Category: Tanzania 2019 Page 2 of 5

I have arranged a 06.00 wake up call. My morning game drive commences at 06.30 and we shall take a picnic breakfast. First of all, we shall see if we can find last night’s cheetahs. We have not travelled far when we spot a lone cheetah cub. It is sitting and calling for its mother. It is still quite dark so I cannot capture a very clear shot but the video is good and records the cub’s high pitched calls which are heart-rending.

We guess that hyenas must have come upon the kill in the night and the cheetahs would have fled in all directions. We drive away hoping that the cheetah family will soon be re-united. Luckily other guests report later that morning that they did indeed see the whole family back together.

We search some rocky outcrops for lions but have no luck. A giraffe casually observes us through a thicket.

Time passes swiftly and it is already 08.30 and breakfast time. Holle stops on a beautiful wooded slope. Impala graze in the background and pretty white and pink flowers adorn the ground.

I love bush breakfasts. I am always hungry after bouncing around in a jeep for a few hours. And everything tastes great. There are fried egg sandwiches with bacon and sausages, fresh fruit, pancakes and muffins. The coffee is particularly good. It is surprising that I always enjoy fresh coffee for breakfast when I am on holiday. In England I would only ever have tea. While Holle packs up I try and take some bird photos. There are lots of grey-breasted spurfowl in the undergrowth. They are shy but I succeed in the end.

Before we continue, I use the bush toilet (i.e stoop behind the vehicle). Oh to be a man on these occasions – it feels pretty exposed! You never quite know when a predator or another vehicle may appear.

After breakfast we come upon a lone adult cheetah. This is cheetah central!! It saunters through the bush, resting occasionally in different poses to provide quite excellent photo opportunities.

We then find a pride of 9 lions; 3 lionesses and 6 cubs. Initially they lie in the bushes doing what lions do best i.e. laze away the day. We observe them for quite a while as the cubs are pretty cute and are particularly delighted when they all start to move. The cubs are playful, chasing each other and nuzzling their mums and better still they are all out in the open. What a treat! I take lots of video as the inter-action is super.

We stay with the lions for over an hour and reluctantly move off but this is obviously big cat morning as we now hear a leopard has been seen. We set off to find it and eventually spot several vehicles parked on the edge of a gully. There is dense undergrowth on the far side and apparently the leopard is in there somewhere. This is going to be a waiting game. It is mid-day so cracking open a beer seems a good idea while I wait. Eventually after half an hour or so the leopard emerges. We follow it through the bush which involves traversing several gullies. The vegetation is dense and thick; the going bumpy. Trying to keep our eyes on the leopard is difficult but with the aid of numerous binocular stops we succeed and follow it to a tree, which it rapidly climbs and sprawls out on a branch to snooze the day away.

I arrive back for lunch at 13.00 – a sensible time. Great I think. I can have lunch and edit some photos. Best laid plans….by now I really should know better! I end up having lunch with Margot and we talk until it is time for the afternoon drive. Hey ho – I shall just have to write my blog in England. In any case the WiFi here is useless and I decide to stop trying to use it for anything other than a quick text message.

We hear the migration is now making its way to Kusini so this will be this afternoon’s challenge. There are myriads of birds here. It would be wonderful to stay for longer and focus on the birdlife. Huge flocks of collared doves takes flight as we pass by, spur fowl seem to be hiding under every bush. Lilac breasted rollers flash between the bushes with their beautiful turquoise blue wings. Everywhere there are birds in flight and I would love to have more time to photograph the numerous different species here.

We spot a group of lions lying by the side of a large pool of water. They look so hot, yet as they are lying in the burning mid-day heat, I think they must be obtaining relief from the damp earth that they are resting on.

We drive a few hundred yards and find 3 more lions. Sleepy as they are we are amused to see one of the males continually prodding the female on her bottom. He is obviously after a bit of afternoon romance but she is having none of it and does not bat an eyelid. I have totally lost track of the number of big cats I have seen on this trip. It is all the more astonishing because there seem to be vast tracts of land with very little plains game. There must be plenty to eat because, out of all the many cats I have seen, I have not seen any that are particularly thin or unhealthy. In fact most are fat cats!

We drive on across the scrubby heathland but still see no sign of the migration. Eventually we start to encounter zebra and hyenas and then wildebeest. The herds increase incrementally and then there are thousands of animals teeming before us.

The plains are punctuated by occasional waterholes and gullies. Zebra frolic in the pools accompanied by their noisy ‘Eeaw, Eeaw, Eeaw’ and mini wildebeest migrations take place as each gully is crossed.

The gullies may be small but many hyena use them as resting places so they are certainly not a safe place for animals to linger. On this occasion we see no predator action, but I have certainly seen thousands of animals today, both big and small. Numerous hyenas and jackals appear on our drive back.

As usual we are greeted by beaming staff clapping and singing. They are led by the totally charismatic camp manager – Richard who is always smiling and appears to run everywhere. We are late back so I decide to order my bucket shower for after dinner and I shall wash my hair then. I have a brief change and semi-freshen up and then head for the camp fire. Conversation flows and dinner is another fun, communal affair. We are told dessert is a bush surprise. The lights go out then all the staff start singing and dancing around the table. It turns out to be two peoples’ birthdays. Cake appears and dancing continues with everyone being grabbed and made to join in with the dancing and singing. Richard says “Caring is sharing” and the cakes are cut and distributed.

When I return to my room I shower and wash my hair and think “I shall treat myself and use my hairdryer”. My hair goes a bit wild with the humidity so, if I can use a dryer, tomorrow I might look a bit less like Monica in Friends when she goes to the Caribbean. If you have not seen this episode just take it from me – her hair is wild indeed! I dry about 10 strands of hair before I trip the fuse. Fortunately the lights work but no power. Everyone has now gone to bed and there is no way I am owning up to my sabotage tonight. Clearly the room power sockets are only designed for charging batteries and phones. I can now do neither, my phone and laptop batteries are flat and I am flying to Mahale tomorrow, which is a four hour trip. I swear and go to bed with wet hair – grrr! I always sleep on my back so I pull my hair tight behind me on the pillow and think I can perhaps straighten it out in the night. Miraculously it works and looks pretty OK when I get up in the morning!

Today I transfer from Dunia to Kimondo Kusini. Both lodges are run by Asilia and they have arranged a rendezvous point between the camps. We depart at 09.00 but not before Angel has asked me to write in the guest book. She opens a new page and tells me to “Write big and write lots”. I have experienced such incredible wildlife at Dunia and the staff, room, food and hosting have been excellent so it is extremely easy to wax lyrical. All the staff then sing me a farewell song and Angel asks me to read out my entry to them. I believe that this camp, which is staffed almost entirely by women, is a great success. When my husband Chris and I visited Botswana we stayed at a camp in the Linyanti called Duma Tau. It was a wonderful camp with a warm and welcoming ambience. It was run by Wilderness Safaris with mainly female staff. I understand Asilia saw this and thought that it would be a good idea to follow suit. I do hope that more such camps will be created in future to help empower African women, although I appreciate that it is a hard career choice for them as it means they are away from their families for long periods of time.

Following a 45 minute drive I see a vehicle parked on the road ahead. I am delighted to see that I now have an open vehicle. I find it difficult to game spot in the closed vehicles and taking photos can be uncomfortable. Of course open vehicles are colder and windier but I love it and feel so much more in touch with my surroundings. My bags are transferred to my new vehicle and I meet my guide called Holle. We set off for Kimondo which is a good 2-3 hour game drive away. The landscape initially is open savannah with occasional rocky outcrops. We spot a cheetah in the distance but it shortly disappears amongst the tall grass. Giraffes appear on the horizon and we enjoy watching their lolloping gait silhouetted against the skyline.

Eventually the plains give way to acacia scrub. This is tsetse fly territory and there are many of them. The vehicle is equipped with bug spray and an animal tail fly swat which are both required. Tsetses are nasty. The bite hurts and they have absolutely no hesitation in biting through your clothing. The best remedy is to drive fast and continually swoosh your fly swatter. Miraculously I avoid being bitten and am relieved when we finally drive out on to the plains.

There is a warm welcome as I arrive. The staff are smiling broadly, singing and clapping their hands. Kimono is a mobile camp which follows the migration moving between Kusini and the Serengeti Mara to the north. I am not sure what my tent will be like. I am thinking basic but it is very comfortable. There is a large king-size bed, ensuite with flushing toilet and bucket showers and a great view of the plains where herds of zebra are grazing.

A buffet lunch, fish goujons and assorted salads, has been prepared and tables are laid under a large shady tree. I enjoy a chilled glass of Chardonnay with a label saying “Serengeti The Migration”.

After lunch I sit in the shade and try updating my blog but the WiFi is not up to the task. Instead I edit photos until I recognise the lady to my left. It is Margot that I met at Rivertrees last week. We fall into easy conversation; comparing notes on our trip so far. It seems no sooner have I had lunch than it is time to set off on my next game drive.

There has been a report of two lions close by so we go looking for them. It does not take long before we spot two very full lions lazing under a bush. One of them has his mouth wide open and is actually snoring! It is highly unlikely that the lions are going to move for some time so we go looking for more active subjects.

We leave the lions and follow the road uphill to where the landscape changes into a broad expanse of green low-lying heathland. There is not much grass but instead short scrubby shrubs. The landscape is not dissimilar to British moorland. Birds abound here, spurfowl dart between the bushes, huge flocks of collared doves take flight as we drive across the plains. Apparently we do not need to stay on the roads here so the going is quite bumpy. There does not appear to be much game. There are occasional giraffe and some scattered impala and Grant’s gazelle. I spot a jackal which has caught a small bird which it hides in the bushes before re-emerging to look at us.

Jackals quite often follow larger predators so we survey the landscape with our binoculars. We are hopeful as Holle has heard that a cheetah was spotted (no pun intended) earlier this afternoon but despite our best efforts we cannot find it. The sun is beginning to set and I feel our chances of any further valuable sighting today is slim. Then suddenly there in the distance is a cheetah and she is definitely hunting. There are 3 cubs in tow sitting patiently in the scrub 50 yards behind her.

She suddenly bursts from cover and chases after an impala. They see her coming and elude her with indignant alarm calls. She nestles in the scrub and surveys the plains.

We watch and wait but believe nothing will now happen for a while as all the animals are on full alert. The sun is setting and we must return to camp. Then much to our surprise the cheetah starts stalking. Occasionally she runs swiftly, then she stops and sinks down into cover, the cubs trot along in her wake but have been well trained and remain a safe distance behind her, so as to not spook the prey. The chase is definitely on. Her head is fixed and she has sighted prey and continues to stealthily creep forward. I have my video set to record events and keep my eyes glued to the action. Then it is happening. She bursts from cover and sprints forward. I put my camera into video mode and make sure I am not zoomed in too much. I have her perfectly in my sights and am sure I can record the whole episode. There are several vehicles watching the action and annoyingly, as she nears her quarry the guides all slam their vehicles into gear and race across the plain in close pursuit behind her. Of course the upshot is that I saw everything that happened but stood no chance whatsoever of filming it, as I was tossed from side to side and had to hang on tight to avoid injury!

The cheetah has caught a large Grant’s gazelle. A very impressive sized prey for such a small cat. She is clearly experienced to have managed to raise 3 cubs to 8-9 months old. She has the gazelle by the throat and it dies swiftly with little struggle. The cubs immediately start to feed on the rump. Eating speedily is crucial. We can already hear hyenas calling. We sit and watch until it is almost dark then race back for drinks by the fire. What a phenomenal experience.

I have a member of staff allocated to me and he looks after all my needs (well maybe not quite all of them!). He meets me at the vehicle, walks me to my tent and prepares me a hot bucket shower. The shower is almost too hot but it is so great to wash away all today’s dust that I cope with turning it off and on to avoid first degree burns.

The camp is now fairly full. As a consequence dinner is a pretty noisy affair with some diverse conversations. I talk to an American couple who are lawyers and worked for the Obama administration. They are knowledgeable and forthcoming and provide a most interesting insight into the American political system.

Today we are heading back to Namiri Plains so it will be another full day’s outing with picnic lunch. The great thing about all day drives is that it is not quite such an early start. Despite that I awoke very early and could see torches being flashed in the bushes. I thought no more about it, wrote some of my blog and headed for breakfast at 07.00. Angel comes over to chat. Apparently she has had quite an eventful morning. She left her tent at 05.30 and caught the glint of eyes in her torchlight. She looked carefully and saw a fully grown male lion laying at the bottom of the steps into tent No.5. I am tent No. 3….. He seemed unperturbed by her presence but when she called for more staff he ambled away. There are a lot of predators here, walking alone after dark is a no go and there are no bush walks. I can totally see why!

We depart at 07.30 and see a leopard in the same tree as yesterday and stop to take photos. The light is perfect and I have more great shots.

We drive on and today the plains are empty. Where we saw so much yesterday there is just grass, grass and the occasional hartebeest. There is a bustard and we do eventually spot two small groups of lions and a small herd of elephant but nothing else.

John says “There is always hope”. I think perhaps I have been spoilt so far! Well we drive on and start to see lots of zebra and then wildebeest. Hoorah – we have found the migration! John says “Let’s have an early lunch and then see if we can find some action”. We park in a beautiful glade of yellow acacias with the lushest and greenest grass. Lunch is quiche and salad. It slips down very well with an ice-cold beer.

We set off again and before long we are out on the Namiri Plains surrounded by thousands and thousands of zebra and wildebeest. It is exposed here and cooler with a very strong wind blowing and dust swirling around.

We spot a group of vultures on the ground so drive over to see if there is perhaps a kill there. There is not but we then notice, a short distance away, a mother cheetah and her cub. They are in some shrubbery but we can see as we approach that they have made a kill. We are the only vehicle and settle down to watch how the scenario will play out. The vultures are waiting for the cheetahs to finish eating and minute by minute more appear. We sit for 2 hours – patience is the thing. 2 other vehicles join us briefly but we see no-one else. There is only 1 camp on Namiri Plains and John recommends that I stay here in the future as it is very much like being in a private reserve. I know there will be amazing action when the cheetahs finally finish their meal. They look absolutely bloated with large swollen stomachs yet still they keep on eating. There are now 4 different species of vulture and probably 70-80 birds in total. They inch nearer and nearer and every so often the cheetah cub chases them off.

Finally the cheetahs can eat no more. They back away from the kill and complete chaos ensues. Everything happens so fast. The vultures descend on the carcass but now hyenas are appearing in the distance and running towards us. It is amazing how fast they can run and now they chase the vultures out of the way and steal the carcass and fight amongst themselves for possession. So much is happening. I do not know where to point the camera. In the meantime the cheetahs are being harassed by the wildebeest who do not want them near their young. Having waited over 2 hours to see how events would play out, it is all over in less than 5 minutes. Astonishing!

It is now getting late and have come a long way so we have to drive back to camp very fast indeed. It is a very bumpy and uncomfortable journey but so worth it. As a grand finale all 9 lions are back in their favourite tree. We watch them briefly as it is now getting dark.

When I arrive for dinner more guests have arrived. There is a variety of nationalities but everyone is friendly and have interesting stories to relate. We chat around the campfire then sit at a large communal table. I am seated next to Peter and Branco from Berlin. Zay are so outrageous darling and such fun company. It turns into quite a boisterous meal and I am sad that I shall be leaving tomorrow. Dunia Camp has been a wonderful place to stay and I shall return.

Tea and cookies are brought to my room at 06.30. I gather my belongings and head off for breakfast before starting an all day game drive at 07.30.

This turns out to be a pretty successful day. The first thing we encounter is a beautiful snake on the road. It is black and green, slender and about 5′ long. John is not sure what it is as he has never seen one. I Google it when we get back to discover it is a boomslang which is one of the most venomous snakes in Africa and there I was leaning out of the vehicle to get a good close up shot!

We hear on the radio that there is a pride of 30 lions close by. We head off to find them and after 10 minutes see them lying in the grass close to the track. I count them but can only see 12 initially. I then start to see movements – the one lion under the bush turns out to be four and gradually we spot more and more. We count 24 but they are so well camouflaged and keep moving around. There are buffalo close by so we hope the lions may be feeling hungry but there are no signs of major activity so we move on.

We drive out of the acacia woodland on to the plains and shortly spot a cheetah sitting on a termite mound.

It is a good distance away so no great camera opportunity but as I try to take shots we hear that we drive by a leopard just 300 yards behind us. We drive back to see it and it is perfectly placed on a lower branch with the light in the right direction so I take some super close-ups.

We return to look at the cheetah which has moved but is still visible. We shortly realise why as 2 very large male lions are approaching. At the same time 2 jackals also appear.

So much activity. The lions walk right up to the vehicle and then amble down the road to the marshes. We follow them until they lay down to sleep. What an amazing start to the day. We see another leopard and then encounter a vast herd of buffalo. They kick up clouds of dust and there are loads of young calves which are a lovely chestnut brown as opposed to the dark grey of the adults.

We are driving to Namiri Plains which is a long way from camp. Much of the time there is little to see. The grass is so tall that animal spotting is hard.

We see some hartebeest and watch a group of ostrich and suddenly John says “Look. Over there. Do you see a cheetah and her cubs?” I strain my eyes and see a distant indistinct shape and some moving blobs next to it. Through the binoculars I can indeed see a cheetah and 3 cubs. Vehicles are not meant to leave the main tracks in the Serengeti but John waits for other vehicles to pass and says “Shall we get closer?”

We go off road and stop some 30 yards short of them. John turns off the engine and we watch. Incredibly they all walk towards us – closer and closer. I am filming the cubs when suddenly the mother jumps up on the bonnet. I turn quickly and start to aim my camera through the roof hatch to be confronted by the cheetah’s head 2 feet from mine. She crouches and looks as though she wants to jump through the roof space into the vehicle for shade. It all happens so fast that I am unable to take a clear picture.

John starts the engine and the cheetah jumps down onto the grass. However in the meantime the 3 cubs have sought shade underneath the vehicle! Again we start the engine and they dart out; all 4 cheetah stay close to the vehicle and then eventually start to stroll away. We sit and watch – totally spellbound. This was just the most magical experience.

We continue to the plains where thousands and thousands of zebra are grazing. Here there are large water holes and the zebra are cavorting and swimming in the pools and really seem to be enjoying themselves. It is after all a very hot day. I am quite envious – the water looks very appealing.

All too soon it is time to commence the long and bumpy drive back to camp, but we are still treated to some great encounters. There is a wart hog family with three piglets, banded mongooses playing by the roadside. They are so entertaining. They frolick around and a lookout stands on his hind legs, exactly like a meerkat would do.

We are halted as a troop of elephants cross the road ahead of us. There are several babies but one is absolutely tiny and can walk beneath her mother with ease.

We cross a stream where hippos wallow, vervet monkeys play in the bushes and baboons groom each other on the far shore. As we approach our camp a young bull elephant approaches us. We can see he is in musth by the tears running down his cheeks. He is not happy to see us and makes several mock charges. We start the engine and drive away rapidly. We have been out for over 9 hours but it does not seem long at all. What a truly exceptional day!

Tonight more guests have arrived so we have a much more lively and sociable evening than the previous night. I am greeted at the fire by two English ladies who say ” Hello – you must be Maggie. Angel has told us all about you.” Not sure whether this is a good or bad thing!??

I wake early, pack my bags and head off for breakfast. The 6 unfriendly Americans are eating breakfast but do not even acknowledge me. How very rude.

I depart at 07.45 for the drive back to Manyara airstrip. I think this is too early to leave and am proved correct with an hour and a half wait at the airport. The drive is again interesting. There are, once more, wonderful views of the crater in our descent and empty roads through lush countryside to the airport. On arrival at Manyara Airport I am delighted to find there is free wi-fi. Hoorah I can post another day’s blog. I chat to another traveller who is an expert blogger and he gave me some useful tips. However, if you cannot access wi-fi it is very limiting. I am doing so much that this is turning into a full time task

The plane arrives on time and we board for the flight to Serenara airstrip. The flight makes 2 stops before my destination; Ndutu and Kusini. Each landing strip becomes narrower and less well maintained and more animals graze by the side just to make landings more edgy. On the 2nd leg we are descending and ready to land when the plane banks very sharply to the left. I am flung against the window and people to my right would certainly have fallen into the aisle had they not been strapped in. Yet again I see my life flash before my eyes, then we are level again. We breathe a sigh of relief. The co-pilot apologises for the sharp manouevre. There were birds directly in our flight path. We are warned that this could happen again on the next leg. Great! We land and wait on the plane while one passenger disembarks. This is a short stop but while we wait I spot a chameleon on the grass and he is rocking forwards and backwards. I have no idea why but he is cute and keeps me amused for the few minutes before we once more take-off. The short flight to Seronera is uneventful and after 20 minutes we land and I am greeted by my driver John.

A quick visit to the washroom and we head for our vehicle. John hands me a most welcome ice cold beer and we set off for Dunia Camp which is about an hour’s drive. The landscape is typical flat savannah with no trees but lush grasses which I think may make game viewing a challenge. Almost immediately we spot a tawny eagle on the road ahead which has caught a small rodent. I attempt a photo before he takes fright and flies off. I need to be quicker but it’s not bad!

The terrain gradually changes with more acacia trees and we spot several herds of elephant and stop to observe before moving on.

I am so excited to be back on safari and take pleasure in everything I see whether large or small.

As I approach our camp John stops by a large acacia. There to my surprise are 7 lions asleep in the branches. On the whole it looks pretty uncomfortable, but they seem contented enough. I look to my right and spot two young lions under a bush which is not big enough for the two of them. They continually fidget to find the best spot. We watch for a while then head off for camp.

John says we shall return to watch them on the afternoon game drive.

We arrive at Dunia Camp and I am greeted warmly by the staff who are smiling broadly and singing me a welcome song. Dunia Camp is 95% staffed by women. This is a great innovation by Asilia, the lodge operator. The manager is Angel. She has a wonderful personality and is a great host. It turns out she can talk more than me!

I am shown to my room which is huge. It is indeed a tent but has polished mahogany floors and a spacious bathroom with full plumbing.

Even better I discover I have WiFi in the room. Perhaps at last I can catch up on my blog….I unpack my bags and head for lunch which is a buffet. Tables are laid out on the verandah overlooking the plains. Lunch is served and is savoury mince with pasta and an avocado and tomato salad. It is tasty and just right in the heat; accompanied by a nicely chilled glass of white wine I relax and soak up the ambience.

I did not arrive at the camp until 14.30 so, no sooner have I eaten, than it is 16.00 and time to set off for the evening game drive. We pass buffalo, impala and baboons on our way to watch the tree lions. When we return all 9 lions are in the tree and the younger ones are becoming restless. It is entertaining to watch and we hope that they will come down but instead they just jostle for position. However, it gives me some nice photo opportunities.

Whilst watching them a large herd of elephant pass by, as does a hesitant wart hog and more baboons. I am served a G&T in the vehicle and as the sun sets we return to camp. We have to drive fast as the sun sets quickly here and it is dangerous to be on the tracks at night.

I freshen up and go to watch bush TV before dinner. For those of you not in the know, bush TV is the campfire. There is only one other couple at the lodge. They turn out to be rather quiet. Fortunately Angel is a great raconteur – we sit by the campfire to eat and it is all very pleasant. It is surprisingly chilly and I think that I must remember to bring my jacket tomorrow night. I am suddenly startled by loud buzzing in my ear and something weighty hitting my shoulder. Not  unsurprisingly I let out a shriek. Angel tells me not to panic it is just a moth. I say it was not but she does not believe me until it lands on the table. It is a huge round beetle getting on for 3″ in diameter. Everybody then proclaims how brave I am that I remained in my seat!!

We finish dinner and head to my room. There is a hot water bottle in my bed and I sleep soundly.