Adventures with Julia

December 18, 2018

After our delicious sashimi lunch, we spent the afternoon reading, relaxing and swimming in our pool and in the slightly cooler ocean.  Mark continued his effort to get great bird photos.  He is making good progress, I think.

Mark suggested we hire the local dhow for a sunset cruise so at 5:45 we headed for the boat and sailed away with the cocktail of the day, a margarita, in hand.  It was a pleasant one-hour ride, but the sunset was a bust. Meanwhile, the staff had set up a Gin Bar on the beach. Even though I don’t usually drink gin, I could not resist the trying a couple of the many choices of drinks offered after we climbed out of the dhow and bellied up to the beach bar.   There were at least 12 different kinds of gin and a couple of recipes for each one.   We finally connected with some other guests and chatted until it was time for dinner.

Robson planned for us to have a special location for our meal and had the table set in what he called the “secret garden”.  It wasn’t much of a garden, but it was somewhat secluded, behind the gin bar.  We lingered over a mixed grille of shrimp, chicken and lobster and a very tasty berry sorbet to finish.  Back in our villa, we cleaned the sand off our feet and went to bed.  It is so nice to have the doors and windows wide open with the AC on too.  We can hear the night birds and the ocean gently lapping on the shore.   As with everywhere we have been on this trip, there are no bothersome bugs forcing us to sleep under a bed net.

December 19^th, our next travel day, we have a 2pm departure from Azura.  So, we got up early and kayaked around the island before the day heated up.  It took us only 45 minutes to paddle around the small island.  The water was calm.  The tide was out and we had to go out farther from the shore than usual.

Had smoothies for breakfast then hung out around our pool, repacked and read.  It feels like the hottest day yet.  Just want to stay in the water.  Seems to me that things are getting a bit monotonous for this story–swim-read-write-swim-eat-photograph birds- read-swim-eat.  Hope you don’t mind the slowdown.  It is time to move on.

Robson served us one more tasty lunch on the breezy side of the island.  That felt good. We said good bye to him and the co-managers of the resort, paid our bill and walked to the helipad, where the pilot was waiting.  We flew back to Pemba, caught the next flight to Jo’burg and then a flight to Cape Town.  Only about an hour between legs.  Glad not to have long layovers.   Arrived after dark and got to the Ellerman House where we are staying at 10:30pm.

Ellerman House, Cape Town

It is more like an elegant home than a hotel.  The halls are lined with art and sculpture.  There is a living room full of paintings and a Christmas tree. Indoor dining rooms as well as terraces for outdoor dining.  Hallways that end at doors to suites as well as ones that turn a corner and lead to the kitchen, the reception or the pantry or the Spa.   The grounds are meticulously manicured with flowers, water fountains, lawns and pools.

Wine Gallery with Corkscrew wine rack

One pathway leads to a huge wine room with the most unusual wine storage I have ever seen.  It is a circular device about 10 feet in diameter made of carbon fiber and shaped like a corkscrew.  It is full of wine bottles laying on their side and enclosed by glass walls all around.   The property is perched, multi-leveled, on the slopes of Bantry Bay, a residential neighborhood in Cape Town.  It faces west, overlooking the Southern Atlantic coastline.  We knew nothing about the House, except that our GeoEx agent, Starla, had booked us here.   Arriving as late as we did, there was only the night manager to show us to our room. She had arranged for sandwiches and snacks in our room, brought the extra suitcase we had sent ahead a few weeks earlier and left us.  We enjoyed the lovely view of the city from our room, at a few snacks and went to bed.

December 20, 2018

Not due at the Silo Hotel for our White Desert briefing for the South Pole until 11am, we had time to wander around the hotel and check out the place.  Awesome.

At 10:30, White Desert staff picked us up and took us to the Silo for our briefing.   I was both excited and nervous.  Did I have the right equipment?  Would it be hard to put it all together?  Soon everyone was shaking hands and saying hello.  By 11:15 13 of us were seated in the top floor room with picture window views of the city all around, and big spaces for us to put our bags.  We watch a short film about where we were going and how we would get there and some dos and don’ts while in camp.  Then the White Desert rep told us what will be happening.

The first thing we learned was that the flight will be a day late as the weather is not allowing us to fly in on the 21st.   Sadly we loose a day, while the folks there now, gain a day there.  Very early on the 22nd–4:30am–we will be picked up and taken to the airport for a 6am departure on a Gulfstream 550.  The flight will be 5.5 hours to an airstrip called Wolf Fangs Runway on Queen Maud Land.  From there we transfer to a Basler BT-67 (similar to a DC3) for a 25 minute flight to camp.  The Basler is outfitted with skis and is unpressurized. Then we are transferred by snow cats to Camp Whichaway.   That ride takes 15 minutes.  So we take off from Cape town in summer clothes and change into winter wear before landing at Wolf Fangs Runway.

Then we get into the nitty gritty.  What to pack and where to pack it.  First we pull out whatever we think we need to wear when we land at Wolf Fang.  Plus whatever we need to have with us between the briefing and departure.

Everything else needs to go into our large bags that will go in the hold of the plane.  We each had a White Desert person go through our clothes with us so we have everything we actually will need.  That was very helpful.  I felt like I was more prepared once that task was completed.

Then we were free to go.  We went on a sight seeing drive about with a guide that had been prearranged.  Tried to go to Table Mountain, but the crowds were so great that we decided to do that early the next morning.

Had lunch in a charming neighborhood spot called Kloof Street House, walked around the colorful Muslim neighborhood  of the Bo-Kaap, which dates back to the 17th century.  Each building is painted a different bright color that originally represented the kind of shop that is inside.   From there we drove around Signal Hill and took in the lovely views.  It was a perfect sunshine day and people were everywhere outdoors.

Garden path to our “Spa Room” for the last night

Happily, we went back to the Ellerman House, enjoyed the evening on the lawn, had a wonderful dinner there and relaxed our way into bed.

December 21, 2018

Got up in time to catch an Uber to Table Mountain at 7:45.  Not as perfect a day as the day before, but close enough.  There was virtually no line and we had a happy experience up on the mountain top.  There is a pleasant, if irregular, stone path to get around the top.  The distance is about a mile total and includes many steep overviews with a few railings (not nearly what would be there if it was in the US.), many flowering plants and signs telling you what is in the distance. We were down and back at the House by 11am.

Because we are staying an extra night, we had to be moved to another suite.  It is not the fancy place the Suite was, but it is most comfortable and next to the swimming pool and fountain.  It is also neat to the Spa, so Mark waisted no time in getting a pedicure.  We are set to relax for the rest of the day.

Since we will be unable to communicate from this evening until our planned return on the 28th, we both wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  May you especially experience the birth of Christ in your heart and know the joy of His love.

God bless you all,

Julia and Mark

December 11, 2018

Tswalu Game Reserve in South Africa.

Stayed in the Hotel Intercontinental in Johannesburg (Pretoria on this map) until our departure time of 11:45.  Was able to make progress on the post you just received.  We were picked up by a driver for the charter company that will fly us southwest to our next safari stop, a place called Tswalu, which means “new beginning” in the Tswana language (one of 11 languages spoken in SA).  He drove us to the general aviation side of the airport and we checked in at a private air transport firm called  Fireblade Aviation – Oppenheimer.  We were 2 of 9 passengers on the 1.5 hour KingAir flight to the Tswalu airstrip.  We sat next to a man who is in charge of marketing for Tswalu and learned a number of interesting bits of information.  It is a private game reserve, owned by the grandson of Ernst Oppenheimer, who founded the diamond company, Debeers.   Nicki, the grandson, acquired the 258,000 acre property in 1994 and continues to buy land to increase the size of the reserve.  It was declared a protected area in 2014.  No hunting is allowed and there are currently 80 species of mammals and 240 species of birds.  The Tswalu camp is composed of 9 suites and one large villa for families.  The total capacity is 28 guests and 175 staff.  Although we are here during the hot season, the best time to come to Tswalu is March through May, when there is no rain, the air is cooler and the ground is green.   As we fly over the landscape, he points out that the whole area is arid savannah and quite different from the savannah we have experienced in Tanzania.  Out the window I see low mountains, rolling hills and savannah full of rough grasses, bushes and short trees.  It is not appealing from the air.  The elevation is 4,700 feet.

Map of Tswalu Game Reserve. Near the middle of the map, a marking called Motse is where the lodge is located. The airstrip is to the right of that. We saw the lions and rhinos in the lower right area.  The Oppenheimer family hopes to acquire more land from farmers in the lower mid section and in the upper left corner and increase the size of the reserve.

At the airstrip we meet our new driver and guide, Sarah.  She introduces us to our tracker, Ben.  We load up and are off at 2pm on a short afternoon game drive to the Tswalu Lodge. In the dense vegetation it is hard to get a good look at animals, but we did see a few new creatures:

Kudu males in fine form

A male oryx, or gemsbok

springbok, which are similar to gazelles; yellow mongoose, which are solitary and slightly larger than a dwarf mongoose;

Close up of a sable.

white-browed sparrow weavers; red hartebeest, which are similar to the topi; southern giraffe, that look like other giraffe elsewhere; roan, another large antelope; and oryx or gemsbok.  We also saw familiar kudu and wildebeest.  Not bad for a short drive.

We were taken to our suite and were grateful to find it air conditioned, as well as spacious and very well appointed with an office area as well as a bedroom, large bathroom with indoor and outdoor showers, and outdoor living room facing the arid landscape.  We chill until the 5pm game drive.

Social Weaver Nest in a Camel Thorn acacia.

We join Sarah and Ben and head out to find cheetah and whatever else turns up.  It is quite warm but not so bad when the land rover is moving.  As long as I can stay clear of the sun, I am ok.  We stop to study a social weaver nest in a camel thorn acacia tree.  Sarah tells us about 100 or more live in these particular nests, but they can literally cover the tree and hold over 500 birds.  The nest is so large that it regulates temperature for the birds.  Not too hot and not too cold.  Helps the birds conserve energy.  Their biggest predator is the cobra, which slithers into the nest and eats all the babies and more.  Not a very happy image.

Smith’s Red Rock Rabbit on our night drive.

About dusk Ben spotted a Smith’s Red Rock Rabbit with a reddish tail before encountering a coalition of two brother cheetah spread out on the ground near a tree.  They were just beginning to wake up as the sky was becoming too dark for photographs.

We hung with them as they stretched and then started walking in the brush and then along the perimeter of the fenced reserve.  Eventually it grew too dark to see them and we drove back to the lodge.

We joined the other guests for a BBQ dinner, watched a small entertainment by the staff children and went to bed.

December 12, 2018

Wild Dogs running down the road toward us.

Up at 4:30 and on the road by 5am. ( I was not a happy camper at that hour.) The goal was to find wild dogs.  We drove in the direction of where they had last been located and ran into them on the road running in the other direction.  We got in line behind the other vehicles following them and ended up back at the camp watering hole, where they were headed.

THe dogs play after drinking. We were late getting to the water hole.

We watched along with the other guests who were just getting up and

The dogs literally climb all over each other.

looking at the dogs in their PJ’s.  It seems I did not have to get up so early after all.  After drinking, the dogs played and ran around the lodge area.  Eventually, it became clear they were not going hunting any time soon, so we got back in the car and drove through the fence and across a road to another part of the reserve.

A scene of the east side of the property. We preferred it.

Morning game drive on east side of property. Ben is tracking.

It was much prettier than the side the lodge was on, I thought.  The lodge side is very desert-like and not very appealing.  The other side is hilly and has more tall grasses and general vegetation and is a touch greener.

It was not long before Ben spotted two white rhinos downhill in tall grasses.  Sarah drove through and over the bushes to get close, but they were very shy.  When they crashed off further into the bushes, we gave up, and crashed our way back to the road, found a spot to stop and have a coffee and tea break.  The sky was a deep blue and the air warming up, but still pleasant.   The scenery quite lovely……

Along the way we saw a Bat-Eared Fox on the move and a light tan-colored roan.  We stopped at another water hole and watched for birds.

There were many we had not seen, but we identified the Violet-eared Waxbill and the lovely Bokmakierie, a bush shrike.

Once at the lodge, we put on our suits and went to the pool.  We were free from 10:30am to 5pm.  Very nice to have a pleasant rest and a very cool pool, in which to swim.   We enjoyed a late lunch/early dinner poolside.

At 5pm we were off again.  This time to find meerkats, a member of the mongoose family.   The “mob of meerkats” we were looking for have been habituated to people and we were allowed to hang out with them and take photographs….if we could.  Here is a collection of our efforts.

After cavorting with meerkats, we drove to a high point on a slightly vegetated sand dune and had our sundowner.  We were in the western part of the property, which is full of sandy soil, some dunes and flat bunch grass and low shrubs to the  horizon.

View from a sand dune. The whole scene is within the Tswalu Game Reserve.

The endless vistas continue.

The property is so vast, it is hard to get our bearings.  Sarah told us the dunes were estimated to be 30,000 years old.  At the top of the dune we had a 360 degree view of the property.  Our old ranch was tiny in comparison.  It was nearly dark when we finished our sundowner, so we finished the day with a night drive to the lodge.  All was quiet in the western front.  We managed to see a springhare and a bat-eared fox along the way in the dark.

Back at the lodge, we went directly to bed.  These 4:30am wake up calls are not my thing.   By going to sleep at 9pm, it was a bit easier to get up at 4:30.

December 13, 2018

This morning we headed back to the eastern side of the Tswalu Game Reserve looking for lion.  The pretty scenery sort of makes up for the few animals we see along the way.

Driving through the landscape.

This time we see a few kudu and a male ostrich.  Eventually, Ben does track down the lions using the “follow the footprints” method.  We first come upon 3 lions lying under a tree, as usual.  One is a very large 10 year old male with 2 subadults about 3 years of age.  Ben is sure there are more lions nearby so we continue looking and soon find 5 more animals–another large male, who is the brother of the other male, two females and two cubs, 6-7 months old.  This is the North Pride.  The South Pride has about the same number of animals.  They were all into sleeping and we were so done with lions that neither of us took any photos. We soon tired and drove up another sandy hill for a breakfast break.  It is very nice to be on such a huge reserve with no other vehicles or people watching anything we are watching.  The staff make sure the guests on each vehicle have their own private experience.

A southern giraffe. This one has toes that curl up from walking on sand rather than hard surfaces.

As we drive slowly back to the lodge, we finally see zebra for the first time on the Tswalu Game Reserve and another tower, or kaleidoscope, of giraffe.  Then, back to the lodge for the heat of the day.

How giraffes differ in patterns and colors. The lower left is the Southern Giraffe in Tswalu. THe THe lower three on the right ate found in Tanzania.

Spent most of the day sitting on the pool deck looking at animals at the watering hole, writing and swimming.  It was very hot and dry.  I was glad not to be out driving around.  Anyway, there was plenty to watch at the hole–roan, oryx, wildebeest, red hartebeest, and the whole dog pack.  There are 20 in the pack, 9 adults and 11 puppies of different ages.  They stayed around the previous night and this whole day.  We had decided to go to what the staff called the “dune BBQ” a couple miles away from the lodge.  So we planned to head out about 6:30.  While we waited to go, we noticed the dogs starting to get excited and move around.  Ben told us they would be going out to hunt soon, so we got in the vehicle and stationed ourselves so we could see the action.  It turned out to be much adieu about not much.  We chased the dogs about a mile.  They would stop every so often with the alpha female and other adults resting, while the pups played.  At one point the pups harassed an oryx, but that animal is too big for them. They need to find a smaller animal, like a springbok or a warthog.  The pups had fun and so did we watching.  The oryx was not pleased.  All too soon, the light was gone and we couldn’t see anything.

Because we had taken so long with the dogs, we were the last people to arrive at the BBQ.  Twenty-five other people were seated at kerosene lit tables, complete with table cloths and cloth napkins.  It was a very nice buffet spread.  We had a delicious piece of oryx meat.  I found it more tasty and tender than beef.  Sarah ate with us and we got to know a bit about her.  She is single, from Cape Town, is leaving Tswalu in a week and plans to spend the next six months in Canada, while Tswalu  Lodge is closed for a major remodel.

On our last night drive we took a longer route and had some successful sightings: a genet, several springhare, a scrubhare, a very unusual sighting of a polecat, a sand grouse, yellow mongoose, and a porcupine.  Too dark for photos.  We had hoped to find an aardvark, or a pangolin, but satisfied ourselves with the sightings Ben found with his spotlight, especially the polecat and the genet.  We arrived back at the lodge after 10:30 and went directly to bed.

December 14, 2018

I liked this desert tree in the lodge garden, but don’t know what it is. If one of you does, please let me know too.

Slept in until 5:30.  Very nice.  Had a leisurely breakfast and took a few more photos. Then we were off to the airstrip.

The Tswalu airstrip waiting area hosts a huge social weaver nest in its rafters.

Fireblade Aviation is known for its mural paintings.  Here is one on our wing as we lift off Tswalu.

A parting view of the Tswalu landscape

Flew back to Jo’burg in a Pilatus PC 12 and arrived back at Fireblade Aviation on the far side of the International field.   Said good bye to the staff at Fireblade and were back at the Intercontinental Hotel before 11am.  we spent the day at the hotel getting caught up on packing and writing.  Mark had a massage and I had a pedicure and a massage.  Felt great.

In the dining room we saw our first Christmas tree this season.  It has not seemed like Christmas time where we have been.  Happy Christmas to you all.

Next stop is Azura Quilalea, on an island near Pembe, Mozambique.

December 3, 2018

Before leaving Namiri Plains, I want to give you our count.  We saw 17 lion and 14 cheetah and some of them we saw more than once.  This was a record for us and we were very thrilled to have had the experience.  Moving on…..

Namiri Airport was full of safari guests moving from one camp to another.  Our next stop was the Mwiba airstrip and Mwiba Lodge, 25 minutes away.  We flew south over the Serengeti Plains and passed over another ecotone between plains and dense woodland.  What a different world.  The elevation is 5,800 feet, 600 feet higher than Namiri, the temperature is hot and the scenery is dense, with messy woods, tall, dried and crushed grasses and many broken trees.  The word Mwiba means “thorn” in Swahili and it is quite apt.  Our new driver/guide is a friendly man named Godson.  The vehicle is newer and beefier then our last one and needs to be, given the terrain. Godson drives just about everywhere including over bushes, small trees, boulders and whatever is in his way to get us into photo range.  As we drive toward the lodge, we see only small things–a pair of dik dik, a couple of Slender Mongoose, a few birds and an impala.  An inauspicious beginning.

At the lodge, which is in the middle of a dense boulder and wooded setting,  we meet the staff and are blown away at the architecture and decoration of the facilities.  The place is a deluxe version of a tented camp on steroids, as Brad put it.  There are 10 rooms and they are each beautifully appointed.  We were assigned Room 5 and have a view overlooking a small stone gorge.  From the deck we saw an elephant and a rock hyrax.

A Rock Hyrax, cousin to the elephant

Brad asked us to guess what the closest living relative is to the rock hyrax.  The rock hyrax looks like a large hamster and lives in rocky out crops. He tells us to think outrageously with our guesses, but never did we think of an elephant.  Apparently this little creature bears common traits with the elephant, such as a long gestation period of 8 months which is quite something considering a rabbit is only 6 weeks and a lion is only 3.5 months (An elephant’s gestation is 22 months, so the point is that both are long). Then, just like its distant cousin, it has modified incisors, which form tusks, internal testes, and finally 4 toes at the front and 3 at the back – interesting stuff!

Brad has been coming here for the last 8 years, when there was only a rustic tented camp.  He knows the owner, Dan Friedkin, of the lodge and private ranch, which consists of 148,000 acres, as well as the contiguous Maswa Game Reserve, which contains 692,000 acres.  The Mwiba Lodge was built 5 years ago and is the only guest facility in the entire concession.  Because the place is private, we are able to go anywhere at any time to see game or have an interesting experience.

After checking into our tent, we enjoyed a delicious lunch and then headed out to see if we could find a lion that was reputed to be in the area.

After an hour of plowing through dense forest, we encountered Kalamas, a huge lion, larger even than Bob Junior, but not nearly as handsome.  He had lost his mane somehow and was only slowly growing it back and he had been in a fight with another male and injured his right leg.  We watched him yawn several times and finally get up.  When he tried to walk, we could see the pain he was in.  In a couple of steps he laid back down and did not move.  Brad and Godson were sure he would recover, but it was sad to see him in such a bad way.

We left him in search of other animals we had not seen and soon spotted a small group of kudu, large grey antelope with approximately 5 vertical stripes down their sides.  A very attractive animal.

A kudu, large member of the antelope family

After trashing through a lot more bush we find a new pride of lions composed of, Nala, and her two remaining cubs, a boy and a girl; Bahati and her remaining single boy cub.  The two females, who are not related to each other have banded together to raise their remaining three cubs.  With them is an unnamed male who is leading the pride.  Godson believes this lion is the one who fought and injured Kalamas.

While watching the scene, which was difficult to photograph because of the low light and the animals being spread out, Godson offered to let us name the male lion, as the staff had not yet come up with one.  Mark suggested Julius.  Godson liked it and called him Julius from then on.

By this time it was getting late.  We stopped for a short sundowner along the roadside and watched a colorful sun, set between the trees.   Driving to camp in the dark Brad used a large spot light to illuminate the vegetation around us as we passed.  We spotted Grey-breasted Spur Fowl, Steppe Eagle, mongooses and several Bush Babies, which are the world’s smallest primates.  After a nice dinner, we went to bed and crashed.

On December 4, 2018 we had coffee and biscuits  and were in the vehicle by 7:30am.  We had several sightings including:  Defassa Water Buck, Eastern African Bush Buck, Grey Hornbill, and a herd of elephant we met on the road.

A small herd f elephant we met along the road

Rock overhang with Sukuma pocher graffiti

Godson stoped at an overhanging bolder to show us some, not very ancient, graffiti from 2005.  He and Brad surmised it was made by the Sukuma tribe of about 5 million people who live near Lake Victoria.  The Swahili markings appear to have been made by a hunting group who poached bush meat for commercial sale and marked the name and number of their kill on the rock wall.

That visit led Brad into a discussion of the unification of languages in Tanzania.  The first president of Tanzania, Julius Nyerere, eliminated tribalism by uniting Tanzania under one language, Swahili, in the 60’s.  This was very helpful in reducing tribalism.  Citizens now think of themselves as Tanzanians.  Unfortunately, according to conversations we had the general feel, he was a socialist and ruined the economy during his long tenure.  The current president, John Magufuli, is a capitalist and is trying to stop corruption, industrialize, support tourism and build railroads, electrical systems and harbors.  He has built a new pipeline to move oil from Uganda, through Tanzania to the harbor and is charging Uganda a very high price.

Unusual dark colored giraffe

Brad making breakfast at the tree platform over the Sele water hole

By the end of that discourse it was about 10:30 and, we were at a watering hole overlooked by a tree blind, which was perched in a Whistling Thorn Acacia.  Mark and I sat in the blind enjoying the view and usual animals, including giraffe, while Brad, Godson and staff who had arrived with breakfast, proceeded to build a fire and cook sausage, bacon, toast and eggs for everyone.  We had coffee and fresh squeezed OJ in the blind and came down when breakfast was ready.  Very nice treat.  I love all these little surprises.

After lunch, we head for a cultural experience Brad has been looking forward to sharing with us.  He has explained that there are 125 ethnic tribes in Tanzania and that the Datoga Tribe has many clans.  We will be visiting one of these small clans called the Darorajega, that happens to live just outside the Mwiba Ranch border.

Julia, Mark and Kutita, our Maasi tracker in full regalia.

We are accompanied by Kutita,  a Maasi tracker, as well as Godson, who speaks some Datoga as well as fluent Swahili, will help us communicate. He taught us two Detoga words–hello, pronounced “say you” in Detoga and thank you, which sounds like “da ba distaway” in Datoga.

It was a delightful experience and we took many photos and videos of them dancing and singing.  As soon as we arrived,  the married women, who were dressed in lovely beaded, goat skin dresses, formed a circle and sang and danced for what seemed like a long time.

Different women would take turns moving into the center of the circle and jumping a foot or so in the air without using any apparent effort.

Datoga women jumping to the beat of singing and clapping

More jumping to the rhythm.  Yes, their feet are not touching the ground.

They laughed a lot at each other with joy.  I became convinced they were mostly entertaining themselves.  Godson told us each song had a purpose, such as; improving fertility, having a baby, recovering from sickness, etc.

Godson pointed out a lady who had Datoga scarification and asked her if I could take her photo.  She admitted that the scarification was very painful, but a sigh of beauty, so she did it.

A Datoga lady with decorative scarification.

Mataja, a 31 year old Datoga woman

After awhile, I singled out one woman, who smiled at me and seemed willing to talk.  Godson translated.  Her name was Mataja.  She was very pretty and told me she was 31, married with 2 sons and a daughter.  Her husband works for the Mwiba Reserve and does well by their standards.  They live in a private boma near the large open compound, where we are being entertained.  I would like to have continued talking with her, but Brad wanted us to watch the men dance on the other side of the compound, so we left the women, who continued dancing, and went to watch the men, who had already begun to dance.

The men dance with the unmarried girls, who jump and sway for a very long time.

This dancing was quite different, with the men standing in two rows facing each other and making strange, but musical, sounds with their mouths, hands and voices.  A couple of them even played harmonicas. ( I was sorry I did not have recorders to give them).

Unmarried girls jumping to the rhythm set by the men.

After the men danced by themselves awhile, six young, unmarried women, began to join them in the dance.  They were dressed very differently from the married women and were covered in robes over their dresses.

The girls jump and jump

They would shake their bodies and jump in unison to the beat of the clapping and singing without ever bending at the waist.  After a few minutes they would leave the men and step aside for awhile.  Then they would reenter the dance and shake and jump again.  Finally, they continued without stopping.  I grew tired of watching and don’t know how long they carried on.

The scene at the Datoga homestead.The girls jump and jump

Mataja joined us as we toured the dwellings in the compound.  One was for the men and the other two were for the first wife and the second wife.  The dwellings were  small, rectangular and made of tree limbs, mud and dung.  The roofs were made of straw, with a layer of mud on top to protect them from the intense wind that comes up nearly every day.  The ceilings are a little shorter than I am and definitely to short for the Detoga. I asked Mataja why this was.  She explained that the shorter structures were less likely to blow away.

In the middle of the open area, there were skin mats laid out with hand made jewelry on each.  Mataja told me this was the work of the ladies and they were hoping we would buy something.  Each lady had her own mat.  I did not want any of it, but what could I do?  So I bought something from several mats including hers.

While some men and maidens continued to dance we said “da ba distaway” to Mataja and the elders.

It was quite an unusual experience for us.  There were no other visitors and the performances were not the least contrived for our benefit.  I felt very privileged to have seen the people and witnessed the dancing, singing and joy.

We drove back into the Mwiba Ranch property, stopped along the way home for a sundowner and a toast to the setting sun, whilst absorbing what we had just witnessed, and continued to Mwiba Lodge for dinner and bed.

Sunset near the Datoga homestead

We seem to be heading for bed about 9:30 every evening.   Each day is full of so many memorable experiences we have no energy to stay up longer.

December 5, 2018

We were in for another cultural experience with a completely different tribe, who happen to live independently on the Mwiba Ranch.  They are the Hadzabe Tribe, with only 800 in the world, and 500 who practice the hunter-gatherer way of life, like the small group we will see.  Godson drives to a prescribed place where we leave the vehicle and start walking.  Nkangala, a Hadzabe Tribe member, who is an anti-poaching ranger working for Mwiba Lodge, accompanied us to be our interface with the tribe, who had been primed for our visit.  He carries  machete and walks purposefully for about 10 minutes.  Then he starts whistling and shortly three women appear.  They approach cautiously and do not talk.  They are wearing tattered Salvation Army shirts, patched wrap around skirts and beads. and, when I get closer, have a strong smell.  We keep walking and Nkangala keeps whistling.  After another few minutes we hear the return whistling, a dozen figures appear out of the woods.  There are a handful of young, strong and very healthy men and a few more women.  The men are wearing shorts and wrap around skirts and have many beads criss crossed over their chests for decoration.

We are introduced to the Hadzabe clan.

They shake our hands without smiling or making eye contact and then begin walking through the bush.

The Hadzabe people head out on out on our walk about

We dutifully follow.  Very soon they stop walking and grab bunches of leaves from a particular bush, Nkangala tells us is called Cassia, and rub them all over their arms and chests.

Grabbing leaves from the Cassia bush to rub on themselves as protection from bee stings and swelling.

Mark learns this is good to keep away bees and reduce swelling and grabs some for his arms as he has had many tsetse fly bites.  Everyone laughs and that breaks the ice.

About 30 yards later the clan spots a Commiphora tree that they see contains honey and proceed to hack into it to get to the honey.   There is a tube that the bees make that protrudes from the hive to allow bees in and out while not allowing ants to get in.  Ingenious!  We each get a small sample and find it very tasty and sweet. They thank the tree for the honey and move on.  Within another 100 yards, one of them sees a bush baby up in a tree and expertly shoots it with one arrow.

He then climbs into the tree to fetch it and finds a baby bush baby still alive.  He brings both down and ties the not yet dead adult animal to his belt.  The baby is handed to one of the women who lets it snuggle into her chest.  On closer inspection, we realize that another bush baby and a dik dik are already hanging from the belts of other tribe members.

Continuing on, they stop at a Capparis bush, that Nkangala says is  used for healing snake bites.  They dug out some roots, peel off the bark, chew the root and rub it on the wound.  They also make a drink with the juice from the root and drink that to help clear the poison from the victim’s blood.

Further into the woods, they stop again and the women start digging energetically at the roots of a shrub called Tselelaloago.  The women make a powder of the root and mix it with baboon fat.  It is believed that by rubbing this mixture on her body, a woman will attract a man.  I asked if any of these ladies had tried it and they laughed and said no.  None of them had had trouble finding a man.

At another bush, the eldest woman began to dig under a plant Nkangala said was a Ipomea tuberlosam, or “long flowering tubor”, and soon we saw her pull potato like tubers out of the soil.  She pulled out 6 or 7 and covered up the rest of the plant, so more would grow.  On the spot they peeled the tubers and ate them.  They cut pieces for us, but I declined, as so many hands had been on them.  Mark took a chance and said it had a light potato flavor.  He did not get sick.

In a small clearing was a large Commiphora tree.  One of the young men climbed the tree and declared that there was a good supply of honey in it, but the hive was made by African killer bees, as opposed to the previous hive, which was from the African stingless bee.  He came down and the men began preparations to get the honey.  First they built a fire by rubbing sticks together. Everyone gathered wood. One gathered straw for starter and soon they had a roaring fire going.  They built it in such a way that the smoke from the fire blew toward the bee hive to smoke them out.  Then one of the men cut down the tree and they all went after the honey combs.  There was not as much as was hoped, as the bees had eaten a lot keeping themselves alive.  They made short work of the honey and we did not get any this time.

Then it was time to cook the meat they had killed.  First the dik dik and 2 bush babies were skinned and thrown into the fire.  I saw the woman with the baby take it off her chest, wack it on the head and throw it in the fire, skin and all.  As the meat cooked, it would be turned over, then pulled out of the fire and the cooked part broken off and eaten.  Eventually everyone got some meat, although not a lot.  Some of the dik dik meat was stuck on a stick to cook.  When done it was handed to me and, knowing it had not been handled while cooking, I took a piece.  It was very tasty.

Last of all was a bow and arrow demonstration.  Each of the men had their own hand made bow and several arrows, used to kill different animals.  For a target Mark volunteered his ball cap.  The very second shot went directly through his visor.

After that all of us took turns trying to shoot a plastic bottle.  I got closer with each shot, but was not given any more arrows.  Mark was not successful either.  Everyone had a good laugh.  The Hadzabe people were finally comfortable with us and gave us hugs all around.  We were each given a bead necklace as a gift.

A group photo with the Hadzade people

At each stop along the path we had taken, the Hadzabe would sing and chatter and laugh.  They seemed to be having a good time and enjoyed the bounty they had collected.  Mark measured the distance we walked with them to be 2.2 miles in 2.5 hours.  They walked with us back to our vehicle and bid us good bye. Then they all turned away and walked down the road singing and laughing.

The Hadzade people turn and walk down the road singing

We had just finished another thrilling cultural experience.

However, it turned out our day was just beginning.  We had heard there were Wild Dogs on the ranch and wanted to find them.  Fortunately, Brad and Godson had the co-ordinants of where they had last been seen.  It was an hour and a half away and rained hard most of the time, but we did not care.  Wild Dogs had been an unfulfilled goal for years.

A large Baobab tree. I saw just a few.

Along the way we saw a few huge baobab trees in the dense forest.  When we reached the spot, the dogs were not there.  We drove in circles hoping to see them and were about to give up, when we ran into an anti-poaching team, who had just seen them and directed us to an open meadow.  There they were, the 13-member strong Mwiba Pack, lounging around.  We stayed with them over an hour enjoying their relaxed antics.  These animals appeared very healthy and full.

On the way back to the lodge, we identified a few more creatures, not to mention the many we have already seen: a Eurasian Roller; a small antelope, called a Grey Duiker, which is unusual because it eats birds; a few Red Billed Hornbill; a pancake tortoise, which is thinner than the leopard tortoise; and a white Headed Buffalo Weaver bird sitting on a nest.

Eurasian Roller

Pancake tortoise

Just a few minutes from the lodge, at about 3:15, we suddenly spot a leopard sitting in a tree next to the road.  What a sight.  He was very handsome, healthy and full.  We watched until he came down from the tree and walked into the dense bush.  Unable to find him again, we returned to the lodge.

Male leopard in tree near Mwiba Lodge

A sleeping Leopard in a tree

The leopard changed positions and we knew it was a female.

Brad did not give us any time off.  At 4:30 we went for a 1.2 mile walk from the lodge to a nearby hill.  He would not tell us why, just insisted we do it.  Nkangala joined us and stopped to pick a couple of branches from different trees.  I was pooped, but went along without paying any attention to Nkangala, and barely made it to the end……until I saw padded chairs waiting for us at the top.  Suddenly I had more energy, got to the top and plopped into one of the chairs.

Waiting for the sunset on top of a rock near Mwiba Lodge

The staff had built a fire, set up a bar, laid out snacks and pointed our chairs toward the not yet setting sun.  Nkangala proceeded to make a bow and arrow the Hadzabe way.  It took him an hour to make the perfect bow and arrow.  We put Mark’s hat out again and he shot the arrow right through it.  Mark now has a hat with a story.  The sunset was lame, but we sat in the dark for quite a while watching a multidirectional lightening show in the distance and reminiscing about the very special day we had just experienced.

We sit looking west into the coming lightening show in the distance.

Back at the lodge, dinner went quickly, as bed beckoned.

December 1, 2018 Serengeti Plains

It is early afternoon and I am sitting in our vehicle on the plains waiting for a coalition of male cheetah doing what appears to be nothing.  They walk a few steps and look around.  It is a waiting game.   They are on the hunt for gazelle, but have not made a move. It is requiring much patience for us as well as the cheetah, and I now have a new appreciation for professional photographers.  Fortunately for me, Brad brought his computer, so I am happily able to write.

November 28, 2018 was our second day in Ngorongoro Crater.  Brad planned it this way so we would have more time in the crater than the usual tourists, who usually have one long day. On the 27^th, we had 3.5 hours in the afternoon.  On this day we had over 4 hours viewing in the morning and lunch.  We reached the crater floor just before 8am and were soon spotting some of the many animal species in the park –numerous hyeana, wildebeest, cape buffalo, gazelle, ostrich, baboon and zebra.

Clouds build in the distance as we descend into the crater

Animals on the move in the early morning

We came upon a pond with a few hippos laying on the bank sunning and sleeping.   Had rarely seen them so “exposed” and so close to us.    While there a large male lion walked by.  There was another vehicle near us and the lion marked the back of it.  Fun to watch.

This was the first day we had experienced other vehicles and found ourselves watching to see where they were clustered.  Even though we did not like having them around, we took advantage of the opportunity to see more animal action.

A lion marks new territory

Sure enough, the biggest event of the day was at the site of a cluster of 7 other vehicles.  We arrived just in time to get a good parking spot and experience a very unusual sight.

In a narrow water drainage were the remains of a dead Cape Buffalo. It had been killed the night before by lions, who had had their fill and left.  When we arrived there were at least 200 vultures and one hyeana fighting noisily over the carcass.   Although they fought like crazy with each other, they seemed to all get something to eat. Once they had their fill of food or fighting, they moved off and others took their place.   While we watched, three Black-Backed Jackel arrived on the scene and moved into the fray.  They were more vicious than the hyeana and wasted no time getting into the middle of the carcass along with a few vultures.  It was quite a scene.   We watched for 30 minutes before leaving to explore the area further.  It wasn’t long before we spotted a lone female lion walking along.  We followed her and soon realized it was headed directly toward the vulture scene. So we drove fast back to the scene to get a good parking spot.  The scene had not changed.  We were in place only a few minutes before the lion came around the corner of a rock outcrop.

As soon as the crowd at the kill saw the lion, the scene immediately evaporated, the noise stopped and all that could be seen was the lion standing over her kill. It was amazing to see the effect of her presence.  She hung around a few minutes, gave the vultures a glaring look as they backed even further away, looked around one more time and walked away.   We waited to see what would happen.  First back on the carcass were the three jackel.  Ten minutes passed, but the vultures continued to hang back, while the jackel feasted.   We grew tired of waiting and headed off.

Our driver, Ukadi, said he had a lunch site in mind so off we went.  We drove quite a while and finally passed through a wooded area with a river course through it.   We saw several vehicles stopped and having lunch and I thought we would stop there too. Instead we continued across the creek, around another wooded area and into a clearing.  When Ukadi stopped, we could see several of our lodge staff waving to us and singing.  What a surprise.

Our picnic complete with champagne and roses

Apparently, Starla Estrada, our GeoEx travel agent in San Francisco, had arranged for this affair and what a happy affair it was.   Our first sight was a large champagne bucket filled with champagne and roses.   About 6 staff greeted us with smiles, towels, champagne and mango juice, a better Mimosa than usual.  When we had time to look around, we saw a lean to with a table set for four, a large buffet table filled with food, a BBQ cooking skewers of chicken and pork, a dessert table piled high with roses and sweets, an out house at a distance and a dressing table with more roses and a water basin for cleaning hands.

Brad enjoyed watching us be delighted.   The meal was super and everyone had a good time, including the staff. There was way too much food, but Brad assured us it would not go to waste.

Feeling full and content, we climbed back into the vehicle and headed up and out of the crater, back to our lodge.   We arrived about 2:30 with a free afternoon ahead.   When we walked into our cottage, we found the floor covered with rose petals in the shape of three hearts leading us to the bathtub full of hot bubbly water.   Although I had planned to spend the afternoon writing, I could not resist having a bubble bath with Mark.    What a fun and delicious conclusion to a perfect day.

Rose petal hearts lead to our hot bubble bath.

When we went to dinner, we realized the lodge was full of guests, as they were all in the living room having drinks and visiting.  The ambiance, complete with a crackling fire, was very pleasing.   Dinner was a pleasant and uneventful affair.  We depart for the Manyara airport first thing in the morning, so now to bed.

November 25, 2018  Istanbul

We are finally away.  Attended a lovely memorial service for our friend Rich Toothman and left immediately from there for SFO.  Was a busy Saturday with roads full, I suspect,  of discount shoppers scurrying about.  Took us 3.5 hours to get to the airport.  Good thing we did not linger at the memorial, though I wanted to stay longer.

We have now traveled with Turkish Airlines several times and are very pleased with the configuration of our seats and space as well as the food served.  Our flight here was 12 hours and 12 minutes.  We both arrived rested after a leisurely 4 course dinner, a sound sleep of 7 hours for me and 5 for Mark.  Then we had a fruit and yogurt breakfast before landing.  Now we sit in the Turkish Airways lounge waiting for our 7 hour leg to Zanzibar, followed by another short leg to Kilimanjaro.  By then we will be waisted.

Meanwhile, this airport is a huge place full of people from everywhere.  Must be one of, if not the, busiest airport we have ever been through.  Can hardly walk along the wide corridors without being jostled.  We passed through one area where everyone was sitting in groups on the floor.  They looked to be Muslims from their attire.  And they all seemed happy to be on the floor.  It looked like the absence of seating was intentional.   We walked a good mile before arriving at the lounge near our next gate.  It is also very crowded, but we were able to find seats in a dark, quiet corner.

Below is a map of Southern Africa, which happens to also include part of Tanzania, as well as Mozambique and South Africa.

Map of Southern Africa                                                                                                                          Next is a map of the National Parks in Tanzania.  We will be focusing in on parks in the northern part of the country.  Mark just shared some facts he learned with me.  Tanzania is twice the size of California; Mt Kilimanjaro, at 19,340 feet tall, is the highest mountain in Africa; the median elevation of the country is 3,340 feet and we will be about 300 miles south of the equator.  

Map of Tanzania showing the national parks

November 26, 2018

We are now in a tent in the Polo camp at the Nduruma Polo & Country Club nestled in natural bush country and within eye shot of Mt. Kilimanjaro and near the town of Arusha.  We arrived here after 25 hours of flying from SFO to Istanbul, then Zanzibar and, at last to Kilimanjaro, where a delightful young lady, Nicole, picked us up at 4:45 am and took us on a 40 minute ride in the dark to the Polo Club.  We arrived just in time to see the sky getting light.  The cloud cover kept the air cool, but also obscured our view of the mountain.  Rather than go directly to the tent, Nicole suggested we have breakfast on the patio of the club, so we did.  She joined us and we began to learn the history of the club and all about her family ties to it.  Turns out her father bought the land and converted the sisal farm into a Polo Club with 10 acre parcels around the polo fields, which are now all sold, and a golf course that is surrounded by smaller parcels that are just starting to sell.  Quite a property.

We are here because our guide, Brad Hansen, chose this place so we could see what it might be like if we decided to have a part time place in Tanzania and spend more time in Africa.   He was our guide when we were in Chad several months ago.  We liked him so much we asked him to be our private guide on this trip.   We have had a good laugh about him, as he forgot our trip dates and did not arrive when we did.  Now he is on the way and will arrive tomorrow.   Lucky for us, Nicole is here to step in for him.

About 8am, we got to our tent and relaxed.  But not for long.  At 10am we met Nicole at the stables and went for a horse back ride in the wooded part of the grounds, which include 5,000 fenced acres that contain many African animals that her family has rescued, in addition to the polo fields and the country club.  We got up close to a few zebra, Thompson’s gazelles and wildebeest.   We also spotted a rare animal we have never seen before, called a Gerenuk. It is a long necked gazelle.   It was hard to get the horse to stand still while I tried to get photos.  (Click on any image to make it larger.)

In the afternoon we rested for a couple of hours then joined Nicole and her fiancé for a visit to the golf course and a walk about a few of the holes.  It is a lovely, long and difficult, course.  Afterward, we had a short drink on the club house veranda, then drove over to Nicole’s parents home for cocktails and appetizers.  What a surprise that was.  Their home is spectacular with  teak wood and glass everywhere.  The construction was the best I have seen anywhere in Africa.  Her parents, Bas and Anna are in their mid 50’s and full of energy, numerous activities and laughter.  We had quite a visit.  He made his money in the rose and chrysanthemum businesses and now concentrates on his passions–conservancy, polo and old 4×4 land rovers.

Anna gave me a tour of their spectacular 2-story home.  There is so much floor to ceiling glass that I walked into a glass wall without realizing it was not open.  The best part of their house is the setting.  From every window you look into woods filled with wild animals.  From the veranda where we had drinks, we were sitting 50 feet from a herd of zebra with 2 babies, several gazelles and a wildebeest relaxing on the ground.  I was so entranced with the whole scene that I forgot to take photos.  Shame on me.

Back at the Polo Club house, Nicole and her fiancé joined us for dinner.  The interesting conversation continued with us learning more about Nicole’s family.  They were all born in Tanzania and speak fluent Swahili.  Even so, she has a Dutch passport and does not intend to ever become a Tanzanian citizen, which would require her to give up her Dutch citizenship.     Her grandfather moved to Tanzania to get into the rose farming business.  He did reasonably well, but could not compete with the Kenyan rose farmers, so he and his son, Nicole’s father, switched to chrysanthemums.  They now have 30% of the world market.  No wonder they are able to indulge their passions.

At 9pm, Mark and I finally went to bed after having been up over 48 hours.