Some images from Tanzania

In 2001 I was offered and accepted a contract with Statistics Sweden to work for 2 years in Tanzania.  It was, to say the least, an interesting experience both professionally and personally.


We have been going through old photographs recently and Frances found a couple of unlabelled CDs.  On loading them up one turned out to be the images we took - with a film camera - on our Northern loop safari (NB in Kiswahili that just means journey)  to (inter alia) Lake Manyara, Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater.  Some of the shots were quite interesting so here they are for your enjoyment.

None of these photographs were taken from a Torquay Hotel.

On this trip we drove off road through the wildebeeste migration (at that time near the Grumeti River on the western side of Serengeti) for about 2 hours.  This lot are just bathing in a small lake.

I will stick with animals for a while.  These two were typically energetic on a kopje beside the main road ....

... while these were just about as active under an acaica tree.

Doubtless if the former had introduced themselves into the latter image we would have got some action.  The only time we saw a lion charge it was after wart hogs, but it had to cover 50m of open ground so had no chance.

These Little Mongooses were a little more active in the boulders outside our dining room .

Sometimes one was lucky enough to get mammals and birds in one image.  Here is a snap from a Lake in the Crater featuring Crowned Cranes and Zebra (with a few Lesser Flamingo visible through the haze in the background).

Then we have a Spotted Hyena and a Marabou Stork discussing menu options.

I think "wildebeeste au dechets du lion" was a popular selection!  The role of waiter (Manuel?) was taken by a vulture.  Note the zebras grazing contentedly in the background.

The next image contains an Egyptian Goose.

Moving into the pure bird photos we have a close up of some Lesser Flamingos.  These were in the Crater: at Lake Manyara the entire circumference of the Lake (about 100kms according to a quick measurement on Google Earth) may be ringed with these birds.

Staying with bigger birds the Kori Bustard is quite common in the grassy plains.

The next two images are of the Superb Starling (often reduced to "Superstar" for well merited reasons) and the Red and Yellow Barbet.

I will finish this blast down memory Lane with a scenery shot.  This is looking down into Olduvai Gorge, one of the most important sites in primate archaeology.

It was VERY hot even though we were about 1500m AMSL.  I have just checked that height on Google Earth and this image was on the screen.  I think it is rather marvellous.  By coincidence my photograph was taken in late July 2003 and the Google Earth image is dated November 2003.

The white line running diagonally across the image is the white dirt road linking Arusha, the Crater, Serengeti and Mwanza.  Unfortunately the economic development lobby wish to upgrade this to bitumen so the buses and trucks can go flat out rather than being controlled (by the rough road) to merely dangerous speeds.  Many people feel this will totally impede the migration: goodbye wildebeeste, goodbye ecological system of this area and - if only the development lobby would realise it - goodbye tourism in Northern Tanzania.  Unfortunately "environmentally aware economic development" is a strong contender for Oxymoron of this Century (as it was for the last two).