Tanzania 2013

Tanzania March 2013

We enjoyed Tanzania so much last year (Jonathon's 50th) that we decided to come back (my birthday but not 50). We booked through Frontier Travel again as they understand what we're looking for. We flew overnight with BA and woke to a beautiful sunrise with the moon still in the sky and the light just highlighting the edge of the engine.

A second, much shorter flight took us from Dar es Salaam to Arusha. This was a daylight flight and the clouds were lovely as we flew just above them.

Kevin collected us at Arusha airport and drove us to our first stop - Plantation Lodge - but not before we'd had a chance to enjoy some interesting scenery en route.

There were definitely more farm animals around (cattle, goats and donkeys). Kevin explained that this was because there had been some rain so there was more for them to eat near the villages rather than the Maasai having to walk for many miles in search of food for them.

I had naively thought it would be less dusty than last time because of the rain but there was still a lot of dust flying around in some parts.

We arrived at Plantation Lodge, having had a picnic lunch on the way and after a very welcome juice, we were shown to our room (well, suite would describe it better!)

The view from the room (left) was lovely so off we went with our cameras to admire the beautiful grounds. Jonathon just couldn't resist trying out my new camera (Nikon D7000) to take a photo of this butterfly. He was very well camouflaged!

garden

We saw a lot of these trees on the road side but this one was easier to photograph as I could stand still and do it rather than try to capture it as we were driving along.

We were really tired after our long journey and um'd and ah'd about whether or not to have dinner. The menu looked too good to miss.

Kevin very kindly allowed us to have a lie in as it was our first full day - we didn't have to be ready to set off until 8 a.m. (having had breakfast!). We drove to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and took in some lovely views on the way.

We made it to the entrance, Kevin dealt with the paper work and in we went.

The first animal we saw close up was a Golden Jackal.

My view for a lot of the time was as below!

Handsome beasts though they may be, I prefer to photograph the wildlife!

In case you're wondering where we were staying, Ndutu is on the border between the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and the Serengeti. The boundary is marked with white posts (no fences) and as you can see there's not much around some of them so unless you know where you are it's hard to tell which side of the boundary you are on. Thankfully Kevin seemed to know where we were at all times.

This female Tawny Eagle was minding her own business until a male arrived. She was clearly unimpressed.

There was a lot of strutting about but it didn't look like a mating ritual.

eagle

Eventually the male got fed up and flew off!

gazelle

The Gazelle seem to live alongside each other quite happily.

spotted hyena

These Spotted Hyena were clearly interested in something ...

hyena and gazelle

... but no way was the Hyena ever going to be fast enough to catch this one.

view

The scenery was lovely - much, much greener than last Autumn when we were here

view

The sky seems really big on the plains.

One of the big treats of the day were the Warthogs. Mum Warthog was minding her own business with the kids not far away.

Along with it being more green, there were some lovely wild flowers to enjoy

flower

Gutenbergia cordifolia

waste paper flower

Waste Paper Flower (because it's scattered about like napkins after a party!)

There were loads of birds. big and small. We tried to photograph some of the bigger ones ...

goshawk

Pale Chanting Goshawk

stork

European White Stork

goshawk

Pale Chanting Goshawk

goshawk

Pale Chanting Goshawk

goshawk

Pale Chanting Goshawk

tawny

Pale Form Tawny Eagle

tawny

Pale Form Tawny Eagle

snake eagle

Black Chested Snake Eagle

... but didn't want to leave the small ones out altogether

thrush

Mountain Rock Thrush

mongoose

We've never been as close as this to Banded Mongoose before - a real treat.

wildebeest

We saw quite a few Wildebeest - the light brown calves are very young.

Giraffe are one of our favourite animals - so graceful. I think Jonathon feels an affinity with them as both they and he have very long legs!

We arrived at Ndutu Safari Camp and checked in before getting ready again for the late afternoon drive.

rain

Yes, I know it was the rainy season but, my goodness, it knew how to rain! It didn't stop us going out though and, thankfully, it didn't last too long.

stork

European White Stork

stork

European White Stork

They enjoy the water during the day then roost in trees at night.

stork

European White Stork

This Lioness didn't want to get her paws wet but wanted to get to the other side of the water.

These tiny cubs were well hidden in the grass - they were probably only about a month old. Mum wasn't far away but the Lioness above kept her distance.

genet

Back to camp for dinner and a lovely surprise to find Genet in the dining room rafters. Closely related to the mongoose, these particular genet are probably amongst the most photographed animals in Africa.

hut

Our hut at Ndutu (RHS)

We walked back from the dining area to our hut only to find a few Zebra had decided that was a good place for them to be. They moved away to let us in but we could hear them moving about and eatng outside while we were going to sleep.