Look! A Zebra!!!

Once we hit the turn off for Tarangire, things started to change pretty rapidly. The heavily grazed land, almost completely barren in places, started to become scrubby bush with Acacia trees large and small puctuated by frequent Baobab trees

.

After a short ways, we came to the park entrance, which sported bathrooms, some interpretive displays, a gift shop, and the requisite bureaucracy. One does not simply wander into a Tanzanian park. There are forms to fill out, permits to obtain, and substantial fees to be paid. Julius went off to take care of the paperwork while we freshened up, got oriented, and talked about some of the interpretive displays with David.

I should probably describe our vehicle at this point. It was a converted Landcruiser with a built in thermoelectric refrigerator, inverter (capable of charging camera batteries, etc.), and a pop up roof that was high enough to allow us to stand for game viewing and photography. In short, it was just about the ideal vehicle for our purposes.

Paperwork complete, we headed into the park. We got, perhaps, a quarter mile before someone first uttered the words "Look! A zebra!".

To Catherine and I, seeing a zebra in the wild, especially our first, was a momentus occasion. David and Julius just smiled and indulged us, stopping whenever something new was spotted ("Look! A whole herd of wildebeest!", "There's a black backed jackel!" "Baboons!", and so on...). This made the first three miles or so take well over an hour. Of course, we (Catherine and I) didn't realize yet that zebras and wildebeest were as common as pigeons in Times Square. Nonetheless, many pictures were taken in the first couple of hours, kind of like Neal Armstrong kneeling down to scoop up a pocketful of moondust after Apollo 11 landed, just in case that was the only chance he had to get a sample of the moon.

Eventually, David mentioned that we needed to get moving - we still had a lot of ground to cover today if we were to arrive before sunset, and there was still more and better game viewing ahead. In this he was right, and we were treated to larger herds of zebra and wildebeest, not to mention impala and elephants playing in the mud. Eventually, though, we made our way to the Tarangire lodge, where we would stop for the views, drinks, and lunch.

Here are a few more pictures taken near the park entrance:.

The story goes that when the wildebeest were created, they were thrown together from all the unused parts left over from the creation of all the other animals. In reality, this antelope, also known as the gnu, is well suited for its environment. Its body and legs allow it to run for hours on end, while the air passages and veins in the broad, flat snout serve as an efficient cooling device, allowing the animal to avoid overheating under the African sun.

This critter is a black backed jackal. The jackal is a scavenger and opportunist, much like the coyote in the United States. We never got very close to one, however (this one is about 40 yards away). They are cautious animals with a large "flight distance". The flight distance is how close an animal will let you approach before it starts to run away.

The dwarf mongoose is not the mongoose of Riki-Tiki-Tavi fame (RTT was from India, by the way), but rather his smaller cousin. We saw these little guys all over the place - usually watching us carefully or investigating some hole or another. They are very social in their groups, and great fun to observe.

There are a lot of different types of antelope in Tanzania. This one, the impala, seems to favor cover. We usually found them in areas where there was plenty of scrub acacia, but enough room to run in an emergency. The males have big, beautiful spiral horns, and are usually either found in a group of bachelors or with a small harem of females.

How can you not love a giraffe? On the one hand, it seems so improbable that such a creature should exist. How can the neck support itself? On the other hand, it is a perfect example of evolutionary adaptation. The giraffe can reach parts of the big Acacia trees that no other plains browser can reach, not even the elephant. That the giraffe can browse on acacia at all is surprising. It needs a prehensile tongue and a tough mouth to manage the wicked thorns.

This I just threw in for the "Awww !!!" factor because, lets face it, everybody loves baby animals!

These guys were pretty ubiquitous, and the faster they run the more straight up in the air their tail sticks. Warthogs can be dangerous, though - those tusks are used not only for digging up meals, but also for defense. Catherine, smitten with momentary dyslexia, dubbed them hogwarts, a name that stuck with our little group for the rest of the trip.

The elephants, though, were the star of the early show. This family group was in a hurry to get someplace,

While this big bull walked within a few feet of us and then showed his displeasure at our presence.

When we happened on this watering hole in a mostly dry riverbed, it was remarkable to see so many species of animals peacefully coexisting. They all look out for each other, keeping an eye out for predators.

Farther down the road near the same watering hole we found this family group of elephants having a spa day, complete with mudpack.











All of this happened in the first 90 minutes and five miles. David and Julius indulged us through this initiation, giving us time to take it all in. It was starting to be hard to imagine what would come next.

Bush Boxes...

The problem with getting on the game trail by dawn and occasionally being out all day is food: You are up too early to eat a decent breakfast, and there aren't many sandwich shops in the bush. What to do?

The safari camps have solved this problem by inventing something called a "bush box". I'm sure many people have many names for them, but this one is reasonably polite...

This is a bush box:

Now, the bush box is just a box lunch. Nothing unusual about that. All of the ones that were provided seemed to come in the same size box as the one shown in the photo. The tie and fern were a nice touch on this one (provided by Rivertrees) that we didn't find on others, though. The rest seemed to be unsealed or closed with tape designed for childproof packages which, as we all know, really only keeps out adults.

The bad thing about bush boxes is that they are monotonous. Almost all had a couple of small sugar bananas (a staple in this part of the world), a bit of ginger cake or other durable pastry, and a juice box. Breakfast added cold bacon and/or sausage and some type of egg/bread combo that was french-toasty. If you are lucky, you can turn the whole thing into a breakfast sandwich. This was usually finished off with an orange or apple. Lunch was similar, often substituting in some sort of roasted veggie sandwich and vegetable sticks. All of the items generally came individually wrapped in a small piece of paper.

This doesn't sound too bad until you realize that you are eating essentially the same thing day after day for 1/3 to 1/2 of your meals. I hate to say this because I'm not a picky eater, but when I came home it was a couple of weeks before I could even look at a banana.

In defense of our hosts, the meals in camp were varied and tasty. In fact, the dinners were quite elaborate affairs at times. One interesting thing that I noticed was the preponderance of beef dishes. The beef is a lot different than what you find in the US; much leaner and stronger in flavor. The cattle here are allowed to graze freely, so the fat content is lower and the animals are obviously leaner when you see them. It was, nonetheless, tasty and probably a lot healthier than the grain fed beef at home. The in-camp breakfasts and lunches were often buffet affairs, with the food as fresh and enjoyable as the sit-down dinners.

Considering the remoteness of the camps and the ingredients available, I would have to give mealtime a solid A grade when eaten in-camp (at the places we stayed, at least). The bush boxes, though, rated at best a B; the quality was fine (if a little heavy), but a little variety could go a long way here.

This is such a first world problem. Sorry about that...

On To Oliver's...

One of the reasons that David wanted to start us in Tarangire rather than go immediately to the Serengeti was that he wanted to train us to spot and identify game. It seems the part of our brain called the amygdala is hardwired for this activity, but we use it so little in the modern world that the ability atrophies. Getting the most out of a safari requires that the ability be exercised, and Tarangire, with its varied terrain and large game population, is ideal for that.

After we left Tarangire lodge, we had another 20 or so miles to cover before we arrived at our final destination, Oliver's Camp. There was plenty of game to see on the way, too - many of the same animals already seen, but also gazelles and a variety of birds including::

ostrich, instantly identifiable in the distance as a black dot hovering above the ground (this is a male - the females are more drably colored.

the brilliant lilac breasted roller (note the long double tail),

bee eaters, constantly on the move

fish eagles, this juvenile will become a powerful raptor the size of a North American bald eagle with similar coloration (but more white on th e neck and breast),

maribu storks, who always seem to be supervising vultures,

pelicans, efficient fishermen, cooperating when they can, and

vultures (better pictures later, but I liked this one because it was so foreboding).













Once we reached the Silale Swamp, however, we started to see some amazing things.

It is kind of hard to see in the tiny picture in the blog, but if you click on the image for a larger view and look carefully you will see a line of tiny dots in the distance. The lack of visual references makes it hard to determine how far away they are, but each of these dots is an elephant:

There are literally hundreds of them visible. We were soon to see them much closer,

with one family group in particular crossing a deep muddy area right near the road.

A couple of the little ones had some difficult negotiating the muck. This scene would come back to haunt us in a couple of days.

About this time we heard through the grapevine (the safari trucks stop and pass along information when they meet) that there were leopard near a picnic area up ahead. This prompted us to be extra vigilant and we were lucky enough to see two different leopards during our drive in to camp.

Leopard sightings are uncommon, and two in one day are rare. These guys were just laying up in trees waiting out the heat of the day. Leopards are stealth hunters active mostly at night, and while it would have been nice to get better pictures from closer, we're quite happy with these. Leopards are scary - much more so than even lions. I wouldn't turn my back on either, but leopards from a distance are just fine with me, thankyouverymuch.

The swamp gave us our first good look at a (very dirty) hyena, as well.














The star attractions here were the elephants and leopards, though. After a while it was time to move on, still aiming for camp before sunset. After we left the swamp the terrain was was covered with a lot of scrub acacia, so game spotting was more difficult. We finally rolled into camp about 5 pm, dusty, tired, and happy.

Calling Oliver's Camp a "camp" is kind of like calling a cruise ship a boat. Technically correct, but a considerable understatement. Oliver's, now permanent, was established by Paul Oliver as a seasonal camp some 20 years ago. After being sold to Asilia in 2004,, the camp was moved to its present location and made permanent. It is in a location in which both walking safaris and night game drives are allowed; activities not usually undertaken in the Tanzanian bush.

The accomodations at Oliver's, while technically tents (the walls can be unzipped and left open, if you are so inclined), are actually much more.

Our tent had a private outdoor hot shower (heated by a solar collector), as well as an indoor flush toilet and sink.

The decor was wonderful, the bed comfortable and netted, and the views exceptional. As this was Catherine's first camping experience of any kind, this was fine with her. She is a city girl, and her idea of camping is more "room service with a view" than "sleeping on the ground and cooking in a single pot". I think it is going to be hard to get her to go out on a real camping trip now, though...

The first thing that happens when you arrive at any camp is that you are given a briefing. Mealtimes, camp culture (happy hour around the fire pit, for example), and camp safety. It is strictly forbidden to leave the tent after dusk without an escort. There are no fences, and it is not at all uncommon to hear animals walking around your tent at night. Elephants, big cats, even a startled gazelle could do serious damage. If you need something, a radio is provided and always monitored. If there is a true emergency (an elephant decided to push over the tent, for example) an airhorn is provided to bring the cavalry running. The odds of something like this happening are remote, but best to be prepared.

We settled into our tent, had a shower, and wandered back up to the lounge area (we were the last tent to the north, about 150 yards away) to meet David for a drink. This gave us a chance to talk about the day and confirm our plans for the next day - a walking safari in the morning and a night game drive in the evening. Lots of anticipation in those activities. After meeting some of the other guests around the fire, dinner was convened about 8. I don't remember what was served, but all of the evening food in the camps was wonderful. After eating our fill, we were escorted back to our tent where we went to bed full, happy, and hardly believing that we were in Africa, let alone the things that we had seen so far.

A Walk On The Wild Side...

We had an early call the next morning for our walking safari. We were up, dressed in our bush clothes (i.e., khaki and beige), and at the meal tent right after sunrise for a quick breakfast. We then met up with our walking guide (Alex, shown holding an elephant jaw, with his very large rifle leaning against his hip) and our guard (Joseph, shown holding his very large rifle).

While things were getting organized I remembered that we had left the small binos in the tent, and decided to go get them.

I was about 30 yards from our tent when a small herd of waterbuck (such as those shown here ) hiding in the brush were flushed by a vehicle on the other side of the hill. They charged across the trail just a scant few feet away, scaring the bejeezus out of me. It seems my walking safari had already started. After restarting my heart, I quickly grabbed the binos out of the tent (fortunately I didn't have to change my shorts) and went back to meet the group. Today it would just be Catherine, David, and me with Alex, Joseph, and their large rifles, which they loaded as we stepped out of camp.

There are some real advantages to taking a walk in the bush. For example, you feel very exposed, and gain a greater appreciation of your true place in the web of life. Also, getting out of the truck lets you see a lot of things that might be otherwise missed: small birds, insects, tracks, and bones, for example. Our walking guide, Alex, was a walking encyclopedia of natural history knowledge about the bush, and brought a lot of humor and fun to the experience.

The tracks we saw were both interesting and a little intimidating. The first, an elephant, was enormous, and filled with fine veins captured by the dust. These veins are apparently so unique that they can be used to identify individual animals. Surprisingly, elephants are quite light on their feet, and wander the bush almost silently at night, When they step in soft mud, however, their enormous mass becomes quickly apparent.

During this walk, we would only see elephants at a distance.

The second track, of a lion, was almost as big as my hand. The pocketknife in the picture is almost five inches long. We saw this about halfway through our walk and spent the remaining time out feeling like we were being watched.

We saw a quite a few waterbuck and impala as we wandered about, but the real prize was a lesser kudu. This is a relatively rare species of antelope, with distinctive white stripes and spiral horns. Given that the lesser kudu has a large flight distance, we were pretty lucky to see this one embedded in a group of waterbuck.

At one point, Alex stopped and indicated a bright white marshmallow looking substance on the ground and invited us to guess what it was. After thoroughly exhibiting our ignorance, he revealed that it was hyena scat. Hyenas eat a lot of bones and their scat is filled with calcium. Although green when first deposited, the scat soon weathers to a very distinctive bright white.

After a few minutes he picked up another marshmallow-looking object stuck to a twig. This turned out to be a mantis egg case, and had a texture not unlike styrofoam.

Not long after seeing the egg case, we found a mantis hitching a ride on our camera strap! The coloration and physiognomy of the mantis makes its camoflage perfect for the environment

Termite mounds are everywhere in the bush. In fact, it is thought that in terms of biomass weight termites are probably the most common creature in Africa. The mounds can be huge, with chimneys like this 20 footer reaching high into the air. They are also complex structures with chambers and tunnels for varying purposes and extensive thermal regulation systems.

One of the most interesting aspects of the walk was to get to see pelicans fishing as a group. The small river were were walking along contained a lot of catfish. The pelicans, as a group, drove them into a small area, then proceeded to feast. When the pelicans became disturbed by our presence and moved off, the pool practically boiled with the agitated fish.

It was about this time that we noticed a large group of zebra on the other side of the river. After a few minutes, they seemed to be departing, so we did, as well.

One of us (David, I think) turned around to look back only to see a small herd of buffalo coming down to water. This was our first chance to see these large and dangerous animals, though we would see many, many more before we left Africa.

There were quite a few other small wonders to be seen this day, and a lot to learn. I hope this gives you some idea of the beauty and complexity that is the african bush.

Creatures Of The Night...

After returning from our walk, we had a late lunch and retired to our tent for a rest. We would be leaving for our night game drive promptly at sunset, and return for a late dinner about 9 pm. It would make a for a long day, so we needed to take the rest when we could.

We mustered for the night drive at about 5:45, and sat around the firepit greeting some of the large group of new arrivals we would be sharing camp with that night. Once assembled, our group (consisting of Catherine, David, and me, a driver, an armed guard, and a guide/spotter) piled in the open vehicle and were off. It gets chilly in the bush at night, so warm clothes and blankets were requisite.

The depth of the darkness, despite the almost full moon, made it pretty hard to take photos, so I'm afraid there aren't many in this post. During a night drive, the guide wields a spotlight, scanning the bush for the reflections from the eyes of nocturnal wildlife. Special care is taken to not dwell on animals like zebra and antelope. It seems that in the past, when night drives would spot animals such as these, the predators quickly learned that a quick route to an easy meal involved following night drive vehicles.

A night drive is a bit of a roll of the dice. You always go out hoping to see drama - a leopard making a kill, a pride of lions feeding, etc. We didn't get to see these things on our night drive.

We did, however, see some of Tanzania's smaller and more elusive nocturnal wildlife, such as this chameleon who put on a slow-footed fashion show.

There are even nocturnal birds, such as the nightjar we found camped in the middle of the road.












The serval cat was a treat (although we did see them at Ndutu, but that is another story...), as was the African wild cat. The latter is an ancestor of our domestic cats, and looks much like an overgrown tabby with an attitude. Both are nocturnal and shy, so we were lucky to spot them. The star of the night, though, was an aardwolf. This nocturnal insectivore, which feeds primarily on large quantities of termites, is a close cousin of the hyena. Because of its relative scarcity, shyness, and nocturnal nature, the aardwolf is rarely encountered in the wild. This was an excellent find.

So in the end we did not get the splashy National Geographic moments we had hoped for on our night drive, but that's OK. We found some unusual and rarely seen creatures and had the opportunity to see the bush in a way few people get to experience. The National Geographic moments could wait for a few hours. First, though, a fine dinner at Oliver's Camp and some sleep after a long day. Tomorrow we would leave Tarangire for points north, and we wanted to depart as early as possible to be at the swamp at dawn...

Our National Geographic Moment...

We hit the road at first light, bush boxes in hand, for the 45 minute drive out to the swamp. There was a lot of anticipation; we knew there were leopards and plenty of prey in the area, and had heard reports from our campmates of both lions and fresh kills as well. Once we got to the swamp, we started working our way north looking for both some action and a place to eat our breakfasts.

The payoff soon came in the form of a cheetah on the hunt...













At this point, I want you to start imagining the National Geographic theme playing in the background. You know the one...

da da da DA...da
da da da DA da da...da da... da, dum dum

What was about to happen before us was so fascinating that we didn't even get many pictures; it unfolded so quickly and was so gripping that all we could do was watch in fascination the events less than 100 meters away. You would have needed a video camera to capture the action.

It was pretty clear from the cheetah's behavior that it had it's sights on something. We couldn't identify its target, however - whatever it was was laying in the tall grass at the edge of the swamp. Suddenly the cheetah charged and, at the same time a male reedbuck exploded from the grass.

(This is a picture of a reedbuck taken at a different time. Click on the picture to enlarge and get a better look at the reedbuck's relatively small but nasty headgear)










The cheetah quickly caught up to and tripped up the reedbuck. A brief struggle ensued, but the cheetah couldn't get a good grip. This let the reedbuck get up and start running again. The cheetah, of course, gave chase and again wound up on top of the reedbuck. To no avail, however, as the reedbuck was able to escape for a second time. This time, however, the reedbuck and cheetah wound up head-to-head. Suddenly, the cheetah was not so confident. Reedbuck are a medium-sized. aggressive antelope with razor sharp, forward pointing antlers well designed for self defense. The cheetah was now facing an opponent that could maim or kill it, and was clearly giving the whole enterprise a second thought. Soon, though, the reedbuck bolted again. The cheetah, not yet exhausted and hardwired to chase, followed and soon was sitting on the reedbuck again - this time with an apparent good grip in the reedbuck's neck. Game over.

Well, not quite. The cheetah had not counted on the reedbuck having help.

Large and angry help.

















The cheetah had made a critical error, carrying out the hunt a scant fifty meters from a small family group of elephants. A cheetah would be ignored by an adult elephant, but it could certainly be a threat a baby and the adults are suitably cautious. This group had a couple of tiny members, and the matriarch was visibly agitated by the cheetah's actions. Suddenly, this large female charged the cheetah on it's prey, trumpeting with trunk held high, and making quite a commotion. The cheetah, not wanting to end up the guest of honor at a vulture party, decided to retire from the field, at which point the reedbuck popped up and made good its escape in the opposite direction.

The cheetah scouted the area for a few minutes, apparently trying to get another fix on the reedbuck, which had run off then hunkered down in the grass again. With no luck, and seemingly tired and dispirited, the big cat walked slowly up the hill towards us, passing the car at a distance of about 20 meters, and proceeded over the ridge and out of sight. The entire hunt from first sprint to abandonment took about a minute. The amount of life-and-death drama involved, however, was amazing. This was without question one of the highlights of the entire trip.

da da da DA...da
da da da DA da da...da da... da, dum dum