North Tanga: Fish Eagle Point

Low tide view from our window.

High tide.

The water extended all the way into this cove. From the pictures above this is towards the right of the frame. The water goes out far!

We split up our holiday (South Tanga) and spent the last night at a place in the north of Tanga called Fish Eagle Point. We had heard it was a beautiful lodge set in mangrove forests but most of our friends had given us average to above average reviews of it so we didn't expect a ton. We had actually tried to come last year and even showed up at the gate only to be met by a sign that informed us it was closed for a month. This time I was prepared and even messaged them ahead and decided we would take a proper lodge over camping and we would also take a boat out to a sand island to snorkel.

We drove about 40 minutes north of Tanga and turned off onto a dirt road towards the camp. We later learned that the road was only built in 2008 and the property was previously only accessible by boat. The road even went through a village and eventually gave way to thick scrub as the road continued to narrow. We eventually reached the grounds and were taking aback by the size and space. We passed a small cove with rooms spaced out around the beach and made our way to the main area. It had a very deserted feel that initially felt a bit weird but then we eventually appreciated for its isolation.

We reached the main building which was built open air style with a small loft above and awesome views of a cove. We were then told that we had been upgraded and taken to our room which was amazing. A small pier/walkway led to our room which was elevated over the ocean. It was totally open air with only curtains but they were entirely unnecessary as the room was tucked within mangroves and a view to the ocean alone.

We took a trip out on a small sailboat to a sand island that emerges during low tide. We had gone to a similar place near Pangani and it did not disappoint; crystal clear blue water with healthy reefs full of fish. On the way back we even put the sail up (there was also a motor) and enjoyed a relaxing cruise back to the lodge. We even had time for a hike around the property to do some birding.

We loved the feel of Fish Eagle Point and wished we had allocated more time staying there. We checked out their camping facilities, which were very nice, and we figure we'll come back and camp for an extended time. The place is a family run operation and the owners were very kind and friendly.

View from the main lodge.

Our room.

View from our room. Pretty pretty good.

Everyone is a sucker for an elevated restaurant over the ocean.

Ana diving.

Ana is not upset, she is eating a crepe.

A family that lives in Dar joined us on the boat trip. They were intrigued by our interest in the birds.

Mid-morning coffee.

One of the many crabs.

The boat that took us out to the island.

South Tanga II: Peponi

Ana checking out some birds.

We've visited southern Tanga before (Trip I) and we enjoyed camping at Peponi Beach Resort. They have good value camping areas (covered, showers, outlets) and excellent food with a laid back vibe. I'm not even really a beach person but I absolutely love the set up, from the attitude of the other guests staying there, to the staff and environment. The nearby area is sparsely populated and locals seem non bothered by tourists who are likewise respectful of the conservative coastal culture. The beach doesn't have the fenced-off-from-locals feel and there isn't anyone trying to sell you sea-shell necklaces.

The only drawback is that at certain times of the year it can be very hot and humid, especially coming from the dry area where we live. One of those times is now, exacerbated by the fact that Tanzania has been undergoing a significant drought. The sea breeze quieted down at night and the temperature was unbearable for sleep. Luckily the holiday wasn't too taxing and there were various opportunities for naps.

The tide goes out extremely far in Tanzania and the surrounding mangroves provide a stunning venue to explore. We went on a walk through the tide pools and mangroves in the morning and watched as the fishermen came in and out. The tide goes out probably 100-200m (300-600 ft) and birds and enterprising youths alike seek out tasty morsels in the freshly exposed sand. The area was rich with life as crabs scurried about and I loved feeling the rhythm of the tide and how it influenced all the life in the area.

We spent two days walking the beach, hiking in the surrounding area, and overall just relaxing.

Walking in the freshly exposed sand.

Awesome view from the common area.

Crazy twisted palm tree.

The surrounding area was really dry.

Checking out some birds.

Very clear water.

Strolling in the mangroves.

Arusha National Park: Trip V

Ana taking in the view. 

Our latest trip to Arusha National Park (ANP) (Trip I, Trip II, Trip III, Trip IV) was a lot of fun and certainly a bit different than our previous trips. We love ANP for a variety of reasons; it's less than an hour away, it's one of the cheaper national parks ($22.50 p/p), it is known for having a variety of birds, it is not very crowded, and it has a variety of habitats from montane rainforest to lakes and woodland. The biggest drawbacks, with nearly all the national parks, is that you have to drive pretty much the whole day, unless you want to pay an additional $20 p/p for a guide. I'm sure we'll do it someday but it seems a bit much to pay $45 a person to go on a hike, especially considering we know several other spots in the region that are literally free. This is also the reason we have never gone to Kilimanjaro National Park as the park fees are $35 fee, $20 guide, and $20 rescue fee which means it would be $75 for a walk in the park. Which to me, is crazy. AND that is half off the entry fee since we are residents of East Africa, otherwise it would be $110 for the average tourist. But I digress....

We reached the park gate at 8AM and unlike the busier parks (Serengeti, etc), the registration took five minutes and no one else was there. We had heard there were a few new loops in one of the forest areas so we set out explore. Although you can not go on a proper "hike" without a guide, you are allowed to be 25m from your car AND since ANP is so sparsely visited (and patrolled) I'll admit to pushing the rules.

Well, today wasn't a day that I was going to push the rules because it just so happened there was an infestation of tsetse flies. If you're unfamiliar with tsetse flies, they are a large fly that bites and transmits a handful of nasty diseases. They are also attracted to movement and forested areas. Which means our car attracted a slow building cloud of tsetse flies that were present in such numbers that it sounded like rain was coming down when in actuality it was thousand of tsetse flies trying to enter the car. This was unfortunate because we couldn't have the windows down and thus couldn't see or hear very good as well being extremely hot and stuffy. After about a half hour we both knew what each other was thinking, which was something along the lines of, "uh, what are we doing here?".

We finally acknowledged the challenges of the forest area and agreed to get the hell out of that section and head to the lakes and open plains. Spirits were a bit low but it was still very early in the day so we weren't too worried. We eventually made it out to the "Little Serengeti" part of ANP which really boosted our spirits. The section of the park has a small plain full of zebra, giraffe, waterbuck, warthog and buffalo. Mt. Meru is a striking background with its lush green slopes and cloud cover.

Little Serengeti with Mt. Meru in the background. 

The rest of the day was somewhat uneventful. We visited the lakes which had very low water levels and very little wildlife. It started to rain when we were there which wasn't bad timing since it allowed us to drive straight to another section of the park. As birders we often move at a very slow pace and don't cover much ground but the rain gave the perfect excuse to drive for a half hour to a small crater on the south east side of the park. You can drive up the crater rim into stunning montane rainforest and view a spectacular view of the crater from above.

We were sad to leave the park at 6:00pm but it had been a long day. We made a mental note to never again visit the park in March but I'm sure we'll be back sooner rather than later!

Mt. Meru cleared up in the afternoon. 

We may or may not have driven our vehicle past that point. 

View of the Ngurdoto Crater. 

I got bit several times taking this picture in the tsetse fly infested forest. 

Checking out a small river. 

Rain shot!

South Pare Mountains: Chome Trip II

The road to Chome with awesome vistas.

Our friends that live in Chome are moving at the end of this month so it was a good excuse to get back up the mountain and pay them a visit (Trip I). For a normal weekend we drive the 1 1/2 drive south to Same on Friday night, then drive the remaining three hours up the mountain the following morning. It makes for a long trip back on Sunday but the drive (sans highway portion from Same) is actually quite fun as there are tons of birds on the way so frequent stops break up the trip.

The mountain road is narrow, steep, and full of ditches and sharp rocks but the scenery is beautiful with expansive views of the plains to one side and impressive mountains on the other. This time of the year the mountains are green with vegetation and small waterfalls run over escarpments as the clouds roll off the mountains in the morning.

As we started up the mountain we passed over a particularly rocky patch. I suddenly heard one of the tires spewing air and I quickly reversed down to a flat patch of ground that we had just passed. I was happy that the tire punctured there because there are VERY few flat areas on the road up. We parked the car and assessed the situation; a jagged rock had literally sliced open the side of one of the front tires. No worries, we had a spare and a jack. Had I ever used the spare or the jack? No. But I had seen the jack used when the car was getting repaired in the workshop.

Well, turns out that we had two jacks and they were both very small. I put the jack on a flat rock and put it as close to the car as possible, then jacked it as far as it would go. It did not appear to have moved the car at all. I was a bit frustrated and trying to think of what to do when an older man passed on the road and stopped to help us. We explained our situation and he obviously had a bit more experience than us as he matter of factly told us there was no problem. He instructed us to jack as far a we could, then stack a separate pile of rocks to act as a lift for the car, take down the jack, re stack a taller rock on the jack, then lift it again and repeat the process. This incremental jacking process took us three "reloads" before we could remove the tire. The secondary pile of rocks was also under extreme stress and when we lowered it while we were finished we realized that two of the rocks had broken. But, we were successful in changing the tire.

At least we were stuck in a very scenic spot.

Jack situation.

A close look at the jack situation

The whole incident delayed us a bit up the mountain but we still arrived to Chome with plenty of time. We went on a very nice walk to some forest areas, checked out a waterfall, and hung with our friends at their house for dinner. I'm always very happy to be in a village and live the "village life" though I wish we could have spent a few more days there!

A view of the mountains while in the plains. Early morning clouds.

View of the plains from the road up.

Doing some birding.

Super bad ass spider.

It ain't a village visit without some river crossings.

On a hike.

Waterfall action.

View of the plains in the morning, above the clouds.

Nyumba ya Mungu: Trip VIII, north end

Boats back from a days fishing.

One of our favorite spots relatively close is Nyumba ya Mungu, a large lake created from a dam (Trip I, II, III, IV, V & VI, VII). We usually go to the same spot on the lake due to accessibility but occasionally we'll visit other parts. This weekend we somewhat by accident visited a portion in the far north.

Our friend had "discovered" the area during the week and thought it was a different lake than Nyumba ya Mungu. We met up with the locals he had gone out with and we followed them until we reached a small river. I was slightly concerned with the river since the opposite shore was quite steep, almost like a small curb the car would have to jump. I started in and hit the step and promptly rolled back into an unseen hole. Bam, stuck. Luckily the vehicle that had escorted us had yet to leave so they went to town to look for a tow rope. They returned with a gigantic roll of twine which didn't look like much at first, but after doubling it back about 100 times, well, not sure it looked much better but it was all that we had.

At the moment we got stuck, a herd of cows just happened to come by and check us out.

Taking shade under a tree while we waited for the rope.

The rope was strong, in the end.

We did manage to get the car out and our spirits were not dampened as we tried to cross again, this time with success. We waved our friends goodbye and they told us to just call them if we got stuck on the way back and they'd come help us out if we got stuck.

The rest of the route was a very peculiar landscape, kind of an acacia plain with evidence of extreme flooding. We eventually arrived to the lake and set up shop to watch some birds and chat with some fishermen. We had gotten out quite late in the day so we had to turn back around 6pm with about an hour of daylight left.

Unfortunately, I had been a bit overzealous with how close I drove us to the water and upon entering the car we realized all the tires were slipping. We didn't dig ourselves in and I quickly hurried back to the fishermen's camp to recruit some help. I was worried because it was late and I had only seen a few older people there and if we couldn't get unstuck it would be a very long walk (probably 2 hours?) back to the nearest village, and I doubt there would be a vehicle there AND even if there was, they would probably chide me for being a moron driving too close to the sticky mud and they likely wouldn't want to drive their vehicle on the surface.


Morale was low when I returned with a young teenage boy, probably 13 years old. However, I did acquire a plank of wood, though it had fish guts all over it that I promptly covered myself with. So, here I was, with a 13 year old, car slipping on the mud, smelling like fish guts. I was not happy to say the least.

Still, we persevered and with enough rocks, the plank of wood, and serious pushing, we got the car out and moving. However, our journey wasn't over since we still had to find our way back. The road was somewhat clear to a point but there was a certain junction where motorcycles and bicycles (99% of local traffic) carried on while larger vehicles had to take a turn to reach the river we previously crossed. Luckily we crossed paths with a motorcycle coming from another part of the lake and he led us to the road we needed to reach. I didn't even realize how lost we likely would have gotten had he not led us, but I was even more pleased since we somehow found a different road that had a proper bridge over the river.

Overall it was certainly more of an adventure than we bargained for, especially for a, "short afternoon bird trip", but the landscape was lovely and there is ALWAYS room for adversity!

Pare Mountains in the background.

Watching some water birds.

Mt. Kilimanjaro in the background.