Quickie! ...

Remember the bottomless glass story here? Well, I've managed to get a copy of the only photo taken, by Matt, from Jackie! The glass had been washed but it had contained fruit juice - until it ended up all over the floor *lol*

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Real life ...

... is still getting in the way with appointments here and there and days out with crafty friends *lol* On top of that I've been spending a lot of time sorting and editing photos from the holiday and uploading them to a photo site. The holiday seems so long ago now yet we've not been back a month :0( I've also been 'composing' a photobook of my balloon flight last September.

Yesterday I spent the day at Jennie's (Pippa on the imag-e-nation forum) with a few old reprobates (oops, sorry ladies *lol*) they being Debs, Elaine (Burnee), Cathy, Cally and Kim. As ever Jennie was an exceptional host and she treated us to some excellent homemade minestrone soup for lunch. We played a little and chatted and laughed a lot .... along with a few renditions of - well, songs ....with us singing is probably too strong ... and nursery rhymes! Cathy seemed to think we'd enjoy "The sun'll come out tomorrow" from Annie playing on our minds all day, no matter what else we tried to cover it with - not even "Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake". We sort of got the idea of a little gift bag and not too sure if we got the idea of a marquee card or not but hey, we had a laugh at Elaine's attempts to pass the info on! Peaceful afternoon with us all punching little flowers and leaves from 123 Click punch sheets (I think that's what they're called anyway) that Kim had bought with her. Just got to do something with 'em now *lOL*

I'll start to post the next stage of the holiday photos in a day or three, when I've sorted Dad out with a couple more appointments and I've decided on which ones to do. There is likely to be fewer as the last fortnight of the holiday wasn't as 'busy' and they're more a reflection of life around and about, beautiful scenery and amazing sunsets. There will be a few stories though - *lol*

In the meantime I've put together a slideshow to show more safari photos and as a summary of the first 5 nights of the holiday ....


If the slideshow fails to load for you just click here.

Thanks for dropping by .....

Safari - Day three (2nd instalment) ...

... and probably the highlight of our time at Beho Beho but first! We have heating back but no hot water - doh! Nice kind British Gas man (fixed price repair) came yesterday and gave us a 2nd opinion. Boiler not quite dead and is repairable ... just not an easy repair so, our suspicion that the last guy just didn't want to do it was probably a fair assessment! Part is ordered and nice British Gas man will be back on Monday to fit part and we should have hot water back. It will give us time to sort something out re a new boiler - *lol*

Back to Beho Beho (oh, I wish!). Cold, wet, 4-wheel drive experience, slipping and sliding all over place. Usual giraffe, impala, wildebeest, ellie we could nearly touch, rare wild dogs and side-striped jackal and the 'lucky' ant army. We had no idea quite how lucky that ant army would turn out to be. Salum had a plan but we had no idea what it was however, we were never gonna find out 'cos all of a sudden vehicle swerved, Salum's fist started punching the air and he starts uttering about how lucky we were .... again! (Very enthusiastic is Salum - he loves his work and it comes across!) Man with eyes in back of head - and everywhere else - had seen something we'd missed until we were on top of it ....

Tracks .... lions!

We found them and Salum was suspicious of actions so we drove past, prepared breakfast and drove back and settled to watch ...

We watched for some while as Salum wanted to time them. Dependant upon time between 'actions' - as Salum called them - he could tell how early in the mating process they were. We'd passed this area the day before so, unless they had hidden themselves, he suspected that they were on the first day and sure enough, 15 minutes later it started all over again. 15 minutes is the time between on the first day and the time increases every day after, until the 7th day. I won't go into details but suffice to say they're very hungry and thin by the end of it all as it's a 24/7 process!

The Sundowner drive in the afternoon (and our last drive of our stay) saw Matt and Anie join us along with Tam .. the manageress of Beho Beho. Salum asked what we'd like to find for the afternoon, my suggestion being a leopard (the only other animal that was difficult to find and one we'd not seen) but as Matt, Anie and Tam hadn't seen the lions and we knew that they'd be in the same area we drove to find them. There's a time limit in the Selous Game Reserve. All game vehicles have to be back in camp by 7pm and there is a very hefty fine if they're not back - and it's checked! The lions were some way from camp so there was no time to take a 'steady' drive to them if we were to spend time watching them and make it back by 7pm. Salum became an F1 driver and we held on for grim death *LOL*

We found them easily as they hadn't moved from the place they were in earlier so we drove past, prepared our Sundowners...

... then drove back to watch ....

(This time I remembered I had video on my camera!)

An amazing end to our safari experience!

(I've had to upload the video to YouTube to get it on here and I'm not sure it's uploaded with the clarity of the original but reckon you get the idea - lol!!)

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Safari - Day three ....

19th February ... little, large and all sizes inbetween!

Woke to heavy rain following a night of it with thunder and lightening. Not sure we would be going anywhere because of weather and we were awake before our 5:30am call however, call came and we duly made our way to our vehicle at appointed time. Matt and Anie had decided to stay behind and have a relaxing morning so it was just me, Jackie and Salum. First problem hit us immediately - lol! Vehicle didn't want to start. It didn't like the damp or the cold and yes, it was cold ... ish! Salum decided it needed a push so big, tough Jackie offers help! Now, you've seen the size of the vehicle and it was parked on a slope, facing downhill with a bit of a drop over an edge! There's Jackie, stood in front of vehicle and Salum at the side, both trying to push this blooming thing - uphill - to get it started. There's me, not quite believing what I'm seeing and killing myself laughing until vehicle starts rolling forward and threatening to flatten Jackie and push her over the edge with vehicle following close behind ... ooops! Fortunately Salum managed to put brake on before disaster hit and decided to go find some of his colleagues to give a push. 15 minutes and 3 strong guys later we had the vehicle fired up and away we went.

Didn't get very far before Salum was whooping, punching his fists in the air and telling us we were 'very lucky ladies'! No idea what he was on about as we'd only got to bottom of camp road in the area of Terminal 5 and the usual occupants of the airstrip - impala and one solitary wildebeest.

Then we saw them!

Wild dogs!

It was only the previous evening that Salum had told us we would be lucky if we saw any as they were now an endangered species and here was a pack of 13 - adults and pups, stalking the impala on the airstrip. The next half hour was spent with us stalking the dogs, stalking the impala, which ran towards the camp, until zebra, with young, turned the tables and started to chase the dogs. Amazing sight all told and right on the camp doorstep!

Wrapping ourselves up in Masai Shuka, to protect against the cold, we continued with the drive. 

We hadn't gone far when the vehicle stopped again but this time it was for an army!  Can't remember what kind of ant they are but the Tanzanian army was named after them because of their ferocity ... and they were very large - a good ½ inch long!    Every one of them was carrying a termite and Salum told us that if you came upon an army like this then it should be allowed to pass and we'd have luck!  Just how much luck we were to have we were to find out very soon ... and will be the subject of the next post!

I loved the shape of this tree.  Salum did say what it was but I've forgotten and didn't have my notebook with me - doh!

Another rare sighting that made Salum a happy man ... side-striped jackal.  A small family pack of half a dozen.

A better part of a track that had become a victim of the overnight and morning rain.  As we approached eagle-eyed Salum spotted something (that man had eyes in back of proverbial) and stopped dead!

Just as well he did otherwise this little fellow wouldn't have survived to tell the tale .... a terrapin!  He came out of a mud pool that had accumulated in a tyre track.

I loved the views this particular morning.  The rains were still around and cloud was low but here it was starting to lift and I loved the way the Beho Beho Hills started to poke through.

A termite mound. 

These mounds were huge and some were built next to trees and the tops intertwined with lower branches.  This one must have been in the region of 10 foot (3m) tall.

Nearly ran over this little fellow on the camp road.

... and a squirrel!  Not quite as we know them but these were in the camp and there were several building nests in the roof.  We'd been warned not to leave things laying around in the bathroom (like our toiletries) but to put them in wooden boxes supplied 'cos the squirrels came in and ate them - lol!!

We had a brilliant morning and the drive was as good as any funfair ride, fording rivers, mudslides and even having to divert because of impassable tracks - a proper 4-wheel driving experience.  However that was nothing to what we found halfway through the drive .....

Thanks for dropping by .....

Safari - Day two (3rd instalment) or ...

... bottomless glass, bats and praying mantis!
No pictures but I've got to tell a story! Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin ....

Arrived back at camp for a well deserved drink after our long day and wonderful cruise. Lovely, cool, long drinks with a twizzle stick. Jackie picks up her glass, gives it a quick twizzle and ... the bottom drops out of the glass. New drink, untouched, all over carpet on floor! Ooooops! Now Jackie's had some duff stuff in her time but this has got to take the prize for duffest of all. Just soooo glad it wasn't me 'cos I'm usually the other one that gets the duff stuff if Jackie doesn't - lol! We all examined the glass but it was a totally clean 'break' but it wasn't a break. It was just the bottom coming clean away. Had to be seen to be believed and I didn't get a photo! Matt took one but, as yet, he's not shared any of the ones he took :0( That was the first bit of trouble and from there it just got better!

Turning in for bed that evening and Jackie in bathroom, getting comfie when I heard her scream ..... "BAT!" Jackie in bathroom. Bathroom open to elements. Dark. Bats regularly flying around (and yes, room open so they flew in ... and then out) but this time bat managed to fly into bathroom, hence Jackie's scream. Quite what she thought I could do about it, with her in occupation and bats using sonar I had no idea. Told her to be brave! Now, not sure whether that was the first incident or the 2nd (think it first though) 'cos can't remember the order of events now and notebook doesn't make it clear either (yep, I had a notebook I was using as a diary but it didn't tend to get updated every day - unfortunately!) but ....

Jackie got into bed only to inform me there was 'something' in the netting! This 'something' was about an inch to an inch and a half long although Jackie will tell you it was about 3 times that size! I've still to get ready for bed at this stage 'cos me, I was chasing geckos to photograph (and anything else I could find to take photos of). Anyway, netting had an overlap and 'something' was caught in the middle of the overlap. Putting my 'brave head' on ('cos there was no way Jackie was going to even find one let alone put it on) I tried easing said 'something' out of netting. I certainly succeeded in easing it out ... the wrong way! Instead of it coming outside the netting it ended up on the bed side of it - with Jackie fast exiting on the opposite side of the bed! Now I became as big a wuss as she is 'cos the only way that this 'something' was coming out was somebody physically climbing in to get it and it was going higher and higher up the netting until it was out of reach of either of us.

I now need to explain - when we arrived at Beho Beho and were shown our room we were given a few rules. One was that nobody, but nobody, walked around camp after 6:30pm without a guide because of the strong possibility of meeting a wild animal in the dark (in daylight, if we came upon one we were told to stand still and slowly back away). We were also shown a small tub that held insect repellant, insect killer spray, a wind up torch and an airhorn. The latter only to be used in dire emergency ie: if a wild animal should find it's way into our room (remember, it's open verandah and, although protected by electrified wire, it's always a possibility)

Anyway,at this point we decided we needed help. We had no idea what 'something' was or what it could do to us. We knew we'd been the first to leave for our banda and that nobody else ie: Matt & Anie had yet left the main building (we'd have heard them pass if they had). We decided that, although we might consider this 'something' to be an emergency it was unlikely that Tam and Sasha (the managers) or Matt and Anie would agree with us so, using the airhorn was NOT an option, no matter how tempted we were. Thinking heads on we decided we'd try to attract the attention of those left in the main building .... which was some distance away. While I kept an eye on 'something' Jackie opened banda door and called for help. I would say shouted but her call - I find it difficult to even call it that - was so pathetic I don't think anybody passing at the top of our path would have heard! Then she comes up with the idea of morse code ... with the torch ... and starts shining torch out of the door, switching it on and off. I decide to help by calling louder than she did *LOL* Next thing, we jump out of our skins as body suddenly appears halfway down our path. As it comes closer we see it's a Masai! Now reason we were given not to use airhorn, except in dire emergency is 'cos nice Masai (night security) get upset if horn used in non-emergency so here's us calling for help and flashing torch hoping to get help from main building and what do we get? .... Masai ... and we didn't even use the airhorn!

Anyways, Masai comes in and we manage to get him to understand what the problem is. He takes one look at what I was pointing at, gives a grin, pulls back the netting, does a little jump, grabs 'something' and puts it outside. So that 'something' was obviously 'nothing' but stupid, gushing English women can't thank him enough, despite grin on his face saying just 'stupid!'. We decide not to mention said incident next day only to find out everybody knew about it by the time we saw them all! Obviously we'd amused Masai enough that it gave him a good story *LOL* The only thing we could come up with? Well, we didn't use the airhorn! ... and the 'something'? It was a praying mantis but not in a form I recognised, although we did have one that I did recognise on our last morning ...

The night finished well ... with thunder, lightening and torrential rain. So much so that we had quagmire's and a brilliant 4-wheel drive experience the following day!

Thanks for dropping by .....

Safari - Day two (2nd instalment) ...

... however - loaded back onto vehicle and away we went!  A few twists and turns and a few more giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, baboons, warthogs etc. etc. later and we came to a large expanse of water .... Lake Tagalala!  Loads of wading birds and little dots in the the water in the distance - hippos!

We travelled a little way round the shore of the lake, the idea being to cross a ford but Salum had got stuck there the week before and had to be rescued.  He wasn't too keen to repeat the experience .... lol!

Decision made and diversion taken.  Without the diversion we wouldn't have found a skeleton of a baby hippo.  Salum reconstructed the head for us.

Next thing, we turned a corner and there - out of the blue - was a table all laid out for ...... breakfast!  Yep, proper breakfast in the bush with it all cooked fresh right there, waiter service, proper (well, porta) loos and all!  Could it get any better?  Well, yes, it could *LOL*

Our cruise ship (nope, they hadn't been joking!) ... SS Beho Beho II (you don't want to see SS Beho Beho I, trust me *hehe*) with a 'come as you are' dress-code.  Now that's just the way I like it although I wasn't always too keen on the other prospective dinner guests  *lol*

Official photographer.

Captains dinner?  A kamikaze jumping fish!  If they weren't jumping over the boat they were landing in it.  Unfortunately one slapped poor Anie right in the face and left her with rather a bruise.  It didn't live to tell the tale!

Take off?.

Yellow billed stork

Hippos (just a few in this shot but there were loads!)

Captain Salum and Stewardess Anie.

.

Just loved these dead trees in the middle of the lake.

A couple of large crocs. 

There were hundreds of the things all around the lake.  Apparently this particular lake has the largest concentration of crocs in the world.  We got a bit too close for comfort to some of them, for my liking!  Salum took us right up to the shore on some occasions, just to disturb them so they would come into the water.  Mind you, we ended up being more frightened of the jumping fish than the crocs & hippos - *LOL*

Having enjoyed a good hour or more on the lake we took our leave.  There was a large group of impala by the lakeside and, as we approached them they started to run and jump the water.  A beautiful sight. 

The next item on the day's itinerary was to visit some hot springs for a swim but by this time, nearly 8 hours after we'd started out, we were all tired and decided to pass on that idea and make our way 'home' for a well deserved rest and drink ... and thereby lays the start of the next story!

Thanks for dropping by .....

Safari - Day two (1st instalment) ....

18th February ... and a special day! Well, we were told that it was to be a special day. No idea how long it would take - could be a couple of hours but could be as many as 8 ... dependant on what we found and that we would be having a cruise - right!  Off we set at 6:30am and within 15 minutes we had our first 'WOW!' moment. (As ever, click on any image to enlarge)

Bull elephant.

So close we could almost touch him!

Warthog family. 

These creatures were so funny.  When they ran their tails would stick upright and they prance along.  Had us in stitches many a time.  It was unusual to get any standing still long enough to take a photograph.

Selous Grave.

The grave of the guy who the reserve was named after. 

Eland.

Very shy and extremely elusive.

Who d'yer think you're looking at? 

Zebra.

As curious of us as we were of them.  We saw many and there were a lot of young about as well.  In fact, all of the species had a lot of young.  It was amazing to see.

Wildebeest.

Look at the number of babies there are in this herd. 

These wildebeest, zebra and eland were all together - but seperate.  It was wonderful seeing the different species sharing the same space.  Not something you see in a zoo or even a wildlife park if we're honest, at least, not in the same way and from choice

Nursery group of giraffe. 

Adult giraffe tend to herd all the youngsters together with just a couple of adults in charge.  This group was much bigger but impossible to photograph together as it was too spread.  Again they were as curious of us as we them - lol!

 

Beautiful birds.

Not sure what the black, white and grey ones are but they're bound to be some sort of bee eater!  Update:  They're not!  They're long tailed shrikes, according to Google  - lol!

Carmine-chested bee eater Lilac Breasted Roller ...

Northern carmine bee eater

(aka 'the red arrows' as named by Salum, our guide). 

If you could see the way they flew around the vehicle, swooping from side to side and flying parallel you'd know why.  Near impossible to photograph unless perched but I gave it a go by holding camera out and clicking as they flew by and hoped for the best - lol!

9 to 9:30 and we stopped for breakfast - or so we thought. 

Salum brought out the picnic basket and made our tea and coffee and we had rolls and snacks out in the open.  Comfort break?  Behind the vehicle or a distant bush if brave enough.  Poor Jackie had to shout for the engine to be started ... *LOL*

We knew it was still early but thought that this was it - breakfast in the bush - and that we'd be making our way back.  Having been told that it could take as little as 2 but as many as 8 hours we were pretty convinced we'd had the best ... however ...

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