After another early wander around the grounds it was time to
leave the lovely Arumeru River Lodge and head towards our next destination –
the Tarangire National Park. As usual we had a short delay at the entrance
whilst permits were organised and Zul pointed out a concrete birdbath by the
café. Sitting quietly here for a few minutes added some fantastic birds to the
trip list: Cutthroat Finch, Red-cheeked and Blue-capped Cordonbleu, Straw-tailed
Whydah as well as our first Tanzanian endemics Ashy Starling and
Yellow-collared Lovebird.
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Cut-throat Finches, Yellow-collared Lovebirds, Straw-tailed
Whydah and Grey-headed Sparrows
It was a fairly short trip through the park to
our hotel but we saw our first Elephants of the trip. The lodge itself was
fantastic with views down into a valley where a variety animals came to drink.
After lunch and a short rest we were out for another game drive.
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African Elephant
We quickly got used to the style of driving whilst on these
drives. For most of the time it would be relaxed, slow and seemingly aimless as
the drivers searched for anything of interest, stopping regularly for photo
opportunities or when one of the guests pointed something out. Occasionally
this would suddenly change and the speed would pick up, there would be more of
a sense of purpose and a reluctance to stop. The driver had picked something up
from the radio and was on a mission! Our first experience of this was at
Tangarire when our driver Prosper suddenly put his foot down. One of the features
of these missions was that the guests were never told what we were in search of
– presumably to avoid the disappointment if we missed it. On this occasion we
were in luck though and two Cheetahs, a mother and grown cub, showed at first
distantly but finally came to within a few yards – our first big cats!
Additions to the bird list included Tawny Eagle,
Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse and the stunning Silverbird.
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Silverbird
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