Settling into a routine

Two weeks in now and we have settled in to our loft apartment in Sakina, Arusha.  There has been an effort to name streets in our area with new yellow signs appearing at intersections.  The road up from the highway is Sakina Avenue and our road is Bendera Street.  We’ll have house numbers and letter boxes next.

We had a nice relaxing stay in the African Tulip hotel for a few days initially but were keen to get to our house and start setting things up how we like them.  We left so much stuff behind in 2021 and much of this we have written off and will be buying again.  We have learned to manage with less here.  One surprise is that the loft kitchen has hot water.  We’ve never had this luxury in our East Africa houses before.

Our spacious loft apartment.

The kitchen looks a bit spartan but has hot water!!

It is extremely dry here at the moment.  The short wet season usually starts in October-November and it can’t come soon enough.  We much prefer mud to dust.

Since we were here last 18 months ago, our friend and landlord Paul Oliver has died and with amazing generosity donated the property to an NGO devoted to stopping the poaching of wildlife.  Most of our neighbours in the compound are working with the NGO so we have a frog/reptile expert and a botanist to consult with.  Quite a few non-native trees have been removed and new, indigenous trees are being planted.  The huge bamboo clump outside our former home - Bamboo Cottage - has been removed and the site is now a frog pond complete with water lilies.  Soon after dusk each night we are serenaded by at least two species of frogs.  Paul would have approved I’m sure.

With the new frog pond Bamboo Cottage (left) needs a new name.

Despite the dry conditions the garden is full of birds and I have added to the bird list with Pin-tailed Whydah, Pallid Honeyguide, Bronze Mannikin, Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove and Common Nightingale (new for me).  The Squirrels and Sunbirds in particular have increased dramatically in our absence.  Apparently we also host several Genets but we haven’t seen any sign of them yet.

There are many Ochre Bush Squirrels around and they are endlessly entertaining.

Flocks of Pale White-eyes are present at the moment.

This Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove is a new bird for the garden.

Jenny has been back at work a week (a new 6-month assignment with the Australian Volunteers Program at Olkokola Catholic Mission) and is happy with the way most things have been going in her absence.  She has some tweaking to do and a couple of initiatives to introduce.

I made contact with a local birder and joined him and some others to the Oldonyo Sambu area to our north-west.  It was again quite dry but we had a great few hours and I eventually started to remember the names of the birds.  One new one for me was Little Rock Thrush.  This is mostly a Kenyan species but appears to be extending its range south and has been regularly seen in the area since we were last here.  Maybe climate change?  Not a species that would be likely to be overlooked.

Abyssinian Scimitarbill

Red-throated Tit

Red-faced Crombec

Our friend Stanley has been looking after our old Toyota RAV4 and he returned it in excellent condition - spotlessly clean and complete with window tinting, seat covers, a steering wheel cover and a nasty looking club under the drivers seat.

So all positive for the first two weeks.  We will have a day in Arusha National Park tomorrow before starting week 3.