Tuesday, November 4
Election Day!
Up at 5:15 today because we're heading out on our first safari. Andrew, Susie, Jack and I went with Freddie to Tarangire National Park. It was about a 2 hour drive to get there - back out from the village on one of the bumpiest roads I have ever been on, past Karatu, down the Rift into the Valley, past Menyara and back towards Arusha. Then right - south/west towards Tarangire.
Even though we left early, it was HOT! The top of Freddie's jeep flipped off so we could stand on our seats to see the wildlife. We saw lots of elephants, zebras, wildebeests, giraffes, gazelles, impalas, orynx, watre bucks, egyptian geese, an ostrich, a lizard, mongoose, monkeys and birds, birds, birds!
Susie knows here birds and that was just great to be with her. She also had this great field guide to birds in Kenya and Northern Tanzania that had them all! Jack even turned out to have eagle eyes (thanks to his contacts) and was a GREAT bird spotter. Here is a list of the different kinds we saw:
- Fisher's Lovebird
- Yellow Necked Spurfowl
- Red Necked Spurfowl
- African Pied Wagtail
- Blacksmith Plover
- Lilac-breasted Roller
- Egyptian Goose
- White winged Stilt
- Red Billed Buffalo weaver
- White bellied tit
- Black Stork
- Yellow Collared lovebird
- Ashy Starling
- Superb Starling
- Grey Heron
- Bateleur eagle
- African Fish eagle
- Hammer Kop
- Namagua dove
- Ringnecked dove
- Verreaux's eagle owl
- White backed vulture
They were all so beautiful - the blues, greens, reds etc of these birds is truly amazing to see against the dry grasses of the Tarangire.
We stopped for lunch at a picnic site and had out egg salad sandwiches that Elias had made us. We were all so hot and were getting far too much sun - even though we were applying sunscreen all the time.
Freddie suggested we grab a cold soda at the Tarangire Lodge - WOW! What a place. The view over the park was just fantastic and they even had a pool, which we would have all loved to have had a splash in.
Headed back to the Village with a stop in Karatu - I wanted to get more drinks and a couple snacks for next weeks safaris.
That road back in to the Village is just killer - wait until you see the photos!
We had a great day and both went to bed by 9:00 pm -wondering how the voting was going back home.
1 comment:
Can you say ...jealous!! What an amazing adventure -- can't believe you can actually remember all the wildlife you saw -- that is quite a list.
All is going well here in VT -- it is a rainy Monday.
Can't wait to see all your photos -- Michelle
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