We did our walking safari along the perimeter of the airstrip with Frances, from Selous Riverside Camp, and Charles, our dutiful guard who carried a semi-automatic, high-powered gun. When you're walking the "wild side," you must have someone who can kill charging giraffe or something similar, I guess.
We walked from dung heap to dung heap as Frances would question us about who pooped. Of course, being unfamiliar with any of Africa's animal poop, we always guessed incorrectly. Ha! It was interesting, kidding aside, because Frances explained to us how each pile of dung (or scat, in the case of impala) contributed to the other animals.
It's all a circle of life, as it is everywhere in the world.
He also explained to us how white-browed sparrow weavers (there are about five kinds of weavers) weaved their nests, which contain two chambers and two exits. If a predator comes in one exit, they can leave through the other exit. Their predators are snakes. They build their nest among the thorns of a tree, weaving it around the thorns to keep it in place. They also build their nests on the west side of the tree to avoid the harsh midday sun, and their nests are at the outer edges because the limbs can't support the weight of an eagle. Very smart birds.
The nests of the white-browed sparrow weaver are much different in shape and size than the nests we've seen for the masked weaver and the golden weaver (which we saw in the reeds along the river).
We also learned about the nest of the hamerkop (Scopus umbretta), which is a medium-sized wading bird. It is the only living species in the genus Scopus and the family Scopidae. Its nest was about four feet wide and about three to four-feet tall. The opening was about five or six inches. And it was a hike to the river, probably half a kilometer. It has three chambers: an incubation chamber, one in which they live, and one for food storage. Their predator is snakes, and the snakes spend their time in the food storage compartment so they tend to be full before the move on to the incubation chamber where the chicks are located. Thus, the snake doesn't eat the chicks.
They are compulsive nest builders, building three to five nests per year whether they are breeding or not. Barn owls and eagle owls may force them out and take over the nests but when the owls leave, the pair may reuse the next. Owls also may use the abandoned nests as may snakes, small mammals such as genets and various birds; weaver birds, starlings and pigeons may attach their nests to the outside.
Another interesting thing we saw and learned about was the antlion. The antlion is among what they call The Little Five but first, I should tell who The Big Five are: lion, leopard, rhino, elephant and Cape buffalo. They are so named because they are the most difficult to hunt on foot. The Little Five are elephant shrew, buffalo weaver, leopard tortoise, antlion and the rhino beetle. Their names and/or their behaviors are similar to the Big Five, thus the descriptors.
The antlion is a tiny insect and you probably can't see that it is in larval form, a mottled brown creature with an oversized head, spiny jaws, short legs and a soft body covered in bristles. Since it preys primarily on ants, the antlion is, metaphorically speaking, a "lion" among ants.
They dig pits into which the ants fall and get eaten. Apparently, they're called "doodlebugs" in the States. I've never heard of such a thing.
We ran into a hippo skeleton, a female as we learned after having guessed a male (they could tell because it had a wide pelvis). Frances told us that more people are killed by hippos than any other wild animal in Tanzania. In fact, they are considered one of the most aggressive animals in the world Good thing we didn't know how aggressive they are whilst in the boat fishing but now I understand why the boat captain kept a fair distance from them.
Frances showed us a crocodile tree, whose bark resembles the scales on a crocodile. The leaves can be used by "drunkards" to relieve hangovers. Its bark is used for medicinal purposes.
We spent nearly two hours exploring the ground around the airstrip, and Frances got very comfortable with us - giving us shit sometimes (because we never guessed the correct answers to his questions).
Went back to camp, ate brekkie, packed, caught up on email and said goodbye to Chanda and the other staff who have treated as so well. Erin, one of the managers, saw some of my photos last night at the bar during Happy Hour and wants to use some in the camp's publicity - with a credit line - so I'll send some her way after I return.
We left camp at 11:15 a.m., got to the airstrip and waited for an hour and 45 minutes for the plane. It was late but no worries - we're in Dar Es Salaam until 4:30 p.m., then an hour's flight to Arusha and another hour drive to our next place - the Onsea Lodge, where we hear the chef's food is par excellence.
And what a difference a flight up the coast and inland makes. We arrived in Arusha and drove through the city to Onsea Lodge.
Arusha is a Masai word, and there are 2 million souls that live here. Driving through it was interesting because it's a city, yet it feels much like a really busy village. It is the capital of the Arusha region in northern Tanzania. It is located below Mount Meru on the eastern of the eastern branch of the Great Rift Valley. It has a temperate climate and, in fact, it is chilly compared to the arid and dry Selous area. Might have to put pants and fleece on tomorrow.
We saw a couple of United Nations vehicles as we drove through town, and it is major international diplomatic hub. It hosts the East African Community, and from 1994 to 2015, the city also hosted the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, but that entity has ceased operations. It is a multicultural city with a majority Tanzanian population of mixed backgrounds: indigenous African, Arab-Tanzanian and Indian-Tanzanian population, plus a small European and an American minority population. Religions of the Arushan population include Christianity, Islam, Sikhism and Hinduism.
Like our driver who picked us up at the airport said (and we've heard it several times), everyone lives in peace regardless of religious affiliation.
We were greeted by at least five people when we arrived at Onsea. We were given delicious pineapple juice and a warm towel to wipe our faces (this is par for all the places at which we've stay). Once we got our paperwork completed, we were escorted to our room, and wow! We've got a television, so we know we're no longer in the bush!
We settled in, showered and went to supper about 8 p.m. It was a five-course meal, starting with some tuna salad with rolls, followed by beet root soup (the best!), then a starter (I had beef, Beth had tomato-feta), the main meal (I had pork, Beth had red snapper), and we finished with a delicious mango crumble. It was exactly what we were promised - par excellence!
We also have wi-fi so I'll upload my blog for today.
Tomorrow, we're off to Mount Kilimanjaro.
The white-browed sparow weaver.
The white-browed sparow weaver's nest.
The hamerkop's nest.
An African snail's shell. It's called an African snail because its shell is shaped like the African continent.
This is the any antiunion.
This is the antlion's trap.
This is Frances, our walking safari guide, asking us whether this hippo skeleton is male or female (we guessed incorrectly).
This is Frances, on the right, with Charles - our well-armed guard that accompanied us on the walking safari.
This is Chanda, who took such good care of us while we were at Selous Riverside Safari Camp in the bush.
Dinner sounded fantastic!
ReplyDelete