Time to head back to Dar es Salaam on Thursday. I had a quick look at the snake museum next to the hotel before the departure. The warden woke some of them up by poking them with a long stick. The queues at the weigh bridge were quite amazing. Many of the lorries are second-hand and from the UK. It is quite strange to see familiar hauliers’ names in East Africa. We passed the sisal plantations we saw on the outward journey and there was very little traffic compared with that first journey. We had to squeeze past an accident where those involved were having a vociferous argument. Back at the Dar hotel, there was a conference in full swing on globalisation and sustainability. Not sure how they square that circle. The hippy count is much higher than the average medical conference and there were lots of people in the bar staring at their laptops. There was Ibiza-style music from the bar until 11pm. On our last day we took a trip to Mbudya Island and had a relaxing time on the beach and wandering around the island which is a nature island. It was low tide so we had to wade out to the boat. The water near the shore was quite brown and cloudy but cleared to brilliant blue further out. Once on the island I did some beach combing. Lunch arrived (freshly caught fish) and later reappeared as fish and chips.
Back on dry land we had dinner with Elwyin who was leaving at 4am the next morning to drive back to Malawi. Our nightcap was on the pier. We were turfed out of our rooms fairly early the next morning by the cleaners so sat in the cool reception awaiting our taxi. The booked one failed to appear so we spotted the driver who had picked us up at the start of the trip. He got us to the airport in time via some back roads in much less time than expected. Once we were airborne, we flew over Zanzibar as I listened to music. As the sun set we left the Indian Ocean to fly over Somalia and then on to Dubai. After three hours between flights, I had discovered a paper without a sport section. Now we are back home with the washing machine on overtime and trying to settle back into the world of work and planning the next trip.
Tag: Tanzania
Mikumi National Park
Mikumi National Park is a grassland plateau studded with trees and surrounded by mountains. There are vast herds of impala and wildebeest (and lots of tsetse flies). Having seen lionesses the previous evening, we were keen to see more lions but did not expect to find a male lion sitting on the road very soon after we entered the park. There were Cape Buffalo, water buck, jackals, more hippos, crocodiles and mongooses. Maribou storks were feeding among the impalas and we also saw a number of ground hornbills and heard their curious calls. Bright red bishop birds flitted among the bushes and trees. After leaving the park and heading back to the hotel along the road that bisects it, we wondered why a van was parked by the side of the road. James glanced at it as we passed and shouted ‘lion cubs!’. There were four, about 3-4 months old with no mother in sight, playing on the grass verge. In the late afternoon we did another circuit and spotted a large number of birds. I will be checking my list against the Tanzania Bird Atlas in case I can add a location for any birds that they are monitoring. Spent the evening packing up for our return to Dar the next morning.
Udzungwa to Mikumi
The drive back to Mikumi took only two hours as there was far less traffic than on the outward journey and Elwyin had got used to dodging the potholes. We fed the remaining sandwiches from yesterday’s lunch to the local baboons who were very appreciative. We checked into the Genesis Motel again and after a short rest went out for our first foray into Mikumi National Park. It is a grassland plateau surrounded by mountains and studded with trees. Impala and wildebeest abound and are often in much larger herds than we saw at Ruaha. We also spotted Cape Buffalo, water buck and troops of baboons. Maribou Storks were among the impalas, feeding on grasshoppers disturbed by their grazing in the long grass. There were crocodiles and hippos in the pool and groups of ground hornbills with their curious calls. We had turned round and were heading towards the exit and leave the park when we suddenly spotted a pair of lionesses in a tree close to the park headquarters. They were alert and listening to the staff trying to dissuade an elephant from entering the area. They eventually had to fire a shot in the air. We took some photographs and then headed back to the hotel for dinner, hoping to see more lions the next day.
Udzungwa
We could not pick up our guide at the Park HQ until 8am and there was then a 10 kilometre drive to the trailhead for the Sanje Falls. So it was around 9am when we started to walk and getting pretty hot and humid. The trail was steep uphill in zigzags and before I had gone too far, felt quite light-headed. This was a bit surprising, as I have done plenty of trekking in hot and humid conditions. Everyone said I looked quite grey so I plodded slowly to the first picnic table and rested while the others went on to the pool at the foot and right up to the top of the falls. Although swimming is allowed, they decided the water was too cold. I sat and had a great view of the falls and two Egyptian Vultures who flew past me. The others came back down for lunch with me and we then descended and drove back to the hotel for a siesta. It soon became apparent that I had a viral infection so other than packing for the next days journey, I rested.
Mikumi to Udzungwa
On Saturday I awoke in the banda before the alarm. I had heard hippo noises and hyenas laughing in the night. Wandering over to the river, I could see five hippos including two youngsters on the island and the male circling around the island to protect them from crocodiles. After breakfast we said goodbye to the local staff and after dropping the empty beer bottles at the shop for reuse, headed off back towards Iringa. At one ford we saw the local ambulance being washed and many local people were selling firewood by the road. The Greek Orthodox Church seems to be quite a presence in this area with several churches as we neared Iringa. We just made it before the bank closed as Elwyin had to change some dollars. So far, the only felines seen have been two domestic cats. One was hunting over the road from the café and having failed to catch her prey, wandered over to scrounge from us. Fortified with samosas and a quick trip to the market for essentials, we set off for Mikumi, described in the guidebook as having ‘the air of a truck stop’. The road descended through a gorge and into a valley where many crops are grown and the roadside stalls are piled high with onions, tomatoes and charcoal. Wood left over from the forestry industry is being made into boxes to transport the produce. About 75km from Mikumi, the exhaust developed an alarming rattle. Elwyin checked it (he was a mechanic in a previous life) and said we could proceed and he hoped to get it fixed in Mikumi. On the way out we had thought that some of the stalls were selling salt as they had sacks of a crystalline white substance for sale. These turned out to be quartz, used decoratively in gardens. Closer to Mikumi, the road surface deteriorated with huge ruts made by overweight HGVs. It was being repaired. Our motel was the other side of town and felt a bit like being in a service station close to a busy motorway due to the sound of trucks passing. The courtyards were filled with tropical plants and there was a welcome fan in the room that made up for this. James was happy as there was a TV and some crucial football match was on. Elwyin managed to find someone to weld the split in the exhaust. On Sunday morning we decided to go the 10am service at the local Anglican church. One of the hotel staff took us in his car. The congregation was very friendly but the service was in Swahili so I contented myself with humming along with the hymns. Morning worship took two hours so we were somewhat relieved that it was not communion. A quick change back at the motel and we were on the road south to the Udzungwa Mountains. The first part is paved but the last 23km is a heavily rutted road that took a considerable time to navigate. The area is noted for sugarcane growing and there were stalls selling it and also bananas. At one spot baboons were doing their best to steal the produce but were being dissuaded by small children with sticks. We did buy some corn on the cob (mealies) and enjoyed that. Other children were asking for mia (money) every time we had to slow down to negotiate a pot hole. We arrived at our hotel and asked for a late lunch, which was finally eaten at about 4pm. A short walk to the village we stocked up on provisions for our lunch the next day and then checked at the National Park HQ that a guide would be available for our hike the next day as you cannot go without one. In the grounds we saw a Black and White Colobus, the Iringa Red Colobus only found in these parts and a Sykes monkey.
Iringa to Ruaha
After the food shopping was completed at the market, a coffee stop and some purchases at Neema Crafts (a workshop, shop and café run by people with disabilities) we were on our way to the Ruaha Game Park. Very soon the tarmac gave out and the red, sandy road stretched ahead for miles. At every hill, there was more road to be seen with blue mountains in the background. We were entering Maasai country and at one point, a herdsman with his cows and goats crossed in front of us. It was clear, that in the rainy season, large amounts of water would come down this road and there were run-offs into the forest. We began to see glimpses of wildlife, including red-billed hornbills, a vervet monkey and copious amounts of elephant dung. Suddenly, there were several giraffes in the road in front of us. Once in the National Park there were impala, giraffe and elephants easily visible from the road.
We settled into our bandas on the banks of the Greater Ruaha River and that same evening the park staff had to frighten away two elephants trying to enter the site. The next two days were spent on driving around the park or sitting in the gazebos outside watching the birds and animals. On the first drive out we saw an elephant family trying to cross the river with the adults holding up the baby when they came to a deeper part. There are innumerable giraffes, zebras, impalas and elephants, plus we have seen baboons and monkeys, jackals, mongooses, Grants gazelles, water buck, kudu, crocodiles, warthogs and the birdlife is amazing. No big cats as yet. So far, we have seen one other group staying at the bandas but otherwise we have the place to our guide and ourselves. Many of the animals are easy to see at close hand so despite discovering on the second day of the trip that my 13 year old telephoto lens is not working, I still have some good shots. Tomorrow we leave for Mikumi via Iringa and then on to the Udzungwa Mountains where the biodiversity is even greater. Settling down to sleep now with the hippos grunting down at the river.
Dar es Salaam
We woke to sunshine and some patches of blue sky. The rivers we had crossed on Saturday night had receded considerably and most places were drying out. After recovering from our flight by the ocean we it was time to explore the city centre. We saw very few Europeans and then only in cafes and mostly embassy staff. From the main streets we wandered into the National Museum where there are some early human remains discovered by the Leakeys in Olduvai Gorge, a good anthropological section and some modern African Art. Then on down busy streets towards the fish market which was in full swing: a riot of colour, sounds and smells. Men were emerging carrying red snapper and king fish and all around people were bargaining for fish. Beyond it were boats on the beach and in the distance, a long queue of container ships waiting to enter the port. I walked along the path away from the market aiming to get a photo of activities on the beach but was warned by a man not to take any as this road backed onto the government buildings and the police would not be happy. Back in town we found our taxi and slowly made our way back to the hotel, hawkers passing at every junction where the traffic slowed. Some people did pester us in the streets, to buy things or have them guide us but generally not a huge problem and they seemed more polite and less persistent than those encountered in northern Africa. Back at the beach, the clouds were now higher and a walk along the sand was essential in the very short twilight before nightfall. The pier seem to have a problem with their lighting tonight. As they seemed to have standard electrical sockets exposed to water, this was not surprising. Now its time to pack up for an early start to Iringa tomorrow.
At the ocean
Today was spent recovering from our journey by the beach. As it was over 20 years since my last dip in the Indian Ocean, that was a must after breakfast and a walk alongside the water. The beach was littered with plastic debris which had washed up and it was difficult to know whether this was a regular occurrence or whether the recent torrential rains and floods further south in South Africa and Botswana have disturbed the circulation of water and waste. The sea was warm but very shallow, inside the reef. Men were fishing for sardines from the shore with large nets, others were digging for crabs and cleaning the beach. We saw a heron and are still trying to identify it as we cannot see it in the bird books we have. There are many Indian House Crows and House Sparrows, both of which have been introduced. After a dip in the pool we then met with a friend Barry had not seen for 38 years, his wife and daughter. Kim is a biologist and told us about the recent discoveries of new species (a primate and a bird) in the Udzungwa Mountains where we are headed for in a few days time. After that we had a siesta and in the evening met our guide Elwyin. He had driven up from Malawi and had a twelve hour wait to cross the border due to a dispute between the two countries over who owns certain parts of the lake. We had a run through of our itinerary over a beer: he then left for a much-needed rest and we had dinner followed by a walk along the jetty for a nightcap. The tide had come in and from the jetty we could see dozens of very small crabs scuttling about on the sand. Tomorrow we will explore the city. 
To Tanzania
Manchester Airport late afternoon and evening was much quieter than our usual early morning departures. Other than an over-zealous member of security staff creating a backlog of women waiting to be screened, we met up with Heather and Barry and completed the journey to Dubai without to many problems. The time it takes to travel on the bus from the plane to the terminal past acres of concrete only serves to emphasise the amount of energy it takes to keep this city going in a desert. Parts are reminiscent of Los Angeles: concrete, palm trees and oleander. The second leg to Dar es Salaam was better as I had a window seat and three crosswords to tackle with varying success (the New York Times International, the FT Weekend and the Times Middle East & Asia). We flew over the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, the Gulf of Aden and Somalia. Once we reached Kenya it was much greener but as we then flew over the sea, we were too far east to catch a glimpse of Kilimanjaro above the clouds. Having landed in Dar, there was a long wait for our bags and a longer drive to the ocean and our hotel. Tomorrow, a lazy day on the beach devouring guide books and plotting the rest of the trip, is planned, lunch with a friend of Barry’s and at some point a visit to the coral reef islands we saw from above.