Tanzania, Africa - 2

Hi, On the second day of our safari we had morning and afternoon game drives in Tarangire National Park.

Immediately after leaving the lodge we encountered a Dikdik.  These very small antelope are very shy and therefore very hard to photograph.

There are still thousands of elephants in Tanzania and it seemed like we saw most of them.  They eat 18 hours a day in order to provide enough nutrition.  Our guide told us they only absorb about 40 percent of the food value in the vegetation they consume.

Vultures in an Acacia tree.  The nests hanging on the right are constructed by a family of birds called Weavers.

This young male lion stayed hunkered down in the grass.  He was not happy having us close by.

There were lots of young elephants.  This one is trying to nurse was but a few days old.

This is a Lilac Breasted Roller.

I am not sure what these birds were.

This Vervet Monkey has come down to a river to drink.

African Wild Dogs are extremely rare.  Our guide learned of this pack over the radio and we hurried to find them.  When we encountered the pack the dogs were lying in the shade.

Eventually the dogs began to move around some, probably a little upset by our presence.  A few even wandered out onto the road.

This is a massive bee hive.  Bees can be seen massed at the center (brown area).

Wildlife frequently came onto the grounds of the lodges and camps at which we stayed.  Here a Vervet Monkey sprints through our lodge area at lunch time.

These Guinea Fowl were very common.

Here is a bachelor group of Impala.

We encountered large groups of elephants.

And where does an elephant go?  Anywhere it wants.

A Striped Mongoose family crosses the road.

Giraffes also were very common (above and below).

As a vulture surveyed its surroundings from its perch on a dead tree another day came to a close.

Thanks for looking.

Tanzania, Africa - 1

Hi, Ruthe and I returned Saturday from an outstanding safari to Tanzania. We traveled with friends Cathy and Jim Kleeman. Between Ruthe and me we produced almost 5,000 images. I will be posting a selection of these photos over the coming days. I apologize for the large number of images posted in advance but I hope you will agree the experience justifies this.

Photographically our day started a little before 9:00 AM when we spotted a monkey outside the window of the restaurant in our hotel while we were eating breakfast.

After the monkey disappeared a pair of Silver Cheeked Hornbills flew in and proceeded to eat in the tree the monkey had left.

At about 9:00 AM we boarded our Toyota Land Cruiser and headed for Tarangire National Park where we arrived about 1:00 PM.  The above photo was taken in front of our Land Cruiser at the end of our trip with our guide, Mkenda, in the middle.  Good photo opportunities on a safari result from having a highly skilled and knowledgeable guide combined with a good bit of luck.  Fortunately, we had both.

 We checked into our lodge, had lunch and left for a game drive about 3:00 PM.  Our first encounter was a herd of Impala, including this doe and her fawn.

Next up was a troop of Baboons.  Mothers frequently carry their babies.

Male Impalas either have a harem or they gather in bachelor groups.

Many animals enjoy a mud bath.  Here a Warthog sow is partaking of this pleasure while two hoglets wait their turn.

We saw hundreds of Elephants of all ages.

Waterbucks were not quite as common as some other antelope.

Mama kept a wary eye on us.

Birds accompany many of the larger animals picking insects off them.

Cape Buffalo also enjoy a mud wallow (above and below).

A Waterbuck male watches over his harem.

This is typical of some of the open savannah landscape we encountered.  These are a variety of Acacia Trees.

These beautiful Superb Starlings were quite common.

Storks in trees were also common.  Here we have an African Openbill Stork.

Cape Buffalo proved to be as curious as domestic cows.  This herd move toward us and then stopped to look us over (above and below).

Big Eared Fox are quite rare and this was our only sighting.

A large Acacia dominates the scene.

This was our first encounter with Jackals.  They were just relaxing by the side of the road.

We saw numerous Giraffes.

Sun sets and sun rises were quite beautiful.

The Elephants have finished drinking and now it is the turn of these Cape Buffalo.

A group of Yellow Billed Storks are roosting in a dead tree.

These are Southern Ground Hornbills.

Moonrise over Tarangire.

A pair of juvenile Elephants test their strength at dusk.

Thanks for looking.