TSAVO West with toto's - Simply breath taking!

Taita Hills Wildlife Sanctuary, isn’t in the Taita Hills actually, but in the hill locked lowlands about 15km west of Mwatate on the Taveta road. It took us merely 4 and a half hours drive to  check-in at the Salt Lick game lodge from home (Arusha, Tanzania, including clearance at the border). Don’t ask me the speed I cruised at. Set up in 1973 by the Hilton hotel chain, the sanctuary is now owned and managed by Sarova Hotels, who successfully balance wildlife and human needs in an environment that, while not being fully natural, seems to work well for both.

For most of the year, the sanctuary is full of wildlife. There are more than fifty species of large mammals and three hundred species of birds here, and its small size means the rangers always have a good idea of where the key animals can be seen. It’s not uncommon to spot up to 20 different species of Mammals, among them lions, cheetahs, large herds of elephant and buffalo, and all the other southern plains grazers and up to 20 species of birds in a morning game drive. During the drier times of the year, when the animals are not dispersed, the water sources beneath Salt Lick Lodge, on the southern side of the sanctuary, provide waterhole game-viewing, including an excellent ground-level hide.

We, my son Mohamed and I were more interested in the birds here. Apart from the 100+ species of birds we managed to spot in 3 two hours morning drives (open vehicle – yay), I did manage to have a good sight of the Taita Falcon, Retz's Helmeted Shrike, Hartlaub’s Bustard, Barbary Falcon, Pangani Longclaw and the Taita Fiscal Shrike among many others. The Taita Thrush and White-eye are endemic and only found in the hills, which is of course for another time. I will surely be back.

The service was excellent and the food sumptuous. Not to forget the surprise anniversary cake the staff prepared for us. It brought a big smile on Umme's face. I highly recommend a visit to this sanctuary  I witnessed elephants first hand from as close as 1 metre. Spent hours learning how they behave. Truly loved every bit of it. My son Ebrahim would agree with me.

I attach some of the breath taking moments I managed to capture with my Canon pal.

Beach to Bush

Having had the opportunity to attend the last district Rotary conference of district 9200, held at the Leisure Lodge in Diani - Mombasa, i still managed to sneak in a day for birding.

Close to Diani, South coast Mombasa, Shimba Hills Game Reserve is a small hilly plateau situated about 32 km from Diani near Kwale town. All hills have view points that offer spectacular views of this hilly and forested countryside and as far as the Indian ocean and Chale island to the east and the Tsavo plains and Taita hills to the west.

Visiting this area was a great opportunity to visit and re-discover the red-soil of inland Kenya. Equatorial forest elephants (smaller but far more aggressive than the savanna elephants), Sable antelopes (the only place to see them in Kenya) and a walk to the sheldrick falls and few of the highlights ofcourse apart from the spectacular birdlife whilst enjoying the freshness of the coastal breeze. 111 species of birds have been officially recorded, of which 22 are coastal endemic. My friend Charles - the game ranger has however recorded 143 species into his checklist.

I have captured some of these splendid moments through my Canon gear.

Akil Halai - 24th April 2013 

Millions of shades of green!

A visit to the vast beautiful lands of Tarangire & the wonders of the Ngorongoro crater is always a treat for a birder. Who ever told you there is not much happening this time of the year. In-fact there is so much more happening between the millions of shades of green. Trees, grass and miles and miles of land is now all covered in vibrant green camouflages. Many many species of birds breeding. Some common, some rear but overall just incredible. Again, I have tried to capture these timeless and spectacular moments through my Canon lens. I hope they live to your expectations. They surely did to mine.

all photographs copyright - Akil Halai @ Concepts & Designs

Bearded Wood-pecker

Augur Buzzard

African Hoopoe

European Bee-eater

Black-faced Sandgrouse

Eastern Chanting Goshawk

Gabar Goshawk - Melanistic

Golden-winged Sunbird

European Roller

Malachite Sunbird

Pygmy Falcon

Martial Eagle

Red & Yellow Barbet

Red-billed Hornbill

Rosy-patched Bush-shrike - male

Rosy-patched Bush-shrike - female

Scarlet-chested Sunbird - female

Two-banded Courser

Spotted Thick-knee

Christmas Birdies...

The Northern & Southern circuits are frequently visited by a lot of our guests. This doesn’t state that, the Eastern & Western circuits of Tanzania don’t stand a chance when compared to its diversity of wildlife and magnanimous landscapes. During our recent visit to Amani Natural Reserve (pangani), Saadani & Mkomazi national parks we proved this correct.

The birdlife we can across was just spectacular. We even came across a lion sighting in Saadani and a cheetah sighting in Mkomazi both on our first game drive & a snake killing a Green winged Pytilia on our last day at the beautiful Mkomazi national park.

Although it was not the best season to visit the park, we definitely enjoyed every bit of it. Be it rain or the picturesque sunshine. From the 120 species of birds spotted during this 7 days trip, many were in our must see list. We also did manage to get good pictures of these birds whenever light allowed.
Below are some pictures of what I personally consider as breath-taking moments. Amongst the numerous species sighted the best (in our opinion) were the Cabanis’s Bunting, Ayres Hawk Eagle, Purple crested Turaco, Sulphur brested Bush-shrike, Grey headed bush-shrike, Straw-tailed Whydah, Golden-brested Starling , Caramine Bee-eater and the African paradise flycatcher (White – Morph).

Many thanks to Chettan Bhatt, Karachi (Greg Duwe) & Nahumu for their good company and friendship!

Next blog scheduled 2013…….. Lets hope the next year beholds fabulous moments as this year did.