Tanzania Photo Safari 2012
Julie and I joined Paul Renner, safari leader, and 15 other photographers on a 8-day tour of three national parks in Tanzania. Here is a sample of the amazing wildlife we saw.
We landed at the Kilimanjaro Int'l airport near Arusha, traveled by Land Cruiser to Tarangire National Park, then to Ngorongoro Conservation Area, and lastly to Serengeti National Park.
We did not suffer any inconveniences. Here's our first lodge, the Arumeru River Lodge.
Our first wildlife was the dik diks that were roaming the Lodge's spacious grounds. The dik dik is about 2 feet tall.
The next morning we drove to Tarangire National Park. We had only three people and a driver in each of six Landrovers which gave us plenty of room to photograph from the vehicles. (In the national parks we're only allowed out of the vehicles under supervision so that we don't become a lion's dinner.)
The baobab tree is deciduous (losing it's leaves in winter) and stores up to 30,000 gallons of water in its trunk to survive the arid periods.
Zebras are a common sight throughout Tanzania and Kenya. Relatives of the horse family, Zebras are very social animals.
Unlike the horse, zebras have never been successfully domesticated.
The Southern Ground Hornbill lives in savannas and now mostly survives in national parks. This turkey-like bird can live to an age of 70 years.
This small, colorful Agama Lizard is about 6 inches in length. It is common throughout sub-Sahara Africa.
The Silverbird, a member of the flycatcher family, lives on beetles, caterpillars, ants and termites.
We came across a pack of Wild Dogs resting under a tree. The dogs hunt in packs usually at dawn and dusk. Paul, our guide, said this was a rare sighting of wild dogs.
Isn't this bird gorgeous and it's appropriately called a superb starling. I have only a few hundred photographs of this bird which we saw frequently.
I'd seen a Saddlebilled Stork in the zoo, but never thought I'd see one in the wild, let alone to capture his image catching a fish.
He's not going to try to eat the whole thing is he?
No, he's going to take it to a safe spot and enjoy his dinner. Interestingly, when it is hot these birds will soar to great heights to stay cool.
Another gorgeous bird, called the Lovebird because it is so affectionate.
We saw lots of Impalas roaming throughout the various parks. This male has an attractive rack and will typically live for about 12 years, but impalas have many enemies.
Here's a "head turning" photo of female impalas curious about our presence.
A couple of zebra scampering about in playful activity. That's one of our Land Cruisers in the background with the top up and cameras out.
Another baobab tree with the sun rising behind it.
Popping up from their hole in a control-burned part of the Tarangire Park are these Dwarf Mongooses. The smallest African carnivore, dwarf mongooses like to eat insects, especially termites.
In the same burned area, this Jackal came up to the Land Cruiser, looking gaunt and unwell. Jackals mate for life, live about 8-10 years, and are intelligent in their cooperative behavior to capture prey.
My favorite bird from Africa is this colorful Lilac-breasted Roller. We saw it frequently and I made many efforts to photograph her in flight without success in Tarangire.
But I did capture this Lilac-breasted Roller squawking about the lack of any insects nearby for his evening dinner.
We came across herds of elephants daily, usually 10-15 individuals in a herd.
Elephants spend most of the day feeding and the males will weigh between 11,000 and 13,000 pounds.
When not eating, elephants enjoy wallowing in mud pits, which helps keep them cool.
The gestation period for elephants is 22 months with usually only 1 young being born. Elephants live to about 60 years of age.
The Tawny Eagle is a big bird, about 30 inches in height and a wing span of up to 6 feet. It commonly feeds on dead meat, similar to vultures, but also will capture rodents and other small animals.
The Red-billed Hornbill is common in East Africa and is omnivorous, eating insects, fruits, and seeds.
This ungainly critter is a Wildebeest which is the predominant animal in the Great Migration which I'll tell you more about later in this slide show. I heard someone say that after god had created all of the animal kingdom he had some spare parts left over from which he created the wildebeest. Its big head, large chest, and spindly legs leaves it short of admirers.
Now here's a real beauty of the animal kingdom, the Warthog. They live in abandoned termite mounds and are primarily grazers.
The Ostrich is the world's largest bird with males weighing up to 300 lbs. The ostrich is flightless but can run at speeds up to 40 mph. Note the structure of the wing and feathers attached to it.
This male ostrich was calling to its mate to look at its shapely leg which it revealed by moving its wing forward.
She wasn't too impressed and nonchalantly wandered off with a blade of grass in her mouth. Ostriches eat mostly vegetable matter and insects. Males are polygamous, mating with many females and engage in an elaborate courtship dance.
Watching Giraffes move is elegance in slow motion. These giants of the savannas will reach up to 20 feet in height and the males may weigh as much as 3500 pounds.
I was amazed to see giraffes forging on very thorny trees only to learn later that their 20-inch long tongues and lips are especially tough to avoid being pierced.
We enjoyed watching Vervet Monkeys frolicking in the trees. Vervets are conspicuous by their black faces and white fringe hair. The males will weigh an average of 12 pounds and the females 8 pounds.
Sitting high in a tree this Vervet Monkey felt secure while peering at us.
For a fleeting moment these Yellow-necked Spurfowl sat on this termite hill, just enough time to get one picture before they flew away. These birds make a loud, harsh sound when calling out.
We were usually in the game preserves as sunset approached but regulations require us to be out of the park at sunset. So we would capture the setting sun and then our cooperative drivers would race for the exits, often many miles away. You'll now know this tree as the baobab tree.
And another setting sun behind the popular Acacia tree.
An early morning photo of the Tarangire Sopa Lodge shortly before going on a safari drive.
A young female waterbuck grazing.
This white-brown Coucal lives a solitary life except when breeding and eats mainly caterpillars and grubs.
You may know that the stripes on a Zebra are like fingerprints on humans. None is identical. One thing I haven't figured out is if they're black stripes on white or white stripes on black.
