TANZANIA
& KENYA Cheeseman Safari continued
Lake Manyara National
Park & Ndutu, July 25-27
On July 25, we had our first 6am
bird walk around the Lake Duluti and then headed off to Lake
Manyara National Park. Unfortunately, six of the group were delayed
in Europe so two vans waited for them to eventually catch up
with us. There's a beautiful ground water forest at Lake Manyara,
it looked like Borneo to us, the mountainsides dripping with
thick, green vegetation. Gail spotted an African Golden Oriole
chasing the African Black-headed Oriole. Yuda, the driver &
a fellow birder, didn't believe Gail since its such a rare bird.
But Aaron had seen it too and backed up Gail. Yes folks, Aaron
is now a birder. In fact he loved the bird name so much that
his radio code names (we used radios to talk amongst the four
cars) were dirived from birds, they include: Ploverboy, The Dark
Chanter, Longclaw, Coqui Captin, Witless Godwit, Squacco Heron,
& Little Bee Eater. Saw the awesome Grey-headed Kingfisher,
very very beautiful, we decided it needed a much flashier name
for such a brightly colored bird. We stayed at the beautiful
Manyara Serena Lodge that night.
On the 26th we spent most of the day on route to Ndutu camp at Lake Ndutu. Its an alkaline lake loaded with birds and wildlife. That day we saw our first elephants, Kirk's Dik-dik, both Thompson's & Grant's Gazelles, Topi and Black-backed Jackels. For birds we saw Marabou storks, Quelea, many Black-shouldered Kites, White-crowned Shrikes, Bateleurs and Grey-backed Fiscals. That evening the remaining six arrived at Ndutu camp, relieved to know they hadn't missed anything 'big' yet.
The following day we rode with Stephen, the driver, and two 'young bitties' as they named themselves, Laurie & Linda. All through the 11 hour game drive that day all 5 of us joked, laughed and had a really wonderful time. Linda & Laurie adopted us as their children and were giving us advise on how to best buy a home once we were back in the States. It was great! As for wildlife, we had luck with that as well. In the morning we saw a Cheetah mother coming back to the reeds where she had left her young and heard her calling for them. Only 90% of cheetah cubs make it to two years old and her cubs seem to have been killed by nearby lions as they didn't return her multiple calls. We also got very close to a female lion settling down nearby in the reeds to eat her fresh warthog kill.
In the afternoon we saw two male cheetahs hunting together, probably brothers and a rare find. Along a huge braod expanse we among many things a long line of aprox. 70 Masai Ostriches walking on the plains, very interesting. Als on the plain, we got very close to a Grant's Gazelle, surprizingly close, with the car. They are skittish by nature, so when it finally got up to move away we saw why it had stayed seated so long. Probably during a fight with another male over a harem he had been injured and parts of his intestines were hanging out from his abdomen. Life is brutal!
There were both Greater and Lesser Flamingos in the alkaline lake. Even had a false charge by an elephant. Birds we saw that day included: Fischer's Lovebirds, White-crowned Plovers (pissy birds), Red-necked Spurfowl, Coqui Francolin, Yellow-necked Spurfowl, Dark Chanting-Goshawk. Saw an Egyptian Jackel (ancestor to all dogs) running around and also saw Black-backed Jackels. They feed the Genets at the lodget at night, so we got a good look at them as well.
Giraffe drinking in Ndutu, this is their
most vulnerable time due to the funny position they have to take
when drinking.
Cory Bustard, the heaviest flying bird in Africa
Two Dik dik, Laura's favorite. There's a male and female, the male has the mohawk.
Two female lions resting in the tall grass
Two cheetah males hunting together, taking a break in the shade
Secretary Bird in her nest, note the quills on the back of her head
Fischer's Lovebirds, Cordon-blue and other birds at a bird bath at the lodge
