Yes I did see Wildebeest

[dlo]

I did however find another fine baobab specimen on the way. If you don't like baobabs or eles I would suggest skipping the rest of the Tarangire bit of this trip report

 

There are people that don't like baobabs or eles?

 

 

[CaroleE]

The elephants are marvelous, but the giraffe framed between two pieces of tree trunk is just perfect!

Thanks! Lucky shot

[CaroleE]

I did however find another fine baobab specimen on the way. If you don't like baobabs or eles I would suggest skipping the rest of the Tarangire bit of this trip report

 

There are people that don't like baobabs or eles?

 

 

 

Highly unlikely I know. And come to think of it, if there are such people why are they reading a trip report about Tarangire in the firs place? :)

[CaroleE]

Mid afternoon and still lots of activity in the park. Baboons eating fruit from a tree, dik dik, warthog and reedbuck. We went towards the river, there really was not much water in it. We were trundelling merrily along watching the eles when we passed a car and they said ''Have you seen the lions?''. We hadn't, so after a description of where they were we went back up the hill and a long way off, on the other side of the river were 3 female lions. Resting out in the open, on the river bank. There were a few zebra on the opposite bank to the lions but they were completely uninterested in hunting.

More zebra and elephants.

 

 

 

Birds were still in abundance: white headed buffalo weavers; yellow throated spurfowl; magpie shrike; spur winged geese and a von der Decken's hornbill. By a small patch of water there was a grey headed kingfisher. It suddenly flew towards the water and fished something out. Naturally all way too quick for photos. I really do need to improve my bird photography!

 

Here's one who kindly sat still long enough

 

We made our way to the other side of the river to try and spot the lions from a better vantage point. But this wasn't possible. From this side of the river the lack of water was even more apparant.

 

 

Still more to be seen! Young male elephants sparring with each other.

 

 

 

 

A herd of buffalo with the usual joyriders on their backs.

 

 

There were a lot of birds in the sky. Vultures? When I see birds circling I am always eager to go and have a look. My guide said one of them is a juvenile Bateleur. Me and my raptors, we went for a closer look! There were a lot of vultures circling but that wasn't what got my guide's attention. ''There by the river, there is a lion!'' It took a while to find, it was a long way away and pretty well hidden but eventually I spotted it. A female. Then I spotted another female walking in from the right. Then Samwel spotted something else on the ground equidistant from us and the lions. ''Have they killed something?'' he said to himself. We re positioned the car and got as close as possible (no off-roading!) Yes! they had killed something a buffalo. It was partially hidden by long grass but I could just make out its shape and part of the horns. There were now a lot of vultures sitting iwaitimg n the trees. But they weren't going towards the kill. The why soon became apparant: a male lion appeared slowly through the grass and went towards the kill. He looked pretty full but still took some time to eat more. Then one of the females appeared. She was obviously hungry but would the male allow her to share the buffalo? After a few hesitant moves she went towards it, the male allowed her to join him. After a few minutes the male had eaten his fill and he stalked off towards the river. Leaving the female to eat by herself.

 

From a very simple sighting this had developed into a very interesting one.

 

This all happened from quite a distance therefore the photos are mainly blobs but maybe you can make out the lions in these.

 

 

 

 

It was now late afternoon. So after that very eventful end to the day we headed to camp. Nearer to camp the black and blue flags were out. Oh no tsetse flies For the last half an hour there was much waving of arms and numerous attempts to squash tsetse flies. Something which would be repeated every time we left and arrived at camp. After a long but very rewarding day I unpacked, showered and headed out to the fire for a drink and then dinner.

[CaroleE]

Next morning

 

Out into the park as soon as I was permitted to leave camp (6am).

Sunrise, baobab trees, warm inviting early morning light.

It was worth the early start.

 

 

 

 

[PT123]

Really beautiful baobab shots!!

[CaroleE]

Really beautiful baobab shots!!

 

Thank you.

 

It was a truly beautiful morning and I thoroughly enjoyed taking those shots.

 

[Marks]

The elephants grappling with each other are fantastic; they have such character.

Those baobab shots are breathtaking, especially the first two.

[Alexander33]

 

Naturally all way too quick for photos. I really do need to improve my bird photography!

 

 

@CaroleE

 

I think your photos are great. To me, the ability to obtain great bird photographs consistently is the holy grail and a lifetime goal. It takes a long lens, quick reflexes and a fast shutter speed (the latter of which it certainly seems you had in the first elephant photo in post #29 )!

 

Keep it coming! Enjoying this very much.

[Alexander33]

Oh, and meant also to second everyone's comments about the beautiful baobab photos in #30. Fantastic!

[Atravelynn]

The beautiful baobab sunrises are not only a spectacle in their own right, but they portend of the possibilities of the day. Like the action of your sparring eles and the "action" shot of the fertilizing ele. Mid-air catch!

[CaroleE]

The elephants grappling with each other are fantastic; they have such character.

Those baobab shots are breathtaking, especially the first two.

 

@@Marks The two eles were great.They were 'fighting' with each other for quite a while. Playing for now......if they get bigger and they are fighting for real I wouldn't want to get so close!

 

 

 

 

Naturally all way too quick for photos. I really do need to improve my bird photography!

 

 

@CaroleE

 

I think your photos are great. To me, the ability to obtain great bird photographs consistently is the holy grail and a lifetime goal. It takes a long lens, quick reflexes and a fast shutter speed (the latter of which it certainly seems you had in the first elephant photo in post #29 )!

 

Keep it coming! Enjoying this very much.

 

 

@@Alexander33 Many thanks. Glad to hear I am not the only person who has issues with bird photography and if I need a long lens that may be a good reason to buy a bigger one! My reflexes and the shutter speed were indeed fast enough for the ele in post #29. I just had to include that shot!

 

 

And thank you both and @@PT123 for the great comments re the baobab shots. They are some of my favourite shots from the whole trip. Thinking back now it was also one of my favourote parts of it too.

[CaroleE]

The beautiful baobab sunrises are not only a spectacle in their own right, but they portend of the possibilities of the day. Like the action of your sparring eles and the "action" shot of the fertilizing ele. Mid-air catch!

 

It did turn out to be a very good day!

The fertilizing ele shot (be very careful with my spelling there ) had to be included. The ele was just by the side of the vehicle, I caught the first 'plop' out of the corner of my eye and luckily got the last with the camera!

[Marks]

My reflexes and the shutter speed were indeed fast enough for the ele in post #29. I just had to include that shot!

 

 

I admit to laughing at that photo!

[CaroleE]

 

 

My reflexes and the shutter speed were indeed fast enough for the ele in post #29. I just had to include that shot!

 

I admit to laughing at that photo!

 

Good:-) That was the intention!

[Zubbie15]

Really enjoying these pictures, they're bringing back good memories (and making me impatient to be back!!).

[CaroleE]

Day 2 was off to a flying start. It was still very quiet in the park. There really was no one else out. A brief glimpse of a group of Eland and a fish eagle perched high in a tree.

 

 

It was time for breakfast. We had brought it with us so headed up to one of the picnic sites with a great view of the park. Arriving slowly and quietly as there were tales of leopards being seen up here, sitting/laying on the tables. But this morning no leopards only a cold wind which made for a very bracing breakfast!

 

After our breakfast others were out looking for theirs. A group of eles making their way down to the river.

 

 

A hareem of impala with the male in close attendance. An interloper, a pretender to the throne arrived. But he was soon forced away by the other very noisy male impala who was not going to give up his females. After a lot of barking and running closer to his rival, the latter soon decided it wasn't his day to take over the group and he quickly left.

 

Then came the big cats. Three lions in a tree. One was hardly visible but the other two were laying on a branch which gave quite a good view. One was peacefully dosing in a very comfortable position but the second was not doing so well. An unfortunate choice of position and it couldn't get comfortable. It moved around, trying various places on the branch and eventually ended up laying very close to the other lion. Occassionally having a tail swished in its face

 

 

By now this poor lion had moved around and shifted position so much it really didn't care and remained there. The lions were not going anywhere so we went on.

 

A long long line of wildebeest. This was the Tarangire Migration! Maybe not quite as spectacular as further north but there were still hundreds of animals on the move. Looking for water and fresh grasses.

 

Marabou storks fishing in the river. Vultures nearby. Grey parrots, ground hornbills and another juvenile Batelaar. A morning full of elephant.

 

 

Then the unmistakeable outline of a cheetah under a tree. I had to stop even though they were a distance away. I caught a fleeting glimpse of a smaller cheetah. A cub. Which very quickly laid down and was hidden by a small incline.

 

 

There were elephant around and we half expected them to force the cheetahs to move away. But the eles moved further away, eating grass, and let the cheetah be.

Time to try the taking a photo through the binoculars trick. With my very old point and shoot being used therefore the quality isn't great but I rather like the almost sepia effect on this shot.

 

 

All was quiet until I heard a swishing noise. I knew what it was before I turned to look. A dust devil, heading straight for our car. I warned Samwel but there was no time to shut windows let alone the roof hatch. I just crouched down, closed my eyes, covered my camera and waited for it to pass. 20 seconds or so later it had passed us and petered out on the other side of the car. Naturally after having deposited a far amount of Tarangire in the car

 

Almost time for lunch and on the way back to camp we spotted a group of zebra. In what for me was a very unusual position.

 

 

I hadn't seen this before. But Samwel explained this was the zebra lookout pose. Every animal looking in a different direction. Even when they are resting they are still alert and looking out for danger. Intelligent creatures zebra!

[CaroleE]

After lunch and sightings of the hyrax around camp.

 

 

We heard about the visitor to camp the previous evening. Guests and staff nearer to the dining area had been awakend by a lot of noise. The staff investigated and found a honey badger by the bar. Somehow it had found a way into the cupboards and had pulled out plates, cups and lots more. So so close to a honey badger!

 

A somewhat shorter afternoon game drive. We went to see if the cheetah were still around. Yes and they hadn't moved at all. More zebra and wildebeest. A few ostrich. A black backed jackal. For the birds a brown drongo and a superb starling. Firsts for the trip.

 

 

 

Then a pretty quiet period. Later, a few cars ahead. What were they looking at? One of them had seen a leopard climb up into a baobab tree. A leopard! Oh wow. Only challenge was that the tree was a long way away and the leopard by this time was laying down. My guide spotted the leopard pretty quickly, he described where it was but could I see it? No. There then followed a pretty comical 20 minutes of me trying to find the leopard, saying I know you say it is there, I believe you but I really can't see it. Modern technology does come in useful at times. Using my camera he showed me exactly where the leopard was. There were in fact two spots on the tree which fitted his original description of the location of the leopard and naturally I had been looking at the wrong one

 

Patience. I sat, binoculars fixed on the correct spot. The light was changing, throwing shadows into and onto the tree. Not ideal leopard spotting conditions. Then it moved, a tail shot up into the air. The leopard sat up very briefly, changed position and laid down. Again lost to the shadows.

 

Yes there was a leopard in the tree.

 

Spot the leopard

 

All three big cats in one day. I was very happy.

 

On the road to camp, a herd of elephants. With one smaller male in the middle of the road. We stopped and waited for him to move. He did. He mock charged us. Nothing quite like an ele (mock) charging you to get the blood pumping that bit quicker and the blood pressure raising! Samwel moved the car back. The ele still wasn't too happy and moved to one side of the road. Still throwing his head around, flapping his ears and making lots of noise. The rest of the herd was now on the other side of the road. The matriarch of the group then became interested. She noticed one of her herd was split off from the others and we were the cause. She moved closer, we moved further back. Samwel quite correctky saying he didn't mind a mock or even an actual charge from the smaller male but he didn't want to be charged by the much bigger female. We backed off some more and eventually the male moved over the road to join the rest of the herd. The female was still taking an interest in us, we waited. After a few more minutes she went to join the rest of the herd and we could safely continue to camp.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[pault]

I think I need my binoculars to spot that leopard, especially without your guide's help. I think I can see it but I can't be sure.

[CaroleE]

I think I need my binoculars to spot that leopard, especially without your guide's help. I think I can see it but I can't be sure.

Tricky to spot leopards from a distance! Plus that day the light made it even harder. Maybe I need to start a new "Find the leopard" topic. Test everyone's skills:-)

[CaroleE]

Are you all expecting to go to the Serengeti now?

 

Well not quite yet. Tarangire wasn't quite finished with me.

 

After a very quick dinner and rather a lot of confusion of who was doing what with whom (no sniggering at the back) it was time for a night drive. I had pre-booked this and wasn't too sure what it was going to be like. Eventually two vehicles set off from camp one with me and the other with two other guests. I think I lucked out as we had the ranger with us. Not for his armed escort duties but for his wildlife spotting. He was fantastic!

I tried to take photos but my night photography is very bad so I soon gave up. So sorry no photos, just some words.

 

I had had a quick chat with Samwel and we agreed to concentrate on the nocturnal creatures. If we spotted diurnal creatures it would be great but we wouldn't be spending that much time with them.

 

Close to camp we soon picked up eye shine. We had a spotlight and the ranger's super almost light sabre strength torch. Bush babies sitting in trees. Dik diks.

Then Mr Ranger spots something in a bush. Considering we are not allowed off road and we have limited visibility I was amazed he found it. A squirrel. It very quickly disappeared but we found it again and saw it leaping from branch to branch. Everyone in the car was calling it a flying squirrel but I have no idea which species it was. But needless to say a great start.

 

We then spotted the first of the night's genet cats. Another first time sighting for me. The second genet cat was even better as (s)he was eating a small snake.

 

A white tailed moongoose and a black backed jackal put in an appearance. In total I was to see 3 of the latter on this night drive.

 

Dik diks were in abundance. We saw the eye shine, then followed the usual question, audible or not, of what is it, swiftly followed by oh it is 'only' a dik dik. Poor things were getting pretty low billing in our car. Half way through the drive the ranger said oh look a small goat. Hmmm! What? A small goat. Oh a dik dik. Much hilarity in the car and the dik dik's were re-christened small goats for the rest of the evening.

 

4 bat eared foxes, hares of the common and spring variety.

 

We were by now in the park itself. I had expected we would just drive a round the area close to camp but we did a full circuit of the park. We went to find the cheetah from earlier and they were still there. Lots of zebra, impala and wildebeest. Elephant looming out of the darkness.

 

A few times we stopped the car, switched all the lights off and just sat. Enveloped by the darkness. Other senses picking up sounds and smells. The night sky above. This is a big reason why I like night drives. The ability to just sit and enjoy the ''nothingness'' of Africa.

 

The other vehicle was doing the same route but in a clockwise direction. Occassionally a quick radio call, we gave them directions to the cheetah. Which they saw. Apart from that it was just the chit chat in the car and scanning the darkness for eye shine or movement.

 

Something flew into the air in front of the car. A Nightjar. We followed him with the spotlight. Managing to keep contact with him for a good minute or so. I love nightjars. All to do with one very long night in Dorset, being eaten alive by all manner of flying insects whilst looking for them. So for me this was a great sighting.

 

Naturally I was hoping to see a honey badger. We eventually headed back towards camp and went round towards the staff and guide's quarters as that was a good spot to find them. But unfortunately it wasn't to be. No honey badger that evening. Or a further glimpse of a leopard.

 

But I was happy with my sightings.

 

It was now almost ten thirty so back to camp. In an open vehicle, no blankets to keep us warm, it was getting very cold. I was looking forward to a nice cup of tea and my bed! I was to be disappointed. Everything in camp was closed up, no-one about therefore no-one had a warm drink. I went to bed happy but cold.

[Marks]

I like the idea of "small goats."

Agreed that the nightjar makes for a great (almost hypnotic) sighting.

[CaroleE]

It had been a long day but sleep didn't come too easily. The beds at Mawe Ninga are small, the blanket even smaller Once I'm cold I can't sleep.

The next morning it was a slow start. I eventually made it down to breakfast. Other people were not feeling great either. Something everyone ate yesterday!

Over breakfast I heard from the other guests that they had seen 2 honey badgers on their night drive. Jealous? Yes. But my time for a honey badger will come!

 

Then the staff started talking about night time visitors. The kitchen staff had been terrorised the night before by a visiting leopard and a honey badger. At one point there had been a stand off between the two and no-one had dared venture outside to look. I can hardly blame them. It all happens in this camp late at night/early in the morning!

 

Time to leave Tarangire. A slow gentle game drive down to the airstrip to await the plane. There was wildlife about but 'only' the usual suspects. Arrived at the airstrip. Bonus seats and shade!

Fun and games from another group who went through their I-Tunes playlist of African music. The Lion sleeps to night, The lion king all made it onto the playlist. I was even more impressed when they started dancing around the airstrip! They had enjoyed their time in Tarangire Their plane landed and Samwel had to use the car to move animals (zebra) from the runway before they could take off again. Yes, only in Africa!

 

After a nice chat with a Coastal Aviation pilot who was hitching a ride back to Arusha the plane arrived. No old and battered Caravan. Oh no, we had a pretty new small almost private jet like plane. Luxary! A 15 minute hop and I was in Arusha. I had about an hour to wait for the connecting flight. Luckily there are good people watching opportunities in Arusha

 

The flight up to Kogatende was via Lake Manyara and Seronera. Including a fly over a somewhat cloudy Ngorongoro. The cloud prevented seeing a lot of it but it is certainly big! One for the next visit to Tanzania. Then the open plains of the Serengeti. Arrival at Kogatende was interesting. I got off the plane, met my guide only to be asked is this your only bag? Er yes. Oh ok. He later told me they were expecting a professional photographer and was somewhat surprised when I didn't turn up with more kit! My photography hobby mentioned on the booking form lost, or is that gained, something in translation This led to an added bonus; the camp had arranged a private vehicle and guide for the entire stay of the professional photographer. Well it would have been rude to refuse..... Although over my stay I did note that as the camp was only half full at its busiest almost every group got their own vehicle. I had to wait for some other guests to leave before I could head off to camp. Their plane was delayed but it was ok as one of the ranger's kids was there. The ranger station is at the airstrip. We spent an hour or so entertaining each other while I waited for a game drive and she waited for her Mum.

 

A short drive to camp (about 30 minutes) and I met the smiley happy Lemala staff. These guys were fantastic throughout my stay. A quick look around the mess tent and I was shown to my tent. The 12 tents are in two groups spreading out on both sides of the mess tent. Facing camp I was in the right hand 'wing'. Walking to my tent I realised how close to the Mara River we were. After dumping my bags, in my frankly huge tent, I went outside for a sit down and I could see the river from my chair. This had all the makings of a great stay

[xelas]

@@CaroleE

 

Nice read! But what happened to the photos?

[Atravelynn]

Cheetah and ele in one view is great diversity.

 

Is the leopard on the lower right branch, sitting? If not, at least I saw the cheetah.