Day 10 - A Morning in Selous then 5 Days on Zanzibar

Today is our last morning in Selous as we fly to Zanzibar this afternoon. We are up early to say goodbye to Millie and Shaun then set off on our game drive with Ally, Kalisti and our bush breakfast.

This morning we see some crocodiles out of the water, a palm nut vulture on an impala carcass, an impala with one horn (presumably he lost the other in a fight) and of course some birds. Ally also spots 3 hyaena under a bush but they quickly run off.

Crocodile out of the water

Palm Nut Vultue on an Impala carcass

Palm Nut Vulture

Impala with one horn

Brown Snake Eagle

White Browed Coucal

Long Tailed Shrike

Hyaena about to run away

This was the largest number of fire lilies we saw.

It is now breakfast time, and today we eat in the bush, under a tree. When we had finished we gave Kalisti and Ally their tips and thanked them for a great safari. We had really enjoyed our time with them. After we had finished eating it was time for a selfie or 2!

Breakfast time

Pete, Kalisti, Me and Ally

Shortly after leaving our breakfast spot, Ally spots a group of lions under a bush. It's a mum, older daughter and younger daughter and son. When we first arrive they are all just sleeping but after a while one of the daughters decides to go for a little walk and her mum and sister follow, leaving her brother still sleeping.

Lions sleeping (3 are in the bush)

A change of position

One daughter emerges from the bush...

...then sits for a bit

.....and then wander off

Then the next daughter emerges and follows and so does the mum

The 3 females don't walk that far but settle in a ditch where there is some water.

2 are actually in the ditch

And one is under a bush

About 5 minutes later the young male wakes and goes in search of the rest of his family. He can't see them so we watch him sniffing the ground trying to follow their scent. He starts off quite well but then veers off in the wrong direction. Eventually he realises he can't find them, so he starts calling them. Initially none of the females answer him but when his cries get louder and more frequent the mother answers and we see him run towards the ditch where he finds them all.

The young male, walking off in search of his family

Trying to follow their scent

Calling out to his family

Running to find them, once he hears his mum calling

Reunited

Lying down in the ditch

Licking each other

 By the time we leave, the lions are virtually hidden in the ditch, so from a distance no-one, including some nearby giraffe, would know they were there.

The 4 lions - now hardly visible

It is now time for us to leave and drive to Siwandu airstrip. We spot some birds and a bat on the way. Near the airstrip we stop and pick up a ranger (with his gun) who comes with us to the airstrip. We are the only ones waiting for the plane, that is apart from Kalisti who is travelling with us as he is now going home for 10 days holiday.

Bat

Crested Barbet

Green Wood Hoopoe

The ranger 

Our view from the airstrip

Our plane arrives about 20 minutes late. We say goodbye to Ally and board the plane with Kalistsi. It's a smooth flight and we land in Dar about 45 minutes later. Here we say goodbye to Kalisti and board our next plane for the 20 minute flight to Zanzibar.

Selous from the air

Dar from the air

Zanzibar

We land in Zanzibar, show our yellow fever certificates, clear immigration and security and after a short wait are met by our taxi driver who takes to Pongwe Beach Hotel, our home for the next 5 days.
This is a great place to relax. It is not 5* but is delightfully simple and very well run. The staff are lovely, the food is great and the beach is fantastic. We really did very little. We enjoyed the beach, swam in the sea read our books, ate and drank ......and I never put on a pair of shoes for the entire 5 days - not even flip flops - Bliss!!

Here are a few photos to give you a feel of the place.

Cocktails and snacks in the bar - a nightly ritual

The view from my sunbed 

The hotel sunbeds - you can just spot Pete

The beach

The view from our terrace

The bar

Bush Babies sometimes appear in the evening

Our room was on the right

Massai patrol the beach

Going for a swim

Me in the infinity pool

So this was a fantastic trip for us and very different from our usual trips to Tanzania. We had a brilliant time and returned home via Doha to Heathrow, very relaxed and just in time for Christmas.

Day 9 - Our Last Full Day on Safari

Today is our last full day in Selous and our last full day on safari for this trip. We get up and have breakfast with Millie and Shaun before meeting up with Ally and Kalisti at 7.30am. There are no pancakes for breakfast this morning as the supply truck got stuck in the mud yesterday due to the heavy rain and so they don't have the ingredients! But its fine, I am happy to have fruit and toast and Pete will have bacon and eggs as normal.

As we are sat in camp eating I notice a group of hippos all walking in a line following each other, much as elephants do. They are quite calm and walking fairly slowly - not rushed.  I point this out to Millie and she say "That's strange. I have never seen them do that before. I wonder why they are doing that". No one can offer an explanation.

A group of about 10 hippos walking in pairs, all in a line.

After we have finish breakfast we meet Kalisti and Ally and set off for the day. As we are on our own again we spend quite a bit of time looking at birds including several fish eagles.

Striped Ground Squirrel

Bohm's Bee-Eater

Red Velvet Mite - Apparently these appear after the rain

Palm Nuts

A Fish Eagle on a Palm Nut

Red Backed Shrike

Marabou Stork - This has to be one of the ugliest birds

Fish Eagle trying to dry its wings

After the birds we spend some time watching a troup of baboons including one little one struggling to stay on it's mums back - really cute and very funny. This is followed by some time spent hanging over the side of the car watching dung beetles - they are fascinating to watch.

Baboons are always fun to watch

This little one just about manages to cling on

A Dung Beetle working hard

And here are 2 working together

Speckled Throated Woodpecker

Eurasion  Nightjar

Fruit of the Baobab Tree

Next we come across a large number of male black headed weavers who are very busy "weaving" their nests. They need to build a good nest to attract a female. All the nests are in one tree and we watch as birds are constantly flying back and forth gathering long blades of grass to weave their nests. It is a hive of activity and very noisy.

So many nests

Black Headed Weavers- Working hard

Birds constantly coming and going

Ally now drives up above the river bank and we get a chance to get out of the car and stretch our legs. As we look down at the river we see a large number of pied kingfishers trying to catch their dinner.  There is also a huge termite mound here.

A Hammerkop's Nest - Huge!!

This was also huge!

Pied Kingfishers

Termite Mound

Back in the car we drive past the Mbuyu Airstrip. Facilities here don't get much more basic. Moving on we see some waterbuck, greater kudu, crocodiles and hyaena before we get a real treat.

facilities at Mbuyu Airstrip

Common Waterbuck

Grey Headed Kingfisher

Male Greater Kudu with its horns stuck in the branches

Crocodile

Hyaena by his den

Now I knew that black and white colobus monkeys lived in Selous but until today we had never seen them. Then this morning Kalistsi spots them jumping about high up in some trees. To begin with we have difficulty seeing them as they are well hidden in the foliage but eventually our patience pays off and they become more visible. However "seeing" them and "photographing" them are two very different things. They seem to be constantly moving so getting a good photo is really quite difficult.

The best photo I got

Most were like this ...or just a tail!!

After many attempts I get a decent photo so am happy to move on and then, would you believe it, 10 minutes later we see some more. This lot were further away and so even harder to photograph. However just getting to see these monkeys was a real highlight for us.

Hiding in the tree

Time has gone on this morning and we now decide to stop for lunch. Ally drives down towards a lake and finds a nice place to stop. As always we have a enjoyable break out of the car. The food and company are both very good.

Warthog Family

Egyptian Geese Family

Lunch - Kalisti, Pete and Ally

Lunch today is a fairly prolonged affair as we have had a busy morning. The weather has also got brighter and hotter, having been quite overcast this morning. In the end though we pack up and move on. This afternoon we meet up with a group of elephants who we follow for a while. They are wandering in and out of the bush. Ally then decides to drive a little ahead of them and park up. We then sit and watch as the walk right in front of the car. Another great close encounter.

Elephants walking through the bush

Walking very close to the car

Right in front of our car

Having lunch

It is now mid afternoon and Ally hears that one of the trucks bringing supplies to camp (...yes they made it today) has seen a leopard in a tree, so we decide to go and have a look. All to no avail, we either don't have the right tree or the leopard has moved on. So we content ourselves with more birds and plenty of giraffe.

Greater Blue Eared Starling

Senegal Lapwing

Giraffes - Another one of my favourite photos

So it is nearly 6.30pm when we return to camp. Just before we get there we have one last surprise, hippos away from the water. The light isn't great but we get a couple of decent photos.

Running away

We return to our tent and to do our packing as we are leaving tomorrow, Tonight we are the only guests in camp so it is just us and Millie and Shaun for dinner. The rain yesterday has brought out all the insects and there are loads of them. Crickets are jumping everywhere including down your top or up your shirt. We are eating under cover and the staff have put a circle of lanterns round our table which seems to keep the insects away from us. Dinner is good and about 9pm we return to our tent. It is very humid tonight so the fan stays on all night.