Exploring the West Kilimanjaro Area

Little Visited, some Seldom Seen Wildlife

March, 2020

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Douglas and his wife, Tumaini (Hope), picked Dona and me up at Kiota Guest House and we headed west and then back north to get to the area north west of Mt. Kilimanjaro. We were headed to Simba Farm. Douglas had never been there, but had directions. The directions were "Go to the end of the pavement, then 5km further." However, the road had been paved further in the time from when those instructions were gathered. So of course we went too far.

Douglas started turning the Land Cruiser around but when he went to back-and-fill we all heard a loud "clunk". He pulled to the side of the road and we soon discovered we had no brakes. We had lost a brake pad.

WKili Land Cruiser Brake Line P3061126
Taking things apart.
WKili Land Cruiser Brake Line
Learning how to jury-rig
a missing brake pad.

Photos by Dona

It wasn't long before someone came by. The first person to come by was on a boda-boda (motor-bike). He gave us instructions to the farm. The second guys were a full-fledged mechanic and a friend. The mechanic seemed to know exactly what to do, and between him and Douglas we had most of what we needed. We jacked up the car, removed the wheel, and undid the brake line. But there was one thing we needed which we didn't have — a nail. So the mechanic's friend headed to a neighboring farm and came back with a selection of small nails with smallish flat heads, more like a brad. The mechanic wrapped soft string around the shank and inserted the nail in the brake line, then put it back together, effectively plugging the line. That brake wouldn't work, but all the others still would. Douglas, the mechanic and his friend all exchanged phone numbers and we headed to the farm.

WKili Mt Kilimanjaro P3061129
Photo by Dona
WKili Mt Kilimanjaro

Mt. Kilimanjaro

WKili Mt Meru
Mt. Meru

Dorobo was sending out a replacement vehicle, but it would take a few hours to get to us. In the interim, we checked out birds around the farm and took a short walk in some nearby native forest, where we found a paradise flycatcher and some sunbirds.

Much of the native forest in East Africa has been cut down and replaced with mono-cultures of commodity trees, usually non-native. This part of Tanzania was no exception. In the first image below, you can see the mono-culture forest in the background.

WKili Native Forest
Note farmed mono-culture forest in background
WKili Native Forest

Native Forest
Photos by Dona

WKili Native Forest
WKili Tree

Photos by Dona

WKili Tree Flower Xxx Red
Tree Flower Xxx Red
Photo by Dona
WKili Flower Xxx Pink P3061134
Flower Xxx Pink
Photo by Dona
WKili Flower Morning Glory P3061212
Morning Glory
Ipomoea

Photo by Dona

WKili Bird African Paradise Flycatcher
WKili Bird African Paradise Flycatcher

African Paradise Flycatcher
Terpsiphone wiridis

WKili Bird Red Rumped Swallow P3061216
Red Rumped Swallow
Cecropis daurica

Photo by Dona
WKili Bird African Pied Wagtail P3061196
African Pied Wagtail
Motacilla aguimp

Photo by Dona
WKili Bird Xxx Speckled Mousebird P3061155
Speckled Mousebird
Colius striatus

Photo by Dona

WKili Bird Baglafecht Weaver P3061197
Photo by Dona

Baglafecht Weaver
Ploceus baglafecht

WKili Bird Xxx African Citril
Xxx African Citril
Crithagra citrinelloides

WKili Bird White Eyed Slaty Flycatcher
White Eyed Slaty Flycatcher
Melaenornis fischeri
WKili Bird Xxx African Dusky Flycatcher P3061193
Bird Xxx African Dusky Flycatcher
Photo by Dona
WKili Bird Red Billed Firefinch
Red Billed Firefinch
Lagonosticta senegala

I can't properly identify the bird in the middle above... or the bird below either... Seems like it should be easy.

WKili Bird Xxx Chat Wheatear P3061153
WKili Bird Xxx Chat Wheatear P3061154

Bird Xxx Chat Wheatear
Photos by Dona

We found this neat multi-colored lizard scurrying around in the leaf-litter.

WKili Xxx Lizard P3061199
Xxx Lizard
Photo by Dona

WKili Gary Douglas P3061207
Gary and Douglas
Photo by Dona

The next day we drove down onto the plain of west Kilimanjaro. We would be in the Enduimet Wildlife Management Area; we had to stop at the entrance gate and pick up a ranger to travel with us. It was a dry, brushy expanse, and unfortunately we got a late start. But we still saw some cool stuff, especially the Gerenuks!

WKili Warthog
Warthog
WKili Giraffe
Giraffe
WKili Bird Red Billed Oxpecker P3061226
Red Billed Oxpecker
Photo by Dona

Unfortunately, by the time we were in the brush with the Gerenuks it was pretty hot and there were heat waves rising everywhere, which made taking pictures not so good.

WKili Gerenuk
WKili Gerenuk P3071256
Photo by Dona
WKili Gerenuk
WKili Gerenuk P3071279
Photo by Dona

Gerenuk

WKili Gerenuk
WKili Gerenuk

WKili Bird Eastern Chanting Goshawk
Eastern Chanting Goshawk
WKili Bird White Bellied Canary
White Bellied Canary
WKili Bird Ring Necked Dove
Ring Necked Dove
WKili Bird Fischers Starling
Fischer's Starling


Rosy-patched Bush Shrike
Photos by Dona
WKili Bird White Browed Scrub Robin
White Browed Scrub Robin
WKili Bird Taita Fiscal Shrike
Taita Fiscal Shrike

WKili Bird Common Rock Thrush
Common Rock Thrush
WKili Bird Brown Hooded Kingfisher
Brown Hooded Kingfisher

WKili Bird Kittlitzs Plover
Kittlitz's Plover
WKili Bird Little Stint
Little Stint

We had great views in all directions, but it was a bit hazy. We could see Kilimanjaro to the east, and Meru to the west. This was Sid's summit day, so we were delighted it was somewhat clear. There were clouds around the summits of both Mt. Meru and Mt. Kilimanjaro off and on all day long. We hoped Sid was in the right place and the right times to get good views on his climb.

WKili Mt Kilimanjaro
Mt. Kilimanjaro

WKili Mt Meru
Mt. Meru

WKili
Photo by Dona

WKili Olive Baboon
Olive Baboon
Papio anubis
WKili Black Faced Vervet Monkey
Black Faced Vervet Monkey
Chlorocebus pygerythrus

We came upon a lone bull elephant who didn't seem to know exactly what he wanted to do. At first he was sucking water out of a puddle by the side of the road and spraying it on himself, then he was simultaneously peeing and giving himself a dust bath. For a while it looked like he was a bit upset and was going to come down and beat up on us, but then he wandered off. We also came across a few tiny groups or lone wildebeests known as the blue wildebeest, the white-bearded wildebeest and the brindled gnu. A far cry from the huge herds that were up on the Serengeti.

WKili Elephant
African Elephant
Loxodonta africana
WKili Elephant Mt Meru
Mt. Meru

WKili Elephant P3071333
Elephant spraying himself with water
Photo by Dona

Peeing and dust bathing

Photos by Dona

WKili Elephant Mt Kilimanjaro
Mt. Kilimanjaro

WKili White Bearded Wildebeest
White Bearded Wildebeest
a.k.a. Blue Wildebeest
a.k.a. Brindled Gnu
Connochaetes taurinus
WKili Thompsons Gazelle P3071357
Thompson's Gazelle
and Youngster
Photo by Dona
WKili Baboon P3071327
Baboons
Photo by Dona

WKili Giraffe Zebra P3071300
Giraffe and Zebra
Photo by Dona
WKili Giraffe P3071358
Giraffe
Photo by Dona
WKili Zebra P3071311
Zebra
Photo by Dona

We didn't see a lot of birds out on the dry pans, but we did find this one raptor. I'm not sure what it was; I think an Osprey.

WKili Bird Xxx Raptor P3071313
Bird Xxx Osprey?
Photo by Dona

WKili Mt Kilimanjaro P3071362
Mt. Kilimanjaro
Photo by Dona

We climbed a small hill which looked like it had an abandoned safari camp on it, but it turned out to be a new camp under construction. Or maybe a new camp whose construction had been abandoned. In any case, we stopped to enjoy the view of the surrounding plains. We could see Lake Amboseli in Amboseli National Park in Kenya, the border with Kenya, and out onto the salt flats of the surrounding plain.

When we left the hill we tried to go back by a different route, out across the salt flats in a big loop. However, dry as they might look, with all the recent rain the salt flats quickly became a kind of gumbo and we chose discretion over getting stuck and turned around. Dang! I was looking forward to that exploration.

We stopped for lunch, then worked our way slowly back, enjoying the wildlife along the way.

WKili Lunch
Lunch
Photo by Dona

WKili Giraffes P3061225
Giraffes
Photo by Dona

Back at Simba Farm we took some short walks and enjoyed the birds.

WKili Bird Northern Wheatear
Northern Wheatear
Oenanthe oenanthe
WKili Bird Speckled Mousebird
Speckled Mousebird

WKili Bird African Paradise Flycatcher F
WKili Bird African Paradise Flycatcher F

African Paradise Flycatcher (F)
Terpsiphone virdis

WKili Bird Bronze Sunbird
WKili Bird Bronze Sunbird
WKili Bird Bronze Sunbird

Bronze Sunbird
Nectarinia kilimensis

WKili Flower Xxx Yellow P3061244
Flower Xxx Yellow
Photo by Dona
WKili Flower Xxx Yellow P3071408
Flower Xxx Yellow
Photo by Dona

WKili Bug Xxx Locust Green Red P3071372
Bug Xxx Locust Green Red
Photo by Dona

We had a great relaxing evening and dinner with Douglas and Tumaini. The next day we would head back to Arusha where we would meet Sid after his climb; our route would take us through Arusha National Park.

WKili Dinner Tumaini Douglas Dona
Dinner — Tumaini, Douglas and Dona