17 October 2017 Tuesday - Tarangire National Park, Tanzania ~ Day 8
It was another amazing day in Tanzania. Our cabin faces the lake, and sunrise over the lake was incredible.
We
got up at 5:30am, ate breakfast at the main lodge and we were out the
door by 6:45 for another day of game drive.
We
reentered Tarangire National Park at a different entrance this time,
noting the animal skulls collected from the ground.
The
first thing we saw were a small group of impalas; the McDonald’s of
the bush. The young males were play-fighting with their antlers,
which was fun to see.
Next,
we saw some black-backed jackyls.
I
always thought of jackyls as fierce, but from what I can tell,
they’re just glorified foxes.
Because
it’s so dry, the animals seemed a bit scarce, but we did see a
waterbuck:
We
drove down toward the river. On the way, we saw a really big bull
elephant. We knew the elephant was old by the size of its tusks,
which reached almost to the ground. Our guides seemed impressed that
he had survived: he was probably almost 50 years old, and no poachers
had ever found him. Good for him; I hope they never do. He was pretty
shy and tried to stay hidden, so we only got a couple photos worth
keeping.
We
drove around, waiting for some exotic big game, but all we seemed to
find were birds.
A
dik-dik. Aren’t they cute? They’re about the size of a dog.
We
saw a flying wildebeest! Well, actually, he was just running fast
when I took this photo. They do a lot of that.
And
a group of cape buffalo trying to stay cool under the shade of a
tree.
Then
we came across some giraffes. They strolled up leisurely to get some
water from the river. How to they do that? Not easily, it turns out.
They
didn’t seem to trust us. They stood around and watched us before
trying to take a drink of water.
Then
finally they drank, but it was awkward.
Next,
we came across another group of elephants.
There
was a mama with her baby, and her baby wanted to nurse. It was cute.
We
spent a lot of time taking photos of the elephants.
As
we drove away, we saw some strange looking rodents. They looked like
maybe groundhogs, but they were hiding in the rocks.
We
drove up to an overlook where there was a picnic area. We didn’t
have a picnic, but we got out and took a few photos of the valley
below. It was a great view.
Then
we drove back down into the river valley where we saw some waterfowl.
This
saddle-billed stork was a surprise.
Next,
we came across a group of lions, including a male.
Next,
we saw another group of elephants.
I
guess we’ll never get tired of taking elephant photos.
At
one point we stopped, a group of elephants were drinking from the
river. When they were done, they started splashing and playing in the
water. They were so cute, especially the young ones. They sure looked
awkward trying to get up again. They were smart enough to drink the
water first before getting it all muddy.
They
weren’t very good at lifting their legs, so they looked kind of
klutzy getting up the river bank.
A
little later on, we saw another male lion who came out of the brush.
He
actually looked a little scary as he walked right toward us.
Then
he decided to just lay down by a tree. Nice kitty!
He
was soon joined by a lioness.
She
came up to the same tree to lie down nearby.
The
lioness yawned. It’s funny how they look fierce, even when they
yawn. I guess it’s those huge fangs.
We
saw more antelopes, but now they seem boring compared to the
elephants, giraffes, and lions we’ve been seeing. I guess we’re
spoiled.
We
saw another elephant skull. They’re so weird.
On
our way back to the lodge, we saw another one of those massive baobab
trees.
We
stopped at a roadside area where a woman was selling hand-woven
goods. She was working on making more goods, so we know she wasn’t
a re-seller. Kathy bought a cute basket. One of our group bought a
pretty large woven rug with the intent of giving it to a family in
need.
We
headed back to the lodge by the lake.
After
our meal, we went for a walk down to the lake. A bunch of large
marabou storks hung around the lodge because they had a few large
cement water vats to attract some of the wildlife, since the lake was
all dried up.
As
a learning experience, Eki picked up a tiny insect on a spear he
brought with. The insect had massive jaws. I forget what he called
it.
We
walked down to the middle of the lake. As I said before, the lake was
totally dry. The ground was all dry and cracked.
Ordinarily,
Eki said, there would be millions of flamingos hanging around. But
without water, all we found was dried up flamingo feathers.
There
were a bunch of zebras hanging around.
Two
of them were running back and forth. Eki said it was a father
teaching his son endurance training for when a predators attack.
We
could see rain in the distance, but Kathy was not intimidated. She
was having too much fun for that.
A
large group of about a hundred wildebeest had gathered at the lake,
in the hopes of finding water. But having found none, they had no
choice but to keep walking to the next likely place that might have
water.
Where
there are wildebeest, there are usually zebras.
They
were running pretty fast. I caught this one in mid-air and he was
really moving fast.
Down
in the middle of the dried up lake, we were hit by a dust storm. It
didn’t last long, however, and there wasn’t any danger. I was
worried about lightning, but it never appeared. I even brought an
umbrella, but we didn’t get any rain. We could see rain off in the
distance, though, so that’s where all the wildebeest were walking.
When
we were done with our lake-walk, it was almost dark. The semi-stormy
skies made the sunset beautiful behind the lodge.
When
we got back to the lodge it was still oppressively hot. I sat down
without a shirt to cool off, and Kathy snapped my photo.
I
call that incentive to diet!