Category: Tanzania Page 1 of 7

This morning we have a bit of a lie in as we do not need to depart from camp until 08.30 for the two hour drive to Jongomero airstrip. This gives us time to pack and have leisurely breakfast. Ally has gone to town this morning cooking us egg, bacon and sausage as well as the usual fruit and wonderful freshly baked bread turned into toast over the charcoal. I shall really miss everything about Usangu. The staff are all so warm and friendly. We really feel like part of a big family.

Each morning we were woken by an animal noise followed by drums. This morning the staff demonstrate how they magnify the sound using a hollowed out calabash. We are then asked to have ago. I decide to do a hippo which causes great hilarity.

The staff sing and dance as we leave and we reluctantly drive off towards the airstrip. We stop at the baobab that we had dinner at last night. It is huge and very impressive in daylight.

The vehicle has once again had screens put up around it to protect us from tsetse flies. There are some very heavily infested areas on route. We see evidence of elephants and then find that the road is blocked by a small tree which has been pushed over. Unfortunately for Anderson, this is in the heavily infested area. Tsetses swarm around him as he takes out his machete and starts attacking the tree. As far as we can see the the only reason that Anderson cannot move the tree out of the way is because some thin branches are caught in a shrub. We do not understand why Anderson does not cut these off first and see whether he can move it before attacking the 8” trunk. Maybe he just really likes hacking at things with his machete!

We drink coffee at the airstrip while waiting for our plane.

The plane lands and Anderson gives a lift to a girl, that has arrived with the security guard, and takes bags over to the plane. I am concerned to see the girl undoing the top of my rucksack before putting it inside the plane. Fortunately I have my important documents and money in a handheld wallet. When we get on the plane Jane picks up her camera bag and the lens cap falls off it. It has definitely been opened and searched for small pocketable items. We both check our backpacks for content. Everything seems to be there but I shall be reporting this. Not good.

The flight to Dar Es Salaam is uneventful, we clear the airport and after a short wait the driver from Asilia comes to greet us. For once the traffic in Dar is light and it only takes 30 minutes to make it to our hotel – The Hyatt Regency. However, driving in Dar is interesting to say the least and there are times when it is definitely best to close your eyes.

The hotel is really decadent and in stark contrast to the poverty around us. The vehicle is checked for bombs before being allowed entry and all our luggage goes through airport style security. There is a very posh wedding going on and everywhere there is water and polished marble. Everyone is very smartly dressed and we feel like a couple of dirty and scruffy street urchins. We can’t wait to get to the room and freshen up. The room is modern and there is a big bath. Wonderful. A soak to remove all the grime.

We drink lots of cups of tea in the room and I continue catch up with the blog. Hunger overcomes us and we explore the restaurant options. We settle on the roof terrace, order a bottle of red and steak and chips. The steak is tasty, although not the tenderest I’ve ever eaten. Definitely small mouthfuls are best.

The view is great, particularly when the sun goes down.

We sleep well and spend a relaxing day in the hotel until being collected at 19.00 for the airport run. The day was uneventful until we ordered a club sandwich. We were sitting in the lounge and it was very select and posh. The sandwich arrived as did the tomato sauce. Jane picked up the bottle and shook it hard. Unfortunately the top had not been screwed on. Tomato sauce liberally coated the table, the sofa and Jane’s coat. We were absolutely helpless with laughter.

We flew back economy with KLM. The flight was good and surprisingly comfortable and we did actually manage to grab some sleep. We were an hour late taking off which meant we missed our connection at Schiphol. KLM texted us before we left the plane with a re-arranged BA flight at 11.40. Plenty of time we thought as it was now only 08.00. Nothing could prepare us for the complete chaos in the transit area. It was obligatory to pass through security. There are brand new scanning machines – at least 30 of them but only one open and eventually this increases to three. The queues are beyond bad.

We queued for 2.5 hours and many people missed their flights. Schiphol have no security staff. It is ridiculous and I shall not be travelling through Amsterdam again anytime soon.

On a plus we can now collect BA airmiles and the views flying in over London are superb.

A couple of night’s ago we were joined by a new guest in camp. We were told he was here for research but as we became better acquainted we learned that this was not the case. He is a helicopter pilot and working with Tanapa (Tanzanian National Park) to evaluate the encroachment on the reserve by herdsman. This is a huge problem.

We discover that as there is no tax on cattle so they are used as a form of money laundering. These are not poor local farmers grazing their cattle. The plan is to round up and confiscate the cattle so a team of 90 or so rangers has been assembled to do just that. This will be a huge inconvenience to the owners as it will take the best part of a week for them to walk to the corral, pay the fine and then drove the cattle back. The fine is $50 per cow. The money can then hopefully be traced back to source. Very interesting to hear about this operation.

The reason I am relating this is because it is very relevant to what then transpired this morning. We have a two hour drive to the Mkojani River where we shall have a boat trip. We do not see a single person or car on our journey there. This is true wilderness and the nearest town is 100km away.

We arrive at the rangers station where the confiscated cattle have been corralled. They are noisy and unsettled and apparently only arrived here 30 minutes earlier.

Anderson asks if we need to use the restroom. The correct answer would have been “No. We’ll use a bush thank you” The restroom was 3 walls, no door and a smelly hole in the ground, clearly only ever used by the rangers. I held my breath and did the necessary. We declined to use it on the way back.

The rangers trailered our boat down to the river and very nearly squashed the hugest scorpion I have ever seen. At least 6” long.

We clamber aboard, don life jackets, which are very necessary as the river has many hippos in it and it would be easy for one to capsize the boat. Best not to dwell too much on that. I’m sure it will be fine….. Also trying not to think about the numerous crocodiles in the water should the worst happen. The boat is skippered by a park ranger and I am sure he does this frequently and is still alive so that is a positive.

We setoff down river. The reeds are teeming with birdlife. Large flocks of weaver birds throng over the reed beds. We see heron, cormorants, fish eagles, hammerkopf and so much more. A young monitor lizard and huge parent are climbing around in a riverside tree.

A very large and fierce looking hippo is resting in the shallows. He looks unimpressed and then grunts and heaves his bulk out of the water and disappears into the reeds.

We then see the grazing problem first hand as a large herd of goats appear on the riverbank. They are probably not legitimate either.

A pied kingfisher skims the water, a pigmy kingfisher flashes blue but he is too quick for me.

Elephants appear where we were hoping to stop for lunch. They are hostile, charge and trumpet loudly. We are not welcome. Their memories of poaching are fresh and I am glad that I am in a boat on the water. Being this close in a vehicle would be terrifying and dangerous. I have good video of our river trip and look forward to editing it and producing a short film of the day.

We eventually find a safe spot for lunch. We disembark but my foot slips as I climb onto the front raised area. I slam my shin onto a knife edge bar. It is excruciating. My leg goes numb and I think I am going to be sick. I disembark, bend double and wait for the pain to pass. It takes a while. Fortunately there is no long lasting damage. I think I must have hit a nerve centre and have little in the way of a bruise to show for my agony.

We have wraps filled with spiced vegetables and meat for lunch. They are not dissimilar to a spring roll. Tasty and easy to eat accompanied by strong coffee.

We notice discarded illegal fishing nets with extremely small holes and discarded bottles, batteries etc. This is poachers offload. We collect everything. The ranger photographs it, radios in and we set fire to it all.

We then zoom back down river at full throttle. It is so exhilarating, but every so often we need to slow right down as water hyacinth and weeds have spread across the surface, blocking the channel and wrapping themselves around the prop. Periodically the prop needs to be raised and cleaned off.

Elephants are playing in the water ahead of us. We slow down and watch. The older elephants climb the bank. The juveniles are playing and paying absolutely no attention. When the do see us they scramble out of the river on the opposite side to the adults. We are not popular as we are now between the young ands adults. Loud trumpeting, charging and intimidation ensues. We make a purposeful and controlled exit down river.

Our adrenalin levels drop and we watch a colony of open-billed storks. They are always entertaining to watch.

We arrive back at the launching site, thank the ranger for an amazing day on the water and climb back into our vehicle for the two hour drive back to camp. Anderson asks if we need thew restroom again. That would be a resounding no from us both. I reckon it is now well past beer o’clock so crack open a bottle of Kilimanjaro beer as we drive back to camp. As we pass the old airstrip Abderson spots lions under a nearby shrub. They are definitely not habituated and eye us warily. They look unpredictable in their behaviour. We keep our distance. There are six 2 year old cubs. One male with the start of a mane and 5 females. They look very fit and healthy.

This is our lucky day. We leave these lions behind but as we approach the camp we spot the two males we saw last night. Avery handsome and fit young male who has been collared and a very old male who appears to have a huge abscess of some sort on his trunk.

This has been a long day. We arrive in camp at 15.50 and will go out for sundowners at 17.45. A lot of driving for Anderson. We drive up to the hippo to watch our last sunset here.

After a brief stop and just enough time to down our drinks we headed back to camp to see a slide show of the footage on the camera traps we set up earlier in the week. We’ve captured warthog, kudu, elephants, giraffes and impala. Interestingly the temperature showing on the photo below is 38c at 09.52. This was the very hot day when we were stuck in the mud so it must have been well over 40c that afternoon.

We watch the slides and then head off for supper in the bush. Fires are burning and chairs and little tables are laid out by a 2000-3000 year old baobab tree. It is absolutely enormous.

We spend a wonderful evening chatting and joking with great food and good company. Hoho the helicopter pilot always eats with us and has interesting stories to tell. What an absolutely brilliant last day and evening. Usangu is a very special place indeed.

This morning we do manage to drive along the Great Ruaha River. It is sobering as there is virtually no water in it. This is a very hard time for the wildlife and the rain is desperately needed. Anderson tells us that when the rains come the whole area is inaccessible and he points to the water marks on trees to demonstrate high high the water level rises. It is at least 3-4 metres above us. This whole area will be totally transformed. Only researchers will be able to come here as game drives will be largely impossible. This is very hard to envisage at the current time.

We drive east along the river which makes taking any meaningful photographs tricky to say the least. The problem is further compounded by the huge numbers of tsetse flies. Whenever we stop the vehicle we are inundated. It is unpleasant to say the least and painful when they get you – which they do even through your clothing. There are little pockets in the river where there is water and wildlife congregates there.

Pelicans and marabou storks circle and soar on the building thermals. We spend some time trying to capture some good action shots but Anderson is really not great at positioning the vehicle.

We see elephants in the distance, herons and crocodiles basking on rocks in the few pools that exist.

After a couple of hours we turn back. The sun is now behind us so photos should be better. We bump into another Asilia vehicle. It is Ally the chef with helper Dickson. He is going to cook us brunch in the bush. We are slightly apprehensive about this because of the tsetse flies, but it turns out that they do not bother us once we are out of the vehicle.

Brunch is delicious sausage, crispy bacon, saute potatoes, tomato, fried spinach and onion, salad and fried eggs, all freshly cooked over a gas ring and washed down with a nice glass of chenin blanc. What’s not to like?

We now make our way to the hippo pool. En route we see a lilac-breasted roller and I manage some in flight shots. Not brilliant but better than anything I have captured in the past.

There is lots of bird activity at the pool and hippos wallowing and grunting. We spend an hour or so observing and photographing though the sun is still not really in the right place for perfect shots. We’ll just have to work with what we’ve got.

We head back to camp and spot giraffes resting under the shade of an acacia tree. They are some distance away – probably 100 yds or so. We can see there are babies but really struggle to count them. In the end we decide there are twelve giraffes in total with a couple of males standing away from the group.

We freshen up and have a cup of tea before heading out again for sundowners. The area has been ravaged by fire. One particular fire was meant to be controlled but it was set too late in the season with the grass too high. The wind changed direction. It was completely out of control and burnt out 100 sq km and very nearly destroyed the camp a couple of weeks ago. The staff were out beating the flames and managed to halt them by the camp fire where we have our breakfast and dinner. We have our sundowners in the midst of this seemingly ruinous destruction. The thing is, if the rains come soon, green shoots will once again appear – and surprisingly quickly at that. It was quite emotional to stand amidst such total devestation and see the animals trying to survive amongst the blackened earth.

We then had a really serious problem. One of the glasses was broken. Only one glass between two for sundowners. Shock and horror! What to do? I love Jane’s inventiveness. Clearly drinking straight from the bottle was the solution.

The sun sets and we head back to camp using a spotter light to see any creatures that may be around. We are so lucky. We see two porcupines and manage to capture some decent video. We are then heading up the track to camp and encounter two male lions lying on the road in front of us. How lucky are we? They lie quietly for a while, then lazily stand up, saunter along the road and eventually disappear into the bush.

As we were late to bed last night we are allowed an extra half an hour in bed. This allows me to see daybreak from my bed and very beautiful it is too. The camp fire is lit and fruit is beautifully arranged on a platter. We enjoy the bird song and calls and are amused by the flapperty lark that literally flaps its wings and makes a very distinct sound.

This morning’s plan is to head off along the river. However, we see lion, leopard and serval tracks on the road so turn in the opposite direction from the river to see if we can locate them. This turns out to be an abortive mission but we do actually see a lot of game. However, it is, on the whole, fairly distant and likes to run away from us. We do spot a serval but it is too quick for us to capture a shot.

Giraffes pose for us briefly and then run away.

We locate a herd of buffalo in the distance. They look like they are heading towards a small muddy pool for a mud bath. We decide to stake it out while we drink our morning coffee. They are not in co-operative mood and turn around and disappear into the bushes.

So far this is turning into a slightly frustrating morning though nonetheless enjoyable. This is the thing about safari. There are no guarantees. Some days you need to work hard for the sightings and they are all the more special when located.

The birds this morning are a little more helpful. We spot a black-chested snake eagle and manage to get fairly close. He is preening and fluffing up his plumage. A male ostrich trots by in the distance with red neck and pink legs. He is in mating mode.

In the afternoon the plan is to go to the hippo pool for sundowners. This does not happen as there is a dead hippo there that the Park Team are removing. Probably not what you want to look at whilst drinking your G&T. I get quite excited when I spot a swallow-tailed bee-eater. They are migratory and are now just arriving into Usangu. It is distant and fast but I do get a shot and he is really beautiful.

This afternoon the game is definitely in camouflage mode. Can you spot the vervet monkey in the tree or baby giraffe?

The sun is setting fast. It always does here. We head off to a sundowner spot where chairs have been set out for us and our chosen drinks poured. We sit and watch the sun go down and have a competition as to who can capture the best shot. The sky is wonderful with streaks of feathery clouds and the colours are continually changing. Yes – there is definitely something very special and magical about African sunsets.

This morning I awake with a start. I hear a loud roaring type noise outside but it does not sound quite like a lion. What the hell is it? I am wide awake. Then I hear a drum beat. I remember now. The camp manager Manambo said that they like to give guests an unusual wake-up call. Yes – they certainly do and it has worked. I am wide awake.

Breakfast is set out by a blazing fire. Porridge is heating and toast is cooking over the charcoal. There is fresh fruit, yoghurt and granola, eggs, toast and homemade jams . Plenty of calories to sustain us while we sit in a vehicle for a few hours. That being said Jane’s Apple watch is telling us every day that we have achieved our exercise goal. There is certainly a lot of bumping around.

We set off at o6 .30 and are heading up to the swamp plains in the hope of finding sable and large herds of topi. All the game here is very skittish and comes as a result of much of the area being inhabited, until taken back by the Tanzanian National Parks in 2006, along with serious poaching issues. We do get reasonably close to some kudu and a black-bellied bustard.

We set up some camera traps by various water-holes and then make our way to the plains. We have to drive slowly and carefully. In the rainy season this whole area is flooded and the ground is very bumpy and difficult to traverse. There are numerous deep channels filled with sticky cotton mud, which lies in wait to engulf unwary vehicles.

We spot a huge herd of topi on the horizon as well as a smaller herd of sable. We decide to approach the sable first. It is incredibly difficult to get close to them and the sun is in the wrong position. We tell our driver Anderson to exercise patience. Let’s park up and see if they will come closer. This is a good tactic and they do finally settle down and start to ignore us. They never come particularly close and the sun is still not in the best position, but they are wonderful to watch. The herd male is continually trying to stop the females heading over to another male. I’ve never seen sable before and did not realise there were herds here. I am exceptionally pleased to have seen them. This is a rare treat and I am more than happy even if the photos are nothing special.

We leave the sable and make our way towards the huge herd of topi. It stretches across the horizon. Tiny dots turn out to be individual animals. There are literally hundreds of them – I have never seen more than 4 or 5 together before. We are finding it hard to make our way to the topi as a water channel is blocking our way.

Anderson keeps driving , stopping occasionally and walking across the channel to test for firmness. He finally finds a good crossing point. He says “Hold on tight” and launches the vehicle at the channel. We make good progress until we ram at full speed into a huge tussock of grass. The vehicle stops dead. I, being the more experienced safari person, had put my foot on the ledge running across the back of the front seat and was firmly wedged. However, Jane had not had such foresight. She lurched forward and nearly went head first onto Anderson’s lap. We were in hysterics. No injuries and it could have been so much worse. We then looked at our new predicament. The left front wheel was half submerged in mud and the bonnet was firmly wedged into a two metre wide mound of grass. Anderson radioed for help. But it did not work, please. Nothing for it but to to get out his machete and commence hacking away at it. It looked absolutely lethal.

He tries the radio again and this time we make contact. Help is on its way. While we wait an hour or so for help to arrive, we use the time as a photo opportunity. This is a scorchingly hot day 40C and dust devils whirl across the open plains.

The whole horizon is a mirage and taking any sharp photos is hard but there are some good effects to be had. Twelve giraffes were crossing the horizon and I tried taking some shots to demonstrate the heat and drama of the scenery.

Help finally appears in the shape of another converted Land Rover. These vehicles look like a 1930’s knock back and we expect Dick Dastardly and Muttley to emerge at any moment.

A winch is attached to the new vehicle and only results in the new vehicle being dragged towards us. Back to Plan A which is to hack away the grass. It now gets even more dangerous as Nyati pulls back the tuft with his hands as Anderson hacks with his machete. We don’t really like to watch but there is a grim fascination to it and his machete skills are impressive. A third guy stands by with an AK47 rifle and we’re not quite sure what his role was.

Eventually the grass is removed and we can try winching again. It doesn’t quite go according to plan. We definitely move but now are at a 45 degree angle with the left rear wheel stuck in the hole. We are asked to get out. I think it is considered too dangerous for us to remain where we are and we are only too happy to go and sit in the rescue vehicle.

A combination of winching and acceleration finally frees our vehicle. We climb back in and set off back to camp. The drive is very slow and bumpy – an hour and a half over truly horrible cracked earth terrain. We arrive back in camp after three and are very hungry. Dinner is early at 18.30 as we are going out on a night drive.

As we are leaving camp we spot a chameleon in a nearby shrub.

We also catch glimpses of a nightjar, civet, Verroux’s eagle owl, genet, 2 honey badgers, a wild cat, a bat-eared fox, a porcupine that scurried behind the vehicle, a white-tailed mongoose, impala, lapwings and chick and a spotted thick-knee that got caught in a thorny acacia bush. It was so upsetting. It was entangled in the branches and kept falling and getting caught more and more on the lethally spiky branches. Our guides rescued it and pulled off all the spiky twigs. They released it and miraculously it seemed to have survived its ordeal unscathed.

We both slept exceptionally well. It was a long day!