Hanno
Ho Ho Ho
26th to 30th of August
After a very long trip from Siem Reap via Phnom Penh, Bangkok, and Dubai we arrived in Dar es Salaam last Friday, almost at the end of Ramadan. Immigration was reasonably fast and getting the visa was no big deal.
We checked into the Moevenpick Palm Garden, a reasonable hotel though the price (USD 245.00) is in no relation to the services offered. My Kiswahili is coming back quickly (I went to school in Kenya) and it is great to be in Africa.
Not much birding the last few days as we waited for my father to join, but lots of good food and the odd cold Kilimanjaro beer.
There are actually not many birds, the introduced Indian House Crows saw to that; they are everywhere. Around the hotel grounds we have managed to see a few common specie: Purple-banded Sunbird, Mangrove Kingfisher, a single Palm-nut Vulture, a pair of White-browed Robin-chats, plenty of Sacred Ibises, and Red-fronte Tinkerbirds.
A nearby creek is a high tide roost for 50 or so Greater Flamingos, a few Yellow-billed Storks and lots of Dimorphic Egrets.
Ha, my lovely wife, is beginning to pick up "lifers", this will be a lot harder for me to do as I have seen a lot of birds in Kenya.
Tomorrow is when the real fun begins: we will be heading for Moshi and then on to Ngoro Ngoro. Keep tuned in.
After a very long trip from Siem Reap via Phnom Penh, Bangkok, and Dubai we arrived in Dar es Salaam last Friday, almost at the end of Ramadan. Immigration was reasonably fast and getting the visa was no big deal.
We checked into the Moevenpick Palm Garden, a reasonable hotel though the price (USD 245.00) is in no relation to the services offered. My Kiswahili is coming back quickly (I went to school in Kenya) and it is great to be in Africa.
Not much birding the last few days as we waited for my father to join, but lots of good food and the odd cold Kilimanjaro beer.
There are actually not many birds, the introduced Indian House Crows saw to that; they are everywhere. Around the hotel grounds we have managed to see a few common specie: Purple-banded Sunbird, Mangrove Kingfisher, a single Palm-nut Vulture, a pair of White-browed Robin-chats, plenty of Sacred Ibises, and Red-fronte Tinkerbirds.
A nearby creek is a high tide roost for 50 or so Greater Flamingos, a few Yellow-billed Storks and lots of Dimorphic Egrets.
Ha, my lovely wife, is beginning to pick up "lifers", this will be a lot harder for me to do as I have seen a lot of birds in Kenya.
Tomorrow is when the real fun begins: we will be heading for Moshi and then on to Ngoro Ngoro. Keep tuned in.