Nyumba ya Mungu Trip IX, north end

Overcast day. 

Nyumba ya Mungu is one of our favorite places to take a day trip to (Trip I, II, III, IV, V & VI, VII) and we recently discovered a road to a different part of the huge reservoir (Trip VIII). The landscape on the road is different than the other route as it is grassland as opposed to acacia scrub. There is also a river, which is now flooded, that provides an interesting habitat for many birds. We also think it's possibly a bit shorter and certainly not as rough of a road.

Our trip actually began as a failure. I've written about it extensively in my posts the last month but the rain really does make trip planning a risk. We set around 830 and about a half hour in we were met with light rain, but worse, black clouds in the area we were going. The weather patterns are very odd around Mt. Kilimanjaro and I speculated that it would be possible to try the trip later in the day. I should note that this trip was a bit more complicated as I wanted to take the motorcycle as a result of what I assumed would be extensive flooding in the area. Motorcycles are much more nimble than even our Landcruiser when it comes to extreme mud and water. 

Ana was not so convinced about a return but we went back home, had some coffee, and reassessed the weather. I was convinced that we should go for it again and Ana, somewhat reluctantly, agreed. We set off and sure enough, the sun came out, though clouds were present on and off throughout the day. 

As I had predicted, there was a lot of water. Having rained for pretty much two weeks straight the rivers and lakes were not only flooded but huge pools of rain were randomly placed throughout the roads and nearby areas. When we finally reached Nyumba ya Mungu the water level was far up above where we had seen it before and the fisherman had to move operations a bit further up. We actually saw someone moving their temporary grass hut about 50m up from where it was previously (which was now in the water). 

In the end the weather held and we had a great time puttering around the shores. Because of the clouds we could actually stay out all day, something that is impossible in the dry and hot times. It had also been quite a while since we had a motorcycle trip and I always enjoy the flexibility and freedom that comes with the motorcycle. The day was almost perfect as we came back to Moshi and Mt. Kilimanjaro emerged from behind the clouds. Beautiful views!

Birding at the river on the way. 

Fisherman. 

Flooded. You can see the very dirty brown water of the main reservoir body. 

Fisherman trying to get to his boat. 

Extensive marshland. 

Birding. 

Very cool lighting over the river. 

Pare mountains in the background. 

On the way home with Mt. Kilimanjaro guiding us!