Kenya Tanzania 2019

24.11.2019 Lake Manyara

Next morning we woke up early to have a quick cup of tea , with a packed breakfast . The idea was to do an all day Safari with Hussein till 1400 hours , and then a night Safari to follow which sounded most exciting .

Hussein has a keen eye for birds and bird sounds . Before too long we accosted the robin chat who snag his heart out , and the funnily named Slaty Boubou and the Tropical Boubou . The clouds had lifted and the forest was alive with bird life and sounds .

Ere too long , we came across three of our old friends the Southern Ground Hornbills . With red wattles , these big birds can fly , but spend most of their time on the ground . Surprisingly they can live up-to sixty years and mate for life . Their rate of reproduction is slow and produce only one baby a year . Yet they were thriving in Lake Manyara . We searched for the elusive leopard but to no avail . We stopped at the hot water pools and the afore mentioned picnic spot . While Hussein set up our breakfast we walked down by means of a long wooden trestle bridge , constructed over the hot springs and the shallows in a zig zag manner , about two meters above the ground , to get up close and personal with the flamingoes .

We learnt how to distinguish the greater from

the lesser . There were other water birds in the hot pools , including three banded Plovers and sandpipers . In the distance we spotted even Egyptian geese and stilts . But mainly the flamingoes reigned in their thousands . One simply runs out of superlatives when confronted with such a feat of nature . Everywhere one tuned , one was met with Flamingoes filing the water and the sky . The hubbub was great and wonderful to behold .

With some reluctance , we left the flamingoes to sit down to have a luxurious breakfast .. pies and muffins and fresh fruits all washed down with the drink of choice for such occasions on Safari .. coffee with Amarula !

As we drove further we spotted many more birds including Harriers , Batteleur Eagles and even Kestrels . Lake Manyara seems to be a haven for all manner of eagles and vultures . A palm nut vulture on the ground was a prize sighting.

Happy and content , we went on a search for lions and others beasts along the lake shore . Sure enough we spotted a slightly sick looking lioness who looked ill and long in tooth .

Further down the road , we came across two lionesses resting beneath a shade .Lions can spend upto 18 hours sleeping and are known to eat upto 40 kilos of meat a day !

After watching them for a while , we decided to drive inwards in to the forest . Here the open Savannah land gave way to sea of green , dense forest . We were utterly startled by the sight of huge African buffaloes making a break from their hiding place in the green seemingly impenetrable maze on to the mud road . Once we accosted a band of banded mongoose over twenty strong , scampering across the road looking for beetles and insects .

A round a corner we chanced upon a large herd of elephants very close to the road. This herd had a baby elephants escorted by their mothers and aunts and interestingly a thirty year old huge Male Tusker accompanying them .

The big bull was in musth and that spelt trouble for us .

Firstly we had inadvertently come quite close to them . The elephants had babies . Immediately the matriarchs in the herd shielded the babies and then started giving us warning signs by flailing their ears and bobbing and weaving their enormous heads in typical warning signs . At least these female elephants , were on one side of the road amidst the trees and bushes .

The male Tusker opted to turn around face us and then first warned us by , flaring its ears wide , nodding its head from side to side , all accompanied by a deep angry rumbling . The effect was electric . Then the elephant mock charged us and came to the front of our vehicle , made angry noises from deep within and then pretended to retreat . Next it turned back and charged again and then again each time coming closer . Couple of times it came to the side of the vehicle where Huvida was sitting . I was petrified with fear and both Humpfrey and Hussein sat absolutely still . I said In an urgent low whisper to Huvida “ lower your camera “ ! But she was oblivious .

Then the elephant escalated the showdown even further by touching the front of the vehicle with his trunk .

All our learnings of such behavior , from our previous visits did not prepare us for this eventuality .

The elephant secreting from the gland near its eyes and from its genitals, indicating that the testosterone overflow had lead to this aggressive behavior .

That was not all . The tusker kept moving to Huvida’s side of the vehicle . Remember we were in an open vehicle ,within handshaking distance of an angry African Bulll elephant – the largest land mammal in the world .

The message was loud and clear . You are in my territory . I am the emperor of all i survey . I do not like you and I can do what I wish .

Six times the elephant went and came back . It’s intent and purpose absolutely chillingly clear .

While this was happening the , other elephants , took turns to come to my side of the vehicle , where I was sitting and shaking their heads in anger and warning .

It was a heart pounding moment and then the magnificent tusker , standing perhaps 12 feet tall at his boulder , kind of blinked first and walked away .

In the blink of an eye , the elephant herd melted away into the forest with nary a sign of them . A little bit of dust , some fresh elephant droppings is all that remained of them .

It was just astonishing that such a large animal could b so silently and utterly disappear . Sheer magic !

We were silent for a while and then we let out a collective breath of relief .

I had continued to use my camera , except for about the last time , when I really thought he was going to move from intent to deadly action. In my humble opinion , Huvida lacks imagination and is a far braver person than I am , for she had continued filming with her camera even though the animal was half a foot from her .

I asked Hussein later whether he was not worried whether the Elephant would attack. He said no and that was because the elephant had decided to come towards us and not the other way around . According to him , turning on the engine and trying to retreat , would have immediately led to triggering the elephant into attack mode from just a threatening mode .

He said he was trained to handle this and was clear and sure of what to do which was to sit absolutely still . He reassured us that at no time where we in danger !

But I have to admit whereas I believed in what he said , having gone through the experience and having seen and been , in such events across many years of travels into forests , this was definitely up there amongst the most thrilling moments in our encounters with wildl animals .

Ones atavistic instincts take over and in my case it was all flight and no fight !

We slowly digested our experience as we explored the forest further .

The heavy rains the previous evening had made certain tracks unnavigable . We continued to circle around and watch many birds . Lake Maynard is truly a haven for birds . Hussein as mentioned before was a treasure trove of jungle lore .

We also found out that he loved Indian movies . Talking about Cuckoos he pointed out that in The Three Idiots the professor had taunted the students by telling them that cuckoos did not have nests . And truly cuckoos lay their eggs in other birds nests .

We tried looking for a leopard but they remained elusive . We came back to our lodge slowly around two in the afternoon exhausted but happy .

As we descended from the vehicle , Abdullah said that we had surprise waiting us . He led us way to the poolside after we had washed up and escorted us to rear of the Boma.

There they had set up a table just for the two of us beneath the shade of tree next to the swimming pool , exclusively for us.

Abdullah then produced a bottle champagne and we raised a toast for a really happy day wished each other ‘ Gonga ‘ in Kiswahili .

It was a quiet and beautiful afternoon . The late afternoon sun was not too hit as a balmy zephyr filtered through the trees carrying myriad scents from flowering trees around us . We slowly sipped champagne and thought that life was worth the while living . Sitting besides the pool , several vervet monkees , made an appearance to see what were their cousins upto by the poolside .

Abdullah promptly sent a young man called Ali Sharifa to us , who duly announced that he was the designated ‘ Monkey Scarer ‘ and that he would ensure that we would have a peaceful lunch ! Under the watchful eye of the monkey scarer , we had a light repast . Abdullah served us with grace and attention to detail , all accompanied by a beaming smile .It was the perfect antidote to the adrenalin rush from the elephant incident .

Satiated and happy , we then repaired to our suite , where we immediately fell asleep in a dreamless sleep , exhausted from the days adventures . Not used to downing a bottle of champagne even between two of us , we slept deeply .

We woke up around 5 pm to realize that it was raining again.

We were scheduled to go on a night Safari after an early dinner . After a nice hot shower , we felt much better ,ready to face what the night would bring .

Around seven in the evening , after the rain had thankfully relented , we were escorted to the main dining place .Abdullah was ever ready to ply us with frozen Vodka limes even after our feeble protests .

Slowly our fellow travelers sauntered in . A lady who looked like a dead ringer for Mary Pierce , the tennis player , was accompanied by an enormous fat fellow and they spoke animatedly in Afrikaans . A bunch of Americans including couple of ladies , who turned out to be lawyers were in the next table . They loudly related their tale of getting stuck in their private vehicle in mud , getting bitten by Tsetse flies and having to be rescued ! It seemed that Americans by far were the largest group of travelers in all the AndBeyond camps that we had been to .

Having finished an excellent dinner , we made ready to go on our Night Safari , armed with our cameras appropriately set.

Our night animal spotting started even before we reached our vehicles ! For Abdullah shine his torch into the trees as we walked up to our vehicle , at a strange sound , like a baby been strangled. In the torch light , we sighted a bushbaby creeping along amongst the branches . The white furred bushbaby has a prehensile tail with a strong grip and fingers which looked very human . With its huge bug eyes it looked most strange ,and to many an African would have been a embodiment of the spirits that animated the forests at night .

Lake Manyara was one of the few places which offered a night Safari in Eastern Africa and for that permission had to be obtained from the authorities . We were accompanied by two new persons . Khoi Khai , our tracker for the eve, turned out to be huge tall gentleman while another tall bloke , sported a gleaming smile , accompanied us with an evil looking Ak 47 was our body guard . He was also to there to protect us from poachers apart from Wild animals . In Kenya and Tanzania apparently one has permission to shoot poachers on sight !

Rules for the night Safari was strict . Only given pathways and between 8pm and 11 pm . No disturbing non nocturnal animals by shining lights into their eyes . Such a light would leave all the herbivores , temporarily blinded and defenseless against predators .Red lights were to be used if the lights were to be turned on directly in to the eyes of nocturnal animal .

Khoi Khai sat in a seat attached to the front of the land cruiser , almost as if he were himself the bait for a lion or leopard .

As we settled down , Khoi Khai managed to shine a light in the gloom and picked up a Flapped Green Chameleon , holding on tightly to a branch , looking like a little green gnome . This Chameleoon, active nocturnally ,froze in the light ,hoping to avoid detection.

We saw two of them in quick succession .

As we drove down to the lake side , we saw herds of buffaloes and then zebras and impalas grazing in the grass . In the dark , the animals looked ghostly and wary . Khoi did not shine the light directly at them. And mostly left the herbivores alone .

Plenty of Hippos were walking on trails towards their feeding grounds away from their pools . These enormous beasts , on their short stubby legs , looked well like , Hippos out of water ! It is incredible to see , how swiftly they move and in total silence . And At night time this was especially disconcerting .

Soon couple of solitary hyenas were sighted . In Lake Manyara , their numbers are small and hence they tend to be shy and skittish .

A black backed jackal went about his daily business searching for grins and small insects , eggs and mammals on the ground.

Then couple of animals and birds which are rather rare . A Common Genet on a tree was the highlight of the evening . This beautiful feline , with its striped elongated body is larger than a domestic cat or a civet .It is a nocturnal animal blessed with excellent eyesight at night .

From Wiki : Quote

Genets are slender cat-like animals with a long body, a long ringed tail, large ears, a pointed muzzle and partly retractile claws. Their fur is spotted.

Genets are highly agile, have quick reflexes and exceptional climbing skills. They are able to stand on their hind legs. They walk, trot, run, climb up and down trees, and jump. They live on the ground, but also spend much of their time in trees. They are considered solitary creatures and subsist on small vertebrates and invertebrates and also on fruits .

End Quote

This particular creature was beautiful. .

After recoding the creature on our cameras , which surprisingly worked very well in the low light , we moved on .

Then out of the night sky , the light caught the image of an African Nightjar . This unlikely looking bird is a medium sized with strong markings of black and brown and the contrasted coloring of its feathers stood out in. the light . Its distinctive and frequently uttered call is rendered as ‘good-lord-deliver-us’ !

The night jar fluttered erratically in the night , flying around atypically like night jars do . Then it dove down into the ground and froze and pretended that it was invisible !

One would imagine that night drives , cause disruption for animals , but ours was conducted with discretion and minimal disruption. I guess all game drives do ‘ disturb ‘‘animals be it day or night time !

A Water thick -knee froze by the wayside and waited for our vehicle to pass .

Like most ‘night’ birds, it has a typical far-carrying call to communicate and proclaim its area. Its hearing ability matches its excellent eyesight for its nocturnal excursions. During World War II Water Thick-knees were called commando birds because they were often flushed out on night expeditions.

The lake shore , although now empty of flamingoes , was teeming with animals .

As we drove along the shoreline , the balmy night was disrupted by a sibilant whisper of Lions !

The two male lions , both with magnificent manes , one blonde , the other black , were out on their evening constitutional !

They looked magnificent , traveled fast and with purpose . In that eerie silence , and punctuated by the red light form our spotter , the two lions looked majestic.

They followed each other , frequently stopping to mark their territory and sniffing the night air .

Khoi , had decided that discretion was the better part of valor and abandoned his perch in front of the vehicle , as we earnestly set about tracking the two male lions .

The lions for most parts kept about 30- 40 feet distance from us and followed the dirt track , sometimes straight into the marsh , stepping gingerly around the hot pools. . We thought that they were out hunting .

From time to time , the lions would disappear from view and then the nighttime darkness would seemingly intensify , while we imagined all kinds of things and felt that they were creeping up on us . This was thrilling and scary . It was disconcerting to have a lion look directly at you , not blinded at all , by the red lights glare !

The lions sat down a couple of times and stared into the surrounding darkness as if they could see alll their prey in the night .

Then we realized that the two lions after crossing the wooden trestle bridge used for flamingo viewing , were actually on the look out for the lionesses . At one point they stopped , repeatedly sniffed the earth at a particular spot , put up their heads and smelled the air . Both the brothers , opened their jaws wide to let the olfactory evidence in .

They made no attempt or hide their presence .

A Baboon look out had spotted them and started giving its urgent warning bark .

So did a herd of impalas who moved away along with the zebras and gazelles.

A solitary Hippo decided to investigate the lions and lumbered in their direction . Things looked tense .

However the lions deliberately avoided the hippo. We though that a fight was inevitable given their close proximity but eventually the lions walked away . The lions seemed to be supremely confident and very well aware that everybody else was afraid or wary of them . The gazelles ended their vigil and moved away .

It was a tame end to an enthralling sighting .

We drove back to our lodge very happy . Nearly at the end of our drive well past 2330 , we caught a glimpse of an African Porcupine at the edge of a Forest road .

We finally arrived back to our lodges ready to hit our beds after a long satisfying days journey into the night !

We thanked Khoi Khai for his expert tracking!

By the Lake