Flying international with Air Tanzania

Boeing 787 Dreamliner

 

Air Tanzania is the national airline carrier for Tanzania and although it has a colorful past it seems to have found it's footing now. It was revived in 2016 with much fanfare and and although I used their services a few times flying from Iringa to Dar es Salaam (a route that unfortunately no longer runs) I had not used their services since due to lack of reliability and my lack of travel on their routes. However, a recent trip to Zambia gave me the chance to test out their services and I've been eager to take advantage of their relatively cheap fares to regional destinations. 

The flight was out of the new-ish Terminal 3 (inaugurated in 2019), a modern and under-capacity terminal. I only mention the capacity because the majority of the gates were unoccupied yet we still had to take the bus to a plane on the runway. This is a common tactic in high volume airports but in this case it appeared to be a cost saving method which I think is slightly uncouth and poor marketing for your international carrier at the main commercial hub. 

The flight schedule was Lusaka via Harare. It was a two hour trip to Harare and then another hour from Harare to Lusaka. This makes it into a four hour trip when the return journey direct from Lusaka to Dar es Salaam is only two. I understand how it makes financial and logistics sense for Air Tanzania as volume between the three small-ish cities is pretty low. 

The flight was relatively full and the seats were comfortable. The staff were well trained and provided great service throughout. The food was OK if not predictable fare with a chicken biriyani, bread, chocolate dessert, and a prawn salad that I was somewhat skeptical to consume. My favorite part of the flight was the in-flight magazine, an in-house production called Twiga (Swahili for 'giraffe'). It is cosmopolitan magazine featuring businesses, individuals and events that are outside my normal exposure. I always look forward to reading the issue on the flights!

 

The bread hustle in Dar es Salaam

Bread on a bicycle

 I respect all the hustlers and small business operators in Tanzania with many operating with razor thin margins all built on the simple business principle of, "buy for one, sell for two". One day while driving in Dar es Salaam I managed to pay particular attention to the bread delivery services. It's not a particularly nutritious type of bread but apparently Dar es Salaam relies on a network of local couriers for fresh deliveries. 

Africa is known for couriers that overload their means of transportation to the max. This isn't always a good thing but it can sure look impressive. The lighter the item the more absurd the packing jobs can appear to be. One of the more amusing loads of cargo are mattresses as they can often times be in a volume larger than the vehicle itself! Although bread is not nearly as impressive, it is still induces a double take when you see them and a feeling of admiration for their careful packing.

Motorcycle bread

Motorcycle from the rear

Rainy vs dry season in Pwani Region

 

An area at camp

 

I have written about our new camp in Pwani region and the climate is quite different than our Iringa base. The rains have started about a month before Iringa and the area is far wetter and lush than our acacia/commiophora dominated landscape in Iringa. We were here two months ago and it was the end of the dry season with sparse vegetation with plenty of sand. Upon our return we've been greeted by a lush landscape, hot and humid! And this is after the first month of rains, we have several more months to go and I look forward to seeing how lush this place gets.

The last trip we had an incredible variety of spiders. This time it's millipedes!

View of our banda

Fruit: Papaya

 

Color of the "red" papaya in comparison to strawberries and watermelon

One of the most misunderstood fruits is the humble papaya. Those who are from non-tropical countries may be more familiar with papaya as an exotic salad garnish or an additive to a skin treatment concoction. In the tropics it is typically widely available as it is easy to grow and each tree produces numerous fruits. They are the kind of fruit that you see growing in random places in villages and yards as the seeds are easily disbursed and it is hearty enough to grow in all types of environments.

Like all fruits, there are a myriad of varieties grown though most people are familiar with the two most popular varieties which can be easily distinguished by their internal color; one is yellow and the other is red. The yellow-fleshed papaya have a stronger taste with a slightly bitter taste. The red-fleshed papaya tend to be sweeter lacking the bitterness of the yellow. Both varieties have the interesting feature that they are odorless when cut.

Regarding ripeness, this is where things get interesting. First, there are some culinary traditions (especially in SE Asia) that make use of unripe or green papaya so it is possible to eat them when they are unripe. Most of the time people enjoy them when they are slightly soft though others may enjoy them more when they are softer, nearly mushy. As they ripen the flavors become more pronounced and this is where things truly become controversial. Many people are disgusted by slightly overripe papaya reporting that it smells like vomit or they gag when they try to eat it. I theorize that this is similar to how cilantro is viewed by people with a certain genetic make up. I personally have this revulsion with yellow papayas and can only enjoy them when they are unripe or barely ripe. This does not extend to the red papayas as I find them absolutely delicious (see photo above). 

Many people recommend sprinkling lemon or lime on papaya which may add some zest to the flavor profile. I don't feel like it makes a huge difference but I do encourage people to explore the range of ripeness and variety  to find their personal preference. They tend to be very cheap and healthy so adding it to your diet is advantageous.

10 years in Tanzania!

This month marks the 10 year anniversary of our arrival to Tanzania! I vividly remember being in my brother's house in Denver when I got an email with my initial job offer. I had gone through several interviews with many organizations all over the world and in my mind Tanzania was just another of the dozens of countries that I was sending job applications off to. But after reading the confirmation email I checked the Wikipedia page for Tanzania and noted that Mt. Kilimanjaro was there  as well as Serengeti National park, otherwise I was very unfamiliar with the country. I did note that the official languages were English and Swahili though it would be clear upon arrival that Swahili was the lingua franca of the country. At the time we were on an open ended trip and thus had to pack up immediately, pass through my hometown as well as pass through Ana's home town (in a different country) before we were onward to Moshi. I think I was offered the job on the 11th of October and made it to Moshi by the 11th of November. 

I've spent nearly my entire 30s in Tanzania and have grown immensely professionally having first arrived as a coordinator before a series of internal promotions and new jobs led me to a director level role. I got married in a Tanzanian courthouse, bought my first (and second) vehicle here, and lived in two separate regions (Kilimanjaro and then Iringa). I've learned Swahili to a level that allows me to be proficient in work and general; fluent is a strong word but I am proud of my level of language abilities here. 

Having a partner from another country means that we spend our annual monthly holiday split between our home countries but we have been incredibly lucky to have spent a fair amount of time traveling within Tanzania (proof is, this blog). There are still plenty of areas that we've not yet visited would like to; an overland trip to Mahale National Park in western Tanzania, exploring the shores of Lake Tanganyika, hiking through the Ngorongoro Highlands en route to Lake Natron, Pemba Island remains unexplored, as well as southern Tanzania around the Ruvuma river. And that's not even considering all the places that we've already been before and are old time favorites! I am hopeful that when the time comes to leave Tanzania for good, we'll be able to go on an extended road trip to explore all the places we haven't had time for and bid farewell to our favorite places.

This is a bit of a niche statistics but we are keen birdwatchers and have seen 773 species since coming to Tanzania. One of the more interesting statistics that we've managed to see a new species every year, something which is becoming increasingly difficult though we have not had to make an intentional trip to tick this box.

Some of my favorite anecdotes...

-The one time someone in Singida had the same phone number as me. We were living in Moshi at the time and for several weeks Tigo had issued my number to an individual in Singida, apparently involved in some type of agriculture. I received phone calls and texts for weeks looking for this person and he likely experienced the same inconvenience of having people calling him looking for me. 

-The arrival of speed radar guns, causing chaos on the road with traffic police. Previous to the radar guns arrival there was no hard evidence of traffic violations and thus, for better or for worse, less enforcement of the painstaking 50km zones on the main highway. 

-The digitization of the government payments. The traffic police used to get paid on the spot at a traffic stop only issuing an official "gold paper" receipt. Seeing them gives me PTSD to a time of inefficiencies and opaqueness. I also remember paying national park entry fees with cash something which is now forbidden.

-Our first big break down, failure of the injector pump, after a perilous and long drive to Lake Natron and back. I was relieved that we were at least near to a larger town on the highway where there were plenty of opportunities for help. We had just driven through some very sparsely populated landscapes and thus I expressed our good fortune, much to the chagrin and alternate perspective of Ana. The "garage" was open air and when rain poured the entire afternoon the reality that we would not make it back to work the next day settled in. We were about to board a bus but the mechanic finished at the last minute. 

-The fact that I am 10 years in, claimed I am close to fluent in Swahili, and just realized this week that Swahili has no Q, X or Z in their alphabet. I mean, I obviously have not used them but having never formally learned Swahili (though I do have reference books) I clearly missed this interesting feature of Swahili.

Ruaha National Park November trip

 

Not a very moist landscape

I've written about Ruaha National Park at the end of dry season before (One, two) but this trip took place at the very end of dry season. There is a saying that the night is darkest before dawn and the same can be said that the area is driest before rainy season (though it doesn't really roll off the tongue the same...). The state of the Ruaha River was grim, with no flowing water and only sparse disconnected pools. Some were packed with hippos that were constantly grumbling and jockeying for space. 

The visibility was excellent with many of the grasses trampled or eaten and the vegetation was very thin. Views along the Ruaha and Mwagusi River were expansive and it was easy to spot game from far. We saw plenty of impala, a larger than usual number of warthogs and zebra, and very few elephants. The highlight of the trip was an early morning encounter with a pair of African Wild Dogs. 

For tourism operators this time of year is the "shoulder" season and there were very few guests. Each day we saw only one vehicle and we spent plenty of time in the most popular tourist areas.

Meeting culture: Photographs

 

What a beautiful calendar

My organization is frequently invited to attend formal workshops, meetings and other types of official events. One amusing aspects of meeting culture here is the presence of freelance photographers. Their main purpose is to take the official photo of attendees, which typically is one of the first agenda items, and then they are free to roam around and take photos of attendees. Whether this is capturing people sitting and listening to presentations, having informal chats at tea break, or any other activity, the photographers are there to capture the moments. 

They're very entrepreneurial and if they've taken photos in the morning, they'll have printed them and display them for sale outside of the meeting hall. Many attendees are dressed quite smart and the glossy photos look very official and professional. There is also the appeal of having captured photos of people speaking with big wigs such as ministers which can appeal to ones ego. 

I recently attended a workshop and I was surprised at the ingenuity of the photographers. When I exited the meeting hall I noticed they not only had a photo of me speaking on the phone, but they had designed a calendar with said image. I do not normally purchase photos of myself but this one was too unique to pass up.

Kisolanza Farmhouse in the dry season

 

October vibes

I've waxed poetic about Kisolanza Farmhouse (Post I, Post II, Post III) and enjoyed a dry season visit this past weekend. It's not as cold as the peak months (June and July) but still a much cooler temperature than lower elevation areas this time of year. 

They've full repaired their dining area and it's a mix of traditional construction and modern roofing. I personally feel that it really works and matches the aesthetic of the rest of the rooms and the property. Everything is done so tastefully with a farmhouse feel. It's challenging for cottages in Africa to not go overboard with Maasai sheets and other kitsch stereotypical designs and I think Kisolanza Farmhouse has one of my favorite "feels" of any lodge in Tanzania. Everything is locally made, tasteful yet not ostentatious, and the place feels downright homey. The fireplaces lend themselves to an evening of reading by the fire, a perfect activity! Even during the day there is adequate seating inside and outside for us to simply relax or the property is large enough for a variety of different walks.

The food is amazing with no fixed menu. We always enjoy the surprise of what the food will be and one of the challenges of an extended stay at Kiso is eating in moderation. The breakfast is particularly delectable and one of my favorite elements is the homemade yogurt with honey, farm-fresh butter, and homemade strawberry jam. All of the dairy based food items are extremely fresh and rich. The strawberries and cream dessert caused an awakening of my palette that I never imagined possible!

Yes, please.

In memory of the Greek Club

Greek lasagna in the background, one of my favorites

Oh, how I miss the menu!

 

It is unfortunate that I never chronicled the Greek Club when it was active as it was one of the more unique enterprises in Iringa town. Iringa region has a relatively large population of Greeks and although the Greek Club was literally a membership driven club (I'm unsure if you needed to be Greek), it was more well known for its Friday night movie nights and delicious restaurant. The food was a rotating menu based on whatever the proprietor had prepared. The owners were both Greek and the matriarch was an amazing cook. The restaurant had a serious home cooked meal feel and although it was very expensive relative to other restaurants in the area, it was also a unique style of food prepared with high quality ingredients. Some of my favorites were the bacon calzone and the greek lasagna. 

The Greek Club was located a little outside of town in an unmarked but convenient location. It had a large outdoor area, small veranda with dining, and then a large area inside with overflow seating. The owners were always around and very friendly people clearly highly involved with a wide social network. If Neema Crafts is the unofficial coffee shop and meeting point for traveler and local alike, then the Greek Club would be more like a permanent residents meet up point. It was less noisy and hectic than Neema Crafts while still being centrally located. 

Unfortunately the Greek Club closed rather suddenly a few years ago. Rumors abound regarding the reasons why but I am not close to the source so I will not speculate. The only thing I know for sure is that it is sorely missed!

Inside where movie nights were held on Friday evenings

Unassuming building. Events were inside and dining was done on the veranda (far right)

 

 

 

October dry season

 

Sunset

The heat is ON. October is deep into the dry season and is the hottest and driest time of the year. Temperatures regularly hit 38 C (100 F) and even some of the nights are toasty. It's not unusual for the temperatures to reach uncomfortable heights by 9am and if there was one time in the year that we use a fan at night, it's October. To be fair it's not dramatically different than August but at this extreme even the most incremental increase in dryness and heat is noticeable. 

The end of October will have a few showers, at least some respite and moisture entering into the environment. Some of the miombo species in the area have put out their leaves, a harbinger of the rains to come. We'll also hear the first European Bee-eaters coming back from Europe, usually in the beginning of the month. There is another family of plants, the Caper Family (Family Capparaceae) that tends to flower this time of year as well. After a few months of relative stagnation in the ecosystem, it's an exciting time to notice all the small signs of the rains to come. 

The edge of camp

The main entrance at sunset

The Iringa airport

 

Departures on the left, arrivals on the right.

The runway, you simple walk out the doors and climb into the plane.

 

The airport at Iringa is small and servicable and dare I say a bit charming? It is located about a half hour drive outside of Iringa town, north towards Dodoma in a rural area with the typical Iringa granite studded hills providing a beautiful backdrop. 

The airport recently received some renovations and there is now a separate departure and arrival section. There is only one "terminal" so to speak, a large room with one entrance. As the flights are maximum 12 people and there are never more than two flights within an hour proximity of each other, you do not need to show up very far in advance. At the entrance there is a x-ray machine and walk through metal detector and then a small desk that serves as the ticket counter. The airport is small enough that you can view everything openly; there is no conveyor belt sucking your bag into an abyss unknown, no mystery regarding the whereabouts of your bag between the moment it leaves your hand and when it enters the underside of the airplane. You simply hand your bag to the clerk, he weighs it on a scale (non-digital, might I add) and puts it on a cart. The cart is wheeled out through the doors and onto the plane in front of everyone to see. 

There are clean bathrooms with western style toilets as well as a few concessions. When the renovations were completed a few years ago the concessions stand was manned with a few local classic like samosas and chapati along with beverages. For the past year or so it has not been opened and thus there are no services available and no public water availability. 

The airport is still under construction with a larger runway being built. It will allow for easier hosting of the larger Air Tanzania planes. Air Tanzania began servicing Iringa a few years ago and then abruptly stopped with concerns about the size of the runway. It was a shame as the Air Tanzania flights were a fraction of the cost but hopefully it will be back up and running shortly. 

The airport has come a long way. When we first moved to Iringa it was basically a one room building with minimal security infrastructure and very informal. I like the new renovations because they are not ostentatious or gaudy but completely appropriate for the size of the airport and hopefully we'll be able to fly more often when the new runway is complete.

Terminal 1

An eulogy for Landcruiser Nyekundu

 

From Kagera down to Mbeya...

 

It's time to say goodbye to our trusted vehicle, a short wheel base Landcruiser from 1990. We bought the car back in May 2015 when we lived in Moshi and it has served us well over the years. Affectionality called, "Nyekundu", which is Swahili for the color 'red'. Creative, I know, but unfortunately it got its nickname from the traffic police repeatedly identifying the unique color of the car.

The vehicles was manufactured in 1990 and as far as we can tell, it began its life in Tanzania at a coffee estate for several years in the early 2000s. After this it was sold to someone working a desk job in Moshi, who would turn out to be Ana's co-worker. When this person wanted to leave Tanzania we jumped on the offer to buy the vehicle. I remember very clearly that we took a trip down south via bus and it was filled with trials and tribulations and thus motivated us to purchase a vehicle. We struggled to find a vehicle that suited our needs as we wanted one with serious off-road capabilities but not unnecessarily large. There were some smaller cars like RAV4s and Suzuki Escudos but we ultimately felt like we wanted something with more power. The problem was that most of the Landcruisers and Land Rovers were retired safari vehicles and thus far too large for our needs. So we were extremely excited when Ana's co-worker told us the vehicle was for sale and jumped on the offer immediately.

We immediately put the vehicle to the test and quickly realized the four wheel drive was broken. This would be the beginning of an extended lesson in vehicle maintenance. I had never owned a vehicle before and a decades old manual diesel Landcruiser was certainly an interesting first vehicle. I went from barely knowing how to check the oil to being able to troubleshoot almost every issue imaginable.  One of the funniest moments was the seat debacle, I'd suggest you read the entire blog post.

Broken cross joint, clogged injector pump, busted propeller shaft, broken four wheel drive, road blocks, runaway vehicles in the market, and changing tires with a tiny jack are just a FEW of the issues...

Despite the challenges, the vehicle served its purpose. We've had some amazing trips with the car and put over 80,000km (50,000 miles) on it. It has climbed some seriously muddy and inclined hills while also navigating through some flooded areas. The most intense situation was probably when we had to go through a crazy flash flood risking flooding the engine due to a lack of snorkel. I loved the height of the car giving it very comfortable clearance through the most serious off road adventures. 

I've never been someone that's been really into vehicles but I will admit that once I got some experience with Nyekundu, it felt like I could go anywhere. It was painful to realize that we were not spending enough time in the areas that justified such a vehicle. We've since "downgraded" to a RAV4 but we'll still remember all the great times with Nyekundu.

New camp

 

View at the river

 

The first few weeks at our new camp in Pwani Region have overall been nice. We have a small piece of property near to the river. South of the property there is a small bluff and then about 100m of low-laying land next to the river. We would have liked to be right on the river but the area below us is vulnerable to flooding and seasonally farmed. The area we have has a very narrow patch of riverine forest, as well as a degraded mosaic woodland. I haven't been able to identify most of the trees but there are a few acacias, miombos, and possibly some coastal forest species that I am unfamiliar with. 

We are located just outside a village and very near (possibly too near) to the main road. I suppose it is a trade off of being close to the river and although the road noises can be annoying, it is not an incredibly high traffic area. The area is not extremely developed though one can still hear the call to prayer from the mosque or the young guys playing football in the evening. There is also a byzantine network of trails leading from the main road and village to the river. Local people are farming on both sides of the river and thus there is a lot of commuting (a story for an entirely other blog post!). 

The proximity to the river means we have a lot of wildlife in the area. We have an African Civet latrine in the back of our banda and we're kept awake at night by the screeching of the Brown Greater Galago as they scrap for territory. We've seen tracks and signs of waterbuck, dikdik, bushpig, and we've heard hyenas calling at night. During the day there are baboons and monkeys that come and try to steal our water and food. I've fortunately (or unfortunately) lived with primates before so I know how they can be a pain in the butt. The smaller Blue Monkeys don't seem to be interested in our wares but the baboons in the area are absolutely menacing. They have smashed our liquid soap, tore apart of laundry detergent, stole our bathing cup (?!) and tipped over our jugs of water. There is usually a group of around 10 of them and thus we have to be on guard to ward them off. It can be challenging living with wildlife for sure and I can only imagine if I had crops to protect. 

The most memorable incident was one night there was a rustling noise outside of our banda and I thought it may have been an ungulate. I grabbed the head torch and went slinking in pursuit. I had the torch aimed low to the ground and when I scanned the area 3m/10ft in front of me, I saw the silhouettes and eye shine of at least three elephants. I immediately turned around and ran back to the banda, likely not breathing until I reached inside. We listened to them walk cautiously through our camp as the moved with a hurried pace. They went out across the main road and then a few minutes later we heard someone in the distance shouting and banging sticks together. Must be the elephants!

Although I am an avid naturalist, one of the more shocking discoveries is both the volume and variety of spiders. In the first week we saw around 10 different species at our banda alone! There aren't even a ton of other insects around as it's the height of dry season though I suppose the proximity to the water will always keep this area full of life. We've enjoyed the bird life as well with several species of Bee-eaters, including the spectacular White-fronted Bee-eater and Bohms Bee-eater. Overall the wildlife is plentiful and an interesting variety of flora and fauna.

It's been a challenging few weeks because we've had to organize all the finishing pieces of the camp and thus haven't been able to really settle in. The first trip we came down with a fridge, stove, mattress, and food. We quickly realized we needed cookware, storage containers, bedframes, tables, chairs, and various other items which required the 5 hour drive to Dar es Salaam. We had a solar power system installed but had to wire the camp as well as hand drill for water. We're in a good spot with the camp and hopefully we'll have more time to relax and settle in.

Local lake walk

Checking out some African openbill storks.

There are a few lakes nearby that we've eyed for exploration. We had some time this weekend to get out early to a lake about a half hour away. It took us about two hours to walk around the entire lake at a slow birdwatching pace. The lake was used by local people harvesting worms for fishing as well as fishing both from the shore and in small canoes. It was not crowded by any stretch of the imagination, I think we saw around five or so people throughout the entire walk. 

We enjoyed the birdlife with a variety of waders and other waterbirds present. The early hours were really pleasant but as the sun got higher the heat became oppressive. The last quarter of the walk was at a much more hurried pace than the beginning!

Catching some shade.

Flying from Iringa to Dar es Salaam

Boarding the plane in Iringa

 

There is currently only one airline servicing Iringa to Dar es Salaam and it's a small 13 seat plane that flies only once per day. The low demand and low volume of seats results in a relatively high ticket price. To put in relative terms, the bus ride from Iringa to Dar es Salaam takes 10-12 hours and costs 28,000 tsh ($11) and the flight costs 556,000 tsh ($222), literally 20 times the price of the bus. This has not stopped the volume of passengers to increase as the flights were previously only offered 2 or 3 times a week and on some days there are even two flights. 

The service is relatively reliable and for those that can afford it, a massive savings of time. The Iringa airport is very close to town and it only takes about an hour and twenty minutes to reach Dar es Salaam. However, sometimes the airline company makes stops in smaller airstrips along the way. Passengers are not alerted until they arrive at the airport. The most common stop is Ifakara, a sleepy airstrip that services a massive sugar cane plantation. This only adds a half hour or so to the journey but in the rainy season the dirty airstrip can be harrowing. I've also had a stop in the much further town of Songea which added an additional hour or so but I believe it is relatively rare. Still, if one has a very short connection time or needs the flight to be punctual, I highly recommend calling the office the day before the flight to ensure there are not additional stops. 

The views on the flight are beautiful, especially in the area surrounding Iringa. There is some nice topography that can be admired from above with clouds hugging the tall hills and rivers carving out the landscape. A fair amount of the flight is spent at lower altitudes and thus if it's not too cloud you can get some exclusive views over some still wild areas of Tanzania.

Beautiful views coming into Iringa

Airstrip in Ifakara

Southern highlands

Human wildlife conflict: In memory of Poppy, killed by a hyena

 

From left to right, Poppy, Maji and Moto

We've got a few dogs at camp, ostensibly for security but in reality they are basically doing their own thing. All the dogs are local breeds (most likely ancestors of Basenji)that come from the local villages which is important in our environment due to the many hazards of disease (mainly African Trypanosomiasis) and wildlife (snakes, lions, hyenas, etc). The local dog breeds are robust and independent but still have the ability to form strong relationships with those at their home. 

Our environment is truly harsh with limited veterinary care. In my five years we've lost four dogs, one to snake bite, two to disease, and one to a hyena. The latest casualty is pictured above left, Poppy. Poppy was one of the largest village dogs that I've ever seen and when we got him on a good diet he became seal-like in his proportions. We couldn't get a collar on his neck because his thick hyena-like neck caused all the collars to slide off. He was a true warrior; he lost most of his vision in a bout with trypanosomiasis, and lost the rest of it when he was bit by a Black-necked Spitting Cobra (he was in fact, bit on two separate occasions). Although his senses were not what they once were, it never stopped him from trotting around camp and pursuing any food scraps that he could find. One of his most notable characteristics was his helicopter tail wag. 

One night there was a hyena roaming through the villages. All the households communicated with each other noting an aggressive hyena, possibly rabid. By the time it came through our camp the dogs tried to drive it off and apparently Poppy got bitten in the head. His jaw was likely broken and he couldn't eat so we had to make the tough decision to put him down. He was around six years old, a decent age for a village dog to live, and we'll sorely miss him at camp!

August dry season

Classic sunset.

Some nice color of the sunset in our backyard

 

I'm trying to blog more this year but August has been a light month due to taking my annual leave in July and August. It's been a frantic return back to work and thus I haven't had much time to get out and enjoy myself. 

We usually take our annual leave in July/August and it's always shocking to come back to the heart of dry season. In May and June you can still feel the transition from the rainy to dry season but by the time August comes around the dry season has settled comfortably in. The landscape is mostly bare and the dust gives way to epic sunsets that Ruaha is famous for. 

The temperatures are not quite so high yet and the nights remain very cool. There is a windy season around this time that picks up in the evenings and night time. As the primary water dry up, lions and other wildlife huddle around the nearby river to lock down any existing water source. As a result we hear lions from camp relatively frequently this time of year, something which is always a treat.

Flora and fauna: Combretum purpureiflorum

 

The striking red flower. The seed pods are also pictured here, very typical shape of the combretum family

A large shrub, you can see how they stick out in the dry landscape

One of the most distinct early dry season flowers is that of the combretum purpureiflorum, a distinctive climbing shrub that comes alive with vibrant red flowers in August. The birds in the area feed frantically off the pollen and this time of year you can see the birds with distinctive red color on their beaks. This plant is a very common on in the acacia-commiphora ecosystem. There is a very similar plant, Combretum longispicatum, that looks nearly the same except it has a much larger flower and due to it's horizontal nature, it's known as the "large toothbrush tree". This smaller plant is known as a "toothbrush tree" by westerners but this is not to be confused with the other "toothbrush tree", which is named not for it's visual similarity to a toothbrush but rather for its actual use as a toothbrush.

I'll try to get a photo of the birds and update this post because they frequently come to our birdbath to clean up and it's evident that the plant is one of the only few that producing anything edible. 

Update: Here is a photo of a weaver with residue. They naturally have NO red in their plumage!

New camp in Rufiji

A short walk leads down to the river.

I've written about our trips to the Rufiji River before but I've got more news to share now that our organization is opening a branch there. We are building a small field camp on the shore of the Rufiji River and we're delighted to have such a nice spot. Although it's very close to the village it still receives a fair amount of wildlife passing through and the area still has the feel of being relatively wild. We need to be extra careful about seasonal flooding but I feel like we've got a pretty good spot.

Classic riverine habitat.

The water hole

Sunrise

Sunset

Dusk

There is a waterhole about a half hour away from us and yesterday I had an amazing day experiencing several different parts of the day there. 

In the morning we showed up well before sunrise around nautical dawn. There was fresh elephant dung everywhere and we know that lions use the area as well so we decided to stay in the car until the lighting improved. The air was dry and chilly, I was wearing a long sleeve shirt and fleece jacket. There is a smell to the air in the dry season that cuts hard into the morning air. It's a combination of the dry grasses, scents of animals, and all the different plants in the area. We could hear the birds slowly come to life led by the scrub robins and doves, with the booming ground hornbill echoing throughout the landscape. As the sun came up we circled around the water hole looking for various animal tracks and we saw a fresh lion track in the mud.

Lion print, fresh

There was also eland dung and plenty of tracks of elephants and bush pigs. We heard the helmeted guinea fowl chattering about and then 20 of them finally coming down to drink across the watering hole. We finished up our work and headed out with the plan to return in the evening. 

In the evening the weather was completely different from the morning. My trousers and fleece jacket were replaced with shorts and a light cotton shirt. The air was still heavy when we arrived with the sun likewise very hot. We parked under a tree for some shade and then surveyed the area. We noticed plenty of fresh signs of elephant. A large group had obviously used the site between when we left and around 4pm. I had a feeling that our presence in the morning was likely preventing some animals from coming for their morning drink. We carried on with our work and the sun began to drop closer to the horizon. When the sun sets the weather often turns from a scorching dry heat to a crisp and cool desert night*. Around five knob-billed ducks flew in to feed but quickly moved on. A black-backed jackal passed by in the distance, possibly annoyed at our presence. As it got darker we climbed back in our vehicle and waited patiently. 

We heard a group of elephants before we saw them and right away we knew that they were skittish. We were in close proximity to a village and it still wasn't quite dark so they took their time coming out. We could see the tops of trees shaking and an occasional guttural vocalization but they remained hidden for about 15 minutes. Eventually a small group emerged and I saw they had a very small calf. The small group trumpted at us and showed their displeasure by parading around and eventually back into the trees. When it finally got dark four very big elephants led the way to the waterhole eventually followed by over 20 others. They came down and some drank, others splashed water and mud on themselves. It was an intimate sighting and I was pleased after the initial tense moment. They seemed very comfortable with our presence and we could enjoy watching them from a safe distance away.

*This is due to the dry conditions and low humidity. Water vapor in the air traps heat close to the ground and stops it from dissipating into the atmosphere. Air with high humidity also requires more energy to heat up, meaning it also takes more time for that energy to dissipate and for the surroundings to cool down. Therefore, a lack of humidity in deserts allows these arid places to quickly heat up but also rapidly cool.

Creatures of the thatched roof

Our tent is located under a thatched roof made of grass. Whether it is weavers picking the grass for a nest or the surprisingly cute arboreal acacia rat making a nest of it, the dried grasses can become its own little ecosystem.

This past week we had two unusual and notable events occur, both of which had never happened before. The first occurred while we were on the phone with someone and we were startled by a rustling at the very top of our roof. We were initially afraid it was a snake because of the loud rustling. We got out our binoculars and saw it was a...white-throated monitor lizard?! It was a pretty massive reptile that had wedged itself in the top of our roof and was making himself very comfortable. He spent the night and in the morning we could see him basking through a hole that he had unfortunately (for us) poked.

You can kind of see him here.

Zoomed in.

 

White-throated monitors can be BIG and are in the same family as the more well known Komodo Dragons (Varanidae)

Later that day we were inside the tent and when looking out the window we saw a Flap-necked Chameleon hanging from the roof. It was a funny scene and I helped the chameleon find a safer location. My efforts were not appreciated as it was hissing and attempting to bite me the entire time but I will also admit that I appreciated its dramatic change of colors. I had never seen one with such a deep orange which was visually stunning though a by-product of the stress that I induced. At least it was only temporary as I photographed him and then quickly sent him on his way within some shrubs.

Hanging upside down, looking for a way out

It changed colors dramatically after I handled it. It was NOT happy about being handled.