Tanzania 2019-23: Final birding and heading home

Due to the failure of my Visa expiry date and our booked flights to line up we decided to try and get Qatar airlines to bring forward our flight by a couple of weeks. We were offered May 7th instead of July 1st and had to decide on the spot. We said yes!

So with a much earlier departure date than expected we tried to fit in a few day trips. Over the Easter break we planned a trip to Tarangire NP one day with a night at Africa Safari Glamping followed by a day in Manyara NP the next day. Tarangire was very green following a lot of grass growth. Many of the large mammals had left the park to graze on the extensive wildlife management areas to the east. We saw about 80 species of birds with the highlights being a hepatic female Common Cuckoo, a Black Stork, African Hawk-Eagle, Southern Ground Hornbill, Pygmy Falcon, Northern Pied Babbler and Long-tailed Paradise Whydah. We also saw a family of Cheetahs and had a close encounter with 3 lions that were walking down the road towards us.

Northern White-crowned Shrike

Ashy Starling

Elephants

Lions - when the grass is this long, the road is just easier.

The park was largely empty of tourists and we saw no-one down near Silale Swamp. The usually popular picnic ground there was looking particularly sad and unloved with long grass and upturned picnic tables. Not sure how safe it would be at the moment and we didn't linger. The entry system at all Tanzanian parks is tortuous and getting in today took just on 30 minutes even though there was only one other car at the gate. It's annoying when you get up early to get in the gate early and then have to cool your heels for half an hour while they phaff about.

Africa Safari Glamping was nearly underwater. Lake Manyara, a couple of km away on our previous visits, has come closer and now laps at the steps of the restaurant. The campground and adjacent sporting fields are also underwater. Hippos roam the grounds at night and we were nearly trampled by a herd of Zebra running between the tents. It bucketed down through the night and we were told many of the best birding areas in Manyara NP were also underwater so we decided to give it a miss and headed home instead. The car had not enjoyed the extensive mud and corrugations in Tarangire and was making some interesting noises.

Flooded lodge grounds (from restaurant entrance) with staff houses among trees.

Next we headed off with friend Per Holmen in his Landrover to Magamba Forest Reserve near Lushoto in the West Usambara Mountains. The Usambaras are part of the Eastern Arc Mountain system that hold a large number of endemic plants, birds, insects, reptiles, amphibians and mammals. We camped at the site of an old timber mill high in the forest. It was wet and cool but cosy enough with a campfire and warm sleeping bags. We walked up and down the road from the campsite over 2½ days and saw many of the potential target birds as well as a new chameleon and a new squirrel.

The old saw mill, Magamba Forest

Local bird guide Martin Joho.

Bar-throated Apalis

West Usambara Two-horned Chameleon

Per's Landrover

Dung Beetle action

Over the next couple of weeks our car was serviced, had an oil leak fixed, had tonnes of mud washed from its undercarriage and a new battery installed. We started offering it for sale to everyone who we thought might be interested and quickly realised we were not going to get what we wanted. The large exodus of foreigners since COVID means that the second-hand car market is awash and a 23 year old RAV4 is not worth much at all. We were fully expecting our flights to be cancelled as this seems to have happened to many stranded Aussies as airlines try to encourage the purchase of Buisness Class seats. Therefore we wanted to sell the car with a clause that said we would hang on to it if our flights were indeed cancelled.

A further complication to our getting home was the fact that Jenny's passport had less than 6-months on it before the expiry date. She did a quick 2 night trip to Nairobi (where Australia's nearest High Commission is) to apply for a new one and while she was there Kenya went into a lockdown. Eventually the new passport arrived from Australia but how to get it? The country was still in lockdown and local couriers couldn't guarantee getting the passport back to Arusha in time for our flights. So she decided to try to get home with her nearly expired passport.

We had a last trip to Arusha National Park. It was cold, wet and misty when we arrived. I decided my best chance of getting my 700th bird species for Tanzania was in the high forest areas of the park but mud and mist put paid to that. We ended up seeing 82 species of birds but nothing new so I am stuck on 699 for the country. Highlights were Scaly Spurfowl, Grey Crowned Crane, Flamingos, a Crowned Eagle, Common Scimitarbill, Pallid Honeyguide, Placid Greenbul, Black-faced Waxbill and Southern Citril. We enjoyed the mammals (no elephants on this visit however). Many species had babies with several newborn Giraffe and Zebra. Again we had the park nearly to ourselves and only saw a couple of tourist cars late in the afternooon. On the way home from the park we caught up briefly with friends Per and Selvine in Usa River and then went into town for Sunday dinner with Jenny's work colleagues.

Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater snuggling for warmth.

Olive Baboon baby.

Brand-new Giraffes

Augur Buzzard

White-fronted Bee-eater

Moustached Grass Warbler

Crowned Eagle - East Africa's most powerful raptor.

With a week to go before departure (still no cancelled flights) we moved out of our cottage and into the loft apartment. Landlord Paul had found a tenant for the cottage and she wanted to move in before we were to leave. The loft is a lovely space set above several shipping containers that serve as Paul's storage and office space. With little to do but check for emails for Qatar Airlines every five minutes we sorted out what we could take home and what we would have to leave behind.

We moved from Bamboo Cottage to ...

... the loft.

I went birding with James Nasary, Izack and Lawrencia from the bird club and Melissa Eager from a mission in Ngaramtoni. We went to several areas of acacia woodland near Oldonyo Sambu village but I still couldn't get a new bird species. We did see some great birds though: Horus Swift, Black-throated Barbet, Foxy Lark, Hildebrandt's Starling, Abyssinian Wheatear and Grey-headed Silverbill.

Abyssinian Wheatear

Grey-headed Silverbill

With some financial help from us James has embarked on a poultry (egg) business at his home in Kikatiti. We organised him to attend a training day at my old workplace - ECHO - and to meet with an expert to get advice on where to buy the best birds. He has already purchased 20 hybrid layer hens and is about to buy another 20. As they generate eggs for sale he will eventually get to 100 birds and this will provide a good income for him during these lean times for safari/birding guides.

So finally the day came and we packed our bags one last time and headed to the airport in early evening of the 7th. All went smoothly except for a warning not to exceed the baggage weight limit again! No-one queried Jenny's nearly expired passport. We had the precious boarding passes for both legs of our journey to Melbourne. Six hours up to Doha, 13 hours wait in the airport and then a 14 hour flight to Melbourne. Forty weary but happy passengers arrived on schedule at Tullamarine on a plane built to carry 400. Three hours later (most spent sitting on a quarantine bus) and much officialdom negotiated we were in our quarantine hotel. We had been following the Hotel Quarantine Melbourne Facebook group so were well aware that some hotels were great, some were not. We had no choice in the matter but somehow ended up at the Pan Pacific in South Wharf - a huge, corner suite (normally $600 per night) with 270° views from Coode Island in the west, along the Yarra to Princes Bridge in the east and south to the bay near Albert Park. The food provided is excellent, varied and plentiful. The only complaint is the price they charge for a bottle of red. I'm not paying $65 a bottle! Apart from this deprivation I reckon we will last the journey. Once out we will spend a couple of days catching up with Dad and David, then head home for a couple of weeks with Toby before heading to Hobart for a much overdue catch-up with Liz and Sophie.