Day 1, Sunday July 9, 2017 - Arusha - Engikaret (Lark Plains)


We did not stress this morning and arrived around lunch time. We decided to not bird the plains, but focus on the Woodland next to Sarunis Booma. This was another exploratory trip since we were planning to take our guests here on July 14th. We saw a lot of nice bird this day as well. A Pygmy Falcon on the way in and when we arrived, we had both a Martial and a Tawny Eagle perched right outside the Booma. We also found a pair of Greater Kestrels (New TZ bird for me). Other good birds were: Foxy Lark, Southern Grosbeak Canary, White-headed Buffalo Weaver, Red-throated Tit, Banded Parisoma, Red-fronted Warbler, Red-faced Crombec, Abyssinian Scimitarbill, Speckle-fronted Weaver, Grey-capped Sociable-Weaver, African Grey Flycatcher, Black Cuckoo, Chinspot Batis, Yellow-belied Eremomela, Black-faced Waxbill, White-bellied Canary and Brubru.


Some pictures from Day 1



Greater Kestrel - Falco rupicoloides

Red-faced Crombec - Sylvietta ruficapilla - Picture by Florence

Banded Parisoma - Sylvia boehmi - Endemic to NE Africa

Black Cuckoo - Cuculus clamosus

Chinspot Batis - Batis molitor

Florence and me posing next to the Landy we borrowed from our Fundi.

July 10 - 13 - Arusha


Florence and I relaxed a few more days in Arusha, we managed to celebrate our 4th wedding anniversary at a nice restaurant and we finally got our Landy back from the Fundi on July 12th. The car was running smooth and instead of using 2 liters of fuel pr. 100 km, it was now down to less than half. Even better, it now seemed like we had not lost too much power compared to the petrol guzzling V8. On July 13, we went to the airport to pick up our guests. They arrived on time and we returned to our house for a couple of drinks. At night we took them to a local restaurant for some goat meat.


Some pictures from July 10 - 13



Celebrating our 4th anniversary on July 11th.

Got the Landy back from the Fundi, now with a 300TDI Engine

Day 2 - Friday July 14 - Arusha - Engikaret


We had an early start heading for the Lark Plains Engikaret again. This would be my third time on the trip going there. The main target was of course the Beesley´s Lark for my guests. Sure enough the Beesley´s was found after just a couple of minutes. Also a healthy number og Athi Shirt-toed Lark + big numbers of Red-capped Larks. After having finished early with the larks, we drove towards Saruni´s Booma again.  In the woodland there, we found many birds again. Here´s some of them: Von der Decken´s Hornbill, Foxy Lark, Red-billed Oxpecker, Northern Red-billed Hornbill, 3 Pygmy Falcons in the same tree, White-headed Mousebird, Crested Francolin, Red-fronted Warbler, Bare-eyed Thrush, Black Cuckoo, Black-faced Waxbill, Kenya Rufous Sparrow, Yellow-bellied Canary, Southern Grosbeak Canary, Abyssinian Scimitarbill, Cardinal Woodpecker, Ashy Cisticola and Grey-capped Sociable-Weaver.  We brought with us food that Saruni´s mother prepared for us and we had lunch in his Booma. After lunch we did some more birding. We found a few more birds including Red-throated Tit and Greater Kestrel. In addition we got most of the species we had seen on our previous visits on this trip. The guest we brought were a couple and the lady was not a birder so she quickly became bored. Shortly after lunch we drove back to Arusha. We stocked up for the trip at the local super marked. Our great safari was supposed to start the day after so I wanted to go through the travel plans at night. I had agreed on the plan 2 months in advance with the man (a birder), however the woman was shocked to find out they were supposed to stay 10 nights in a tent! I did not pick up on this at the time, since I had agreed on the trip 2 months in advance........


Some pictures from Day 2



Von der Decken´s Hornbill, Tockus deckeni - Endemic to NE Africa

Athi Short-toed Lark - Calandrella athensis - Endemic to S Kenya and N Tanzania - Picture by Florence

Red-capped Lark - Calandrella cinerea- Picture by Florence

Foxy Lark, Calendulauda alopex - Endemic to NE Africa - Picture by Florence

Red-billed Oxpecker, Buphagus erythorhynchus - Picture by Florence

Ashy Cisticola, Cisticola cinereolus - Endemic to NE Africa - Picture by Florence

Abyssinian Scimitarbill, Rhinopomastus minor - Endemic to NE Africa - Picture by Florence

White-headed Mousebird, Colius leucocephalus - Endemic to NE Africa

Bare-eyed Thrush, Turdus tephronotus - Endemic to NE Africa

Day 3 - Saturday July 15 - Arusha - Tarangire NP


Again, we had an early start. The trip to Tarangire is very smooth from Arusha now except the last few kilometers from the main road to the gate. Despite being a Saturday, it was quite quick to check in through the gate. We drove inside and had something to eat at the picnic spot. After that, we went to the bird bath to see what birds were around. As predicted there were a lot of activity around the bird bath: Yellow-collared Lovebird, Ashy, Suberb and Hildebrandt´s Starling, Northern Grey-headed Sparrow, African Mourning Dove, Red-billed Buffalo Weaver, Blue-capped Cordonbleu, Northern Red-billed Hornbill and Red-billed Firefinch. We drove on to check out the camp before we went on a small tour. Since the guests had never been on a Safari before, I had to stop for every Zebra and Wilderbeast we came across. We stopped at a small waterhole and picked up some common waterbirds. We finally reached the camp and it looked nice and clean. We drove south on the main road. The birding was quite slow. We were entertained by a male Ostrich that tried to mate, but the female was not interested, so eventually he gave up. We stopped again for some food at another picnic site and found a femaIe Red-bellied (Orange-bellied) Parrot in a nesting hole.  I misjudged the distance a little and ended up in a Tse-Tse infested area. The only bird we managed to find there were a couple of Black-faced Sandgrouse. I had to drive on in order to reach camp before dark. We picked up a (Northern) White-bellied Bustard on the way. We were in camp before dark. sat up camp and the askari gave us firewood for a nice camp fire. We cooked a nice dinner and soon went to sleep.


Some pictures from Day 3



Red-billed Firefinch, Lagonosticta senegala - Picture by Florence

Northern Red-billed Hornbill, Tockus erythrorhynchus - Picture by Florence

Black-faced Sandgrouse, Pterocles decoratus - Endemic to NE Africa

Day 4 - Sunday July 16 - Tarangire NP


We were going to stay a full day in the park today. The intention was to have an early start, but the guests had not been sleeping at all they claimed. I had told the man that we would be sleeping in tent on the trip. He said no problem since he had slept in a tent all around the world including the Amazons, what he forgot to tell me was that his wife had never slept in a tent before..... I wonder who would bring his wife (a non birder) on a birding trip to Tanzania without at least trying to sleep in a tent a couple of nights in Norway before they left? At any rate we eventually got on our way. We went a little East today and then south. Still not a lot of life, but ticked off amongst other the following species: Wattled Starling. Buff-crested Bustard, African Red-bellied Parrot, White-bellied Go-away-bird, Gabar Goshawk, Lappet-faced and White-backed Vultures, Fischer´s Sparrow-Lark and Bateleur. We reached the Picnic spot overlooking the river and had lunch there. Florence heard about a lion kill from some drivers. The guests had never seen a lion, so we headed there. We saw the lions and then slowly returned to the front gate. It was now quite hot so we sat down in the shade close to the birdbath and got some pictures of the same birds we saw the day before. I found out that I had lost my beanbag along the way. I went back to where I had seen it last, driving slow looking everywhere, but someone must have taken it. We drove slowly back to camp. I was a little disappointed. I had the feeling we had seen many more birds in Tarangire on our last trip there. The guest asked me at night if we could not consider going to a hotell for the next night. I told him if he wanted to pay USD 600 for a hotel room be my guest. He said I was his guide so I should do as the guests wanted. I said absolutely not. We had agreed on a birding trip. He had had the itinerary for 2 months before departure + this was our holiday too. He was lucky to come with us on a trip, but stupid to bring his wife a non- birder on a birding trip. We still had planned for 1 more night in Tarangire, 2 nights in Ngorongoro and 5 nights in Serengeti.


Some pictures from Day 4



Wattled Starling, Creatophora cinerea

Buff-crested Bustard, Lophotis gindiana - Endemic to NE Africa

African Orange-bellied Parrot, Polcephalus rufiventrus - Endemic to NE Africa

White-backed Vulture, Gyps africanus - Picture by Florence

Northern Pied Babbler, Turdoides hypoleuca - Endemic to E Africa

Blue-capped Cordonbleu, Utaeginthus cyanocephalus - Endemic to NE Africa

African Mourning Dove, Streptopelia decipiens

Yellow-collared Lovebird, Agapornis personatus - Endemic to E Africa

Northern Grey-headed Sparrow, Passer griseus

Ashy Starling, Lamprotornis unicolor - Endemic to Tanzania

Hildebrandt´s Starling, Lamprotornis hildebrandti - Endemic to E Africa

Superb Starling, Lamprotornis superbus - Endemic to NE Africa

Day 5 - Monday July 17 - Tarangire NP - Ngorongoro


The plan today was to do a morning drive in Tarangire and then head for the Simba Camp in Ngorongoro. However; our guest had not slept at all that night, so they decided to stay behind in camp. Florence and I took a little round and found amongst other birds: Hildebrandt´s Spurfowl, Yellow-billed Oxpecker, White-bellied Go-away-bird, Wattled Starlings, Crested Francolin, Secretarybird, Brown Snake-Eagle and Yellow-necked Spurfowl. We arrived back in camp. Our guest had found out that they could rent extra mattresses in Mta Wa Mbu. We drove slowly towards the gate. We came across a family of Grey-crowned Cranes and a single perched Grey Kestrel. We were soon out of the park and on our way to Mto Wa Mbu. We tried to charge too much in the car, so we broke the cigarette lighter output. Once in Mto Wa Mbu, we organized mattresses, fixed the cigarette lighter, Florence had to go to the doctor for an allergic reaction to the Tse Tse flies. We fixed everything. The guests wanted to relax and take it easy. I told them due to this stop, we were running out of time to get inside the park and to the camping site before dark. They were bitching and moaning. I told them, we have 2 days in Ngorongoro and then 5 nights in Serengeti, now you have mattresses so do not complain. We stopped in Karatu and bought some food and then was soon at the Ngorongoro Gate. No problems there, but time was starting to run out and we were still some distance from camp. Not many birds to see along the way. We did a little diversion at the top of the Crater rim and went up to the Park HQ. On the way down we found a an Eastern Double-banded Sunbird. At the turnoff to Simba camp we found Streaky Seed-eater and Hunter´s Sunbird. We checked in and set up camp. Florence was getting ready to cook, but the guests insisted that we should ask some of the cooks in camp to cook for us. They wanted real food. I had to give in and sit and eat in with a thousand other people. We managed to squeeze in. The alternative was of course to sit out at our own table alone.... The day after we were going down the crater. I told them we should be at the gate at 06:00.


Some pictures from Day 5



Yellow-necked Spurfowl,  Pternistis leucoscepus - Endemic to NE Africa - Picture by Florence

White-bellied Go-away-bird,  Corythaixoides leucogaster - Endemic to NE Africa

Crested Francolin,  Dendroperdix sephaena

Grey-crowned Cranes (Juvenile),  Balearica regulorum

Eastern Double-coloured Sunbird, Cinnyris mediocris - Endemic to E Africa

Hunter´s Cisticola, Cisticola hunteri - Endemic to E Africa

Camp at the Ngorongoro Crater Rim

Day 6 - Tuesday July 18 - Ngorongoro Crater


We were one of the first cars at the entrance to the crater. The askari gave me some trouble since we did not have a guide with us. I told him that we been down without a guide before. He replied that if I came next time without a guide, he would not let me in. We descended slowly. It was a little dark, but soon started picking up birds: Kenya Rufous Sparrow, Brown-crowned Tchagra, Schalow´s Weatear and Ant-eater Chat. We dropped down to the crater floor picked up some Lions on the way and at the bottom quickly saw a couple of Secretarybirds. We entered the forest and saw Northern Fiscal, Tropical Boubou, (Holub´s) Golden Weaver, Red-billed Firefinch, Variable Sunbird, Rufous-tailed Weaver and Baglafecht Weaver. We stopped at the picnic site and had some breakfast. Wire-tailed and Red-rumped Swallow, Hildebrandt´s Starling and White-browed Coucal.


After breakfast we continued: Kittlit´z Plover, Whiskered Tern, Common Moorhen and Red-billed Teal. We cut across the crater floor and picked up Ostrich, Temminck´s Courser, Yellow-throated Sandgrouse, Kori Bustard, Black-winged Lapwing and unseasonal a couple of White Storks. We drove towards the hippo pool. Only to see that it was packed with Vehicles. A pride of Lions were on the koppies next to the Hippo Pool. We found Yellow-billed Stork, Black-crowned Night-Heron, African Spoonbill, Sacred and Glossy Ibis and had a flyby of more than 30 Grey-crowned Cranes. We continued driving east towards the river. Augur Buzzards where everywhere. It was getting time for lunch, so we drove towards the big lunch spot. We picked up more Secretarybirds, and a Kori Bustard with a chick. It must have been more than 200 safari vehicles at the picnic spot. Yellow-billed Kites, Rufous-tailed Weaver and a few Speke´s Weavers were a few of the species we saw there.


After lunch we drove slowly back towards the forest. Florence picked up a Brown-crowned Tchagra. At around 3PM one of the guests was very bored so we had to leave the crater. Florence spotted a Lappet-faced Vulture on the way up. We dropped off the women in camp and drove a little bit on the main road without finding anything of real interest. We returned to camp. The guests insisted on eating in the cramped place again, so what choice did I have? I told the guests we could sleep a little longer the day after, but we had to be on the road at 07:00. They got angry and wanted to sleep until 10:00. I tried to tell them that from the Simba campsite in Ngorongoro to Seronera in Serengeti was a long long drive with terrible roads. However; they did not understand.


Some pictures from Day 6:



Schalow´s Wheater, Oenanthe schalowi - Endemic to E Africa

Secretarybird, Saggitarius serpantarius

Tropical Boubou, Laniarius major - Picture by Florence

Kenya Rufous Sparrow, Passer rufocinctus - Endemic to Kenya and Tanzania

Anteater Chat, Myrmecocichla aethiops

Northern Fiscal, Lanius humeralis

Yellow-throated Sandgrouse, Pterocles gutturalis

Temminck´s Courser, Cursorius temminckii

Black-winged Lapwing, Vannellus melanopterus

Rufous-tailed Weaver, Histurgops ruficauda - Endemic to N Tanzania

Streaky Seed-eater, Crithagra striolata

Day 7 - Wednesday July 19 - Simba Camp Ngorongoro - Naabi Gate, Serengeti


Our guests had eventually understood that we had a long drive ahead of us, so we were on the road by 08:00.  We took it slowly and were soon past buy many Safari Vehicles rushing through the park. The road deteriorated badly. It looked like they were trying to fix the road since they had dumbed loads on loads off gravel for a long distance. We stopped and had breakfast under an umbrella tree by a river. The road was getting worse and worse. Soon I heard some bad noises from the front left shock absorber. I stopped and had a look and it was totally gone. It looked like the right one was also in bad shape. We were now about 25 km away from the Naabi Gate. I knew they had some Fundis there. We drove slowly to the gate and arrived in the early afternoon. The only birds we picked up on the way was an Augur Buzzard and more Yellow-throated Sandgrouse. I checked with the Fundis at the gate, they could change the shock absorbers, but did not have any. They needed to order them from Serena and they would not arrive before the day after. We negotiated with the head of the gate and were allowed to camp at the gate that night. The gate is usually a good spot for birding, so we ended up doing some birding there: Silverbird, Superb Starling, Augur Buzzard, Dusky Turtle Dove, Speckle-fronted Weaver, Swahili Sparrow, Rufous-tailed Weaver, Black-faced Waxbill, Red-billed Buffalo Weaver, Hildebrandt´s Starling, Black-lored Babbler, Arrow-marked Babbler, Marabou Stork, Northern White-crowned Shrike, Lappet-faced Vulture, Red-headed Weaver, Speckled Pigeon and Red-fronted Barbet were some of the birds we found at the gate. We were alowed to light a fire and Florence cooked us a lovely meal. We soon settled in for the night.


Some pictures from Day 7:



Black-lored Babbler, Turdoides sharpei - Endemic to E Africa

Speckled Pigeon, Columba guinea

Red-billed Bufflalo Weaver, Bubalornis niger - Picture by Florence

Day 8 - Thursday July 20 - Naabi Gate - Seronera Serengeti


The shock absorbers arrived in the morning and after a while they were fitted. However; I saw they were not in a good condition. I knew about a garage in Seronera and was thinking about checking there upon arrival. We took it slowly and did not see anything of real interest. A Safari vehicle past us at great speed and ran over an Impala just in front of us. As a matter of fact, we saw quite a lot of roadkills inside Serengeti on this trip. According to our original plan, we were supposed to stay 5 nights in Serengeti, but our guests had cut that down to 3 nights! We stopped and had lunch at the visitor centre. We left our guests there to do some walks while we went to find the garage. At the garage they had brand new shock absorbers and we got a very decent price from them. We had Three-banded Plover, White-bellied Bustard, Grey-capped Sociable Weaver, Grey-headed Silverbill and Marico Sunbird on the way to the garage. Once the new absorbers were fixed, we went back to pick up our guests and headed for the campground. The campground looked nice. We settled in and had some of the staff there make us dinner. It was such a beautiful night so I sat up for a while and had quite a few beers and Whiskey´s :-)


Some pictures from Day 8:



Grey-capped Social Weaver,  Pseudonigrita arnaudi - Endemic to NE Africa

Marico Sunbird,  Cinnyris mariquensis

(Northern) White-bellied Bustard,  Eupodotis senegalensis

Our Camp first night in Serengeti

Day 9 - Friday July 21 - Serengeti


I woke up in the morning and saw that our guests were packing their tent! I told them that we were staying one more night in Serengeti. They said they had decided to return to Arusha that day. I asked why and they said they had not been sleeping all night. I knew we had a flock of Hyena in camp that night. Not sure if they knew, but did not feel like mentioning it. I asked how they were going to get back and they said they would hitch a ride from the airport. I asked if I at least could take them to the airport. They said no. Well, Florence and I took off and never looked back. That day we actually saw Lion, Leopard and Cheetah. Too bad the guest could not experience that. This opened up new possibilities for Florence and I and we decided to extend the Serengeti visit with one day and then continue east. We started the morning going a little south and the first real sighting was a Leopard in a tree. Quite a long distance, so no real good shots. We drove around in the area for quite some time without really seeing something of real interest. besides Grey-backed Fiscal and Grey-breasted Spurfowl.  At lunch time we went to the visitor centre to see if any birds came in for some water. Speckle-fronted Weaver, Fischer´s Lovebird, Red-billed Buffalo Weaver, Rufous-tailed Weaver, Swahili Sparrow, Red-fronted Barbet, Usambiro Barbet, Grey-backed Fiscal, Kenya Rufous Weaver, Grey-capped Sociable Weaver, Marico Sunbird, Silverbird, Speckled Mousebird, Blue-capped Cordonbleu and Ruppel´s Starling were some of the birds we picked up. Florence overheard some guides speak in Swahili about a Cheetah with cub sighting. We decided to chase this since Florence had never seen a Cheetah before. It was quite a drive and we actually passed the Cheetah without seeing it. We turned at a lion sighting and picked up the Cheetah and the cubs on the way back. They were resting under a solitary tree and we came very close. We were running out of time now and returned to camp. We had a nice relaxing night in camp.


Some pictures from Day 9:



Grey-backed Fiscal,  Lanius excubitoroides

Grey-breasted Spurfowl,  Pternistis rufopictus - Endemic to Northern Tanzania

Red-fronted Barbet,  Tricholaema diadermata - Endemic to NE Africa

Usambiro Barbet,  Triachyphonus usambiro - Endemic to NE Africa - Picture by Florence

Grey-headed Silverbill,  Odontospiza griseicapilla - Endemic to NE Africa

Speckle-fronted Weaver,  Sporopipes frontalis

Speckled Mousebird,  Colius striatus

Swahili Sparrow,  Passer suahelicus

Three-banded Plover,  Charadrius tricollaris

Day 10 - Saturday July 22 - Serengeti


Florence and I had an early start. We wanted to explore the Lobo area and check out the tented camps up there. We drove off quite early and took our time up there. Not much in terms of birds sighted. We came to Lobo and the tented camp looked good. We decided to do some of the loops up there. We found a waterhole, but nothing of interest there. Later we picked up A Temminck´s Stint and a Secretarybird. We decided to head back to Seronera. Long and dusty road. We picked up one more Temminck´s Stint on the way. Just a few kilometers north of Seronera, we saw a White-headed Vulture on the road. One vehicle flushed it, but we managed to find it again on another kill a little further down the road. One Lappet-faced Vulture and several White-backed were also present. In addition at least 3 Tawny Eagles wanted to enjoy the banquet. We settled in for some good pictures, however; a couple of Hyenas showed up and stole the kill and ran off. We managed to get some pictures, but had been expecting a lot more. We had a quick lunch in the Serena hq and then decided to one of the Serena loops: Rattling Cisticola, Striped Kingfisher, Silverbird, Yellow-billed Oxpecker, Rüppel´s Starling, Hooded Vultures, Usambiro Barbet, Eastern Pale Chanting Goshawk and Grey Woodpecker were some of the species we picked up. We tried one of the other tented camps this night. Florence made a nice meal and we were soon tucked in.



Some pictures from Day 10:



White-headed Vulture,  Trigonoceps occipitalis

Lappet-faced Vulture,  Torgos tracheliotos

Tawny Eagle,  Aquila rapax

Rattling Cisticola,  Cisticola chiniana

Yellow-billed Oxpecker,  Buphagus africanus

Hooded Vulture,  Necrosyrtes monachus

Grey Woodpecker,  Dendropicos goertae

Day 11 - Sunday July 23 - Serengeti - Speke´s Bay


This was our last day in Serengeti. We had decided to drive the Western Corridor out of the park following the Grumeti river to the West. We drove on for a bit and decided to do some birding around the Grumeti River Camp. On the way there, we found amongst others: Grey-backed Fiscal, Rufous-naped Lark, Yellow-throated Longclaw, Yellow-throated Sandgrouse, Rüppel´s Starling and Coqui Francolin. In the Grumeti area, we added: Marabou Stork, Grey-headed Kingfisher, Common Sandpiper and Usambiro Barbet. It was actually very quiet, so we decided to push on to the gate. At the gate we called and booked a room at the Speke´s River Lodge and arrived there just in time for lunch. It was nice to have some luxury after 8 nights sleeping in our rooftop tent in the bush. The garden was teaming with birds. We started racking them up: Slender-billed Weaver, Pied Kingfisher, Namaqua Dove, Three-banded Plover, Swamp Flycatcher, Red-cheeked Cordonbleu. Common Waxbill, Spotted and Water Thick-knee, Grey-headed Kingfisher, Black-headed Gonolek, Spotted Palm-Thrush, Verreaux´s Eagle-Owl, Palm-nut Vulture, African Fish Eagle, Northern Brown-throated Weaver, Black-billed Barbet, Grey-capped Warbler ++++. The resident guide George was very knowledgable about the garden birds. The Black-billed Barbet was my second lifer on the entire trip. Unfortunately the clouds were bad, so we did not manage to get a good picture of him.



Some pictures from Day 11:



Rüppel´s Starling,  Lamprotornis purpuropterus - Endemic to NE Africa

Yellow-throated Longclaw,  Macronyx croceus - Picture by Florence

Bridge over Grumeti River. The pool was full of Crocs and Hippos.

Marabou Stork,  Leptoptilos crumeniferus - Picture by Florence

Black-headed Gonolek,  Laniarius erythrogaster - Picture by Florence

Namaqua Dove,  Oena capensis - Picture by Florence

Spotted Thick-knee,  Burhinus capensis

Black-billed Barbet,  Lybius guifsobalito - Endemic to NE Africa - Lifer

Day 12 - Monday  July 24 - Speke´s Bay - Musoma


Florence was sleeping late this morning so I ventured out to bird in the garden. I managed to find the Verreaux´s Eagle-Owl and get some pictures. Other than that nothing new from the garden. After breakfast, we headed for Musoma. We stocked up on some necessities in Musoma before we headed for Matvilla Beach Lodge & Campsite. The place was very run down, but had a fantastic plot on Lake Victoria. There were quite a lot of birds in the garden and we also got some advice from Itai Shanni about where to bird. Pied and Malachite Kingfisher, Yellow-billed Kite, African Fish Eagle, Swamp Flycatcher, Northern Brown-throated Weaver, Slender-billed Weaver, Black-headed Weaver, Grey-headed Kingfisher, Red-chested Sunbird, Lesser Swamp Warbler and Angola Swallow was some of the birds we saw this day.



Some pictures from Day 12:



Verreaux´s Eagle-Owl,  Bubo Lacteus

Little Egret,  Egretta garzetta

Swamp Flycatcher,   Muscicapa aquatica

Malachite Kingfisher,   Alcedo cristata

Red-chested Sunbird, Cinnyris erythrocercus - Endemic to NE Africa

Angola Swallow, Hirundo angolensis

Black-headed (Yellow-backed) Weaver, Ploceus melanocephalus

Northern Brown-throated Weaver, Ploceus castanops

Slender-billed Weaver, Ploceus pelzelni

Day 13 - Tuesday  July 25 - Musoma - Lyagoro Village Mara region.


We were going to visit Florence´s grandmother this day. We started out by birding a little in the morning before we took off. We added Marabou Stork, Grey Kestrel, Yellow-throated Leaflove, Spur-winged Lapwing and Northern Fiscal to our Musoma list. On the way, we stopped at the Mara River, but did not find too much there. We continued to Lyagoro and met up with Florence´s family. We birded a little around the village, but did not find anything of real interest. The family did not speak a word of English and my Swahili is non existent, so I had to communicate through sign language that day. We got a nice dinner and soon were sleeping in our rooftop tent.



Some pictures from Day 13:



Winding Cisticola, Cisticola marginatus

Hadeda Ibis, Bostrychia hagedash

Grey Kestrel, Falco ardosiaceus

Yellow-billed Kite, Milvus aegyptius

Day 14 - Tuesday  July 26 - Lyagoro Village Mara region - Mwanza


We were ready to start our long way back to Arusha this morning. First Florence had to go and fetch water from a nearby stream. We stopped at the Mara river again and picked up a Pygmy Kingfisher. We had a long drive to Mwanza that day. We found a nice hotel on the Lake. The day after we drove all the way to Singida, before we ended up back in Arusha on July 28th. We relaxed in Arusha for a few days before we set out for part 3 of this trip across the border to Kenya on July 31. Read all about this trip in the next report.



Some pictures from Day 14:



Florence carrying Water

African Pygmy Kingfisher, Ispidina picta