

Tom K.

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Day 7, afternoon

 

After an early lunch at the Ngorongoro Farmhouse, we hit the road, hoping to get to our Crater lodge relatively early to see if we could get a room with a good view. It didn’t take long to get to the Ngorongoro gate.

 

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While our guide did the formalities, we checked out the interesting display about the history and animals of the region.

We then continued along, driving on some very narrow roads, before getting to the overlook over the Crater. It was a nice view, and amazing how on the one hand it seemed so large but on the other it seemed really small.

 

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We continued along the narrow road toward the Ngorongoro Sopa, which was to be our hotel for the next two nights. We were hoping to see some wildlife crossing the road, but no such luck, and the vegetation was think enough we wouldn’t notice anything not immediately on the road.

 

After reaching the hotel and checking in, we went on a walk with a TANAPA ranger.

 

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This was quite informative, to talk to him and learn about him, as well as he shared many stories about the plants in the area.

 

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As probably expected, we didn’t see any mammals on the walk, but did see several birds in the distance. The whole walk lasted approximately 90 minutes, and it was nice to get out of the vehicle and stretch our legs in the bush.

 

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As the weather cooled down a bit, it got quite misty in some areas.

 

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We then returned to the hotel as the clouds cleared, and watched the best sunset of our trip over the Crater.

 

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Hotel grounds, perhaps, but rather lovely hotel grounds (looking at the last pic in post #64).

 

Indeed @@Marks, they were very beautiful hotel grounds.

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Day 8, the Ngorongoro Crater (and a return to wildlife)

 

Alright, back to wildlife safari. Hopefully there are still some people reading this, and not too many people have moved on…

 

One of the advantages of staying at the Sopa is that it is located right near the less-used entrance gate to the Crater, so there is less of a line at the gate and once down you can (hopefully) have some peaceful time before it gets too busy. Wanting to take full advantage of this, we were up early and hoping to be at the gate right at the 6AM opening time. Unfortunately, things at the Sopa weren’t running as smoothly as we’d have hoped, so it took a while to get our food boxes and we were a little later leaving than expected. Still, we were through the gate not much after 6. To compound matters further, after only a few minutes on the Crater floor we developed a flat tire, and so needed to change that before continuing.

 

We finally got going for good a little before 7AM, just as the sun was starting to hit the distant Crater walls.

 

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We found this Crowned Lapwing waiting for the day to get started.

 

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Pretty quickly that morning, we located a lone female lioness that was on the prowl.

 

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Her targets were a “group” of zebra that were eating on a nearby slope.

 

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In particular, there was a small break-off group that she seemed to be interested in.

 

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Initially, we were one of only a few cars following her as she went along parallel to the road, allowing for some nice views. Lioness sequence:

 

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I had mentioned previously that there were a couple of times when the behavior of the vehicles/guides was not optimal, and this was another. As we followed along with her, more and more vehicles arrived and joined the group. In general, I was pleasantly surprised at how well-behaved people were. However, the guides had an issue in this case. The zebra were slowly making their way westward as they ate, with the lion following behind. There was a road parallel to this, south of them, while north of them was a stream. As they continued along, they started coming up to a road perpendicular to the one we had been following, and guides started to block that road. This visibly stressed out the zebras, as they were getting boxed in on three sides at this point, so they started moving faster to get ahead of the vehicles. We didn’t feel this was great guiding by the other guides, as it was affecting the ability of the lion to chase the zebra. Not an egregious issue, but not ideal either.

 

In any case, after almost 90 minutes watching this unfold, the female got fairly close some of the herd.

 

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At this point, however, the zebra firmly realized she was there, and so she hunkered down to watch them while not moving.

 

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Once it became apparent she wasn’t going to move for a while, we made a short detour to see what else we could find in the area.

 

The birdlife was varied and substantial:

 

Yellow-throated Sandgrouse

 

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Common Sandpiper (I think)

 

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Egyptian Goose

 

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Helmeted Guineafowl

 

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Lappet-faced Vulture

 

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