On to Tarangire National Park

On Wednesday, July 8th, we left the beautiful Arusha Coffee Lodge to travel to the Tarangire National Park. We were driven to the Arusha Airport first.

This airport is for local flights only, nothing international. It's pretty spartan, as you can see.

 

 

We were escorted out to our very own 6-seater Cessna Grand Caravan, piloted by Jose, from northern Spain of all places!

 

 

We landed 20 minutes later at Kuro Airstrip, a dirt runway at the edge of Tarangire National Park.

 

 

 

We were greeted with cold towels and juice drinks first.

 

The six of us loaded up in this safari land cruiser along with all our luggage.

 

 

 

One of the first things we saw was this tree dotting the park everywhere we looked. It's an umbrella acacia tree.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And shortly after we were underway, we got a flat tire!!! But, as our driver Elly was prepared with two spares, we got fixed up in no time!

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a shot of an African dik dik, the smallest of all antelopes.

 

 

I love this photo because it is so typical of the views we have seen here in Tarangire National Park. There are more than 3,500 elephants in the park.

 

 

We saw starlings down in South Africa, but this one here in Tarangire has more dramatic coloring.

 

 

After driving around looking at animals for awhile, we stopped for lunch, complete with hot soup, fried chicken, various salads, and a variety of beverages.

 

 

I know I've already posted many photos of elephants, but I couldn't resist this one of the baby and its mother.

 

 

I have been waiting patiently to see a herd of wildebeasts, and today I was rewarded!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a video clip of the above herd of wildebeasts that somehow got spooked and took off running! To watch it, go to goldentrailsofafrica.blogspot.com

Here's a video of two young bull elephants fighting! Eventually the one on the left retreats.

We saw this herd of zebra grazing under a baobab tree. These trees can be 1000-2000 years old growing very slowly. Sometimes called the tree of life, they hold a lot of water, and elephants love the bark. Older baobabs sometimes are hollow inside, and poachers have hidden in them from the national park police.

 

 

 

When we arrived at the Tarangire Treetops Lodge, we were greeted by Nicholas, our personal butler offering cold towels for a quick cleanup.

 

 

This photo shows the inside of the reception/dining area.

 

 

All rooms are built around a baobab tree with a circular staircase rising to the room consisting of a large bedroom, a separate bathroom with shower and dual sinks, and a balcony overlooking the bush.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This view shows the balcony and the door to the room.

 

 

 

Here's a shot of the bathroom.

 

 

Here is a view from our balcony looking at another room attached to another baobab tree.

 

 

And this is the central lodge area for dining and the reception area. There is also a small zero edge pool!

 

 

After dinner, when guests retire to their rooms, they must be escorted if it's after dark for safety reasons. Once you are safely "tucked away" up in your room, the escort closes this door on the circular stairway so that animals cannot get up to your room!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Victoria Falls

I've always wanted to see Victoria Falls and compare them to Niagara and Iguazú in Argentina. Niagara is the smallest in height, width, and volume of water. Victoria is the highest only, while Iguazú is the widest and carries the most water volume. Victoria's height is 354 feet. Width is 5577 feet, wider than a mile. For comparison, Iguazú is 8858 feet wide and 275 feet high.

This is a shot of the back of the Victoria Falls Hotel facing the falls, built in 1904, and visitors arrived via steam train from Bulawayo. It's now a beautiful Victorian-style hotel with high ceilings, but originally it was a tin roof structure built for the engineers that built the bridge spanning the Zambezi River between Zimbabwe and Zambia.

 

 

This photo was taken on the back terrace where we had lunch the first day we arrived.

 

 

 

 

 

One of the interior courtyards where herbs are grown for the kitchen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the view from the back of the hotel looking toward the falls, which can be identified by al the rising mist. You can also see the bridge between Zimbabwe and Zambia. The bridge was built in England and shipped to Africa. It was constructed from either side and connected in 1905. Quite an engineering project for the time period, pre-dating most major bridges in the United States.

 

One evening we went out to an elephant preserve. After a brief introduction, they had a surprise waiting for us out on the veranda. This cheetah 's mother died while it was still a young cub; it's eyes not even open yet. It's mother never had the opportunity to teach it to hunt, so they use it as a mascot for the camp. They named him Sylvester.

 

 

 

Sylvester is fully grown now. He is surprisingly lean and yet still huge.

 

 

 

On Saturday, July 4th, we started our day with a walk along the opposite side of the falls. We were given ponchos and told that it would be wet from the mist. It was more like a monsoon, and people without ponchos were soaked. Some of the walk was dry, but, for the most part, it was a drenching rain-like mist that fell on us. I protected my camera with the poncho.

 

 

 

There were plenty of opportunities to get some good shots, and each turnoff from the main pathway offered a different amazing view

 

 

 

 

 

Another shot from a different angle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a close-up view of the bridge connecting Zambia with Zimbabwe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here I had to climb out on some slippery rocks to get this shot. Some people were climbing way out to the very edge and posing for photos. I took a more conservative position away from the precipice.

 

 

 

 

We had the good fortune to be able to take a helicopter ride over the falls and surrounding areas. It was a 25- minute ride of a lifetime! From here you can see most of the falls and even the international bridge.

 

 

This photo shows the mighty Zambezi River just before the falls. It's hard to imagine that the falls dry up almost completely by the end of the dry season which is in November.

 

And here's a video clip of part of the ride!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Visit to an African Village

On Thursday, July 2nd, we went to visit a local village. This is an authentic village that is not a usual stop on any tourist's itinerary. Amawaterways has supported it by providing the funds to build a protected vegetable garden. Others have offered help for water. The second son of the town elder was our tour guide and helped us understand their way of life. Later we visited a small market area where there was singing and dancing followed by some time to buy some of their crafts.

A general shot of the village. Each house is protected by a reed wall.

They use cow dung mixed with mud to make their stucco walls. Dung is also used in fires for cooking.

 

Reeds are also used in the mud/dung mix to reinforce their house walls much like we use rebar.

 

Here is the vegetable garden that Amawaterways helped finance.

 

 

This photo shows the town elder's wife with some of her grandchildren.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the town elder together with his second son, the one who gave us our tour.

 

Linda brought a bag of candy and offered it to the elder's first son who will become the new town elder when his father passes on. The kids were so excited about the candy, and they lined up to get their piece!

 

Here is a video of the second son dancing with another woman. One child keeps wanting to get involved!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Farewell Dinner on the Zambezi Queen

On Thursday, July 3rd, the crew of the Zambezi Queen offered us a farewell dinner with an African theme. After dinner, they entertained us with singing and dancing. They even got a few of us passengers out on the line dance floor, including Linda.

 

 

 

 

The first video is the beginning of the show. It's kind of long, but if you look closely, you'll see Linda in her little red skirt. The man playing the large drum is the captain of the Zambezi Queen.

 

Later they sang some songs. Here's an example.

 

Animals of all Kinds

Botswana and Namibia are rich in wildlife of all kinds. Here is a mix of what we've seen.

Hippo skin is very sensitive to the sun. Therefore, they spend most of the time in the water. We were able to capture several shots with hippos on the shore. Here, you can see how large they are compared to their babies.

 

 

There are crocodiles hiding out all along the water's edge just waiting for an unsuspecting animal of any kind.

 

This monster of a croc was hanging out by the water on our way back from a morning water safari.

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are dozens of bird species in this part of the world. Here are some shots of just a few of what we saw.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This one is a fish eagle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here we caught a kingfisher along the banks of the Chobe.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We certainly lucked out when we saw this one! It's a lilac breasted roller. The colors are so dramatic!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

And this one's called a yellow-billed stork.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This shot is little different. It's a termite hill. We saw them all over the Chobe National Park. Some are active, like this one, and others are dried up. Some get to be 9 meters high!

 

The safari land cruisers we were in were equipped with radios so the drivers could talk to each other about the animals they found. We were looking all over for lions and leopards, but were having no luck. Right before lunch we heard there was a female with four cubs about 25 yards off the road. We drove in and found them. This shot is of the mother laying on her back, partially hidden by the foliage.

 

 

We drove around to the other side and caught this shot of one of the cubs. The driver estimated his/her age at 3-4 months.

 

 

 

 

 

 

One late afternoon we came upon a herd of African buffalos.

 

 

We had a picnic lunch out by the shore of the Chobe river. The guides had to continually throw stones at the baboons to keep them away. They were in stealth mode that afternoon, because one woman turned her back for a second and a baboon swooped in and stole her apple.

 

 

 

 

Probably the most prevalent animal we saw was the impala. One time we saw a herd of maybe 100-200 animals all in one place.

 

 

These impalas are so regal looking with their horns!

 

 

We saw many giraffes in Chobe National Park.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Check out those lips!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After lunch we came upon a group of kudu eating off of some trees.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kudu belong to the antelope family and are a little larger than the impalas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Check out the horns on this male!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a black sable, from the horse family according to our guide. They are extremely rare, an endangered species.

 

 

 

 

 

As we headed back to the Zambezi Queen we were greeted by this sight!!!