Archivos de diario de octubre 2021

05 de octubre de 2021

Sri Lanka - March 2019

In March 2019 my wife and I visited Sri Lanka and spent 8 full days traveling the country, viewing cultural and historic sites, as well as national parks and other nature sites. We hired a guide with a four-wheel drive vehicle who spoke the native language, was familiar with the national parks and wildlife, and drove us around. We photographed 48 species of bird, 16 species of mammal and 13 species of reptile. We observed wildlife in the following areas: Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Kandy Lake, Peradeniya Botanical Garden near Kandy, Minneriya NP, Udawalawe NP, Yala NP and Bundala NP. Some of my favorite observations were the Sri Lankan leopard, purple faced langur, Indian star tortoise, Sri Lankan crested hawk-eagle, stripe-necked mongoose, Malabar pied hornbill, Indian flying fox, grizzled giant squirrel, Asian water monitor and Bengal monitor. All of the national parks were great for wildlife spotting, but Bundala, which is next to the ocean, had an incredible assortment of birds and the greatest abundance and variety of wildlife.

Publicado el octubre 5, 2021 02:27 TARDE por rwcannon57 rwcannon57 | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

Etosha NP, Namibia - May 31 to June 2, 2018

My wife and I flew into Windhoek, Namibia on Thursday morning, rented a vehicle and drove to the western side of Etosha NP, Anderson Gate, which took about 5 hours. We arrived mid-afternoon and drove to Okondeka waterhole on the Etosha Pan and spent the night at Okaukuejo park camp where we were able to view animals that evening at the waterhole. Friday we got out early to visit Nebrownii, Gemsbokviakte, and Olifantsbad waterholes and then back to Okaukuejo for breakfast and more viewing at the waterhole there. Then we drove to Halili park camp where we spent the next night, visiting Ondongab, Homob, Salvadora, and Reitfontein waterholes on the way. After we checked in, we visited Goas waterhole and took a 3 hour night safari (much too long) and nearly froze to death in 30 degree cold. Saturday morning we got an early start, drove the 54 miles to Von Lindquist Gate at the east end of Etosha, visiting Kalkheuwel and Chudob waterholes on the way, then drove back to Winkhoek, which took about 5 hours, to catch our flight out.

We photographed 13 species of bird and 13 species of mammal and saw mammals on our night safari, such as numerous cape foxes, which we were not able to photograph. We saw lots of elephants, giraffes, black-faced impala, kudu, springbok, wildebeest and gemsbok. We saw three black rhino, two lions, several black-backed jackals, 5 or 6 spotted hyenas and 3 red hartebeest. Bird sightings included the gray hornbill, secretarybird, kori bustard, lilac breasted roller, greater kestrel, ostrich and Guineafowl.

We had previously taken several guided safaris in other parts of Africa and this self-driving tour was very fun as we could spend as long as we wanted at any particular spot. This is a fantastic place to visit for wildlife.

Publicado el octubre 5, 2021 03:36 TARDE por rwcannon57 rwcannon57 | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

06 de octubre de 2021

Kadizora Camp, Okavanga Delta, Botswana - June 2018

Kadizora Camp is located in the northern part of the Okavanga Delta, between the Vumbura River and Selinda Spillway. To get there we took a small charter flight with Mack Air from Maun, Botswana, for about 50 minutes to a small dirt runway about a ten minute drive from Kadizora Camp. We had a short safari our first late afternoon there, and watched two young leopards feed on a red lechwe that had been killed by their mother. We saw two Verreaux's eagle owls on the way back to camp. The next morning we went on another safari drive. We saw numerous elephants, including one that threatened to charge us, giraffes and zebra. We caught just a glimpse of the young leopards and their mother. She had moved the red lechwe carcass. We ate lunch near a small pool full of hippos and watched gray-footed chacma baboons in the trees. We visited the den of a Cape wild dog pack. About 9 members of the pack rested in the grass following their morning hunt. The mother of the pack was alone, some distance away, near the entrance to her underground den, where she had young pups that had not emerged yet. On our way back to camp we encountered a mother cheetah and her two nearly adult cubs laying in the grass. Later in the afternoon we went out into a sea of reeds in small wooden boats, called makoros, with the equivalent of a gondolier standing with a long pole and guiding us. We encountered the small longnose reed frog and Angolan reed frog. The next morning we took a two hour tour on a nearby waterway in a small motorboat. We encountered lots of Nile crocodiles, huge groups of hippos, elephants, and a wonderful and plentiful assortment of birds: African darters, white-faced ducks, sacred ibis, hamerkop, African fish eagle, African great egret, little egret, gray heron, African open-billed stork, spur-winged goose, Egyptian goose, glossy ibis, African jacana, blacksmith plover, yellow-billed stork, long-tailed cormorant and pied kingfisher. Later that morning we were picked up by Mack Air for a chartered flight to Kasane, Botswana.

In our short 3 day stay (one full day, and two half-days) we photographed 17 species of bird, 13 species of mammal, 1 species of reptile and 2 species of amphibian.

Publicado el octubre 6, 2021 11:51 MAÑANA por rwcannon57 rwcannon57 | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

The Hide, Hwange NP, Zimbabwe - June 2018

The Hide is a privately operated tent camp in the mid-eastern part of Hwange, south of the Main Camp, which was our access to the park, and north of the Linkwasha Concession Area. It was a 45 minute drive from the Main Camp. During the drive to camp we saw a southern ground hornbill which the guide said was quite rare. We had a late-afternoon game drive upon our arrival, where we saw a beautiful bushbuck, a number of common waterbuck, kudu, impala, gray-footed chacma baboons and a number of secretarybirds. The next morning we took a long game drive and saw numerous birds, including secretarybirds, southern yellow-billed hornbills, lilac breasted rollers, gray go-away birds, Bradfield's hornbill, southern ostrich, a crested barbet, cape starlings, Senegal coucals, tawny eagles, a red-crested bustard, hooded vultures, magpie shrikes and kori bustards. We also saw a roan antelope, which our guide said was rarely seen, and quite a few elephants. Late afternoon we took a private walking tour with a guide carrying a rifle and had an amazing experience walking among the wildlife. We encountered vervet monkeys, more baboons, impala, blue wildebeest, Chapman's zebra, and witnessed a herd of about 30 Namibian giraffe walking 30 or 40 yards from us. At the end of our walk we joined the rest of camp at a sundowner in the bush where tables with drinks and snacks were set up and chairs for us to sit on. Two African wildcats walked stealthily past us in the dark (I was unable to get a photo). Later that night I took a night safari which got very cold - I wore a lined poncho and wrapped myself in blankets. We saw an aardvark and about 40 springhares, an animal I'd never heard of before, which looks like a miniature kangaroo (I was not able to get any photos - too dark). Our driver turned off the vehicle lights for a few minutes and the Milky Way lit up the sky like I've never seen before. The next morning we were out early for a 45 minute drive back to the Main Gate and then a 3 hour drive back to Victoria Falls. On our way to the Main Gate we encountered an incredibly beautiful saddle-billed stork and a small southern steenbuck. Shortly after leaving the Main Gate we saw another southern ground hornbill off the side of the road.

We saw 18 species of mammal, including a mongoose, the African wildcats, the aardvark and multiple springhares I was unable to get photos of, and 17 species of bird.

Publicado el octubre 6, 2021 12:43 TARDE por rwcannon57 rwcannon57 | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

Buffalo Springs National Reserve, Kenya - May 2014

Buffalo Springs NR is 187 miles north of Nairobi and 109 miles northeast of Mount Kenya NP. It encompasses 51 square miles at an altitude of 2,790 to 4,040 feet. It is on the south side of the Ewaso Ngiro River. Samburu NR is on the north side of the river. We spent a day there, an afternoon game drive the day we arrived and a morning game drive the next day. It is more of a desert than other places I've been in Kenya and Tanzania, but less deserty than Etosha NP in Namibia.

We saw 11 species of mammal, including some I've seen nowhere else in Africa (and I've traveled relatively extensively in Africa). Those mammals include, the reticulated giraffe, Somali (desert) warthog, Grevy zebra, gerenuk (standing on their hind legs while eating tree leaves), Beisa oryx and Bright's gazelle, a subspecies of Grant's gazelle. We saw an African bush elephant male chase down a female and consummate a loud and large mating ritual (it otherwise has a large elephant population) and spotted a genet in a tree being feasted upon by a large Verreaux's eagle-owl. Other mammals were the common impala, eastern black-backed jackal and Kirk's dik-dik.

We saw 13 species of bird, including 5 weavers: Speke's weaver, golden palm weaver, white-headed buffalo-weaver, Donaldson-Smith's sparrow-weaver, and white-browed sparrow-weaver. Bird's of prey included the martial eagle, bateleur, eastern chanting-goshawk, secreterybird (swallowing a rabbit whole) and the afore-mentioned Verreaux's eagle-owl. Other birds included the northern red-billed hornbill, eastern yellow-billed hornbill and yellow-necked Francolin.

We also saw several Nile crocodiles in or near the Ewaso Ngiro River.

Buffalo Springs is one of my favorite African destinations.

Publicado el octubre 6, 2021 02:54 TARDE por rwcannon57 rwcannon57 | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

Shaba National Reserve, Kenya - May 2014

Shaba NR is in northern Kenya, east of Buffalo Springs NR and Samburu NR. We stayed two nights at the Sarova Shaba Lodge which is on the south bank of the Ewaso Ngiro River, but separated by a chain-link fence. We had only a short afternoon safari in Shaba - much of the wildlife we saw in Shaba was on the grounds of our lodge. We otherwise were in Buffalo Springs NR.

On the lodge grounds I saw a Nile monitor, a Nile crocodile (separated by a fence), sacred ibis, Hadada ibis, hamerkop, many vervet monkeys, a superb starling, a Marabou stork, and an eastern yellow-billed hornbill.

On our short safari we saw elephants, a buff-crested bustard, an augur buzzard and olive baboons.

Publicado el octubre 6, 2021 03:12 TARDE por rwcannon57 rwcannon57 | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

07 de octubre de 2021

Lake Nakuru National Park, Kenya - May 2014

Lake Nakuru NP is in the Rift Valley 100 miles northwest of Nairobi. It is at an elevation of 5,755 feet and covers 73 square miles, including the lake (which is 17.4 square miles) and land around the lake. An additional 116 square miles around the lake is fenced off to protect the rhinos (both black and white) in the park from poaching. We arrived late afternoon after a long drive from Shaba NR and went out for a short late afternoon game drive. The next morning we had to continue on to our next destination.

We saw at least 11 species of mammal, including our first lions. We also saw our first rhinos, a number of white rhinos, and our first defassa waterbucks, as well as common or ellipsen waterbucks that we'd seen previously. We saw lots of common impala and Cape buffalo, getting quite close to some grizzled old Cape buffalo for some great photos. We saw our first and only Rothschild giraffes, 3, at some distance. We saw several eland at a great distance and quite a few Thomsen's gazelles. Grant's zebra were prevalent and we drove through a troop of olive baboons as they were settling into trees along the road for the night.

We also saw at least 7 species of bird. We saw both yellow-billed and red-billed oxpeckers, pretty prevalent on the rhinos, but also the waterbuck and Cape buffalo. Cattle egrets also flocked around the rhinos, snatching the insects stirred up by their massive bodies. We saw greater and lesser flamingos on Lake Nakuru in large flocks, but so far out that it was difficult to isolate individual birds - it was mostly just masses of pink with a mixture of both birds indistinguishable without long lenses, and later, cropped photos. The flamingos were one of the big attractions for Lake Nakuru. We saw our first Guineafowl, Reichenow's helmeted Guineafowl, which became a favorite of mine. I also noted a Marabou stork in a photo near some Cape buffalo and there were lots of other birds near the lake that we frankly didn't pay attention to because we had limited time and were focused on the rhinos, Cape buffalo and flamingos.

I would love to go back to Lake Nakuru and spend more time. Our time there was too limited. It was used primarily as a way station between Shaba NR and Masai Mara NR, our next destination.

Publicado el octubre 7, 2021 12:34 TARDE por rwcannon57 rwcannon57 | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

08 de octubre de 2021

Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya - May 2014

Masai Mara NR encompasses 580 square miles and is contiguous with the border of Tanzania and Serengeti NP. We drove in from Lake Nakuru NP, a distance of 169 miles, and had an afternoon game drive on our way in to the Mara Serena Lodge where we stayed for two nights. The next day we had a morning and afternoon game drive, broken up by lunch at the lodge, then we had an evening game drive from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.

This is one of the best places to see the big cats. We watched a cheetah feasting upon a baby defassa waterbuck while the mother waterbuck looked on, some distance away. Some distance behind the mother waterbuck was a spotted hyena, watching, ready to swoop in and steal the baby waterbuck from the cheetah. We watched two lionesses feasting upon a recently downed zebra. We watched a large pride of female lionesses stake out a herd of zebras. Multiple lionesses spread out as they stalked the zebras while one lioness stayed back to watch over four young lion cubs that wrestled each other while the drama was taking place. We watched a regal male lion walking alone in the tall grass among scattered trees. We watched five young lion cubs standing on a mound in a large field, presumably their den, all alone, waiting patiently for their mother. We watched a cheetah saunter by our vehicle while multiple zebra, topi and defassa waterbuck looked warily at it, ears up at full attention, at times nervously moving back.

The Mara River was home to a large congregation of hippos. Some were solitary, we saw several completely out of the water. Others were tightly packed into fetid water splashing, grunting and showing their teeth. On another part of the Mara we watched gigantic Nile crocodiles basking in the sun on the banks. These crocodiles were far larger than the crocodiles we saw in other areas, a testament to the good feed they get from the great migration.

We saw a group of three Masai giraffes necking, their necks swinging in slow motion at each other. On our night drive we saw hippos wandering far from the river and watched a rarely seen aardvark.

Outside our individual cabins we found multiple beautiful pink and blue mwanza flat-headed rock agamas (lizards) in the nearby rocks as well as bush hyrax. A bushbuck walked right under our balcony and two olive baboons entered into our room through our open balcony door while I took a short nap on the bed. I had to scream at them to get out.

We saw at least 15 species of mammal, including many lions, a number of cheetahs, Maasai giraffes, Cape buffalo, defassa waterbuck, topi, Thomson's gazelle, eastern black-backed jackal, spotted hyena, olive baboons, Grant's zebra, hippos, a few elephants, a Bohor reedbuck and an aardvark.

We saw at least five species of bird, including some Maasai ostrich, crowned lapwing, lilac-breasted roller, a white-bellied bustard and a Verreaux's eagle-owl on our night game drive.

Finally, we three species of reptile, including the Nile crocodile, mwanza flat-headed rock agama and tropical house geckos on our room's ceiling and walls at night.

Publicado el octubre 8, 2021 10:28 MAÑANA por rwcannon57 rwcannon57 | 19 observaciones | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

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