Tanzania – Shardlows Highs

Costa Rica 2011 part 4

Following on from Part 3, we travelled over to the Arenal volcano, the most active cone in Costa Rica and one of the world’s most active volcanoes. The last major eruption was in 1968.

We stopped at a checkpoint hut, where we changed for a cycle ride, but the cloud was low, and rain was threatening, so we didn’t get any decent photos of the volcano, and after a wet ride, returned to the hut to get dry and changed.

Our stop this evening was in Sarapiqui region where they grow banana, pineapple and palms.

I realise I haven’t mentioned much about Costa Rica in general – it is very progressive in its Environmental policies, and hopes to become carbon neutral next year.

It doesn’t have an army, USA looks after its security, and has spent the money on education instead.

The lodge is next to the Sarapiqui river, and they feed the birds in the central lawn, so the afternoon was spent with out binoculars in hand.

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a little bird that flew into the restaurant and landed on our guide’s shirt.

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the bird table P1030410

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Woodpeckers trying to take over

The lawn was home to dozens of tiny strawberry, or blue jean frogs, that chirruped constantly.

P1030370 — a blue jean or Strawberry frog

That evening there was an optional bat viewing trip, which we decided to miss, but when we strolled around the cabins, found our own bats in plain view, roosting under the roof of one of our huts.

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The second day started with a jungle walk, where we saw lots of creepy crawlies, and birds of course. We stopped for lunch next to a pineapple plantation, and our guide cut fresh pineapples for us to eat – you’ve not tasted real pineapple until you have one that fresh.

That afternoon we had the best activity of the trip – a zip wire through the rain forest.

After a climb up through the forest, and then up ladders up the trees, we then travelled down a series of zip wires, ending with a long wire across the river.

I think you can tell we enjoyed that.

Costa Rica 2011 Part 3

spread warm volcanic mud over ourselves with paint brushes

Back to our Costa Rica travels, following on from Part 2

Our next days adventure included a stop in the Carara National Park for a Crocodile cruise.

We set off along the river in a smallish boat similar to this.

We caught sight of lots of wildlife as we motored along this wide river, as this is a Biological Reserve known for its birdlife.

Then we stopped at the side of our river where our skipper had seen a large crocodile, and he proceeded to jump ashore and feed this 4 meter croc some chicken.

Rather him than me, but I presume this is a daily occurrence, and they know the croc well, and he is well fed.

More bird spotting on the return trip

and I spotted this turtle on the bank

I decided not to use the facilities onshore!

Back on the minibus and onwards to the Rincon de la Vieja national Park and volcano. This is part of the Cordillera de Guanacaste, a great central volcanic massif made up of 5 active volcanoes.

Our residence here was the Hotel Hacienda Guachipelin, an acrtve cattle ranch,with stables housing the horses nearby.

The first evening we were taken out to a Rodeo, which was just an entertainment, with no harm to any beasts, showing off the skills of the cowboys.

The first days we walked around the flank of the volcano, seeing where their geothermal power station was, and checking out the wildlife.

In the afternoon, I took the option activity of tubing down a nearby canyon, while Ian relaxed in the hammock strung across the hassienda supports.

The next day we had a horse ride up the volcano to a mud spa. Ian had not ridden horses before, so I arranged for him to have a few lessons during the autumn, to give him more confidence for this.

First we visited the Oropendola waterfall, 25 metre high, and a chance to swim in the cold water below.

The ride gave us great scenery, and took us up to the spa, where we could see mud bubbling away

and lots of wildlife

Leaving our steeds at the gate, we walked up to the spa.

For the spa, we had a sauna, then spread warm volcanic mud over ourselves with paint brushes, and laid down in the sun to dry.

Then after a shower, we sat in thermal pools, dipping our toes in each to find one of a suitable temperature.

Relaxed and freshened, if still a little muddy, we returned to the horses for the ride back down, and to dinner, and a stunning sunset over the volcano.

Safari of a different kind

if you get a chance, go

Last weekend we released our inner child, and went to Twycross Zoo for the Lego Safari.

There were over 70 Lego models scattered through the zoo, each had a sign saying how many bricks they took, and how much time. I need more bricks!

Lion

Lion cubs

Monkey

Hyena

another hyena

baby pandas

As you would expect, there were real animals too.

and lots for Lego – this safari is travelling round the country, so if you get a chance, go to visit it.

And still more

Tanzanian Safari Part 3 – Zanzibar

The red colobus monkey is endemic to Zanzibar

We left our camp by the Selous park, for the short drive to an airstrip just inside the Park. Our plane was early!

Here, our jeep drove right up along a small 13 seater plane, and we joined the other 8 people already on board. No passport or security checks, just clamber on board. One spare seat was the co-pilots seat, and Robert was only too pleased to take that one.

He did a very good job of keeping us safe, and we took off from the grass airstrip (making sure there were no wildlife on there first) and enjoyed the views over Tanzania and Dar es Salaam and the coast as we flew over.

Dar Es Salaam

Coast by Dar es Salaam

We then had a taxi ride to our first hotel, the Zanzibari, at Nungwi, near the northern tip of Zanzibar. The surrounding area was quite poor and untidy, so it felt a bit odd to go through the gate with security guards into the hotel and be met by beautiful grounds next to a white beach .

The Zanzibari Hotel pool

The Zanzibari Hotel beachfront

This one is on Zoopla

The Zanzibari Hotel beachfront

The dining room bar was a full sized dhow, including sails, and the grounds were full of flowers, our room was in the Bougainvillea wing.

View from the pool

The bar

fishermen

After a wander around the grounds, we had a lovely 5 course meal, accompanied by a local drum and dance band.

The next day we were scheduled to have a walking tour of the fishing village and see them making the dhows, but we saw a leaflet for a trip to Zanzibar’s Jozani Nature Reserve and a butterfly center, and the hotel were happy for us to change.

We set off in the same taxi with Robert, Ann and Amanda opted for the village trip, for a 90 minute trip down Zanzibar. One noticeable difference from the mainland is that Zanzibar has banned the use of thin plastic bags, and so there is far less litter around.

The butterfly centre was set up by a Scottish man, who arranged for farmers in Zanzibar to farm butterflies, and send the chrysalises to the centre, where they are used to hatch for the centre, or sent to Butterfly houses around the world, giving the farmers a good source of income.

We were shown various life stages of the butterflies, then visited a large mesh arena full of them flying around.

Chrysalises in the hatching cabinet

Chrysalises

lizard

Next we travelled on to the reserve, where we hoped to see some endangered monkeys.

Once we had listened to our guide explain about the reserve, we walked across the car-park, and met some Sykes monkeys climbing above us, then saw the rare red colobus monkeys.

Sykes Monkey

Baby Sykes monkey

Sykes monkey

Mangrove

Red colubus monkey

One even sat at eye level for some amazing photographs.

Red colobus monkey

the mangrove boardwalk

Red colobus monkey

The red colobus monkey is endemic to Zanzibar, and has a population of around 1000, so it was rather special to get such a good look at them in the wild.

We had a walk around the rain forest and then a short drive to the mangrove swamps, with the guide explaining about the environment and wildlife.

After the drive back to our hotel, we enjoyed a swim and relax before another delicious meal.

Our last day took us in the taxi back to Zanzibar city, and our last hotel, the Dhow Palace, in the Stone Town area. Stone town was a medieval town, and many old building remain, including a fort. We had a walking tour and also visited the food market where we bought some spices.

Market stalls in Stone Town

House of Wonders – closed for renovation

Amphi theatre

Fort

Stone town is also famous for its carved doors, though a lot are fairly modern now.

Our guide took us the the Anglican church that stands where the slave market used to be, and has a very good museum showing the history of slavery in Zanzibar.

We had a chance to explore the hotel after the tour – its a very interesting building with wonderful features.

The swimming pool is in the centre of the hotel

Stained glass

the history of the Dhow Palace Hotel

Steps down to pool

Our shower!

swimming pool taken from roof terrace at night

Sadly, this was the end of our trip, as our plane to Nairobi left at 02:00 the next morning.

I hope you have enjoyed the blogs and photos as much as we enjoyed the trip.

Tanzanian Safari part 2 – Selous

After our trip to Serengeti in my last blog, we then travelled to the Selous Park for the next part of our trip. This started with the 150km drive back to Mwanza, a flight to Dar es Salaam, minibus to Dar train station (a wreck of a place) and onto the train to Kisaki. This train actually travels twice a week all the way to Kapiri Mposhi, in Zambia, and takes 2 days.

Our trip should have been a 4 hour trip, but mechanical problems added 2 hours to the trip, so we arrived late at night, tired and hungry.

A quick drive to Sable Mountain Lodge, and dinner, and bed was all we could manage.

Due to the remote location, and the bandas are spread out, a guard with gun had to escort us to our banda.

Next morning, we woke with the dawn, and opened the curtain (no door) to the front of our banda, and WOW!

The bath was outside on a high balcony with the most incredible view

the outdoor bath

our bed

The view from the bath

After a later start we set off for a game drive in the Selous Park.

Mother and baby baboon

Baboon

Baboon school?

Entrance to Selous Game Reserve

Warthog

Mongooses? Mongeese?

Run away, run away

Red Colobus Monkey

Baboons and warthog

Muddy warthog

Elephant

Umbrella tree

We were met by a troop of baboons as we entered the park, and continued to see many animals on our drive.

And lots of birds:

Tawny eagle

Red BilledHornbill

Ground Hornbill

Flying white headed vulture

Grey Go-away Bird

Long-tailed Fiscal

Flying white headed vulture

Hoopoe

dead tree

African Fish Eagle

African Pied Wagtail

Lapwing

Sacred Ibis

African Jakana

Ibis standing on Hippos

Fish Eagle

Giant Kingfisher

Spoonbill

Flight of Glossy Ibis

We stopped for lunch by a large lake, and then took a boat trip amongst the hippos and crocodiles.

Croc

This flying fish leapt into out boat

Mother and baby Hippo

Hippo attacking a crocodile

We were warned about flying fish, and sure enough, one tried 3 times, and eventually leapt into our boat. We saw mother and baby hippos on the banks and lots of crocs.

We then had a quick look at the ‘Bush Rover’ Land Rover Tent, which another couple we met in camp were staying in here overnight. The spiral stairs lead to a bedroom with balcony.

This must be rather exciting, but noisy at night with all of the wildlife.

Fed and watered, we set off driving again, and were lucky enough to meet some kudu, which are normally very shy, plus many more animals and birds.

kudu

Kudu

Eventually, worn out from our ‘African massage’ of a drive, and nearing park closing time, we speedily drove back to camp.

The next morning, as I started getting up, I heard noises above our tent in the banda, and as I went (outside the tent, but under the roof) to the toilet, a bushbaby (galago) ran across the top of the wall!

Sadly, he didn’t stay for a photo shot.

It was another early start, setting back out for a dawn game drive before breakfast.

We saw a lot of zebra, impala and giraffe, and a tree full of black and white colobus monkeys.

black and white colobus monkeys

Giraffe

Zebra crossing

Brown snake eagle

Brown headed parrot

Bee eater

Vervet monkey

Back to camp for breakfast and a lazy morning, then after lunch we set out for a visit to a nearby Masai village, but first we walked down to the tree-house that overlooks the watering hole the camp built, but no wildlife was around. The watering hole takes the water from the camps swimming pool every 3 days, which is drawn fresh from a spring and contains no chemicals.

On route we came across 4 male elephants bathing in a mud hole they had dug right next to the road.

Elephant bath time

Time to go

Mud, mud, glorious mud

The Masai village was interesting. The chief had 3 wives, the second of which is a teacher in their school, and she has insisted he have a brick built house (with solar panel and satellite dish), but other villagers still live in mud and coconut leaf huts.

They showed us the trees they grow and explained their medicinal uses, and then laid out goods they had made for us to buy. The Masai always wear their traditional clothing and the men are allowed to carry their knives in public – we saw a lot of Masai security guards on our later travel.

Masai chief

Masai children

Fence around cattle – they say this confuses lions and keeps them out

a traditional masai hut

Masai goods

Masai baby

We called in at the train station and village where we had arrived, people were waiting for the return train, as they only run twice a week, and it was running several hours late.

On the road back to the camp, we stopped to see some hornbills, when Mbasha noticed a tree full of black and white colobus monkeys, who then leapt from the trees.

Black and White Colobus Monkey

The following morning we had a dawn walking safari, again with an armed guard. Nothing was at the watering hole, but we saw warthog, about 20 water buffalo, and other quick sightings. We also saw some bones from an elephant that was poached for its tusks a few years earlier, and footprints from civet cats, hyena and lions, all only a couple of hundred metres from our lodges.

We walked back uphill to join the river that runs below our camp.

Elephant jaw bone

Bee-eaters

Sadly this was the end of our time in Selous, as we prepared to set off for Zanzibar – keep watching for the next installment.

But not before one last bit of excitement. We were sat in the back of the jeep, and I dropped a water bottle. Mbasha started turning around to pick it up, and stopped, so Ian said he would jump down and fetch it, when Mbasha shouted NO!.

There was a black mamba on the side of the road.

A lucky escape, and we carried on to Zanzibar.

Tanzanian Serengeti

Thompson gazelles, impala, wildebeest, water buffalo, eland…

Grab your passport, camera and anti malaria tablets, we’re off to Tanzania for the next adventure.

As Ian and I have significant birthdays this year and next, we finally booked a safari trip to Tanzania. As part of my presents, I bought a nice new camera, a Nikon D7200, and some decent lenses, and boy! I’m so glad I did.

Our entry to Tanzania was Mwanza airport, a shabby dis-organised affair, and then we were met by our guide, Mbasha, from Explore! and met the rest of our party, Robert, Ann and Amanda, and set off along the road to our first camp. This was a 2 hour drive, and the road is lined almost all of the way with stalls and huts selling assorted produce. If Britain is a nation of shopkeepers, Tanzania is a nation of stall holders.

Our Banda at Little Okavango Camp

Weaver bird nests in the camp

A weaver bird nest

We arrived at the camp, which is set at the edge of the marshes on the Speke Bay in Lake Victoria.

Our accommodation was a tented banda, one of 5, with a comfortable bed, set under trees full of weaver bird nests.

As we had all had a long day, we chilled out in the camp, started some bird watching and enjoyed a beautiful sunset. Ian spotted a monitor lizard enjoying a frog for lunch.

Pied kingfisher

Monitor lizard enjoying a frog

Cordon Bleu

The next morning we were up before sunrise for coffee, then set off to visit a local fishing village for the morning market.

Collecting water from the lake

the fish market

fishermen getting set to leave

bright boats

a sail boat leaving

Marabou Stork, these are always found at rubbish tips and markets

cattle pen

The fishermen are out on the lake through the night, with lamps to attract the fish, and then return at dawn to sell their fish. Even if they are married, their fish are sold to the highest buyer among the women, who then sell on smaller bundles of the fish to local people and traders. Most of the catch are whitebait, but also some lungfish, catfish and their favourite, tilapia. The small fish are either cooked in a stew, or dried.

The fishermen have an assortment of boat, some with sails, a few with motors and the rest rowing boats, all painted bright colours.

We returned to camp for a lazy afternoon, then set off in a handmade canoe for a trip along the canals cut into the reeds by the fishermen.

the flash of a kingfisher diving

flyucathcer

grey flycathcer

a fisherman wading in the canal to remove a large branch blocking our way

the canal

reeds along the canal

White crowned shrike

Malachite kingfisher

Lots of birds to see, as we paddled between the reed and papyrus.

As the sun set back at camp a pair of grey crowned cranes settled in nearby trees.

grey crowned cranes

Our sleep was again disturbed by the sound of nearby farmers scaring elephants from their plots with whistles and shouting, but we never saw the elephants around.

On Wednesday, we were again up at dawn for breakfast, then set off in the jeep to Serengeti Park.

Gate to Serengeti Park

Wildebeest

Gate to Serengeti Park

Helmeted Guinea Fowl

We saw lots of animals and birds, including Thompson gazelles, impala, wildebeest, water buffalo, eland, topi, Hippo, crocodiles, tortoise, baboon, Vervet monkey, giraffe, zebra, warthog, dwarf mongoose, banded mongoose, black backed jackal, hyena and a hare.

Baboon

Male Impala

Wildebeest

Vervet (or blue-balled) monkey

Impala

Giraffe

Hyena

Black-backed jackals

Impala

This giraffe was standing in the road as we turned a corner

and stretch!

Topi

Crocodile

young zebra

Baboon

baby hippo

Topi

Hare

Eland

Thompson gazelle

We also saw many many beautiful birds, and decided that as they are all so colourful, they are names for any monochrome part they might have, so a kingfisher with bright turquoise wings is called a grey headed kingfisher.

Yellow Throated longclaw

Double-banded courser

barbets

Silver bird

Crowned Plover

White Rumped Shrike

Ostrich

Barbet

White crowned shrike

Glossy starling

White crowned shrike

Lilac breasted Roller

African Wattled Lapwing

Glossy starling

Long crested eagle

Lilac breasted Roller

Secretary Bird

Our luckiest siting was as we watched Hippos from a bridge over a watering hole, and Amanda noticed a leopard resting on the bank the other side of the jeep. It crept away once we had seen it, but not before i got a quick shot of it.

As we travelled on, we came into a large open area with a clear watering hole, full of all types of animal, zebra, giraffe, wildebeest, impala etc, plus storks, cranes and geese.

As time was passing we set off back for camp, saying we were still missing a few animals, like Lion, Rhino and Cheetah, but as we approached the gate, I spotted a female lion and 2 cubs by the road. We quickly stopped the jeep and reversed, but she took the cubs into the bush. However Mbasha noticed a young male lion hiding in the bushes.

So we left the park happy, and returned to camp just before a thunderstorm.

Next morning we set off after coffee for a boat trip on the Lake.

Shrike

net fishermen hauling in their drag net

Pied kingfisher

tern

Fisherman on lake

Squacco Heron

Children fetching water

Papyrus

Pied kingfisher

White-throated Bee-eater

swift

a very distant photo of flamingos

Our brunch was served at the top of the lookout tower, with a view to the camp and across the Serengeti Park in the distance.

An afternoon walk gave more bird watching opportunity before the dark clouds and rainbow sent us back to camp for our last dinner in this camp, ready for our travel to the Selous Park. Back soon for that adventure.

White-throated Bee-eater

Rainbow over the reserve

Dragonfly