Monkeying Around

Monday, April 23, 2012

Random photos from Safari

An excellent right hook

My leopard

Almost did not get this shot

Two young hippos practicing for the big time

Banded mongooses on the alert

Welcome to the rim of the Ngorogoro crater

A view across lake Magadi and up at the rim of the crater

A herd of Giraffe

3 Eland taking a stroll

Golden Jackel

Dad enjoying the hippos

Me, Dad and our driver Malisa

Yellow throated chameleon I found on the road

Grey crowned crane portrait

Mother and cub, spotted hyenas

Me and Dad looking cool

6^th April

My Dad arrived in Tanzania to visit me on what would be his first ever time in Africa. This effectively makes me his guide, which I’m sure you’ll agree is a worrying prospect. He flew in to Kilimanjaro airport in the North of Tanzania, so I flew from Kigoma on the 4^th in time to meet him. I can tell you for nothing, flying is much more luxurious than the buses. The flight took the best part of 2 hrs, the bus on the other hand takes 2 days with the extreme likelihood of screaming, crapping children being near or on you.. mmm

Sunset over the Serengeti

I decided to organize my Dad’s visit into 3 chapters. Trying to mix in things that I’ve not already done or to go to places I’ve not already been to. Therefore making the experiences new for both of us. Chapter 1 would be Safari – something I’ve already done lots of, but it’s a must for anyone visiting East Africa, its also right up my street. Chapter 2 We plan to climb Kilimanjaro.. not sure what to expect. Chris Moyles climbed it though so I’m optimistic. Chapter 3: Finish up with a nice relaxing couple of days in Zanzibar.

8^th – 11^th April

Chapter 1: Ngorogoro and Serengeti

Dads wallet allowed us to do this 4 day safari in style. We stayed at some really nice lodges inside the national parks and might have had a few cheeky massages as well. Deep tissue of course. We went to much the same places as I went with Mum and Jules but with a very different experience.

A lone Bull in the rain

The highlight for me were seeing 5 hyenas on the hunt in the Ngorogoro crater. Our timing was impeccable. We pulled up just in time to see the hyenas hassling the flanks of an isolated group of buffalo that had fallen behind the main herd. After some time it was obvious they were going for a calf in the midst of the buffalo group. The calf did not look all that well and must have been ill or something.

A picture that says it all

After some time the rest of the group escaped leaving just the mother and the calf. I have to say, the mother fought heroically but the odds were against her and she was getting tired. Every time she chased one of the hyenas away another would come and grab the calf, she would then chase that one away and the process would repeat itself. After a few minutes of this the hyenas became more brazen and began biting the tail of the mother.

Mum strayed too far

Mum making a heroic charge

Eventually, the mother strayed a little to far from the calf in pursuit of one of the cackling hyenas. This was the opportunity for the rest of the pack. The first to take advantage of the opportunity pulled the calf to off its feet by biting and pulling on a rear leg. As soon as the calf hit the ground, the rest moved as one and swarmed over the calf. The gory scene was part obscured by the long grass, we could however see the hyenas and hear the baying calf. It was clear that they were eating it alive. All this the mother watched from a distance of 30m. Every now and then she would work up the strength to charge them again but her efforts were rewarded with more bites from the now blood crazed hyenas until she eventually fled back to the herd.

Outnumbered and outgunned, mum accepts the outcome

After about a minute the calf stopped baying at last, not long after this one of the hyenas broke from the kill carrying the calf’s head in its mouth.. Truly a gruesome spectacle.

We also got a great view of a cheetah up close and followed him as he strolled through the open woodland. The rarest of Africa's big cats.

Cheetah

Dads highlight was a herd of elephants right next to the road.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

5/4/12

Today is the 16^thof March –

I hope you dont mind but im going to put a few random photos into the midst of this completely unrelated text simply to make it less boring.

Watching the rains from a safe distance

I have now been living in Tanzania for about 7 and a half months. Looking back I can say with confidence that the time has gone by quickly. At the moment we are in the midst of the wet season. It rains heavily on average once every 3 days. Yet even when the sun is shining there is the distant threat of thunder around the clock.

I dont think this photo needs a caption

My MSc is coming on in leaps and bounds. I follow 2 troops several times a month for 3 day stretches at a time. The days are 12 hour days from 7 till 7. This allows me to follow their movements from the moment they leave their sleeping site to the moment they return or find a new sleeping grove. The baboons are definitely becoming more accustomed to someone following them but their tolerance is limited. They rarely let me approach them to within 30m but if I stop and don’t acknowledge them, the braver youths of the troop may come within 10m. Of course their bravery could be attributed to their curiosity and the want to practice their ‘threat’ behaviour on a stranger. This particular behaviour manifests itself by short lunges in my direction or barking at me. It is quite endearing really but any movement from me crushes their confidence and sends them scuttling off into the bushes. Due to the large amount of time I spend with the baboons each month, it is only a natural progression that I should start to recognise certain individuals. A certain power awarded to me in this situation is that I can now name that individual. Spider man once said with power comes responsibility, I chose not to heed his advice and called my first recognisable baboon Chewbacca. What can I say, it just came to me. Another particularly interesting individual who was immediately recognisable came in the form of an Albino infant.

Msigwa, Myself and Busoti all packed up and ready to hike back to main camp

In other slightly disturbing news, I can now tie my hair back into a pony tail. As of yet I have not intentions of cutting it. Oh well, there is not exactly ample reason to remain the once good looking, clean cut, young man I was in England. I also figure the best time to experiment with such things is best done while no one can see me. The guys here are particularly horrified by my appearance and they like to remind me with the occasional jesting statements like “you look like a girl” and other equally witty jokes/statements of subjective fact?. It does amaze me though that at the end of their 6 weeks in the forest (just before their 2 week holiday) they undergo a transformation. One of the others will diligently spend a good hour and a half shaving back all facial hair and head hair, then they will dress in their smartest, cleanest clothes. The final effect is I drop them off with their families in town and they make me look like shit in comparison. I do enjoy the confusion it brings them though.

A stunning view which the photo does not do justice

7 months of learning Swahili has taken its toll, I can now say “hello” and “thank you”… amongst other certain useful things. None of the guys speak any English so if I ever wanted to communicate with them I had no choice but to learn. I started feeling competent at talking the language after about 4 months and since then I’ve all but given up studying. I have occasional bursts of enthusiasm which lead me to rehearsing a page of new words but those moments are few and far between. My competence has made me complacent and lazy. Such is life.

Random little tree frog

On the 22^nd of this month it will be Victoria Griggs birthday so I would like to make a public declaration of wishing her a good one. She turns 22. Kind of a moo gesture because I wont be able to post this till April but the thought is till there! Happy Birthday.

Another Bush Viper

Getting rid of ones particulars in order to cross river..

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

PYTHON!! 28/2/12

My first Python- 23/2/12

Forgive me but the following account has become much longer than imagined but this was a great experience for me and fully deserving of no detail being spared.

Now we have all seen a picture of a python at some point or another. They look like big, sleepy, slow animals. Now, a couple of days ago I’d have concurred with all these adjectives. It is true perhaps that these would be fitting descriptions if the python was left undisturbed. If however you are otherwise inclined (such as my morbid curiosity led me to be) then your going to need some new words. Lets start from the beginning though. ..

What the inside of a pythons mouth looks like without gums

Myself and Busoti were casually strolling along the Eastern ridge of an unnamed mountain about 300/400m above the valley below on one of our safaris. We are about a days walk from our big camp and 4 hours or so from our temporary camp. As were going I spot a good place to get a picture of the valley. It’s a sloping rock face free of trees and as predicted it is a good spot to take a pic. As I’m enjoying the view I scan around subconsciously until my eyes settle on an oddly patterned bit of rock about 7m from where were sitting. Hang on sec now, that aint no rock I ses to me self. That is a South African Rock Python. Now I’ve been wanting to see one of these for a while now and despite their size they seem pretty hard to find. Its taken me 7 months to find this bugger. Now he aint the biggest there are out there but by no means is he the smallest. This fella is between 6 and 7 feet long (about 2m long) and thick as girls waist at the thickest. The dead one that Simon found 2 months ago was about 14 feet long (4m) and they are known to grow up to 5m long!! Anyway, I point him out to Busoti who immediately stands up and backs away despite the snake clearly being fast asleep. Now there is something you should know. I’ve been chatting myself up to all of the guys saying “If I see a rock python, im gonna catch it” so I was now under a bit of an obligation.. There were a mixture of feelings here. Fear and excitement prevailing mostly. There is a fairly big but innocuous looking python over there and im gonna catch it! Only I knew it wasn’t quite as innocuous as it looked, the teeth on these guys are long and numerous. (see pic of skull from Simon’s dead python). Anyway – push negative thoughts out of head, roll up sleeves, take deep breath, count to 3, approach..

Fast asleep

Has no idea whats about to happen

Busoti has the camera, and there I am, 2m away from now hissing rock python in a very threatening striking posture. I figure im just out of range.. Im waiting for him to turn away so I can get a grip on the safe end. About a minute passes when he decides to make his dash, moving much quicker than I could have imagined. Its now or never! I lunge forward and grab his tail end before he disappeared off down the slope. With great effort I haul him off the awkard ledge and up onto a flat bit and relax a bit thinking the hard part was over. WRONG. Now I thought I was grumpy when I’ve been woken up. Obviously this guy has never had a girlfriend because the moment we were on the flat (his tail in my hand and the rest of him on the ground) he swings his head around and strikes at me with surprising speed. I make an awkward shape as I get my precious parts out of the path of the gaping mouth. He strikes again but this time I know its coming and am out of the way in well in time. This process goes on for what seems quite a while, grabbing him around the neck to put him under complete control is out of the question. Steve Irwin failed to bring out a ‘How to’ video before he went swimming with Sting rays. But that is fine with me, I am quite happy partaking in this little dance until I figure its probably time I should let him be. I let go of him and shocked by his sudden freedom he remains still for a second or two, then he shoots of into a thick bush. I stand there in awe, shaking a little from the adrenalin watching him go.

Python

Python time

John Travolta - saturday night fever?

Now I feel I should offer a small explanation as to the reasons for my actions. Sadly I’m going to have to disappoint those that agree with me on this. I don’t know why. I do know I got one hell of an experience though. What I will say though is that pythons are quite phenomenal beasts and should be treated with the upmost respect. A pity I didn’t read this first..

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

The Rungwa Bush Viper

Even more recently I came across a Rungwa Bush Viper. Now this is no ordinary snake. I have fantasized about seeing this snake since I arrived here. It looks like a dragon. They are very rare snakes and the people who have seen this snake in the wild are few. I was so excited that I couldn’t simply leave it where I found it. I collected it in my head net whilst avoiding a few mock strikes, took it back to camp. This way I became possible to get some proper photos and generally nurture my enthusiasm for these fantastic creatures by observing it daily, feeding it and photographing it. It appears to greatly like frogs. Sadly though when I return to Camp I will have to take him back where I found him. To keep him any longer would be selfish to my own wants – despite the free meals, im sure the wild is where he’d rather be!