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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Tanzania August September 2011 (1 Viewer)

15th of September:

After a breakfast that was good enough, and with very good coffee under the belt (and a serious hang-over), we headed into Selous proper. One of the largest game reserves, and much of it open to hunting, this is THE strong hold of Wild Hunting Dog. The area around the entrance also has a healthy population of Tsetse flies. These bastards pack a heck of a bite but luckily they disappeared a few kilometers into the park. No joy for us, though we did come across a big pride of lions doing the usual thing: sleep. Driving along the river we came across our first African Jacanas. The swamps along the river were heaving with Openbills and Sacred Ibises, and we watched a Cattle Egret hitch a ride on a Hippo. Black Herons were doing their usual umbrella thingy; sweeping their wings over their heads to, and this one is open to debate, either provide shade to attract fish or cut out the glare. Either way, they are fun to watch. The packed lunch was not roasted chicken for a change but some pretty decent fish. Even better than the fish was a Purple-crested Turaco that gave as good but brief views.

Arriving at the Lake Manze Camp, we got the usual spiel about the dangers of the place being in the bush when, right on cue, a very pissed-off Elephant walked by, seemingly in two minds about whether it should wreck the tables set up for dinner.

Safely installed, we chilled out a little, getting good views of Dickinson’s Kestrel perched on top of a palm tree; a lifer for both of us. White-browed Sparrow-weavers were causing a racket right around us and Impalas took a good look grazing in front o the tents.

Dinner was a communal affair, not my favorite thing, but certainly livened up by a female lion walking by and causing us to abort dessert in a hurry. Ha was more than a little apprehensive and sure was glad to reach back home with the protection of a Massai guard. She did sing and, trained by years of Vietnamese Karaoke, ensured that their was no living thing within a 20-kilometer radius.

Ha was happy with another Turaco and takes that one as “Bird-of-the-Day”, I go for the Dickinson’s Kestrel.
 

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16th of September:

Whilst my parents headed out for a game drive, we took the boat trip offered by the camp. The water levels were very low and we only just managed to pass a few spots; scraping over the sand. No way I would have gotten out to push the boat; the place was heaving with both Hippos and Crocodiles.
Good bird-life too with plenty of White-faced Whistling-ducks and all sorts of Egrets and Herons. Ha spotted a strange-looking Heron and we turned back to take a closer look. Good thing we did as it turned out to be a White-backed Night-heron. Great bird but forget photos, he managed to always keep branches between us and him. Good find anyway.

Back for breakfast and some of the worst coffee I have ever had. The same elephant that swung by the previous day was back in attendance, checking out the restaurant and the kitchen. This made getting our eggs and toast quite a challenge as the waiter had to keep dodging the elephant. A beautiful Crested Barbet obviously liked the Mango; the Collared Palm-thrush was more into bread crumbs.

Our parents came back in time for lunch and had obviously seen the Wild Dogs…. Even more disappointing was the lunch; all the lunches are apparently vegetarian and really not good. Thank good that I had cleared the supermarket in Dar of all its Biltong for a much needed dose of proteins.

Selous is stinking hot and we waited until four o’ clock before heading out again. We went back to the same area where my parents had seen the Wild Hunting Dogs and sure enough we came across 5 of them doing pretty much nothing. Still it was great to see as this is the one large mammal I had never managed to see in Kenya.

Dinner was apparently quite good; I was too thirsty and tired to eat and sampled a selection of Tanzanian beers.

“Bird-of-the-Day” was easy; the Night-heron for both of us. A first for Ha and only the second time I had seen it.
 

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Hanno,
Gripping stuff. Can't wait for tomorrow's episode.
I agree with Mike K. that it's great to read the views of a "hospitality" professional on the hospitality offered at safari lodges.
 
After a few days on Zanzibar without Internet, I can finally update again:

17th of September:

A somewhat latish start as we left after breakfast. A Burchell’s Coucal made a brief appearance and then we headed off to see yet more lions. Most of them did absolutely nothing as usual. Only one male was busy working on little baby lions but even that took just seconds, with lots of growling and biting the neck of the female. Not very exiting stuff really.

Selous is not exactly thick in animals and it is mostly Impalas and Wildebeest. The advantage, as far as I am concerned, is that the South is a lot less overrun by tourists than the parks in the North such as Serengeti and Ngorngoro. I would certainly like to come back but then during the rainy season when there are a lot more birds.

Lunch was pretty lousy again; it cannot be that difficult to tech the staff how to cook☹. We spent the afternoon in the camp sorting our photos and fighting the heat with a beer or two.

Not much in the way of birds and it was the Burchell’s Coucal as “Bird-of-the-Day” for both of us.
 

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18th of September:

Time to move on after an elephant-free breakfast. Lake Manze is the only camp we stayed in that charged for their laundry, and charge dearly. They also provided us with the worst lunch box yet. Chicken again, not that you could have tasted it, and even the hard-boiled egg was horrible. At least we had great entertainment eating in our car: we had come across a lioness that had obviously just clobbered a Wildebeest. She had eaten her fill but every time she left, the vultures closed in and she charged back. This went on at least 20 times before she left and her sister took over and continued the same exercise in futility. Obviously the vultures eventually won and soon there were a good hundred vultures squabbling over the food. Mostly White-backed and Hooded Vultures but there were at least two Rueppell’s Griffon Vultures present; told apart by their yellow bills and eyes. A Marabou was to aloof to join the fray and just stayed on the edges, darting in for a quick morsel every so often. We stayed for a couple of hours before heading on to the Impala Camp.

Very nice tents and the management and staff seem to be a lot more dedicated than in the previous camp. I do hope the food is up to par; the menu looks great. Amazing how varied both service and food are from camp to camp; it cannot be rocket science to get it right; especially considering how expensive all these camps are.

Ha and I are currently sitting at the bar, overlooking the Rufiji River and watching dozens of White-fronted Bee-eaters heading home. Great life!

P.S:. The food and service are absolutely outstanding; the best we have had in the camps. Highly recommended.

Again not very birdy so I guess it is the Rueppell’s Griffon Vulture that makes the “Bird-of-the-Day” list for both of us.
 

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19th of September:

The morning started with a family of Brown-breasted Barbets outside our Banda. After a great breakfast, with an elephant waiting on us, it was once again time for a little boat tour along the Rufiji River. Both boatman and guide were excellent and had really keen eyes. Birds were much of the same-same though we did have great views of Giant Kingfisher and African Skimmer. Highlights were more of the mammalian kind when we watched a family of elephants come to drink and play. The youngsters in particular were having fun, with much splashing and rolling in the mud.

More splashing, but of the scary kind, ensued when we were repeatedly charged by a Hippo. Make no mistake: they might look trundling behemoths but they are bloody fast; even in deep water. Got the pulse going, I tell you. On top of it the river is heaving with crocodiles of various sizes, not a place for a quick dip.

We did add Kittlitz’s Plover to our trip list and watched an unfortunate Goliath Heron that had gotten tangled up in one of the numerous nests left behind by illegal fishermen. The rangers do catch these fishermen from time to time and burn their boats. They had done so a couple of days earlier and managed to set Selous National Park on fire in the process; we saw the flames from miles away the two previous nights.

A fantastic lunch followed before we just hang around camp, taking photos and squaring away a pair of nesting Greater Honeyguides. Our Safari was coming to an end and we celebrated with a few beers and an outstanding dinner. Impala Camp has to be the best camp of the trip. Everything came together here: location, service, food, and friendliness of the staff.

Back at the Banda after dinner we heard some rustling noise and, when we shone our torches in the direction, we had a Hippo about a meter and a half away. Luckily the Hippo wanted to be left in as much peace as us and just trundled along.

“Bird-of-the-Day” were the Barbets for Ha and the Honeyguide for me.
 

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20th to the 28th of September:

This was it as far as the Safari went. We had a pretty rough trip back to Dar es Salaam, with the first 100 kilometers or so unpaved. We did manage to add one more bird to our list: Broad-billed Roller.

We stayed in Dar for a night (Moevenpick; neither service nor rooms had improved) before taking the ferry to Zanzibar the next day. The sea was pretty flat and we saw Brown Noddy, Masked Booby and Sooty Gull on the way over.

I really enjoyed Zanzibar. Not too many birds, the bloody Housecrows saw to that, but the island is very relaxed and we had some fantastic seafood. Our hotel was the Zanzibar Palace, a small hotel with fantastic rooms though not easy to find; we got lost more than once.

Ha and I did do a short excursion to Jozani Forest. Not many birds, though we did see Black-bellied Starling; the main draw here are the Zanzibar Red Colobus which gave great views. The (mandatory) guide knew her plants very well and she did put us on an Elephant Shrew.

Apart from that, it was much walking around Stone Town, drinking a few beers and recovering from the Safari.

It was a great trip if by no means a birding trip. The main purpose was for Ha to see Africa as well as all the big mammals; we certainly succeeded with the latter. I think we will both be back for more…….
 

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Awesome trip report M8:clap: - lots of good info too for people thinking about visiting Tanzania!! - Sounds like a quaint version of Kenya;)
 
Interesting note on the pair of honeyguides. They're brood parasites (often of bee-eaters, but also barbets), so I'm interested to know what they were actually up to. We know so little about their hosts, etc.

Any chance you could send your observations to the Tanzania Bird Atlas project?: http://tanzaniabirdatlas.com/

PS we need more birders here - plenty of lodge management positions come up frequently...
 
I'd love to run a lodge......

There were Barbets around (Brown-breasted) but I did not see them at that particular hole. Both male and female Honeyguide kept on returning to the hole.

I will send the sightings in as soon as I have sorted them out.

Thanks Irish Kite. I know Kenya very well but I must say I really liked Tanzania.
 
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