Nyumba ya Mungu: Trip XVI

Some Masaai kids fishing. 

This past weekend we took two of our friends to Nyumba ya Mungu ((Trip I, II, III, IV, V & VI, VII, Trip VIII, Trip IX, Trip X, Trip XI, Trip XII, Trip XIII, Trip IV, Trip XV). We were especially looking forward to this trip because we had introduced them to the world of birding a little over a year ago and they were hooked. Unfortunately, they then moved to the south of Tanzania and we haven't been able to see them since. So we were happy to have them come for a visit so we could show them Nyumba ya Mungu and do a little birding as well.

We left around 7:15am and we were slightly worried that we would get rained on. The rains had started two days ago and since Nyumba ya Mungu is actually a reservoir, we knew all the water would be flowing down into it. The road itself is kinda of a flash flood river basin and the sand can quickly turn to a sticky mud. However, I was pretty confident that we wouldn't get stuck, or if we did, then one of the big trucks hauling sand would pull us out.

The ride to Nyumba ya Mungu was great as the clouds provided some relief from the sun and kept the temperatures cool. The rain had settled the dust but didn't quite make it muddy and thus it was actually ideal driving conditions. There were a few big dips in the road that had accumulated water but we knew from years past that the bottom was solid so it was quite fun to plow through massive puddles.

When we reached Nyumba ya Mungu we were slightly disappointed to see the water had made it difficult to pass where most of the bird life was. Our friends weren't disappointed though since it was their first time and it really is a beautiful place. The rains had cleared the air and the Pare Mountains were visible in the distance while the lake teemed with birdlife and reflected the sky above, though the water was muddy from the recent rains.

Because our friends had to get back to Moshi by 2pm we had to leave a bit early. This isn't necessarily a bad thing as Ana and I typically push it a bit more than we should and are usually exhausted by the end of the day. All in all it was a totally successful Nyumba ya Mungu day, rich with good company, lots of birds, and not too much heat!

Ana with the telescope. 

These Black Herons create shade that attracts the fish and then hunts them. Very cool to watch. 

Birding!

TPC Birding

The pools with the Blue Mountains in the background. 

In February we had a couple of trips to TPC (TPC I, TPC II, TPC III, Trip IV). We love TPC as a local birding spot because depending on what part we go to it's only a 30-45 minute drive for us making it the nearest spot we can go for a walk.

Tanganyika Planting Company (TPC) has over 8,000 ha (20,000 acres) of sugar cane, though the area of land it manages is so large that multiple villages are within the vast expanse. There are also fallow patches, reservoir that attract birds,  and a river that runs along the west border, which allows for some pretty decent birding and short hikes. We know most of the "spots" that one can either walk or birdwatch and we've recently befriended someone that is a new birder and has lived there for 15 years. She's showed us a ton of new places that we didn't know of and we've helped her on bird identification.

One of the most awesome birds we have gotten to see there is called the Darter. A typically elusive bird, we have found a reservoir with nine of them living in a tree. They have long necks and they hunt for fish by diving and spearing them with their beak. They are also known as the "snake bird" because when they swim their entire body is submerged and only their neck is visible.

African Darter, flying

African Darter with a fish!

We continue to enjoy TPC for the birding and we're also happy to have a friend to join us on our excursions. Now that we know ALL the spots we have many options; walking along the north river, walking along the south river, visiting different reservoirs, hiking/driving the conservation area, or visit the pools in the south. I'm sure there will be many more visits to TPC!

Zebra Waxbill

European Bee-eater

Carmine Bee-eater

Tarangire National Park: Trip IV

Everyone loves a super cute baby elephant.

Two of my co-workers have been here in Tanzania for six months and they haven't gone to a national park yet. I thought back to when we first arrived and how inaccessible and difficult it appeared to go on a self-guided safari. The alternative to that was a hired safari which carried a hefty cost in both time and money that most people working in the non-profit world can't readily afford. This weekend we arranged for a one day trip to Tarangire National Park (Trip I, Trip III).

To force Tarangire into a normal weekend takes some effort but it's totally doable. You can leave Moshi at 5pm and make it to Makuyuni, a tiny junction way-point with one of the best "local" guesthouses we've stayed it, by 8:30pm. Although the drive seems long and navigating through Arusha traffic can be a challenge, I still think it allows you to get a good nights rest. From there it's only a 15 minute drive to the park gate and if you get in early enough the registration process goes quickly.

Everything was very smooth for us as we arrived at Tarangire at 8:30am. It seemed pretty crowded with a few large buses full of Tanzanians mixed in with the typical safari cars and tourists. We registered quickly and hit the river circuit.

Going with first-timers was really a great experience from the beginning. One tends to forget their first moments; when your eyes scan wildly for any type of movement in anticipation of..well, anything. Any log starts to take the appearance of a sleeping lion, or long branch an elephant's trunk. The sight of a warthog half obscured by grass 50 ft away gets you scrambling for your camera and giddy with excitement.

We spotted some relatively common ungulates in the first hour in the park with some great views of waterbuck, gazelles, and zebra. But the real excitement began when we explored a river. We were lucky enough to find two large groups of elephants with some giraffes and zebra nearby. There weren't any other safari cars nearby and it was the quintessential setting with great views over the plains and intimate views of the animals.

The rest of the day was likewise full of good wildlife spottings, though we only saw a solitary lion lazily relaxing under a tree. No cheetahs or leopards but the other wildlife was numerous and densely located along the routes we drove. One of the real highlights was seeing a  dead elephant corpse and hundreds of vultures coming in for the feed. The numbers of vultures in Africa has been decreasing rapidly so it's always a treat to see a large group.

We exited the park around 430pm and made it back to Moshi by 8pm. It was a very successful trip but doing it one day can be tiring! Totally worth it though.

Ana checking out some birds with a big elephant in the background. 

Riverbed. 

Iconic baobab tree. 

Ungulates. 

Arusha National Park: Trip VIII

Black and white colobus monkeys in a tree

We've taken several trips to nearby Arusha National Park (Trip I, Trip II, Trip III, Trip IV, Trip V, Trip VI, Trip VII) but we have never gone during this time of the year (dry season). It's even more interesting this year because the short rains that usually come at the end of the calendar year never arrived so the area around us is quite dry. We were curious to see what the park had to offer.

Immediately when we arrived we realized the park was very dry. The bird life that was usually abundant at the gate was absent and we didn't see the usual concentration of wildlife. We first made our way up Mt. Meru but halfway up we realized the forest was extremely quiet and decided to go back down and head to the lakes. At the lakes we saw the wildlife was concentrated there with buffalo relaxing under the trees and giraffes grazing by the waterside. We'd never seen so much wildlife at the lakes and it was quite nice to see them so close.

We finished the day up at Ngurudoto which was a treat due to a large amount of swifts and martens flying around. It's so cool to see them from an elevated position because they appear to be at eye level and they whiz by your head so close you can hear the wind created from their flight. We also got to see two Lanner Falcons displaying and hunting, one of which flew right by us!

Overall the trip was nice albeit a little slow. The aesthetics of the park couldn't compare to when it is lush and green but the flipside of that is the wildlife was more concentrated and visible. It is always cool to see places here in different seasons.

Ana enjoying the forest

Checking out some birds on the lake

One of my favorites, a Grey-crowned Crane

Waterbuck

A Black-headed Heron with a mouthful

Picnic spot with a view of Mt. Meru

Lake Jipe: Trip III

Ana on the water

We have gone to Lake Jipe twice before (Trip I, Trip II) but each time we had spent so much time bird watching on the road there that we arrived too late to go on the lake. We decided this weekend that we would do some "bush camping" though we knew the trip would be highly exploratory, aka, we were ready for a huge success or massive failure.

As usual we enjoyed some bird watching on the way to the lake. At around 2pm we stopped for lunch at the point where we previously had cut down towards the northern end of the lake. We agreed that we would continue further south and try to get towards the southern end. After lunch it was quite hot and the landscape was sparse and hot. We managed to cut across to some small villages on the southern end of the lake but our further explorations only brought us to sketchy roads and impassable terrain. We decided to return to the nearest village and try to get on the lake.

The entire western side of Lake Jipe is covered with reeds. In some places it extends 100m out and as a result it's hard to actually see the lake when you are on the western side. Along the shore the local people have dug out small channels to navigate out to the main lake. While we were checking out one of these canals, a young guy came back in from a fishing excursion. We asked him if he would take us out and he agreed that he and his friend would take us out to the lake but we couldn't go too far because of the wind. The price was right so we hopped in and set off.

Slowly pushing through the canal with reeds hanging over us was an amazing experience. Kingfishers and other birds zipped in and out of the reeds. It seemed to go on for quite some time before we finally made our way to the open water. The young guy (couldn't have been older than 17) explained that across the lake was Tsavo National Park in Kenya so in the evenings there are several animals that come to drink but it was too far to go now. He said there were hippos and crocs at the southern end but he was hesitant to go.

On our way back we stopped on a small stand of reeds to rest. Another fisherman was coming back from the lake and he chided the young guys for not taking us further. I am assuming the young guys had never taken foreigners out and even worse they were probably already out on the lake all day so they were tired. I certainly didn't want to be the one to push them past what they were comfortable with amongst crocs and hippos!

We got off the lake around 5pm and drove another 15 minutes or so down the shore. There was no evidence of settlements and we found a quiet spot and set up our tent. The soil was like black clay and there were sections where you couldn't get close to the lake without sinking. We even saw two cows that were submerged and likely stuck until they died. It was pretty brutal to see as one was somewhat normal looking, just stuck, while the other was mistaken as dead if not for the faint breathing we detected.

I was really paranoid about the soil because although it is not the rainy season, if by chance we got a freak rain there would be no way we could get out of the soil. But I was highly committed to this spot and the worst thing that would happen is that we'd have to wait all day till it dried up. So we settled in, started a fire, cooked dinner, and enjoyed the amazing panorama of stars.

The night was incredibly peaceful and one of the quietest places I've ever been in. There were some random wind storms but for the most part it was as still and quiet as you could possibly imagine. There weren't any night birds nor were there any birds calling at dawn. Only some bee-eaters and swallows came in after sunrise and some distant waterbirds in the reeds.

On our way out we stopped by the same canal as the day before. We met an older and more experienced fisherman and asked him if he would be willing to take us out. He agreed and we set out again! This time the lake was much calmer and we managed to go to the southern end. We got to see a few groups of hippos as well as some nice birds. It was very cool to see the lake with the Pare Mountains on one side and the dry flat Tsavo plain on the other. It also helped that it was a bit cloudy and not too hot.

On our way back to Moshi we decided to take the scenic route through the mountains instead of driving along the northern end. The road didn't show up on the maps and we just kind of followed our noses until we finally reached the familiar road in the mountains. It was a very rocky and steep climb, in fact it was the first time we've had to use our four wheel drive for an incline (we've used it plenty for mud). It was fun to do and we look forward to our next Lake Jipe boating excursion.

As soon as there is rain, this turns to clay. 

Proud fisherman showing his catch. He insisted I take his picture. 

Hippos!

A pack of the small fish is 2,000 tsh, while the big ones are 1,000 tsh

This is from the shore of the lake so you can see how dry it gets immediately surrounding the lake. 

View of the lake (far left) from the mountains. 

International Water Bird Count: Nyumba ya Mungu and TPC

Hard at work!

This past weekend Wetlands International organized a waterbird count all over the world. The idea is to get a snapshot of the waterbird population worldwide at the same time each year. Last year they had 143 countries participate and this year in Tanzania we had 18 teams from all around the country that agreed to do counts at various sites. There is an "authority" on birds in Tanzania and he coordinated all the possible birders in the area and somehow Ana and I became the organizers of our area and decided to do Nyumba ya Mungu and TPC.

Our team consisted of a Mauritian who had been here for 16 years, a British woman who had lived her whole life in Tanzania, and then the British woman's 14 year old niece and Tanzanian mountain guide from her hotel. We had met the British woman before but the others we only met the week before during a planning meeting. It was kind of funny because Ana was the only one of us that was knowledgeable enough to do an accurate count of all the birds so as a result she did a lot of the heavy lifting.

We didn't want it to be this super serious event and since only Ana and I had done counting before, we knew it was going to be difficult for the others. The first day at Nyumba ya Mungu was a bit tough because we saw a lot of birds (over 1,500 from 40+ species) which required concentration and a systematic approach. We felt bad because the others were possibly a bit tired and they were certainly hot. Still, the day was quite successful and we saw some cool birds as well as enjoyed each others company.

The next day we went to TPC and it was much more relaxed. Ana spent a lot of time with the others teaching them the small differences between 'waders' and quizzing them as we moved along. We were also thrilled to discover some new spots at TPC. There are a few reservoirs that are scattered along the property and if they are low they are full of birds. It was a busy morning but we were happy to finish by lunch and beat the heat. It was also a pretty exhausting two days with our eyeballs needing a good rest!

These guys needed to borrow a jack...I was MORE than happy to lend it!

One of the funnier things that happened was one our way back from Nyumba ya Mungu. We passed a dala dala that had driven off the road and was obviously in rough shape. We stopped to ask if they needed help and they asked to borrow our jack. Considering that I had recently been the recipient of this kindness, I was more than happy to help!

Booted Eagle. 

Black-tailed Godwit

West Kilimanjaro: Drive to Mt. Meru

Looking north from Mt. Meru. 

This past weekend we were feeling a little exhausted from our travel heavy December. We also had a bunch of stuff to do around the house and as a result, we weren't particularly motivated to go anywhere. I thought it was a good weekend to do something different and I've lately been fixated on this idea of "filling in the map", i.e. exploring every random area within an hour or two proximity.

One of the areas we've wanted to explore is the area between Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Meru. These two volcanic mountains are only 70 kilometers (43 mi) apart, with a vast dry plain between them. We had passed through part of this area during the "Big Bird Day" last year but thought it would be cool to pass from east to west.

We took the highway to Boma N'gombe and then headed north towards Sanya Juu. At some point we took a rough dirt road heading west. This road was extremely dry and devoid of much life (see pics below. It was also at this time that it was getting pretty warm so I think that we were both thinking, "Well, places off the map are off of it for a reason...". One cool part was that we could see both Mt. Meru and Mt. Kilimanjaro though the cloud cover quickly covered both.

We eventually reached to the eastern side of Mt. Meru and we could peek into Arusha National Park. There seemed to be a network of small streams that were fed from Mt. Meru and the dotted Masaai bomas were replaced with more permanent intensive agriculture. We passed through a few different villages before we entered into another dry plain on the north side of Mt. Meru. We did see a couple of cool looking dried riverbeds and since we were a bit higher than the surroundings there were also some pretty nice vistas looking north.

At about 2pm we reached the highway running north/south from Arusha up to the border of Kenya. Although our energy was low, I couldn't resist the call of the unpaved road and suggested that we drive 5-10km north and then cut back on a different dirt road that I thought would lead us back to Sanya Juu. We both knew it was probably not the right choice given our energy and the lack of sites, but we headed north anyway.

Perhaps luckily, our back tire burst as soon as we got on the highway. We pulled over to assess the damage and a local guy on a motorcycle stopped to help us out. We couldn't get the bolts off the tire with our cross wrench and eventually the cross wrench snapped in half after we were jumping on it trying to get the bolts to move. We flagged down a safari vehicle that happened to be full of locals as well. They lent us their lug wrench and we quickly removed the bolts. However, when we went for our jack we realized our jack was also broken! We had last gotten a flat tire in May 2016 and although we had our challenges with it, we thought it would work fine. Well, the car that we had stopped only had a massive jack that they claimed would not work for our car so they flagged down the next passing car. This just happened to be a dala dala, or local mini-bus, which was packed with people. The driver was very helpful and quickly helped us to remove the tire as I apologized to all the passengers for wasting their time. I thought how it must look from an outsider perspective; two foreigners take three seperate groups of transport (motorcycle, safari car, dala dala) to help them change a tire. I imagine I would not be too kind in my judgement of them!

This is the western side of Mt. Kilimanjaro. It's very cool to watch it quickly rise from sea level. 

Mt. Meru from the plains. 

A funky spikey tree. 

Dried up river photo op!

Dust storm!!