Rainy season at home

 

A nice view in the lesser visited far eastern part of Ruaha National Park. 

 

This holiday season we decided to spend at camp. Many of our staff live outside of our work area and Christmas is traditionally a big event in Tanzania. I describe December in Tanzania as the equivalent of a Friday during the work week meaning that things slow down as people may not be completely focused on their work. Taking this analogy a step further, the last two weeks of December are like Friday at 4pm; nothing tends to get done. With this in mind we decided that it would be a good time for our staff to take their annual leave and we would stay behind to look after camp and take our annual leave sometime later in the year.

 

We had just under two weeks at camp with Christmas and the New Year holidays. We had a bit of work to do but we had more than enough time to relax. With the onset of the rains it was a great time to get out and explore. The days were usually overcast and the rains provided some welcome greenery without too much mud to get in the way. Here are some of the images and landscapes that we explored during this time. 

An "average" outing in the bush

 

A look into the landscape that we were walking in.

Today we went out to ground truth some collaring movements and the day was a combination of success and failure though it’s ultimately a good representation of our normal weekend excursions. There have been dozens of excursions like this that I haven't really blogged about but these are kind of easy weekend activities that only take a morning or an afternoon.

There is a very wild habitat about a half hour from us and we knew a lion had passed through a few days ago. We wanted to follow up some of it’s movements and see what it had been up to. The area was near to a watering hole frequented by elephants and thus had a somewhat accessible network of elephant trails. Although this was good for accessibility this also meant that we had to be very careful to ensure we did not run into a group of elephants. Elephant populations near to village land are not very calm and often have negative experiences with humans while crop raiding and thus we had to be careful.

We tried to drive as far as we could with our car and somewhere along the way we hit a gigantic log that somehow flew up and hit the side of our car. When attempting to get out of the car I realized my door was stuck and then I realized that the frame of the car had been pushed in against the door. No worries, I took the ax out from the back and wedged it between the door and car frame. A few cranks and the door was able to open although it’s certainly a tight squeeze. After this short interlude we began walking to the GPS point.

You can see where the door was folded in

As suspected the area was full of elephant trails and due to their constant foraging it was also quite open. This allowed us to be a little more comfortable detecting wildlife from a distance. After about a 45 minute walk we reached our destination but unfortunately did not see anything notable.

On our way out we stopped at the water hole to look at some birds. While waiting quietly we suddenly saw a cautious elephant emerge from the opposite side of the pool. He came to mud bathe and drink and he was soon followed by six other large elephants. I don’t think they noticed us and we were thrilled to have an intimate sighting.

 

The elephants eventually left and we decided to drive another bush road. We ended up seeing a nice group of giraffe but the road was in very poor condition. After bashing through some particularly busy roads we began our journey home only to fly off the road and nearly have an accident. The steering felt off and we inspected the car to see our steering rod ball joint had broken. No worries once again, we straightened the steering rod out, hammered the ball joint in with a rock, and then tied some rope for a temporary fix until we could reach home. Due to the corrugation on the road it untied once but after a second re-tie it served us until we reached home. 

Discovering a kudu carcass

Examining the kudu carcass

 

Once in a while we'll try to ground truth some of the movements from our collared lions data (Buffalo carcass). We check the data every day and look for multiple days or points where the lions are moving within a very small range. It's pretty rare for an area to be in an accessible and safe environment so whenever we have the opportunity we take it. 

 

Movements that suggest a carcass

From November 26th to December 1st we noticed a lioness moving between two distinct areas. After she cleared out we decided to pursue as the site as itwas close to an old disused air strip and relatively accessible. We geared up and headed out, hoping for the best.

Unfortunately the rains had just begun and the area was prime tsetse fly territory. Swarms of tsetse flies can be annoying and anxiety-inducing and I found them to be dangerous in this situation as they took my focus off the environment. We do not live in an open savanna landscape as many people imagine Africa. Rather our area is dominated by a bushy and thick landscape that requires one to be alert when on foot. By focusing on driving tsetse flies off my face, I was taking valuable attention away from the environment. 

It because apparent early on that the area was prime tsetse fly territory and that they would not relent. You just gotta endure and hope for the best. They can bite through nearly all clothes and they frequently bite in odd and sensitive places like fingertips, palms, neck, and face. Many times you can't feel them land and they are extremely agile making it rare to kill them if you swat at them. We've experienced several bad tsetse fly infestations but this day was among the worst. 

At least we achieved our objective by finding the carcass. The first point that we went to only had a lone bone but the second point had a spine and femur of a kudu. We suspect the lioness possibly has cubs and brought food to them nearby. Due to the tsetse flies we did not stick around and look for more tracks and signs. We took a different route back to the car and found several skeletons of impalas and kudus along the way. I suppose the great kudu and impala population helps to sustain that healthy tsetse fly population as well!

A "latrine", basically a place where impala and dikdik defecate regularly. An impressive pile !

 

Zanzibar: Matemwe trip II

Beautiful views from the lodge.

 We traveled to Zanzibar this past week and enjoyed some relaxing days off in Matemwe, the northeast side of the island. Like our previous trips (Paje Beach, Matemwe, accommodation) it was all about eating seafood, reading a book, and refreshing our minds. I brought my guitar along this time which added a nice activity for me. Over three days we did not do much; we did not even snorkel or do any sightseeing. I'm always shocked at how the beach life takes over and one can be without any "activities" yet the days fly by and at no point were we bored!

Love me some seafood.

Perfect shaded area to read and listen to the ocean.

It's best to wear watershoes or flip flops; there are many sea urchins!

Ana wading while a woman harvests seaweed in the background.

Discovering a Buffalo carcass

The on the left is along a river, probably going to drink. After three days the lion moved on...(red square final point)

From the 16th-18th of November we observed Lion #98 with very tight movements indicative of a feeding event. We check the lions movements each day and it's exciting to see when they do something unusual or possibly have a large carcass. We were also pleased that this carcass was close to a road meaning that we could follow up and ground truth once they were gone. The majority of the lions' territories have no road access and thus we were eager to follow up. 

We were familiar with the landscape and knew the lion was about 200m off the road in a thick commiphora forest. These are not particularly dense forests but have features that local wildlife have adapted to and thus lions and the like can appear very camouflaged. It can also be dangerous as the risk of sneaking up on an animal and frightening it is high and in a closed space they can panic and attack. As a result we took precautions bringing our noisemakers and waiting until the lions GPS movements indicated they were far off the carcass. 

Still, it was not without risks though I admit I love the excitement. There is something about the focus and awareness that one has in the bush. You register every single sound, examine the game trails and evidence of wildlife, take in the odors of elephant and kudu. It's an immersive experience and there is always a bit of underlying fear that gets the adrenaline pumping.

We made plenty of noise while observing evidence of elephant, kudu, impala, though no lion. The forest was well traveled but dry season makes it difficult to observe some tracks and signs of wildlife. We tried to follow our noses to the carcass but we didn't smell anything. After some circling about we finally came upon a buffalo head and rib-cage. We identified some spots where lions slept and piles of feces strewn about. The lions had picked the buffalo well clean! 

The head remains.

The head and rib-cage was all that was left. Impressive.

Transporting fish

I think there are two here.

I was impressed this person had fish on each side view mirror. 

 

One interesting thing I frequently see here in Tanzania is the transport of fresh fish. In the absence of a cooler one is faced with the question, should you put the fish inside the vehicle and likely cause your vehicle to smell for weeks or....do you put it...outside? 

Many an enterprising driver tie the fish to the side view mirrors of their vehicle. It is not unusual, especially in areas close to lakes and rivers, to see travelers passing through tying fish on the side view mirrors.

Kisang'a-Lugalo Forest Reserve: Trip II

 

Bracken highland with some views.

It had been several years since we last visited Kisang'a-Lugalo Forest Reserve so we figured it was due time we return (Trip I). We had big plans that included camping at a river but we ended up reducing the trip to a simple day trip. The ride up was beautiful though the views were not as clear as we remembered, probably due to extensive burning in the area. If you're the adventurous type the trip up is worth the journey. 

When we entered into the forest reserve we immediately met a truck filling up with timber. The workers explained that they were harvesting eucalyptus trees (planted in the past to demarcate the border) and that they had received permission to use the forest reserve road. It was a weird interaction but they invited me to view their plot of land, which I declined. We continued on the road through a nice part of forest until we reached a beautiful area with several montane grasses and plants. The clear views allowed us to survey the forest and we began to see signs of previous logging and heavy human use. We continued down a very steep road to a small river. On our previous trip we were told there was an irrigation project in the area and sure enough we saw a water catchment system and massive pipe running down from it. We were a little disappointed as we had imagined setting camp next to a quaint stream in the forest and instead we were faced with a bit of an eye sore in a cleared patch of secondary forest. We had identified another possible camp site next to a stream earlier in the road so we decided to double back. 

On our way back we followed two newly cut logging tracks. One of them we followed until we reached another eucalyptus cutting ground and another we followed until we heard the sounds of chainsaws. We found stacks of planks on the road and decided to not pursue any further. Our mood had soured with the sounds of chainsaws and lack of walking trails and as a result we decided to head back home. I think the prospect of setting up camp at 4pm in a non-forested area with the sounds of chainsaws was not what we had in mind. Although it was disturbing for us as tourists it is a good thing that the trees can be harvested and provide some economic value to the nearby inhabitants. However, cutting new tracks through forests is not only less than ideal due to the obvious cutting of trees and shrubs but these roads also tend to open up the forest to other extraction activities (pole cutting, honey harvesting, etc). 

Most of the forest reserves in the area have been heavily logged and continue to be exploited for mostly small scale use. We are still keen to explore these areas but I suppose we have to taper our expectations and be ready for anything!

Views going south.

Water catchment system.