December Holiday: Chobe National Park (Botswana)

Elephant drinking water

A cool excursion offered from Victoria Falls is a day safari to Chobe National Park in nearby Botswana. This is made easier by the fact that US citizens do not require a visa for Botswana and although it requires a few hours drive, Chobe National Park offers much better wildlife than nearby parks in Zimbabwe or Zambia. So naturally, Chobe was a great choice taking a day from our trip to Victoria Falls.

I was real curious to see how the safari differed from other countries though I realized having the package deal from the tourist hub of Victoria Falls may not be an accurate reflection. We booked a tour online and there were a variety of operators all offering the same rate. I was happy to see a 1/2 day river cruise and 1/2 day game drive as river cruises can be quite a cool experience. It was unclear how many people were in our group or how it would be arranged, just a vague outline of the day's activities.

We were picked up in the morning from our hotel and shuttled to a river that was the border of Zambia and Botswana. Our driver took our passports (there were maybe 8 of us), went around the back of the already porous immigration office, and came back within ten minutes with everyone's passports stamped. We were then shuffled onto a small boat to be ferried across the river. When we arrived, different trucks with different company names picked people up and we strangely all headed to the same destination. A small cafe consolidated even more people (now we were up to +20 people) and it was there that we received our first instructions of the morning: the boat was going to be leaving in 10 minutes.

My kind of border crossing.

We loaded up on a double decker boat, went to a park checkpoint, and spent the morning floating around watching wildlife. It was a spectacular day and although everyone seemed to be curiously consolidated together, it didn't take away the joy of seeing hippos and elephants on the shores. After the boat ride we went back to the small cafe for lunch after which we were subdivided again into safari vehicles for a game drive. The game drive disappointingly took us along the same shore we had been on for the river cruise though I suppose our options were restricted with time and it did seem to have the majority of the wildlife.

At the end of the day I thought it was a perfect taste of safari for my sister though I knew the Tanzanian wildlife would blow it away. The tour was oddly arranged though it flowed well and seemingly made best use of the multiple tour operators resources. It appeared that everyone made their own arrangements and then funneled customers to the same itinerary which was adjusted depending on the number of total people that day. It felt slightly impersonal but for the money and time, I thought it was a great value and experience.

Lots of elephants in the park.

I have never ridden in a safari vehicle like this. It was cool until it looked like it was going to rain, then everyone got real nervous. Luckily the storm didn't catch us.

A baby hippo roaming about.

Hippos chilling.

View of the Chobe River from the game drive.

Elephants after a mudbath.

Another river cruise boat getting a bit closer to the elephants.

Cute baby elephant.

December Holiday: Victoria Falls (Zambia & Zimbabwe)

Devil's Gorge waterfall on the far east end.

It's not technically Tanzania so I won't go into great detail but I did have a chance to head down to check out Victoria Falls. I met my sister down in Zambia (before meeting her I spent a day and also crossed over to Zimbabwe side) as well as did a short safari in Chobe National Park in Botswana. It was very cool to get out of Tanzania and see a bit of southern Africa. It was especially interesting to see the tourist towns of Livingstone and Victoria Falls as there were a lot of similarities with Moshi (my current tourist town of residence). I found everywhere to be a bit more developed than Tanzania though also with many similarities.

It was the end of the dry season at Victoria Falls and although I found the falls to still be gorgeous, it lacked much of the water found in many of the iconic pictures that I've seen. It was advantageous to view from the Zimbabwe side as it offered a much better view of the falls which were nearly absent from the Zambia side. The low water allowed us to do the "Devil's Pool" which consisted of taking a boat to the edge of the falls and swimming in a small pool on the very edge. Although a bit overpriced, it was a cool experience for sure. And I suppose you can't have everything because during the wet season the spray from the water renders it impossible to really see anything. Plus, the views of the dry canyons were beautiful even without any water.

Some ladies posing for a pic, Zimbabwe side.

Couldn't really see a great view, Zimbabwe side.

Climb down to the "boiling pot" on the Zambia side.

Looking over to the Zambia side. A few pictures down you'll see me standing on the edge of the opposite side shown here.

View from the far east section, Zimbabwe side.

View from the far west section, Zambia side.

About to enter Devil's Pool. If you look carefully you can see people swimming.

A view of me breaking the rules and standing on the edge. See a few pictures above for the opposite side view. Zambia side.

Devil's Pool, peaking over the edge.

Oh, just chilling on the edge of a waterfall, no big deal.

Oh, just fifty billion dollars, no big deal.

Kindroko Trip VI

Checking out a Mountain Buzzard in the distance.

My family is coming to visit next month and one of the activities I have planned for them is a trip to one of our favorite spots, Kindoroko Forest (Part I,Part II,Part III, Part IV, Part V). The last time we went, the trail was a bit overgrown in two sections and I wanted to see if we could find an alternate route that didn't require us to clamber through a mess of overgrown vines (with many thorns mind you).

Residents of the area have said the rains should finish this month and the ongoing rain is obvious by the lush and green nature of the landscape. During even the dry months the area is characteristically green, but now it seems there isn't a piece dirt without something growing, and even the trees seem to be covered head to toe with moss and lichen.

It was raining on Friday when we arrived but Saturday morning looked somewhat clear. We began the hike and realized at the higher altitudes there was a mix of clouds, rain, and sunshine. As long as the rain isn't a steady downpour, I LOVE the rain in Kindoroko; it simply fit. And the weather was fleeting and passing throughout the day making for a very comfortable hike.

We explored some new trails but ultimately realized we would have to take my family on the "normal" trail. However, we both agreed that the "normal" trail has the nicest bit of montane rainforest that other trails do not have. After all, I think my family might even be slightly disappointed if I don't put them through a challenging situation!

The peak when it is clear.

Massive tree fall.

A river runs below allowing for a rare open view of the forest.

Lots of lichen on the lianas.

A bit lower in the forest, sub-montane.

Extremely overgrown.

Climbing up!

Clouds initially met us at the peak.

Ridgeline at the peak facing north.

Lake Duluti Trip IV

Top of the ridge with the plains in the background.

This year, Tanzanian Independence Day (commemorating December 9th, 1961) had an interesting twist with the newly elected president canceling traditional (and expensive) celebrations and instead mandating the citizens of Tanzania to participate in a "cleaning day".  These types of populist decisions prove popular with people, though I found it somewhat misguided that instead of celebrating Tanzania's independence and remembering the history, as well as looking forward to the future, the government commanded citizens to voluntarily do what the government systems should be doing (keeping streets and public places clean). However, people get overly excited at these decisions and tend not to look too deeply into them, and luckily for us, our house and yard are very small.

This allowed us to do our cleaning quickly and embark on a midweek trip to Lake Duluti (Trip I, Trip II, Trip III). It was a pretty average day for as at Duluti with very few other visitors and some relatively nice weather. There were a lot of clouds which was nice during the first half of the day when we walked the ridge, but this later gave way to rain, which wasn't so bad inside the forest but still less than ideal. We were also happy that the main ranger seemed to be recognizing us as though we were becoming regulars.

The rain resulted in fewer pictures, but this entry goes more for posterity sake than anything since Lake Duluti trips are all more or less the same. Beautiful walk in the woods!

Taking a walk along the ridge.

Checking for some birds inside the forest.

Arusha National Park Trip IV

Mt. Meru covered in clouds, just south of Momella gate.

Arusha National Park is always a treat (Trip I, Trip II, Trip III)! Although it took us over a year to take our first trip, we have resolved to take quarterly trips if possible to see the park at different times of the year.  It's only one hour to the gate from our house so a day trip isn't an exhausting affair. We were successful in taking our fourth trip of the year and sure enough, the landscape was quite different in some areas of the park.

I think if one was in a hurry you could drive on every road available in Arusha National Park but if you're at a leisurely pace (or birding) then you've got to pick and choose. We decided to first go to the only part of the park we haven't been to (Kitoto Hill) and then check out the lakes on our way back.

It was a perfect day and the sun was shining with the elevation giving way to cooler temperatures than we are used to in Moshi. On our way to the Kitoto View point we passed a few side trails that we haven't taken and enjoyed some walks through the forest. The landscape changes so dramatically in Arusha National Park and it's shocking how quickly these changes can happen. Sparse woodland gives way to montane rainforest which borders acacia savanna. The park seemed to be extremely lush.

We climbed the road up to Kitoto View Point and although they were doing some repairs, it was pretty treacherous. It required some focused driving but still didn't require us to use our four wheel drive. The view point was excellent and the forest surrounding the area was beautiful.

We then went down to the Momella Lakes and to our surprise some of them were dried up. The rest of the park seemed like it had received rain so we were confused about how these lakes could dry up, some of them quite sizable. There were still some waterfowl and other life around but apparently there were thousands of flamingos as recently as two weeks ago, but they had moved on (we saw 6).

The day was awesome but as usual, we were exhausted at the end! It was a nice mix of walking and driving and the bonus of driving is viewing several different habitats. Can't wait for our next trip!

One of the side loops off the main road had a very nice forest.

There was a cleared patch in the middle which was pretty.

Mt Meru hidden in the clouds.

Taking a stroll.

Mt. Kilimanjaro view point, though Kili was obstructed by clouds.

Famous "fig tree" drive through. Massive tree.

Checking out the forest.

I climbed a hill and got some nice views.

Amazing picnic spot.

Lichen and moss cover the trees at higher altitudes.

Kitoto Hill View point.

End of the road! We actually saw a group coming down from the crater hike.

More montane forest.

I am a sucker for moss and lichen on trees.

Lovely giraffe!

Momella Lakes.

VERY still day.

View point by Momella Lakes.

Albino baboon!

Mt. Meru on our way out.