Birds, a rat and our mountain.

We've had a quiet couple of weeks.  Work and home only.  I had a cold the first week and Jenny has it now (mine was worse).  Last weekend and this we barely ventured out.  Only a trip to the supermarket and a couple of walks down through our local shopping area for fruit and veg.

One shopping highlight is the opening last week of the new Sakina Supermarket.  The old one was a landmark and we still describe where we live in reference to the old location even though it has been closed for quite a while (before we arrived at least).  A while back, shutters went up and then suddenly the new shop was opened.  We popped in to check it out last weekend.  Not fully stocked yet but looking promising for many things we need.

We've had another rat.  It was popping in each evening after lights out but we have been careful not to leave any food out.  Everything is either in cupboards or containers.  I had my lunchbox on the counter with a frozen, home-made bread roll in it to thaw overnight.  The rat made a great attempt to get my roll so next night we set a trap and dispatched it.  So far none have come back.

This is quite tough plastic!

On Monday we came home and the Arrow-marked Babbler family was more than usually agitated about something in the garden.  I went to investigate and found a Spotted Eagle-Owl roosting on a water tank ignoring the Babblers.  It posed for several photos.  I assume it is still around somewhere but haven't seen it again (or heard it during the night).  A common bird but the first one for me.  Hope it stays to eat a few rats.

Spotted Eagle-Owl

I noticed a large nest that had appeared suddenly in one of the Acacias in the garden.  Landlord Paul told me that African Goshawks had nested before in the garden so that's what I assume these are.  I photographed a male near the nest on a couple of occasions but wasn't sure that it was an African Goshawk as it looked a bit small.  I put photos on the Facebook Tanzania birding page and others seem to think it is AG so we'll go with that for now at least.  It will be fun watching the chicks when they hatch in a month or so.

Almost certainly a male African Goshawk but what is it eating? A rat perhaps?

Our mountain has been showing off lately with clear skies.  Hopefully we will see snow on it one day - probably early in the next wet season.  It is about 12 km away in the photos below.

View from our friend Phil's house above Ngaramtoni.

View from Jenny's work at Olkokola (over the cowsheds).

Visa progress and Tarangire National Park

Our visa situation has improved.  Jenny has a stamp in her passport saying she can work (as a missionary!) and I have a new tourist visa (good now to October 1st) and my name is on the list of approved work permits.  Hopefully soon I will receive a letter acknowledging my work permit and then we can both get our residence visas.  I went to work every day last week (except Friday) and no longer worry every time a car comes into the grounds.

Huge old Baobabs are features of the park - but where are the new ones?

Part of a large mixed herd of Wildebeest and Zebra heading to water.

The only Secretarybird we saw.

Yellow-throated Sandgrouse - a lifer for me.

Ostrich are commonly seen in small numbers.

On Friday we went to Tarangire NP for two nights.  It is only two hours from home and a relatively easy drive - bitumen except for the last few km to the park entrance.  We arrived about 0930 and drove some tracks for a couple of hours before arriving at the Safari Lodge for lunch.  After lunch we drove more trails then did a big drive to Silale Swamp on Saturday.  The internal roads are often rough with lots of small rocks so we take it much slower than the many safari trucks.  Each afternoon we were back about 1700 for a swim (Jenny) and a beer (me) before dinner at 1900.

One can get quite close to elephants.

Rüppell's Vulture

Three-banded Plover

Yellow-spotted Hyrax

Double-banded Courser

On Saturday's drive we were heading back from Silale Swamp and came across about 6-7 safari trucks stopped together.  We stopped too and managed to see one of seven lions in the long grass before one of the other drivers indicated we had a flat tyre (rear passenger side).  Question: how do you change a tire when there are seven lions 100 m away in waist-high grass? Answer: as quickly as possible.  We drove a bit further away and one of the safari truck drivers very kindly helped so it didn't take long but we were all nervous and asked the other people to watch the lions carefully.

Giraffe were not often seen.

Von der Decken's Hornbill.  These two stole snacks from people having sundowners.

Unstriped Ground Squirrel at their burrow near our tent.

Zebra were everywhere.

Tarangire Safari Lodge is seriously pleasant.  We had a cosy tent with Dikdiks, Waterbuck and Ground Squirrels roaming around.  Each night we could hear a lion roaring not too far away.  The outdoor sundowner area has probably the best view of any lodge we've been to - over the Tarangire River with Elephant, Giraffe, Zebra etc. coming and going constantly.  Great food and friendly attentive staff - what more could you want?  This visit it was at near capacity but everything ran smoothly at meal times.  Our spare tire was not as inflated as it might have been so we asked for air on Sunday morning and the lodge mechanic promptly turned up with a compressor.  Then we looked at the punctured tire and found a ridiculously small screw embedded.  All the km of stony roads and we were brought undone by a screw!  The mechanic fixed our tire as well (no charge) so we were soon on our way with no need to find a tire repair place on the way home.

Red-and-yellow Barbet on a termite mound.

Spotted Thick-knee

We saw 118 bird species and many mammals.  Best birds were Yellow-throated Sandgrouse (lifer), Ostrich, Yellow-necked Spurfowl, White-bellied Bustard, Namaqua Dove, Saddle-billed Stork, Glossy Ibis, Secretarybird, Rüppell's Vulture, Martial Eagle, Pearl-spotted Owlet, African Hoopoe, D'Arnaud's Barbet, Bearded Woodpecker, Pygmy Falcon, Banded Martin, Northern Pied Babbler, Silverbird, Chestnut Swallow, White-headed Buffalo Weaver, Red-headed Weaver and Green-winged Pytilia.  Mammals included many Elephants, Zebra, Wildebeest and smaller numbers of Buffalo, Giraffe, Impala, Eland and Gazelle.  We also saw several Mongoose, Squirrel, Rock Hyrax, a Lion and a road-killed small, spotty cat (Genet, Serval or similar).  Still no Leopard!

White-headed Buffalo Weaver

Back to work tomorrow - no plans for more safaris until late September when friends are coming from Warrnambool and we hope to go with them to Lake Natron for a few days.

Elephants wading in Silale Swamp.

Two contrasting bushwalks and a few unrelated incidents

Lower slopes of Mount Meru above Tengeru

There's a group called the Twende Hiking Group (twende means "let's go!").  Every Sunday they organise a 4-5 hour walk to a different location around Arusha.  Jenny went on quite a few of these when she lived here in 2014/5.  Last Sunday we went on one with about 15 other folk, (locals and expats) to the steep farming land and bush above Tengeru (near Usa River).  This is on the lower slopes of Mount Meru.  I took my binoculars.  Turns out this was more of a forced march than a walk, I hardly saw a bird and was knackered for a day or so afterwards.  We walked about 12 km in 4 hours.

Potato crop.

A contour drain to stop erosion on these steep slopes.

Looking south over Tengeru town.

There's another group called the Attraction Birding Club which comprises a handful of young, local aspiring bird guides.  I corresponded with James Nasary during the week and we arranged an outing to Oldonyo Sambu about 30 km nw of Arusha on the highway to Kenya.  OS is a small village with a weekly market (lots of Maasai come to trade sheep, goats and cattle as well as the usual market food and goods).  Above the town is a large stony hill covered in good quality Acacia woodland and this is where we went birding with James and several of his mates yesterday.

Looking west over Oldonyo Sambu village.

We walked about 4 km in 4 hours and saw 40 species of birds.  Long-billed Pipit was a lifer for me and several others I'd only seen once before (e.g. Abyssinian Scimitarbill, Red-throated Tit, Foxy Lark, Grey Wren-Warbler, Banded Parisoma, Abyssinian Wheatear and Southern Grosbeak-Canary).

White-fronted Bee-eater

Abyssinian Scimitarbill

A mixed heard of cattle, sheep and goats heading to the market.

The chaps knew their stuff and were very welcoming of us.  There is a lot of competition in the safari game and not enough tourists so opportunities for a career in bird guiding are limited.  A pity when the typical safari guide knows little about birds.  We will definitely go birding with James and friends again soon.

White-bellied Canary

Long-billed Pipit (note the diagnostic, short hind claw)

The Attraction Birding Club

Some random incidents during recent days:

• We saw what was likely to be a rabid dog on the highway near home.  It looked deranged and was drooling
• I was stopped by traffic police and told to turn off my headlights (I often drive with them on during the day).  Not sure why but I turned them off, was told to proceed, turned them back on and drove off
• On the way to birding yesterday morning a bicycle with two men on board crashed alongside our car.  The front wheel stopped and the bike flipped.  The front rider sailed up and came down smack on his head.  We stopped and James ran back to help.  The front rider was out cold but the other chap was OK.  Others came to help and the first chap started to stir.  We left them to sort it out.  Apparently a dangling rope snagged the front wheel.

Still no permit/visa.  One week to go before our tourist visas expire!

Chameleons, cars and chickens

We have had a good week or so with many typical African experiences.  The weather has finally turned sunny and we spent a whole day in our compound garden on Sunday enjoying the sun, birds and a chameleon.  It is still relatively cold in the evenings however.

Mount Kilimanjaro Two-horned Chameleon

On Friday I went with ECHO colleagues to the Arusha Technical College to see some student projects to assist smallholder farmers.  It was a step back in time when we walked into the foundry section where it looked like the foundry my Dad spent much of his career in and where I spent many school holidays working.  It turns out most of the equipment was a gift of second-hand equipment by the German government in the 1970s so would be very similar to the stuff Dad (and I) worked with.  He reckons he could start work there quite comfortably today.  Maybe he should apply for an Australian Volunteer Program position!

I'm still without a work permit but we had a meeting with our in-country managers on Saturday who assured us that our permits would be sorted and we wouldn't have to leave soon when our tourist visas expired - so that was reassuring...

Jenny had a bad day with the car last week when she had to take a student to a hospital in Arusha and the radiator began to boil.  Turned out there was a blockage so the reservoir was full but the radiator was running dry.  She caught it in time and with our friend Stanley Mbogo's help was rescued but it involved several hours of roadside assist, mobile phone torchlight and a night drive home - something we try to avoid at all costs.

Stanley wiping his brow!

On Monday Jenny's and my jobs combined when a group of over 40 of her students came to ECHO for a few hours to learn how to grow healthy, nutritious food in small container gardens (car tires, grain sacks etc.) when they go home to their villages.  Jenny and I were very impressed with the quality of the information provided by the ECHO staff and the students had fun tasting new foods and potting up plants.

Spot the odd ones out?

Jenny headed off today for a couple of days to villages near Lake Natron where some of the past students live to see how they were going.  So I'm batching for a night!  A rare eventuality for us to be apart in East Africa.

We have noticed a rattle in the car on the bumpy roads around our house lately so today I took the car to a mechanic for a look-see.  Again, our great friend Stanley organised this and spent the whole day with me.  From 9 am until 4:30 pm I stood around while the car front steering assembly was stripped and replaced (with new parts), the radiator was drained and refilled with coolant and then we had the wheels balanced and aligned.  I could still hear a rattle along the rough road up to our compound but it was certainly much better.  The mechanic was highly complimentary about the car engine and hopped into the pit during the wheel alignment and declared 'hamna shida' (= no issues) under the car.  The rough roads between us and the highway are certainly not good for cars - the footrest fell off the other day) but the benefit in taking those roads is that there is less stress on the driver from traffic police and other drivers.

My day today. Suggest your car mechanics diversify into chickens.  They certainly distracted me over many hours.

I took the opportunity with Stanley today to start planning our major safari to Ngorongoro Crater and Serengeti NP in December-January.  Our friends Rob and Lou Drummond are coming then and we want to maximise the experience. The main issue is where the large migrating herds will be at that time - which depends on the rain and responding grass.  The best option seems to be to go with a safari company that has movable tented camps so we can follow the migration.  I've explained to Stanley what we want and I'm confident he will come up with a great plan for us.

Every week has positives and negatives - we just have to weight our experiences accordingly and make sure we have made a positive contribution...

Eid holidays and a safari

Cape Buffalo, Plains Zebra, Warthog, Western Cattle Egret, Grey Heron and Red-billed Oxpecker - can you see them all?

The Islamic month of Ramadan finished last week with two days of celebration called Eid.  The actual date of Eid varies each year (similar to how Easter varies) and we never know until the day before which days to have off.  The clerics have to study the moon - hard to do when it is so overcast here lately.  Anyway it was decided that Wednesday and Thursday were the holidays so we took the opportunity to go to Arusha National Park for the day.

Harvey's Duiker (a forest skulker).

Waterbuck

Little Bee-eater

We were up and on the way early and it was only 45 mins from home to entry into the park about 8:15.  We stayed until 5pm so got value for our money.  This was primarily a birding trip and we saw nearly 80 species.  The highlight was not a bird though.  There are a few small herds of Elephants in the park but they stick to the forests and are almost never seen.  We came across some dry dung on a road and then more and more - getting fresher as we went along.  Then we came around a bend in time to see the back half of a large Elephant disappearing into the forest.  We stopped and could hear more moving through the trees but couldn't see them.

Blue Monkey

Kirk's Dik-dik

White-browed Coucal

Lesser Flamingo - adults and juveniles (Cape Teal also).

Another highlight was the clearing skies in the afternoon and the views of Mt. Kilimanjaro in the distance.

Jenny not looking at the view over Momela Lakes towards Mt. Kilimanjaro.

Mount Kilimanjaro showing through the clouds beyond Ngurdoto Crater.

Among the birds were a new tick for me in Tanzania (Pied Avocet) and four lifers (Malagasy Pond Heron, Mountain Greenbul, Kenrick's Starling and Sharpe's Starling.

Although it is a small park there is still much for us to explore.  There are many small tracks that loop off the main roads and these often go deeper into forest (where several good birds lurk).  On this trip they were still wet however so we will try them when they dry out.  There is also a road that heads up the mountain to where the summit walks start.  The extra altitude this reaches also means a few new birds waiting for me.

Ochre Bush Squirrel

Striped Skink

White-fronted Bee-eater

An albino Baboon.

Hopefully in the near future we will get our residence visas and that will halve the cost of admission.

In other news we still don't have our work permits or residence visas...

I gave a talk at the Arusha Conservation Agriculture Forum on Friday at the Tanzania Pesticide Research Institute.  This is held several times a year and is organised by ECHO to bring together farmers, advisers and researchers to discuss topical issues.  I was supposed to be first speaker at 9:00 but didn't get to my feet until about 10:30 by which time most people had arrived.  It turned out to be quite a long day but very informative with several interesting topics presented (e.g. Pastoralists v Farmers, control of some serious crop pests, community seed banks and a fertiliser decision tool).  All in Swahili (except mine) with translations for the non-swahili speakers in the audience.  About 60 people attended.