Tanzania 2018

Tanzania March 2018

Kevin collected us from Ameruru in his new (to us) vehicle (called Carolina) and off we went on safari. It was a long drive from the Lodge to our first camp but the jeep was very comfy and there was plenty to see along the way.

My plan is to include a few photos on this page - places we stayed, people we met, general views etc. with the rest of the photos split onto the various pages as listed below. Please click on the page(s) you'd like to visit.

jc&k

My usual view of Kevin and Jonathon!

view

Lots of different kinds of scenery to see along the way.

Ngorongoro

JC photographing the Ngorongoro crater just after our picnic lunch ...

ngorongoro

... and this is what it looked like in infrared.

Lions on our first safari day - how lucky. As you can see, they weren't very active!

vultures

Another highlight of this trip was watching two cheetah brothers enjoying their breakfast (poor baby wildebeest) while we had ours.

Wherever there's a kill, you'll find vultures and apparent chaos.

Another safari, another pride of lions to admire. This time there were two females and four males.

Having had a very successful "cat" morning, we ventured down to Masek Lake in the afternoon to see hippo and do some birding. As you can see, it was a lovely sunny afternoon. The hippos weren't too sociable but there were loads of birds.

We had a few giraffe visit us while we were down at the lake and the sun lit up the Marabou stork really nicely just as two of the giraffe walked past him.

One of the guests (in the tent next to ours) said that both giraffe and hippo had been wandering about outside their tent overnight. We were fast asleep and heard nothing!

cats

That's not to say we didn't see lions that afternoon - we did. This time there were three females and one male. More photos of these lovely animals are on the Big Cats page, including one of the lionesses climbing a tree! These two were apparently trainee tree climbers.

After a lovely safari day it was back to camp for Bush TV (campfire), fruit juice (no idea what fruits they use but it tasted delicious) and yummy dinner. We slept well!

Africa really is the land of big skies. It looks very cloudy in the photo but we didn't see any rain (other than in the distance). One of the couples staying at Olakira, however, got very wet in their open sided jeep. Thankfully it wasn't cold so not too bad.

Finally it was time to say goodbye to them and head back to camp, but only after enjoying a lovely sunset.

Unfortunately this was our last night at Olakira so time to pack up and get ready for another early start the following day to drive over to Dunia - only a couple of hours away if you drive straight there but on a safari route .... who knows!

olakira team

Bye Bye Olakira - thanks for everything.

zebra etc

... and then they galloped along as fast as can be.

Unfortunately Day 4 was also a day with a few problems. First of all, a vehicle going in the opposite direction to us (too fast probably) kicked up a large stone which did Kevin's windscreen no good at all.

windscreen

Then one of the rear wheels decided to come loose. One of the nuts had disappeared completely and a second was very loose as a result of which the wheel was being held on by 3 nuts. They were coming loose increasingly quickly and we were in an area with no radio or phone reception. Jonathon got out of the truck and walked alongside the truck so we could limp to the main road and call for help. Thankfully that wasn't too far to walk and help eventually arrived. We were driven to Dunia, leaving Kevin to wait for the local mechanic to rescue him and his truck.

African Adventures!

infrared view

Jonathon took advantage of the wait by practicing with his infrared camera.

We saw a lioness split a herd of wildebeest and then she and her sister took on one each. Only one kill (as far as we know) and the whole pride joined in - not exactly sure how many lionesses and cubs there were but 15-20 at a guess.

lion

Having enjoyed the lions, we then were privileged to see a leopard up a tree. He had three kills stashed in his tree and didn't look like he would be going anywhere anytime soon.

leopard

The rain had arrived and as we set off we got stuck in the mud. Thankfully it wasn't too long before another truck came to see the leopard and was able to pull us out.

We hoped that would be the three troubles - I'm sure Kevin hoped so!

Other animals for Day 5 included Baboons (not our favourite but we didn't want to ignore them).

baboon

elephant

We also came across a family of giraffe - Mr., Mrs and two youngster and a few elephants - they were really close to our truck.

sunset

All too soon it was time to head back to camp for yet more delicious food and bed ready for an early start the next day.

hippo

First sighting was of short-tailed monkeys , followed by baboons up a tree, hippos and another lioness in a tree.

We witnessed yet another wildebeest kill but that was too far away to photograph. We could see what was going on with binoculars and it was interesting to watch the lions "celebrating" the kill by playing and tormenting the wildebeest just like a domestic cat would torment a mouse. These lionesses were clearly going to take no prisoners - they really meant business.

I was so sad to leave Dunia - such a special place, made even more special by the caring team, led by Perucy while we were there.

I don't have a photo of the team - I think Jonathon was concerned that I'd jump out of the jeep and stay there if they all came out to say goodbye!

Next stop was Namiri Plains, a new camp for us - we had a 10 hour game drive to get there (it would take about 3 hours direct).

We saw loads of animals and birds along the way including this herd of buffalo.

We had a good day for antelope with sightings of bushbuck, reedbuck (too fast so no photos), hartebeest, topi and klipspringer.

Another very welcome distraction along the way was this cheetah keeping a look out for anything that might be either edible or threatening. Not long after this photo was taken she laid down and we wouldn't have had a chance of spotting her.

We arrived at camp and were made very welcome. Then the rain, thunder and lightning started but it wasn't far to the mess tent for dinner and wellies were provided.

Sleep!

There were lots of puddles around on Day 8 but the rain had stopped so off we went to see what we could find.

hartebeest

We also saw a herd of hartebeest, some topi closer up than normal and a Grant's gazelle seeing off a golden jackal.

jackal

All in all, a very good morning.

You never know what you're going to see when you start a game drive. Plan A for the afternoon drive on Day 8 was to visit the leopard and cubs that we'd seen the day before. All well and good but mum wasn't there and we couldn't see the cubs so Plan B - drive around and see what we can see!

Zebra was an animal we had seen a lot but not got any decent photos of so we stayed a while with them here and there.

If there are no animals or birds in the immediate vicinity (that are visible at least), there's always the sky to look at. There were some quite dramatic changes throughout the three hour drive.

There were other potential prey species around but none for the two cheetah as the wildebeest and zebra were keeping their babies well protected.

The first stop for the afternoon drive (our last afternoon for this holiday sadly) was to visit the mum leopard that we'd seen in the rocks with her two tiny cubs earlier in the week. Hopefully the cubs were tucked away safely whilst mum enjoyed a bit of peace having stashed her kill (baby wildebeest) in the tree and eaten her fill.

Our second and last stop for that afternoon was when we came across the lion cubs (and their mums) that we'd had breakfast with the day before. They were having lessons in climbing trees and killing things and were clearly enjoying it to the full.

lions

cub

When the white storks started roosting in the trees we knew it was time to leave the cubs behind and return to camp for dinner, packing and sleep.

flight

Glad we were flying past this rather than through it!

Our final sighting of the crater (for this holiday).

We had hours to wait for the KLM flight back to Amsterdam and then the short hop home to City Airport. Not a lot to do at Kili airport but they have that very well organised and we went off to Planet Lodge, a local hotel, enjoyed lunch and sat on their patio in the shade while we caught up with photos, emails and the rest.

Next stop home!

Tanzania March 2018
We started our journey with a short hop from Heathrow to Schiphol and stayed overnight at CitizenM rather than in one of the Heathrow hotels. From there we flew to Kilimanjaro airport (with lovely views from Jonathon's window seat) and had one night at Ameruru River Lodge - very nice place and we got to see our first wildlife in the form of a gecko (in our room) and a couple of dikdik (in the garden).
	Kevin collected us from Ameruru in his new (to us) vehicle (called Carolina) and off we went on safari. It was a long drive from the Lodge to our first camp but the jeep was very comfy and there was plenty to see along the way. My plan is to include a few photos on this page - places we stayed, people we met, general views etc. with the rest of the photos split onto the various pages as listed below. Please click on the page(s) you'd like to visit.
Big Cats	Zebras and Giraffes	Elephants
Antelopes and Wildebeest	Birds	Warthogs and Hyenas
Hippos & Buffalo	Other Wildlife	Mini Videos
	There was a lot of "farming" activity as we drove along - possibly because there was a big cattle market due two days later.
My usual view of Kevin and Jonathon!
Lots of different kinds of scenery to see along the way.
JC photographing the Ngorongoro crater just after our picnic lunch ...		... and this is what it looked like in infrared.
Market day
Lions on our first safari day - how lucky. As you can see, they weren't very active!

	We finally arrived at Olakira camp to be made very welcome and shown to our lovely tent. The rain then arrived (it was the rainy season after all) so the campfire was cancelled and drinks served in the bar instead. After a delicious dinner it was time to call it a night ready for our early start the following day.
		We had a great morning safari - Kevin must have been exhausted as we were out from 6.30 a.m. to 1 p.m. so a long drive and the "roads" are a bit rough here and there!
	Another highlight of this trip was watching two cheetah brothers enjoying their breakfast (poor baby wildebeest) while we had ours. Wherever there's a kill, you'll find vultures and apparent chaos.
		Another safari, another pride of lions to admire. This time there were two females and four males.
	Having had a very successful "cat" morning, we ventured down to Masek Lake in the afternoon to see hippo and do some birding. As you can see, it was a lovely sunny afternoon. The hippos weren't too sociable but there were loads of birds.
We had a few giraffe visit us while we were down at the lake and the sun lit up the Marabou stork really nicely just as two of the giraffe walked past him. One of the guests (in the tent next to ours) said that both giraffe and hippo had been wandering about outside their tent overnight. We were fast asleep and heard nothing!
	That's not to say we didn't see lions that afternoon - we did. This time there were three females and one male. More photos of these lovely animals are on the Big Cats page, including one of the lionesses climbing a tree! These two were apparently trainee tree climbers.
After a lovely safari day it was back to camp for Bush TV (campfire), fruit juice (no idea what fruits they use but it tasted delicious) and yummy dinner. We slept well!
		6 a.m. alarm call again and off we went. We went in a different direction this time so didn't come across as many trucks as the day before. Main aim was to see birds and challenge Jonathon's photography skills as a lot of them were pretty small and flitty! We saw zebra, giraffe, wildebeest and a whole load of other animals as we drove around.
Africa really is the land of big skies. It looks very cloudy in the photo but we didn't see any rain (other than in the distance). One of the couples staying at Olakira, however, got very wet in their open sided jeep. Thankfully it wasn't cold so not too bad.
		The terrain in the area we visited was completely different to other areas we'd seen in that it was very rocky with lots of loose rocks around the place, small hills etc. There were also a few abandoned Masai camps - this one was the most intact.
Acacia trees are Africa as far as I'm concerned and they look even better with zebra underneath them.
		We spent the afternoon with a family of cheetah mum and her two "teenage" cubs - they were really cute and amazingly patient. They looked quite hungry but mum didn't try and catch anything in the three hours we were with them.
Finally it was time to say goodbye to them and head back to camp, but only after enjoying a lovely sunset. Unfortunately this was our last night at Olakira so time to pack up and get ready for another early start the following day to drive over to Dunia - only a couple of hours away if you drive straight there but on a safari route .... who knows!
Bye Bye Olakira - thanks for everything.
		It was purely coincidental but highly appropriate that we arrived in Dunia on International Women's Day as Dunia is run by a team of women. First wildlife sighting of Day 4 was a pack of hyena - I didn't realise they liked to paddle until that day. There were quite a few of them (we are used to just seeing one at a time) so that was quite a treat.
There were also quite a lot of zebra and wildebeest around, gently plodding their way along until something spooked them ...
... and then they galloped along as fast as can be.
		We also came across a small gathering of flamingo, beautifully reflected in the still, clear water. Speaking of reflections, views don't come better than these giraffe - what an amazing spectacle and so special to see.


Day 4 continued with amazing sightings and our first viewing of elephants for this holiday. It was lovely to see so many babies with the herd.
Apparently the wildebeest like to stand on mounds so they can see the predators more easily - who can blame them!	Unfortunately Day 4 was also a day with a few problems. First of all, a vehicle going in the opposite direction to us (too fast probably) kicked up a large stone which did Kevin's windscreen no good at all.
Then one of the rear wheels decided to come loose. One of the nuts had disappeared completely and a second was very loose as a result of which the wheel was being held on by 3 nuts. They were coming loose increasingly quickly and we were in an area with no radio or phone reception. Jonathon got out of the truck and walked alongside the truck so we could limp to the main road and call for help. Thankfully that wasn't too far to walk and help eventually arrived. We were driven to Dunia, leaving Kevin to wait for the local mechanic to rescue him and his truck. African Adventures!
		We knew it was the main road because it had a signpost!
Jonathon took advantage of the wait by practicing with his infrared camera.
We were made very welcome at Dunia, shown to our tent and enjoyed a lovely sunset, delicious dinner and bed. We had quite a few animals wandering about in the camp grounds at different times - elephant, buffalo, impala and we could hear lions - we felt like we were truly in the bush.
		Day 5 dawned bright and clear. Kevin had managed to get his truck fixed and we set off early (as usual). The sky was really pretty as the sun came up. Jonathon in action with his infrared camera again!
Just a reminder of how spikey acacia is - how do the animals deal with it?
		First sighting of the day was buffalo - these three were in the camp grounds so we didn't have far to go to find them. Our next sighting was a rare side-striped jackal enjoying a tasty breakfast.
We saw a lioness split a herd of wildebeest and then she and her sister took on one each. Only one kill (as far as we know) and the whole pride joined in - not exactly sure how many lionesses and cubs there were but 15-20 at a guess.	When we returned later that morning, three of the lionesses had decided to climb a tree. As we watched them, a small herd of elephants came to join them.
	Having enjoyed the lions, we then were privileged to see a leopard up a tree. He had three kills stashed in his tree and didn't look like he would be going anywhere anytime soon. The rain had arrived and as we set off we got stuck in the mud. Thankfully it wasn't too long before another truck came to see the leopard and was able to pull us out. We hoped that would be the three troubles - I'm sure Kevin hoped so!	Other animals for Day 5 included Baboons (not our favourite but we didn't want to ignore them).
I'm sure you can't see it in the photo on the right but there's a small shape on top of the tallest rock on the right - that was a male lion. There was another couple of lions around the corner, also enjoying some time on the rocks.
		We also came across a family of giraffe - Mr., Mrs and two youngster and a few elephants - they were really close to our truck.
All too soon it was time to head back to camp for yet more delicious food and bed ready for an early start the next day.	Day 6 was an altogether different day weather-wise. We woke up to heavy rain, cracking thunder and very bright lightning. It didn't pick up all morning and by lunchtime it was blowing a gale (which made being in a tent interesting). We still went out early morning and Kevin and Jonathon compared who could take the best photo of a bird with water droplets on them (not that they are competitive or anything!)
First sighting was of short-tailed monkeys , followed by baboons up a tree, hippos and another lioness in a tree.
We witnessed yet another wildebeest kill but that was too far away to photograph. We could see what was going on with binoculars and it was interesting to watch the lions "celebrating" the kill by playing and tormenting the wildebeest just like a domestic cat would torment a mouse. These lionesses were clearly going to take no prisoners - they really meant business.
		I was so sad to leave Dunia - such a special place, made even more special by the caring team, led by Perucy while we were there. I don't have a photo of the team - I think Jonathon was concerned that I'd jump out of the jeep and stay there if they all came out to say goodbye! Next stop was Namiri Plains, a new camp for us - we had a 10 hour game drive to get there (it would take about 3 hours direct).
We saw loads of animals and birds along the way including this herd of buffalo. We had a good day for antelope with sightings of bushbuck, reedbuck (too fast so no photos), hartebeest, topi and klipspringer.
		The main highlights of the day were leopards. We were lucky enough to see a mum and cub up a tree following which mum (opposite) came down and called her cub who trotted down the tree. We then saw a couple of male leopards up separate trees and finally a mum and two very small cubs close to our new camp.
The Namiri Plains area had a lovely pond with masses of bird life so we spent quite a bit of time there before we even made it to camp.
		Another very welcome distraction along the way was this cheetah keeping a look out for anything that might be either edible or threatening. Not long after this photo was taken she laid down and we wouldn't have had a chance of spotting her. We arrived at camp and were made very welcome. Then the rain, thunder and lightning started but it wasn't far to the mess tent for dinner and wellies were provided. Sleep!
There were lots of puddles around on Day 8 but the rain had stopped so off we went to see what we could find.
		The main treat of the morning was these five cute lion cubs together with two lionesses and a male. I'm not sure where they'd been but the mums were bringing the cubs to a pile of rocks where they stayed for a while before crossing over to another pile of rocks!
The male lion was on this second pile of rocks, he acknowledged his females and the cubs then walked off to the first pile of rocks for some peace and quiet. I can think of much worse views to have whilst enjoying my birthday breakfast!
Yes, he did get very close to the jeep!	As we drove around we noticed that quite a few trees had fallen over. We weren't sure whether it was the wind, elephant damage or insect damage. A closer look seemed to indicate not animal damage and the birds were taking advantage of a different perching place.
We also saw a herd of hartebeest, some topi closer up than normal and a Grant's gazelle seeing off a golden jackal.		All in all, a very good morning.
You never know what you're going to see when you start a game drive. Plan A for the afternoon drive on Day 8 was to visit the leopard and cubs that we'd seen the day before. All well and good but mum wasn't there and we couldn't see the cubs so Plan B - drive around and see what we can see! Zebra was an animal we had seen a lot but not got any decent photos of so we stayed a while with them here and there.
If there are no animals or birds in the immediate vicinity (that are visible at least), there's always the sky to look at. There were some quite dramatic changes throughout the three hour drive.

		The highlight of the afternoon's drive was this beautiful lion who decided he'd like to sit near to us. When we first came across him he was sitting on a rock but when we moved to the other side of his rock to see where he'd gone he decided to sit about four feet from the truck. He stayed with us for ages before wandering a few yards away where he started to lick zebra dung then roll in it. Not entirely sure why but there were a lot of zebra around and we wondered if he was using the dung as a camouflage to his own scent to lull them into a false sense of security.
We had to drive as fast as possible to get back (not allowed to drive in the national park after dark) so it got a bit bumpy along the way but we made it and, after Bush TV, it was dinner including a lovely birthday cake complete with singing and dancing from the whole team with most of the guests either joining in or recording the "show". Great fun!!
		Day 9 and our last full day before we had to go home so up and out early to make the most of our final time. There was still plenty of standing water on the roads so lots of slipping and sliding around.
The main treat for the morning was cheetah - two brothers that were either lolling around, playing or making some kind of feeble attempt at hunting. The gazelle seemed quite safe at the time so perhaps they weren't that hungry.
		There were other potential prey species around but none for the two cheetah as the wildebeest and zebra were keeping their babies well protected.
The first stop for the afternoon drive (our last afternoon for this holiday sadly) was to visit the mum leopard that we'd seen in the rocks with her two tiny cubs earlier in the week. Hopefully the cubs were tucked away safely whilst mum enjoyed a bit of peace having stashed her kill (baby wildebeest) in the tree and eaten her fill.
		Our second and last stop for that afternoon was when we came across the lion cubs (and their mums) that we'd had breakfast with the day before. They were having lessons in climbing trees and killing things and were clearly enjoying it to the full.
When the white storks started roosting in the trees we knew it was time to leave the cubs behind and return to camp for dinner, packing and sleep.
		Time to say goodbye to the wonderful team at Namiri Plains and start the long journey home.
The journey to the local airport was not without excitement or further incident. First up, a pride of about 20 lions, a mixture of lionesses and cubs, some of them really tiny - probably only a couple of months old. Black-backed Jackal was next on the list and then ... We got stuck in the mud again and had to get another truck (from the same camp) to pull us out! We still got to the airstrip in plenty of time despite stopping to watch a hammerkop killing a bull frog!
		Glad we were flying past this rather than through it!
		Our final sighting of the crater (for this holiday). We had hours to wait for the KLM flight back to Amsterdam and then the short hop home to City Airport. Not a lot to do at Kili airport but they have that very well organised and we went off to Planet Lodge, a local hotel, enjoyed lunch and sat on their patio in the shade while we caught up with photos, emails and the rest. Next stop home!
Big Cats	Zebras and Giraffes	Elephants
Antelopes and Wildebeest	Birds	Warthogs and Hyenas
Hippos & Buffalo	Other Wildlife	Mini Videos
Back to Holiday index		Back to front page