Tanzania - the 'Big Five' x 2

The months March, April and May provide some of the year's best birdwatching in the Algarve. It can be a very busy time for us. In most years we also try to fit in to this period a tour in some other part of the world for Avian Adventures so it's a good thing that there are two of us!

This year we are even busier than ever, partly as a result of having not one but three Avian Adventures tours to lead during this period. It's little wonder that we haven't had much time to add to this blog!

Our last blog post was about our tour in Costa Rica, a trip that we were able to enjoy together. Since then, June has been guiding in the Algarve while Peter has been leading a tour in Tanzania and next week starts another one in Arizona.

Included here are some photographs from Tanzania - two versions of the 'Big Five' that were seen during a tour that included Tarangire, Lake Manyara, the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater.  We have blogged before after previous tours in Tanzania (e.g. here, here and here).  We can't recommend this tour highly enough; it provides one of the world's great wildlife spectacles.

The 'Big Five' mammals are those regarded by big-game hunters as the most difficult to hunt on foot although, of course, we like to do our hunting with binoculars and camera.  Our 'Big Five' birds are just some of the larger species seen during the tour, included just for fun!

Avian Adventure in Africa

Peter has recently returned from leading another Avian Adventures tour, this time in Botswana, Namibia and Zambia.  The tour was operated by Letaka Safaris, based in Maun, and the local guide was Gabatsholwe Disho, known to his friends simply as Disho.

Leopard

After an overnight flight from Heathrow to Johannesburg and an onward flight to Maun, the tour began in the Moremi Game Reserve on the eastern side of the Okavango Delta.  Here we camped for three nights and explored the surrounding area of mopane and acacia woodland, floodplains and lagoons.

Lilac-breasted Roller

Camping in the African bush is a great experience!  The night sky in an area with absolutely no light pollution is magnificent.  Lying in a flimsy tent listening to Lions roaring and to the howls of Spotted Hyaenas can be a worry for some, but waking to a dawn chorus that includes the calls of Fiery-necked Nightjar, African Fish Eagle, Black Cuckoo, Black-collared Barbet and Red-billed Hornbill is simply wonderful.

Burchell's Sandgrouse

Great White Pelican

From Moremi we moved just a short distance to Khwai River for another three nights camping and then to Lake Ngami for our last night under canvas.  The whole camping experience was most enjoyable and something I would recommend for at least part of any trip to this part of the world.

Lion

African Fish Eagle

After that we were in comfortable lodges for five nights - Drotsky’s in Botswana, Caprivi River Lodge next to the Zambezi River in Namibia and finally, Taita Falcon Lodge in Zambia, close to Victoria Falls.

White-faced Whistling Ducks

Victoria Falls isn’t the highest or the widest waterfall in the world and November isn’t the best time of year to see it as the volume of water in the Zambezi is relatively low but it’s still a very impressive sight.

Wattled Cranes

Just a small part of Victoria Falls

Highlights among the many birds seen were Pel’s Fishing Owl, African Finfoot, White-backed Night Heron, Lesser Jacana, Slaty Egret, Wattled Crane, Rock Pratincole, African Skimmer and Schalow’s Turaco.  We saw five different Leopards, more than twenty Lions and about thirty other mammal species.  All in all it was a really great trip and there are lots more photographs!