Iringa in May

Views of Iringa town

I love the end of the rainy season with the lush landscape giving a burst of green color to the area. During peak rainy season it's difficult to move about with either the threat of rain or big pools of water rendering areas impassable. But towards the end of the rainy season there is a bit of a sweet spot. 

We had an interesting week where we moved around the region. It was cool to see the difference in the landscapes from the town to slightly drier areas in the north and slightly wetter areas in the south. We even got to see a storm in the distance which leads to one of my favorite landscapes in Tanzania; the soft light bringing out the hues of the greens. 

Random landscape in Idodi Rural 

Our favorite pool

Landscape close to Ruaha National Park

Locally made bicycle

 

There is a lot of innovation here in Tanzania and I was super impressed by this homemade bicycle. At first glance it looks like an average bicycle but on closer look it's difficult to tell if the bike has any original parts or if it's truly a composite of parts. I asked the owner and he said he welded the frame and had the original crankshaft and gears. He said the fork and the handlebars are actually different parts and then he made a custom rack for carrying goods. I respected his single speed gears and for sure his innovation and resourcefulness, although the bicycle is a little heavy, he'll probably get another 20 years out of this thing!

Car wash: Washing the doors

 

I have written before about how popular car washes are (LINK) but I have not gone into detail just how thorough they can be. One must keep in mind that many of the roads here are not paved so dust and dirt build up relatively quickly. Cars are still notable symbols of social standing and thus it's important for people to keep their cars clean. 

I am accused of under washing our car (guilty as charged)  as I've gotten quite busy lately and it's tough to find the time. You can leave your car at the car wash and pick it up hours later which is usually what I do. However, you have to give some pretty explicit instructions if you don't want the full service. You may think full service sounds great, but this means the pressure washer is used with reckless abandon. You may still be wondering, "so what, isn't that what we want?", well yes, for the exterior of my vehicle...but not the interior. The car wash guys all around Tanzania seem to think the interior of the doors need to be blasted by water. They also think the engine needs to be cleaned and eagerly pop the hood and blast the engine, wielding the pressure washer like a maniacal soldiers wielding machine guns on the front line. 

I've had seals broken, electrics damaged, and unwanted moisture in my interior. One of the big issues is that the demographic that works at car washes are typically people who have never owned a motor vehicle and do not understand where sensitive parts are.

The other day I saw a guy pressure washing the interior of a trunk, with water dripping out underneath (see video). I told the guy not to wash the inside of the door but when I came back to pick it up, you better believe the inside of my door was suspiciously wet, so I took it home to dry! 

 

My extremely clean interior door

2025 Amur Falcon sighting

 

A termite in the foreground with speckles of Amurs

I wrote about the annual Amur Falcon migration last year and we were lucky to spot them this past weekend. It has been drier than usual in the area and thus we weren't sure if the Amur migration would be delayed. We checked our bird record and we tend to see them between March 15th and April 15th. A substantial amount of luck is required but we were eager to try in one of the places where we've had success in the past, Kisolanza Farm House. We even watched a webinar about the Amur migration to simply build the hype. 

The previous week had seen an increase in rainfall, though it still felt like we were on the verge of the full rainy season. We left Iringa town around 3 p.m., watching storms forming to the south and southwest. The conditions seemed perfect for the Amurs, so we scanned the skies frantically as we drove. Approaching Ifunda, we spotted a large group of birds. We pulled over to confirm and saw the diagnostic male with the contrasting white and black. Satisfied with our sighting, we continued on to Kisolanza.

Kisolanza has an open area to the south that offers great views of the sky. We parked and waited, hoping the falcons hadn’t already moved north. After about 15 minutes, they started coming our way. The rain had triggered a termite emergence, creating a feeding frenzy. We watched around 50 Amur Falcons hunting alongside a mixed flock of birds drawn to the feast. Speckled Mousebirds, a Tropical Boubou, acrobatic African Stonechats, and a pair of striking African Paradise Flycatchers all joined in.

The Amur Falcon migration is a real spectacle, and Kisolanza seems to be something of a hotspot. A few years ago, they even roosted overnight on the property. While sightings are never guaranteed, it’s as good a place as any to try your luck at seeing these incredible birds.

Pit toilet hazards

Pit latrines are the most common type of toilet facility, especially in rural areas, where infrastructure lags behind necessity. They range from clean and modern to crude, makeshift, and downright revolting.

At their most basic, a pit latrine is nothing more than a hole in the ground. This design, though simple, fosters an unbearable stench and attracts swarms of flies, which in turn spread disease. The damp, anaerobic conditions also create an ideal breeding ground for pathogens, making contamination of nearby water sources a serious risk, particularly during the rainy season.

A step up in design, common in more thoughtfully constructed latrines, is the ventilated improved pit latrine (VIP latrine). This model includes a vent pipe with a screen, which helps reduce odor and traps flies before they can escape. Covering the hole (and having a door) when not in use is also crucial, not just to keep insects at bay but to deter bats, rats, and other creatures that seem to relish the dark recesses of human waste pits. Many latrines, however, leave the hole exposed, making them a free-for-all for critters of all types. Please, let your imagination go wild.

At our field camp, our latrines are relatively well constructed VIPs, but they come with their own hazards. On two consecutive nights, first a scorpion, then a snake, nestled themselves beneath the wooden slab that covers the hole. We spotted them just in time, avoiding what would have been an undignified disaster. And while we’ve been fortunate that the snakes have all been non-venomous, the real horror is when one vanishes into the depths of the latrine, leaving the unsettling knowledge that it is down there, somewhere, waiting. 

The hazards

A closer look

Local boat on the river: Ngalawa

View from in the boat

In Tanzania the term ngalawa is used to describe any local boat, typically a dug out canoe. The Rufiji River is full of local river crossings and as a proper boat is in our future, I thought it would be a timely moment to describe the ngalawa. 

The ngalawas in this region are crude, resolute vessels, typically single-piece dugout canoes, riddled with patches and hurried repairs, their continued use a testament not to their sturdiness but to the sheer inevitability of necessity. The tolerance for leakage is astonishing; each boat carries multiple bailing cups, a silent acknowledgment of the perpetual battle against the water’s encroachment. The seats, makeshift slats of palm fronds, offer only the faintest concession to comfort barely more forgiving than the canoe’s unyielding wood.

Propulsion is an art of precarious balance. At the stern, a lone paddler strains against the current, while at the bow, the navigator wields a long pole, prodding blindly for the ground beneath the murky surface. There are seasons when this choreography teeters on the absurd, when the river swells and the man in the back paddles with increasing desperation while the one in front, his pole flailing in empty water, finds nothing but air. In such moments, when the boat ceases to be steered and instead surrenders to the slow pull of the current, the true peril reveals itself: the dark humps of hippos downstream, their bulk motionless, while the ngalawa drifts, inexorably, towards them. At the last moment, the man at the bow sticks his pole in the mud and the tense passengers let out a collective sigh that has been slowly growing.

I have always taken a strange delight in these boats, though never without the creeping awareness of their fragility. They are, in a way, thrilling. but only for those who can afford to thrill. For the others, the ones who must board them daily without illusion or choice, there is no indulgence in adventure, only the resigned acceptance of risk. And yet, even I, knowing that capsizing is a real and likely fate, am unsettled by the thought of what lurks beneath. Not only are these waters alive with crocodiles, but among the passengers huddled beside me, most cannot swim.

This ngalawa had to have two passengers removed. Which means it probably should have had at least four removed.

The ngalawa needs to be entered wherever it lands. Here it was on a steep sand bank, note the guys feet are covered. Quick retreat for crocs...

The seats

Rufiji wooded grassland walking

The vibrant grass contrasting with the soft overcast colors is one of my favorite things about rainy season here

There’s been an unseasonable dry spell leading up to the rainy season, so we decided to take advantage of it this weekend. Since January, it has only rained a few times, though last week brought a few storms, a harbinger of the coming rains. The ground is still relatively dry, but December’s rains left behind small pools of water, with wildlife dispersed widely.

This is one of my favorite times of year to be out walking. You can feel the plants and grasses at the very start of their transformation, about to reshape the landscape. Soon, the grasses will tower over my head in places, and flooded swamps will make bush navigation much more challenging. The substrate is typically wet enough to identify tracks of animals.

We knew of a spot with some open trails as well as some small pools of water. The area was largely swamp and marshland along with shrubs and wooded grasslands. It's a fantastic area for walking with sufficient animal trails and open areas. We saw some fresh tracks of buffalo, kudu, and some very fresh scat of African Wild Dog. The morning was overcast which allowed us to stay out relatively late, but around 11am the sun broke from behind the clouds and we knew we had to get out of the area before we got roasted! 

Typical wooded area

Nice grassy area, checking for signs of African Wild Dog