Tanzanian Safari

It's around 60,000 years since our human ancestors left Africa on their way to Europe. In February 2022, Steve Skillman and I made the trip in reverse. After entering African air space, we followed the Nile south. We flew over Abu Simbel airport, the last port of call in Egypt before the Sudan. 

We followed the fertile river valley as it snaked its way to Khartoum - halfway to its origin at Lake Victoria.

In the desert below, cinder cones - testament to volcanic activity over one million years ago, before humans had evolved, though the last larva flow here was a recent as 1,000 years ago.

The area of Africa we had come to visit lies between Lake Victoria and the Indian Ocean. It is at the southern end of the Great Rift Valley, which stretches from Lebanon to Mozambique and was formed 35 million years ago by the divergence of two of the earth's plates - also forming the African Great Lakes.

Here there has been much more impressive volcanic activity, and the map of the area where we landed is punched with green holes that mark dormant and extinct volcanoes which started forming around 2.5 million years ago. Lying close together are the two greatest: Kilimanjaro, the highest point in Africa at 5895 metres, and Meru, at a mere 4562 metres.

Our destination was the slopes of mount Meru, where we had been invited to stay at the house of our friends Iain and Sue Morrell. I first met Sue at university, in the days when we were taking our steps out of the teenage years. Iain, by coincidence, much later became a colleague at Syngenta in Basel - but had recently left for a better life as manager of a farm close to Arusha.

What a wonderful home they have - broad terraces gazing south over scruffy farmland and scrub.

Iain spoiled us with tea in bed before breakfast every morning.

We watched Collared Sunbirds (Hedydipna collaris) feeding on the flowers around the terrace.

The wonders of the garden were not just for the eyes - when night fell, a wildlife orchestra serenaded us in our beds.

It was loud enough to drown out the chirping of the African House Geckos (Hemidactylus mabouia) on the bedroom walls.

Phiala Monkey Moths kept us company.

To whet my appetite for wildlife to come, Iain showed me a book of artworks made in Tanzania by Denis Clavreul - a French biologist, with a PhD in ecology, who became a full time wildlife artist.

In Denis' words: "I love to feel the pencil caress the surface of the paper at will. I love the sensuality of lines, the result of a necessary balance between tension and relaxation. I love this recurring challenge, all these attempts to go towards the essential with so little, as the unfinished curve of the spine is often more alive than the complete drawing of an animal".

(An aside: that Spring I went with my fiancée Marianne to the Atlantic coast of France. I spotted a small brownish bird on a wire, for which she failed to show any enthusiasm. I told her to look through the binoculars, and then she experienced the joy that is a male linnet in full sunlight. Denis Clavreul lives along this coast, in Nantes, and I had seen from his web page that he had painted two beautiful linnets there the year before. He accepted my offer to buy them, and they became my present to Marianne for her 60th birthday in August).

Iain recommended a guide book for nature drawing. One tip in the book is to first outline with a blue pencil. I later read that blue pencils are traditionally used by editors to mark copy, as it does not show up in some photographic reproductions.

Iain gave me a blue pencil to try for myself.

A neighbour of the Morrells has made a cricket ground close by, complete with pavilion. We spent a pleasant afternoon watching a game over a beer.

Honey is becoming an important means of income in the area, though the focus is on local stingless bees, rather than the global stinging Honey Bee. In Africa there are around twenty species of social stingless bees of the tribe Meliponini, representing six genera. They usually build their hives in old trees, which humans have long raided to take the honey. Now they are farmed in artificial hives. In northern Tanzania there are stingless bees of the genera Dactylurina, Hypotrigona, Meliponula and Plebeina - and species of these are farmed on the slopes of Mounts Meru and Kilimanjaro. Another of Iain's neighbours, Humphrey, keeps hive boxes on the terrace of his house.

He opened one of the boxes to show us how the honey is collected. Inside was a nest of Meliponula ferruginea. The brood comb cells can be seen tended by bees, surrounded by protective brown involucra sheets.

Around the brood are larger egg-shaped honey pots.

The pots are burst with a stick, and the hive box tilted to drain out the honey.

Steve took some old guitar strings to Tanzania, as he knew it is difficult for people to obtain them there. Coincidently, Humphrey had an old broken guitar. Steve fixed and re-stringed it. Good job!

Yet another of Iain's neighbours produces stingless bee honey which he markets globally under the Just Bee brand (www.justbee.co.tz). I took home some jars, and I'm still enjoying the distinctive citrusy flavour.

Time to go birding. We had the assistance of two savvy young entrepreneurs, Abdul and Emanuel.

Down the hill from Iain's, the Ngare Sero Mountain Lodge has a large lake which attracts water birds.

A couple of African Black Ducks (Anas sparsa), close relatives of Europe's Mallard, glided across the surface.

Wading through the weeds, an African Jacana (Actophilornis africanus). Unusually, they are polyandrous - a female mates with many males, and the males look after the chicks. They were first illustrated and described by a Kentish man, the physician John Latham of Darenth, in his three-volumed General Synopsis of Birds in 1783. This was a time when naturalists from the European colonial powers (usually amateurs, and often physicians) were receiving specimens of 'unknown' animals and plants from all over the world to describe, which they did using drawings and applying common names in their own languages. To have an international standard for names, the latin binomial system was developed and first published by Carl Linnaeus in 1735. After the 10th edition in 1758, the system began to be accepted as the requirement for a formal scientifically-recognised description. A disciple of Linneaus, the German physician Johann Friedrich Gmelin (who finished the last 13th edition of Systema Naturae in 1793) gave the African jacana its first binomial name in this revision in 1789.

Perched around the ponds were the fish eaters: the Reed (or Long-tailed) Cormorant (Microcarbo africanus) was also first formally described by Gmelin in his 13th edition of Systema Naturae...

...as was the Hamerkop (Scopus umbretta) - though first described in 1760 by the Frenchmen Mathurin Jacques Brisson in his great work 'Ornithologie', and subsequently by the great naturalist George-Louis Ledclerc, Comte de Buffon.

We were told this African Fish-Eagle (Haliaeetus vocifer) is a regular visitor. This species was first described by Francois Levaillant, a Frenchman born in Surinam who went to southern Africa in 1780 to collect for Coenraad Jacob Temminck (first director of the Leiden Natural History Museum - who would have twenty species of birds named after him) bringing back over 2,000 skins which formed the basis of the coloured paintings he used for species descriptions. Levaillant would have four species named after him. The African Fish-Eagle was one of the thirty-three bird species (and many more reptiles and amphibians) given a binomial name by another Frenchman, Francois Marie Daudin, who wrote many natural history guides despite being paralysed from the waist down and dying of tuberculosis before his 30th birthday in 1803.

Here is Levaillant out hunting.

We watched a Little Heron (Butorides atricapilla), motionless but ready to pounce. It was first described in 1804 by a disciple of Linneaus in Sweden, Adam Afzelius, who made expeditions to western Africa and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. The heron has twenty sub-species spread from Africa to Australia. Here it is the nominate one.

In the reeds, Eastern Golden Weavers (Ploceus subaureus) were busy nesting.

Where the water flowed out of the pond, Mountain Wagtails (Motacilla clara) collected moss off of stones for nesting material. They are found throughout Africa with three sub-species - here M. c. torrentium.

We headed off into the woods.

It always surprises me to see primates close to human habitation, even though they are our close relatives. Blue Monkeys (Cercopithecus mitis) are found over central and eastern Africa. Seventeen sub-species have been recognised, eight in Tanzania and Kenya. Here it is C. m. albogularis, which extends up from eastern Kenya.

The Mantled Guereza (Colobus guereza) - looking elegant yet ferocious, like some tribal warrior, with its white face paint, mantle and bushy tail. Colobus derives from Greek for 'mutilated', which refers to its lack of thumbs. It was first classified by the German naturalist Eduard Ruppell, whom I often mention in my blog (see the bird Ruppell's Warbler), from his trip to Abyssinia between 1830 and 1834. It is also a resident of central and eastern Africa, where there are several sub-species - here the Kilimanjaro Guereza (C. g. caudatus), restricted to the forests surrounding Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru.

We looked up to see a resting Black Saw-wing (Psalidoprocne pristoptera) with its swallow tail. Nine sub-species are recognised - the four north-eastern, of which this is one, may be considered as a separate species P. orientalis.

The Nubian Woodpecker (Campethera nubica) was also first described by the Comte de Buffon, in 1780, but it was the Dutch naturalist Pieter Boddaert - yet another physician, and lecturer at the University of Utrecht (where my daughter studied) who gave it a binomial name three years later. Campthera is Greek for 'caterpillar hunter'. This is the nominate sub-species - a second, pallida, occurs north in Somalia and coastal Kenya. Here we see the male above, with the fuller red cap, and the female below.

One of four sub-species of Retz's Helmetshrike (Prionops retzii graculinus), sporting a magnificent red eye.

The Village Weaver (Ploceus cucullatus) is another bird which was described by a number of naturalists in the late 18th century. In 1760 Brisson made the first drawing, which was used by Buffon for a description. The German Philipp Ludwig Statius Muller provided the binomial in his 1776 German translation of Carl Linneaus' Systema Naturae. Later Latham and Gmelin also had a bash at providing a binomial, Latham providing the English name of 'weaver'. The taxonomic discussions continue with eight recognised sub-species, three of which are found in Tanzania - here P. c. bohndorffi. They make their hanging nests from strips of grasses.

Another weaver, the Red-headed Weaver (Anaplectes rubriceps). There are northern and a southern sub-species in Africa - this is the northern A. r. leuconotus.

An Eastern Black-headed Oriole (Oriolus larvatus). Three of the five sub-species are found in Tanzania - I guess this is O. l. reichenowi.

A Brown-breasted Barbet (Pogonomis melanopterus).

A White-eared Barbet (Stactolaema leucotis).

And a finch - the Streaky Seedeater (Crithagra striolata).

The Common Bulbul (Pycnonotus barbatus) was first described in 1789 by the French botanist Rene Louiche Desfontaines, a future head of the French Natural History Museum, who collected it whilst living in Algeria. Ten sub-species are recognised over Africa, and here it is P. b. dodsoni, which some regard as a separate species - Dodson's Bulbul.

The Red-eyed Dove (Streptopelia semitorquata) was described by Ruppell in 1835.

A male (right) and female Eastern Bronze-naped Pigeon (Columba delegorguei). Adulphe Delegorgue, after whom it is named, was a French explorer and naturalist who died of Malaria in 1850 aged 36.

European Starlings can have a subtle violet sheen - but the Violet-backed Starling (Cinnyricinclus leucogaster) takes it to a new level. It was first described by the Comte de Buffon in 1775. There are three sub-species, and I guess this is the nominate one.

The forest was full of Nymphalid butterflies using Acanthaceae species as host plants: The aptly named Forest Mother of Pearl (Protogoniomorpha parhassus)...

... and non-flowering Pansies - such as the Soldier Pansy (Junonia terea elgiva)...

...Blue Pansy (Junonia oenone)...

...Brown Pansy (Junonia natalica natalica)...

...and Little Pansy (Junonia sophia).

The Friar (Amauris niavius dominicanus) uses species of Dogbanes (Apocynaceae family) as hosts.

The Gold-banded Forester (Euphaedra neopron spp. violacea) uses soap-berry plants as hosts, the fruits of which are eaten by humans.

There are nearly 50 species of Acraea butterflies in Tanzania. This is the Natal Acraea (Acraea natalica) which uses Passion Flowers as host plants.

Moths never get as much publicity as butterflies, which is a shame. The Cream-striped Owl-Moth (Cyligramma latona) is a Noctuid which could match a Nymphalid in beauty. Its larvae feed on species of Acacia. It was first described in 1775 by Pieter Cramer, a wealthy Dutch merchant who also began work on a book on foreign (exotic) butterflies, using Gerrit Wartenaar as an illustrator (example below).

Also a beauty, the Notodontid moth Anaphe panda which uses the Mitzeeri or Coastal Golden-leaf Tree (Bridelia micrantha) as its host plant. The larvae of the moth are eaten by humans.

Tanzania has one of the richest land snail faunas in the world.

We walked out of the trees and through a meadow beside human habitation, a different habitat for other types of birds.

The Fan-tailed Widowbird (Euplectus axillaris) is an Afrotropical species with five sub-species - here E. a. phoeniceus.

The White-winged Widowbird (Euplectes albonotatus) has three sub-species - here E. a. eques. Unusually for Africa, it was described by an American; John Cassin, regarded as being the greatest ornithological taxonomist in the world during his lifetime. He survived fighting for the Union in the American Civil War, but died of poisoning from the arsenic he used to preserve bird skins.

There were flocks of finches; the Bronze Mannikins (Spermestes cucullata scutata) mingling with Black and White Mannikins - the former identified by the green shoulder patch.

There are many species of Cisticola warblers in Africa, all little brown jobs. This is the Winding Cisticola (Cisticola marginatus) with five sub-species - here C. m. suahelicus.

The Northern Fiscal (Lanius collaris) is found over sub-saharan Africa, with three sub-species - here L. c. humeralis).

The House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) is a global species, native to the eastern hemisphere and introduced throughout the western. Twelve sub-species are recognised over its native range. The Tanzanian populations, of the indicus sub-species, were introduced in the coast and spread through the country in the 1970s.

In open ground Pierids flittered, all of which use plants of the caper family: the Smoky Orange Tip (Colotis euippe omphale)...

...Red Tip (Colotis antevippe zera)...

... and African Golden Arab (Colotis aurigineus).

On the shrubs we noticed some other insects: a nymph of a Short Horned Grasshopper, Abisares viridipennis...

...a Garden Fruit Chafer (Pachnoda sp.)...

...and, like a cast iron statue, a Coreid Leaf-footed Bug.

We went off to stay a couple of nights at Simba Farm on the western foot of Mount Kilimanjaro, owned by an ex-colleague of Iain's. Behind the farm rose the national park, whilst ahead Mount Meru could be seen on the horizon beyond the farm's cornfields.

The corn fields played host to flocks of small seed-eating birds - Red-billed Quelea (Quelea quelea), first described by Linnaeus in 1758, are regarded as a pest over sub-saharan Africa. It has three sub-species, here Q. q. aethiopicus.

Black-and-white Mannikins (Spermestes bicolor) are mainly found in central Africa, though some populations seem to extend further east. It was first described in 1843 by British zoologist Louis Fraser, who travelled extensively in Africa and after whom a number of reptiles and birds have been named. Of the four sub-species, I guess this is S. b. nigriceps.

A Yellow-bellied Waxbill (Coccopygia quartinia), native to East Africa.

The Yellow Bishop (Euplectes capensis) is another species first described by Brisson, in 1760.

Other species were seen in the gardens and bushes around the farm: the Red-fronted Prinia (Prinia rufifrons) - again named by Ruppell, in 1840. Here it is P. r. smithi of the three sub-species.

Baglafecht Weavers (Ploceus baglafecht ), found in central and eastern Africa - here P. b. reichenowi of the eight sub-species.

A Southern Citril (Crithagra hyposticta).

This White-eyed Slaty Flycatcher (Melaenornis fischeri fischeri) doesn't seem to restrict its diet to flies. It is named after Gustav Adolf Fischer, a German army physician who collected birds in East Africa in the 19th century and who died of a bilious fever aged just thirty-eight.

An African Pied Wagtail (Motacilla aguimp vidua).

A Tambourine Dove (Turtur tympanistria).

A Dusky Turtle Dove (Streptopelia lugens).

In the garden Speckled Mousebirds (Colius striatus) loved to feed on figs. This species was again named by Gmelin using a description of Buffon. Seventeen sub-species are recognised, all in Africa, three of which occur in Tanzania - I know not which this is.

The African Paradise-flycatcher (Terpsiphone viridis) has two colour morphs called 'white' and 'brown'. This one is intermediate between them. There are ten sub-species, half of which are found in Tanzania - again, I know not which this is.

A magnificent Bronze Sunbird (Nectarinia kilimensis).

We saw a few more species of Pieridae: a group of Belenois zochalia agrippinides, presumably feeding on soil minerals. They also use plants of the Caper family as hosts...

...Mylothris yulei kilimensis uses rubber and cocoa trees as host plants, though these have been introduced from South America. The native hosts seem to be plants related to sandelwood...

... and Belenois raffrayi extendens, another Caper feeder.

Another Amaurus Nymphalid, A. maculata - one of the three sub-species found in Tanzania. As for the Friar, it also uses Dogbanes as host plants.

Our first Papilionid, the Emporer Swallowtail (Papilio ophidicephalus ophidicephalus).

This beetle seems the worse for wear. It looks like some sort of Soldier Beetle (Cantharidae) - but what big eyes you have!

This Lacertid lizard looks like a species of Adolfus.

Time to take a longer journey or, as they say in swahili, safari. I read that the tradition of British African safaris started in 1836, when William Cornwallis Harris led an expedition purely to observe and record wildlife and landscapes - 'starting with a not too strenuous rising at first light, an energetic day's walking, an afternoon rest, then concluding with a formal dinner and telling stories over drinks'. Sounds perfect. With Salim to drive and guide us, we set off on our own safari.

Our plan was to visit the three great wildlife areas of northern Tanzania: Tarangire, Ngorongoro and the Serengeti.

To fortify ourselves for the journey, we first stopped at the local branch of the Chelsea Supporter's Club (Carefree, wherever you may be, we are the famous CFC!).

Leaving Arusha we saw a Long-crested Eagle (Lophaetus occipitalis), a sub-saharan species, sitting on the perimeter fence of the airport.

We heard there were some captive Shoebills (Balaeniceps rex) along the road at the African Tulip Hotel, so we stopped to see them. They were first described in 1850 by the ornithologist John Gould, the son of a gardener who also started life as a gardener before becoming a taxidermist. He was the author of a number of guides to the birds of Europe and Australia and, most famously, the man who described the birds collected by Charles Darwin on his Beagle voyage - most notably 'Darwin's finches' from the Galapagos Islands. Gould received the Shoebills from the English traveller Mansfield Parkyns, who had spent many years living in Abyssinia.

Perched above us on a tree in the car park were Arrow-marked Babblers (Turdoides jardineii), a southern afrotropical species.

We watched a large group of Abdim's Stork (Ciconia abdimii) taking off and wheeling up into the sky. It is the smallest species of Stork, breeding in tropical Africa and spending the winter in southern Africa. It was named after a Turkish Governor in the Sudan at the beginning of the 19th century.

Excitement as we reached the entrance to Tarangire National Park.

The park, named after the river that runs through it, covers 2,850 square kilometres and is a mix of Acacia and Combretum woodland, Boabab trees and seasonally flooded grasslands.

At the park gate Vervet Monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus), intermingled with the groups of waiting tourists. They are found along the length of eastern Africa, where they are divided into five sub-species - here C. p. hilgerti. The youngsters haven't learnt yet that it's not safe to sit in the road.

Whilst waiting to enter the park we observed the surrounding birds: a Spotted Palm-thrush (Cichladusa guttata), an east African species...

...Ring-necked Dove (Streptopelia capicola), with six sub-species over western and southern Africa - here S. c. somalica...

...Ashy Starling (Lamprotornis unicolor) - a species only found in Tanzania and Kenya...

...and Bearded Woodpecker (Dendropicos namaquus), a native of tropical central Africa.

We entered the park and were met by the elegant Impalas (Aepyceros melampus). They are found over eastern and southern Africa. Their name means 'red antelope' in Zulu (as does 'Rooibok' in Africaans). They were first described in South Africa in 1812 by Martin Hinrich Carl Lichtenstein, director of the Berlin Zoological Museum. Here we see males with their lyre-shaped horns...

...and hornless females. Note the two Red-billed Oxpeckers (Buphagus erythrorhynchus), birds of the east African savannah, sitting on the back of one female. These birds will help her by eating the ticks that feed on her flesh - but they also have the disturbing habit of pecking at the wounds of mammals to keep them open so that they can drink the blood.

Along the road a Mourning Collared Dove (Streptopelia decipiens), a widespread sub-saharan species.

 The Northern White-crowned Shrike (Eurocephalus rueppelli) is again named after Ruppell.

The Lilac-breasted Roller (Coracias caudatus) is found over the southern part of Africa. Linnaeus first described it in 1766, based on a 1760 illustration by Brisson - in the same publication as for the Hamerkop.

Strutting its stuff, the unmistakable stilt-walking Secretarybird (Sagittarius serpentarius) searching for prey, such as snakes. It was first described in a painting by the English nature illustrator John Frederick Miller in 1779, and now appears on the coat of arms of South Africa and Sudan.

The White-faced Whistling Duck (Dendrocygna viduata) was another of Linnaeus' descriptions in 1766. It has an unusual distribution, found over most of Africa and South America.

The noisy and lovable Fischer's Lovebirds (Agapornis fischeri) are native to northern Tanzania. They are also named after Gustav Fischer.

We soon saw our first African Bush Elephants (Loxodonta africana), the largest living terrestrial animal - a group coming to bath in a water hole.

The White-headed Buffalo-Weaver (Dinemellia dinemelli) is called so because it follows buffalo to feed on the insects they disturb. It is found over East Africa where it is divided into two sub-species, the one found in Tanzania being D. d. boehmi.

The Red-billed Hornbill (Tockus erythrorhynchus) over central and eastern Africa forms a group of five species or sub-species, depending on who you talk to.

The African Grey Hornbill (Lophoceros nasutus) is spread over most of sub-saharan Africa. It was first described from Senegal in 1760 by Brisson. It is split into a northern and southern sub-species - here the latter, L. n. epirhinus.

Alongside the road was an African Boabab tree (Adansonia digitata). Boababs are pollinated by fruit bats, and the seeds dispersed after being eaten by baboons and elephants. We watched this pair in action: the baboon picking fruit whilst the elephant mopped up fruits that fell. The boababs were named by Linneaus after the Frenchman Michel Adanson, who wrote a natural history of Senegal after visiting in the mid 18th century. 

Elephants will also damage baobab trees in order to eat the spongy flesh.

Both elephants and baboons will also eat the fruit of the Sausage Tree (Kigelia africana).

The Waterbuck (Kobus ellipsiprymnus) was first described in 1833 by the Irishman William Ogilby, who became interested in animal taxonomy whilst studying law at Cambridge. He later became the secretary of the Zoological Society of London. Thirteen sub-species have been recognised, in two groups. I think we saw K. e. thikae in the ellipsiprymnus group, though there are overlaps and hybridisations in the Rift Valley. Here we see the horned males, a partially horned juvenile male and a female (which lack horns).

The Yellow-necked Spurfowl (Pternistis leucoscepus) was first described in 1867 by George Robert Gray, a Londoner and head of ornithology at the British Museum for over forty years. Two sub-species are recognised in East Africa - here it is the most southerly; P. l. infuscatus.

The Red-necked Spurfowl (Pternistis afer) is distributed over the southern part of Africa. This is the darkest of its four sub-species, P. a. cranchii.

On a termite hill perched a group of Red-and-yellow Barbets (Trachyphonus erythrocephalus), looking like soldiers on parade. There are three East African sub-species, here the nominate one.

The Banded Mongoose (Mungos mungo) most commonly uses abandoned termite mounds as dens. It is found across sub-saharan Africa, where sixteen sub-species are found.

Crossing a river we watched Olive baboons (Papio anubis) resting on the edge. They are distributed throughout the African equatorial region. Like humans, they have a complex social structure facilitated by vocal and non-vocal communication.

The Magpie Shrike (Urolestes melanoleucus) is found over the savannahs of eastern Africa.

The Bare-faced Go-away-bird (Corythaixoides personatus) is an eastern Afrotropical species, first described in 1842 - again by our friend Ruppell. This is the southern of the two sub-species: C. p. leopoldi.

The White-bellied Go-away Bird (Crinifer leucogaster), primarily from the Horn of Africa, was described by Ruppell in 1842.

The Great White Egret (Ardea alba) is found over most of the world, with sub-species in Europe, the Americas, Asia and Africa. Although I could see it at home in Switzerland, it would not be this sub-species; A. a. melanorhynchus.

Reclining in a Sausage Tree by the road was an African Leopard (Panthera pardus) of the African sub-species P. p. pardus. It had evidently been hunting recently as there was a dead male Bahor Reedbuck (Redunca redunca wardi) stored on a branch nearby - a common habit for leopards, and one which requires great strength.

In the grass around the leopard's tree were some star-shaped flowers being visited by Net-winged Beetles (family Lycidae).

The White-browed Coucal (Centropus superciliosus) is found over sub-saharan Africa.

The Long-tailed Fiscal (Lanius cabanisi) is an East African Shrike. 

This looks to be an immature vulture, either Ruppell's (Gyps Ruppelli) or White-backed (Gyps africanus).

The Lappet-faced Vulture (Torgos tracheliotus) is easier to identify with its lappets (hanging flesh). 

A Martial Eagle (Polemaetus bellicosus), found over sub-saharan Africa.

We crossed a small bridge, on which boldly marked Lesser Striped Swallows (Cercropsis abyssinica) were perched. They are found in wooded areas over sub-saharan Africa.

A Leopard Tortoise (Stigmochelys pardalis) - called so because of its spots (pardalis is Greek for leopard). It is found over eastern and southern Africa.

The Hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus) was first described in 1766 by the Prussian natural historian Peter Simon Pallas, who is most famous for his expeditions through the Russian Empire. Many animals have been named after him, and also a town in Russia and an asteroid! Hartebeest means 'Deer Beast' in old Dutch - as I assume this is what early settlers in South Africa thought it resembled. It is found over sub-saharan Africa, with eight sub-species - this one being A. b. cokii.

Towards the end of the day a herd of giraffes crossed the road in front of us, and looked around like cranes in a strong wind. Masai Giraffes (Giraffa tippelskirchi), as the name suggests, are restricted to the area containing Tanzania and Kenya - one of nine recognised taxonomic groups of Giraffes in Africa, variously described as species or sub-species. It was the German zoologist Paul Matschie who in 1898 first described the Masai Giraffe as a distinct species, with its characteristic jagged and irregular spots, naming it after an explorer who brought a skin back to Germany. It is the largest of the giraffes, making it the tallest land animal on earth - reaching up to a heights of nearly six metres.

The Oxpeckers also showed an interest in Giraffes.

The day would end with more elephants, as we watched a herd by the road...

...and another from the safety of Tarangire Safari Lodge with a sundown beer. What a wonderful first day of safari!

The lodge provided an opportunity to have a closer look at the insects of the area. On the wall was a butterfly poster for guidance.

We recognised the nymphalid Danaid Eggfly (or Diadem) (Hypolimnas misippus), a species with a global distribution. This is a male. The females look completely different and are polymorphic for three forms which mimic the forms of another global species - the Plain Tiger (Danaus chrysippus). The Plain Tiger contains toxins from its host plant Milkweed, so by mimicing it the Diadem is protected from predation by birds, which have learnt to avoid the Plain Tiger.

The Turquoise Longhorn (Prosopocera lactator) gives the impression that someone has adorned it with blue paint. It is associated with trees in the Buckthorn family Rhamnaceae.

And some scarab beetles - I guess there is no shortage of dung to collect in the area.

We set off before sunrise the next morning, early enough to see some Black-faced Sandgrouse (Pterocles decoratus) taking a breakfast drink from puddles in the road. There are three sub-species in East Africa - I know not which this is.

A bird well known to us in northern Europe - the Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos). It is found all over Europe, Africa, Asia and Australasia - spending summer in the northern hemisphere and winter in the southern. It was first described by Linnaeus in 1758. Actitis comes from the ancient Greek, meaning 'coast-dweller'.

The Little Bee-eater (Merops pusillus) is found over sub-Saharan Africa.

This 'little brown job' is a Swahili Sparrow (Passer suahelicus). It is almost restricted to Tanzania, where it builds grass nests in Acacia trees.

Another bird with a dull plumage, a Spotted Flycatcher (Muscicapa striata). It's only here for the winter, and will return to Europe to breed in the summer. Five sub-species have been recognised, based on their summer breeding populations. All fly to Africa in winter - I don't know where this one came from.

We observed a parrot active around a hole in a tree - a female Orange-bellied Parrot (Poicephalus rufiventris) visiting her nest. Unlike the male shown below her, she doesn't have an orange belly.

Scanning the treetops we saw a Tawny Eagle (Aquila rapax). It is found from Africa to India, with two-of the three sub-species in Africa - this being the most southerly; A. r. rapax. It was first described in 1828 by Temminck.

And close by, this time a clearly identifiable Ruppell's Vulture (Gyps Ruppelli), with the strong white feather markings not found in the 'White-backed' Vulture.

The white markings on this bird are outshone by its makeup. The Helmeted Guineafowl (Numida meleagris) was first described by Linnaeus in 1758, numida being latin for North Africa. Nine sub-species are recognised over Africa, here N. m. reichenowi.

Simple African elegance - the Grey Kestrel (Falco ardosiaceus). 

The Blacksmith Lapwing (Vanellus armatus) was named so because of its metallic alarm call, which sounds like a blacksmith's hammer striking an anvil. It is a southern African species, just reaching north into Tanzania.

Across the grassland lazed a group of African Buffalos (Syncerus caffer), sporting their characteristic 'bosses' - bony shields on the forehead formed by the fusion of the horns. There are five sub-species over Africa, the east side being the home of the nominate S. c. caffer.

Dik-diks are tiny antelopes, about 40 cm high at the shoulder, named after the sound of the female alarm calls. Only the males have horns. There are four species, all found in East Africa: in Tanzania it is Kirk's Did-dik (Madoqua kirkii), which is again divided into four sub-species - one forming an isolated population in south-west Africa.

Salim had news that lions had been spotted in a nearby river valley. We arrived to see a family with two cubs resting on the sand. Since my visit to the Kruger National Park, the Lion (Panthera leo) has been split into a northern and southern sub-species, with many more proposed. Here it is the southern sub-species P. l. melanochaita, which has been further divided into three 'clades', here the most northerly population of the south-eastern one.

In a field beside the lions perched a Grey-headed Kingfisher (Halcyon leucocephala). Another species described by Philipp Muller, in 1776. It has five sub-species over Africa, three of which are found in Tanzania.

Close by, outcompeting the above on plumage, a Woodland Kingfisher (Halcyon senegalensis). It was first described by Linnaeus in 1766, based on a 1760 description and drawing of Brisson. I guess this is the nominate sub-species.

Further on another fly-past; the characteristic shape of a Bateleur (Terathopius ecaudatus). Bateleur means 'street performer' in French - a name given to it by Francois Levaillant, describing the way it tumbled in the air. 

The Ostrich (Struthio camelus) is the largest species of bird with the largest egg. The males wear an elegant black coat, contrasting with their light neck and head. Ostriches can run at speeds of nearly 100 km/hour - only the Cheetah is faster. They were first described by Linnaeus, and now four sub-species are recognised - here S. c. massaicus.

We had our second encounter with lions as a group by the side of the road decided to walk past.

This dapper little chap is D'Arnaud's Barbet (Trachyphonus damaudii), named after Theodore Louis Joseph Pons D'Arnaud - a French civil engineer and naturalist who was active in north-east Africa in the mid 19th century. Four sub-species have been recorded over East Africa.

Passing by some water we had good views of the unique Knob-billed Duck (Sarkidiornis melanotos). It has a strange distribution of most of sub-Saharan Africa plus the Indian sub-continent.

Our second species of Quelea on the trip; a flock of Cardinal Queleas (Quelea cardinalis). An east African species, it was was first described in 1880 by the German physician and ornithologist Gustav Hartlaub from specimens collected in the Sudan by Emin Pasha. Pasha had an interesting life: born Isaak Schnitzer in 1840 to a German Jewish family in Poland, he was baptised Edourd when his mother re-married to a Lutheran Christian. After qualifying as a physician in Germany, he went to seek his fortune in the Ottoman Empire - starting in Albania. Various travels and adventures led him to become a physician in the Sudan, where he called himself Mehemet Emin and began collecting animals and plants. He then worked for 'Gordon of Khartoum', succeeding him as a provincial governor with the title of 'Bey'. There followed involvement in various wars, at one point him having to be 'relieved' by Henry 'Stanley', followed by his receipt of the Ottoman title Pasha. He ended up joining the German East Africa Company, and was killed in its service by two slave traders in the Congo at the ripe old age of fifty-two.

This Common Dwarf Mongoose (Helogale parvula) seemed as curious as we were. Seven sub-species have been recognised over eastern and southern Africa.

Hildebrandt's Starling (Lamprotornis hildebrandti) is restricted to Tanzania and Kenya where, as we see here, it nests in abandoned woodpecker nests. Johann Maria Hildebrandt collected animal and plant specimens over east Africa over the 1870s, after losing an eye limited his career prospects as an artisan in Germany. He died of fever whilst on expedition in Madagascar and was buried there in a Norwegian cemetery.

An immature African Hawk-eagle (Aquila spilogaster) - the adults lose the brown tinge to become black and white.

Common Warthogs (Phacochoerus africanus) live over sub-Saharan Africa in groups called 'sounders'. There are four sub-species - here the Eastern African Warthog P. a. massaicus. 

A picnic stop allowed us to get up close to some birds flitting in the trees above us - such as the Gorgeous Sunbird (Cinnyris melanogastrus), found only in Tanzania and Kenya. It was first described by Fischer in 1884. There are an incredible sixty species of Sunbird in East Africa.

The Silverbird (Empidormis semipartitus) is an eastern African Flycatcher.

We were told that Tsetse Fly (Glossina species) could be an irritant in the park, with the added potential to transmit Sleeping Sickness from Trypanosomes. We had some burqa-like head gear in case protection was required, but the only Tsetse we saw was on Salim's hand. There are 23 species of Tsetse Fly over Africa, in three species groups: Savannah, Forest and River. Each species specializes on a different host species for its blood meal - for example; G. pallidipes and G. longipalpis get most of their blood from Bushbucks, whereas G. swynnertoni gets most of its blood from Warthogs. Waterbucks are not attacked by Tsetse Fly, as they produce volatiles which act as repellents.

After lunch we went to an area of wetlands, where a number of birds were out fishing. The Goliath Heron (Ardea goliath), found over sub-Saharan Africa, is the world's largest heron - up to 1.5 metres tall, with a wingspan of up to 2.3 metres.

The more familiar Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) has caught a fish. Of the four sub-species, the nominate one is found over Africa, Europe and western Asia.

The African Openbill (Anastomus lamelligerus) does have a bill that is permanently open - adapted to feed on its specialist diet of water snails, being able to firmly grasp them at the tip and winkle out the contents without breaking the shell.

In the grasslands termite nests towered like prehistoric megaliths. They reach up to 4 metres in height. Macrotermes termites (here probably M. michaelseni) consume plant material indirectly by cultivating basidiomycete Termitomyces fungi (T. schimperi for M. michaelseni). The workers chew the plants, then mould their faeces into chambers where the fungi grow - then the combs containing broken down nutrients are eaten.

The Blue-cheeked Bee-eater (Merops persicus) is split into two-sub-species; one which breeds in north Africa and overwinters in West Africa, and the nominate one which breeds in Asia and overwinters in eastern and southern Africa.

This Pearl-spotted Owlet (Glaucidium perlatum) had it's back to us when we pulled up next to it, but it couldn't resist turning round to take a look at us. It's a small owl, only about 20 cm in length. There are three sub-species in Africa, here G. p. licua.

More elephants came our way to delight us: first a lone bull...

...and a couple of hours later a small herd with a cute baby.

It was getting late in the day, and we were beginning to be as tired as these Rock Hyrax (Procavia capensis). They are found over Africa and Arabia.

A big millipede crossed the road. I'm guessing it's the Giant African Millipede (Archispirostreptus gigas), which actually has around 250 legs.

The light was getting low as we approached camp. And then, next to the road, as bold as brass, a Verreaux's Eagle-owl (Ketupa lactea). It is the largest owl in Africa and the tropics as a whole, reaching over 65 cm in length, with a wingspan of around 1.5 metres, and is the only owl in the world to have pink eyelids! Temminck first described it in the Netherlands from a specimen collected by Jules Verreaux, who collected and sold specimens as part of his families business in Paris and had many animals named after him. (Unfortunately, one of the 'specimens' Verreaux collected was a Tswana San warrior from Botswana - who was dug up after burial, skinned and shipped to Paris in 1830 to be stuffed for display in a showroom. In 1916, he was acquired by a museum in Catalonia for display. It wasn't until 2000 that his mummified corpse was finally returned to Botswana for burial).

Verreaux's Eagle-owl has the deepest call of any owl, but this one only managed a high pitched screech. Maybe it's a youngster calling for food.

As as if that wasn't enough, a few minutes later we stumbled across another owl: an African Scops Owl (Otus senegalensis), here the nominate sub-species of the three recognised. It was first described in 1837 by the English naturalist, painter, and Londoner, William Swainson - who joined his father John in the Linnean Society. Swainson joined an expedition to Brazil, where he stayed for 12 years, and brought back thousands of specimens of animals and plants - and after which he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society. At 52 he emigrated to New Zealand, later describing hundreds of plant species from Australia. He remains best known for his illustrations, and has many species of birds named after him. It was nearly time for the owl to wake up, and for us to go to sleep. What a day!

Our last day in Tarangire. After passing more early morning sandgrouse on the road, we looked up to see an African Hawk-Eagle (Aquila spilogaster) - a juvenile with a bright rufous front (which turns to black stripes on white in the adults).

Hopping along a log another Buffalo-weaver, but of the Red-billed variety (Bubalornis niger). It is a male, and as such has a 1.5 cm long pseudo-penis (birds do not have penises) - believed to have been fashioned by some sort of sexual selection.

The delicate Double-banded Courser (Smutsornis africanus) is found throughout eastern and southern Africa. It was also described by Temminck in 1807, but put in the genus Smutsornis in 1922 by Austin Roberts, who wrote the standard work on the birds of South Africa - named after the then prime minister of South Africa Jan Smuts. There are eight sub-species, the one found in Tanzania and Kenya being S. a. gracilis.

Now he's just showing off! A proud and superb Superb Starling (Lamprotornis superbus) - only found in East Africa.

A Northern Pied Babbler (Turdoides hypoleuca) - only found in restricted parts of Tanzania and Kenya.

Wow! An African Pygmy-Falcon (Polihierax semitorquatus). Only 20 cm long, it's the smallest bird of prey in Africa. There is a population in East Africa, and another in south-west Africa.

Giant by comparison, the Grey Kestrel (Falco ardosiaceus).

A Mourning Collared Dove (Streptopelia decipiens).

A group of Green-winged Pytilias (Pytilia melba) flew in to drink. Carl Linnaeus first described them in 1758 based on a description and illustration by George Edwards - a real Eastender, who was born in West Ham and died in Plaistow. He is known as the father of British ornithology, publishing four volumes of his illustrated 'A Natural History of Uncommon Birds' - for which he received the Copley Medal from the Royal Society.

The Lesser Masked Weaver (Ploceus intermedius) is found in eastern and southern Africa, each area with its own sub-species - here the nominate one.

The African Grey Flycatcher (Bradornis microrhynchus) is restricted to East Africa.

The Speckle-fronted Weaver (Sporopipes frontalis) is really a rather elegant Sparrow.

Our second parrot; Meyer's Parrot (Poicephalus meyeri). It was first described in 1827 by the German naturalist and physician Philipp Jakob Cretzschmar, who worked with Ruppell on his African collection.

In the same group of dead tress we watched the antics of a female Eastern Grey Woodpecker (Dendropicos spodocephalus).

The Rufous-tailed Weaver (Histurgops ruficauda) is endemic to Tanzania - though some stray over the border to Kenya.

This Southern Ground-hornbill (Bucorvus leadbeateri) - a female because of her blue rather than red throat - has found herself a tasty chameleon. They are the largest Hornbills in the world, growing to lengths of up to 1.3 metres, and they may live for over sixty years. They occur throughout south-eastern Africa.

Coincidently, we soon afterwards saw a chameleon by the roadside - though this time alive; the Flap-necked Chameleon (Chamaeleo dilepsis). As is the case with most chameleons, its colour is very variable. It is found over the southern half of Africa, where eight sub-species have been recognised. Chameleons characteristically walk in a slow hesitant manner. I don't know why.

A second reptile poked up his head from the undergrowth; a Spotted Bush Snake (Philothamnus semivariegatus) - a non-venomous resident of Africa.

A last bird before leaving Tarangire; the White-browed Sparrow-Weaver (Plocepasser mahali). Four sub-species are recognised over central and southern Africa; in East Africa P. m. melanorhynchus. It was first described in 1835 by British zoologist and army surgeon Andrew Smith who, when posted to South Africa, investigated the wildlife and tribes of the region - leading to his appointment as the first head of the South African Museum of Natural History. Darwin met Smith when he docked in Cape Town on HMS Beagle in 1836, and later sponsored his membership of the Royal Society. A number of birds and reptiles are named after him.

It was a wrench to leave Tarangire and to drive back to the tarmac, but we had in our minds the thoughts of treasures ahead. On the road to Ngorongoro we stopped for the night at Isoitok camp, close to the northern part of Lake Manyara, hosted by a British friend of Iain's called Chris.

Chris has set up camp near a Masai village, where he finances a small school.

I very much liked the way the camp has been constructed. 

Our accommodation was a luxury tent.

After bird watching from the back of a truck for two days, it made a pleasant change to do so from the bar with a cold beer.

Chris has constructed some water pools and feeders in the garden, and we watched the birds come and go - such as this female Red-cheeked Cordon-bleau (Uraeginthus bengalus). A sub-saharan species, It was first described by Brisson in 1760. There are four sub-species, here U. b. ugogensis.

A Spotted Palm-Thrush (Cichladusa guttata), found over East Afica.

We had closer views of Spotted Flycatcher than in Tarangire.

We took an afternoon stroll around the camp.

A number of Scarlet-chested Sunbirds (Chalcomitra senegalensis) were attracted to some yellow flowers. They are found over sub-saharan Africa, and are another bird first described by Brisson, in 1760. Here are some active immature males....

...looked on sternly by a mature male.

Pigeons are a big favourite of mine. and few can surpass the Speckled Pigeon (Columba guinea). Another sub-saharan species, it was first described by our cockney naturalist George Edwards in 1747. This is the nominate of its two sub-species.

An angry looking Fork-tailed Drongo (Dicrurus adsimilis).

We spent a long time chasing this bird to have a good view of its colourful front. It is a Rosy-patched Bushshrike (Rhodophoneus cruentus) - cruentus means 'stained with blood'. It was first described in 1828 by two German naturalists; Willhelm Hemprich and Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg, who met as physicians in Berlin and went together on a four year expedition to Egypt. Hemprich died of fever towards the end, and on returning to Berlin Ehrenberg described the species they collected in both their names. A number of animals were named after Hemprich. The bird's colour pattern is very variable, and four sub-species are recognised - here the most southerly; R. c. cathemagmenus.

An immature Red-tailed Shrike (Lanius phoenicuroides).

I think this is the caterpillar of a Sundowner Moth (Sphingomorpha chlorea), a species found throughout Africa with a wide range of wild host plants including Acacia and cultivated fruits. It was first described by Pieter Cramer, whom we discussed earlier in the blog.

Local man Rueben showed us the surrounding plants which are used by the Masai as medicine.

Important trees for the Maasai are the thorny Acacias, in Africa represented by the genus Vachellia. But it is not just the Maasai who make use of them. The Whistling Thorn (V. drepanolobium), common over eastern Africa, can be recognised by its swollen thorns which are used as protection against herbivorous mammals. The trees also have a mutualistic relationship with a number of species of ants, in which the ants provide additional protection from herbivores in return for shelter in the hollow thorns. The noise of the wind blowing over the holes made by the ants gives the tree its common name.

Chris took us out for some evening birding, and then joined us for dinner.

He told us that we should always check our shoes for scorpions in the morning. We thought this very cautious until he showed us his neat trick of shining ultraviolet light onto the floor of the bar and the paths to the tents, illuminating many scorpions. I am guessing this is a species of Hottentotta, as it has three ridges on the tergites on the back. According to a map I found it would then be H. trilineatus.

The next day we drove to the crater highlands of the Ngorongoro conservation area. We first stopped at the Endoro Gate, entry to the Northern Highlands Forest Reserve, where could take a walkabout in the forest before being truck-bound on the following tours.

Our guides had guns, just in case we bumped into a rogue elephant.

It seemed a leopard had walked along the track not long before us.

White jewels littered the forest floor.

A stream of Army Ants crossed our path. There are over 200 species of Army Ants, grouped not by taxonomy, but by their 'legionary' behaviour - colonies of up to 20 million individuals constantly moving, hunting, and stopping only to bivouac and to allow the queen give birth (to millions of eggs in her lifetime). Here you see mainly workers, and occasionally some huge protective soldiers. They are all females - winged males are only produced for reproductive purposes.

This is a flat-backed millipede of the Order Polydesmida. There are more than 5,000 species in the world, and the last one I saw was in Borneo.

I've never seen a hymenoptera with such a yellow abdomen. I don't know which family it's from, but it seems to have some form of prey underneath it.

On the leaves, leaf beetles (family Chrysomelidae).

This chrysomelid is one of the Tortoise Beetles (sub-family Cassidinae).

A real designer insect, struting its stuff on the caterpillar walk. 

We took note of the butterflies resting on the forest foliage. This 'white' looks like one one would find in an English garden - but I'm guessing it's not one.

These Skippers are of the genus Apallaga. There are three species in northern Tanzania, which are very difficult to tell apart.

These butterflies were more interested in some animal dung on the floor. They are...

...The Abyssinian Admiral (Vanessa abyssinica jacksoni)...

...The Demon Charaxes (Charaxes etheocles carpenteri)...

...and the Green-veined Emporer (Charaxes candiope).

Other butterflies preferred the rocks, presumably feeding on minerals - such as the Layman (Amauris albimaculata)...

...and another white one which I can't identify.

Through the trees we spotted a Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater (Merops oreobates), a speciality of east African montane forests.

The Auger Buzzard (Buteo augur) is another mountain species, found over sub-saharan Africa. This is the northern nominate of two sub-species.

Our only sight of a mammal was the remains of a buffalo.

We drove off to the main entrance of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, where a troop of baboons was waiting for us.

The females were busy with their babies.

The male was just hanging out.

A model at the entrance showed the structure of the Ngorongoro crater. It is the world's largest inactive, intact and unfilled volcanic caldera - formed when a large volcano erupted and collapsed on itself two to three million years ago. It is 610 metres deep and its floor covers 260 square kilometres.

We slept by the rim in the Rhino Lodge, and at sunrise made our descent.

Straight away we met an elephant roadblock.

Then, our welcome to the crater - our first view of Rhinoceros (Greek for 'horned nose' - the name given to them by Linneaus in 1758, and a big cause of their decline). This is the Black Rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis), found in scattered populations in sub-Saharan Africa (the other African species, the White Rhinoceros - actually in a different genus -  is now limited to southern Africa). Eight sub-species have been recognised, three of which have been hunted to extinction. There were well over half a million Black Rhinoceros at the beginning of the 20th century, reduced to around 70,000 by the late 1960s. There are now only just over 3,000.

Our next obstacle in the road was a dead buffalo, which some lions were happily tucking into.

We noticed a Black-backed Jackal (Lupulella mesomelas) behind a sleeping satiated female lion, waiting for its moment to scavenge on the buffalo carcass. The Black-backed Jackal is split into two populations; one in southern Africa and one here in East Africa - L. m. schmidti. (It is not to be confused with the only other jackal in Africa, the Side-striped Jackal - which is also in northern Tanzania).

Another scavenger was waiting nearby; a Spotted Hyena (Crocuta crocuta) - one of the four species of hyena. Spotted hyenas are unusual in that the genitals of the males and females look similar - the female having a pseudo-penis. The females are also usually dominant over the males.

Our next big mammals were two species of elegant gazelles. The first, Thomson's Gazelle (Eudorcas thomsonii) is only found in a small part of East Africa - but even here eastern and western sub-species are recognised (I know not which here). It was first described in 1884 by Albert Gunther, a German physician and zoologist who became keeper at the Natural History Museum in London and took British citizenship - and named after the Scottish explorer Joseph Thomson. Here we see two juveniles and an adult with fully formed horns.

Grant's Gazelle (Nanger granti) has a similar distribution to Thomson's Gazelle, but manages to squeeze in three sub-species. It was also named after a Scotttish explorer; James Augustus Grant. Grant served for ten years as a soldier in the Indian Army, and was wounded at the relief of Lucknow. He then joined an expedition in East Africa with John Speke (who two years earlier became the first European to see Lake Victoria) which he later published in his book A Walk Across Africa.

The zebras here are Grant's Zebra (Equus quagga boehmi), found from Zambia to Ethiopia - one of the six sub-species of the Plains Zebra. The Plains Zebra is the most widely distributed of the three living Zebra species, and has broader stripes. Two other species of zebra are now extinct.

Driving into the centre of the crater the terrain became wet.

Around the water many species of birds congregated. Great White Pelicans (Pelecanus onocrotalus) spend the winter here, migrating down from summers in south-east Europe.

The African Sacred Ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus) is a native of Africa and Arabia. The first clear description of the bird was by John Latham in 1790, after some confusion by Linnaeus. Feral populations have now been established in Europe from zoo escapes, and it has been recorded as far north as Sweden.

The Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus) is another African species that has been introduced to other areas of the world. Both of its latin names mean sickle, a clear reference to its beak.

The Grey Crowned Crane (Balearica regulorum) is found over all of Africa with two sub-species, the eastern one being B. r. gibbericeps. It is the national bird of Uganda, found on the flag and coat of arms.

The bill of the Saddle-billed Stork (Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis) is almost as impressive as its latin name, and it is made more apparent by being carried on a bird with a height up to 1.5 metres and a wingspan of up to 2.7 metres. The yellow iris tells us that this is a female, the male having a brown one.

Another cracking Stork - the Yellow-billed Stork (Mycteria ibis) found over sub-Saharan Africa.

Egrets can also be yellow-billed, as is the Yellow-billed Egret (Ardea brachyrhyncha). It is found over sub-Sharan Africa and was first described by the German zoologist Alfred Brehm - the son of a vicar ornithologist and first director of the Zoological Garden of Hamburg. After helping his dad with his bird collections, he went to Dresden to study architecture. But common sense prevailed, and he gave this up to join the ornithologist Baron Johann Willhelm von Muller on an expedition to Africa in 1847, aged just eighteen, and on his return studied natural sciences at the University of Jena. Other expeditions would follow with notables such as Duke Ernst II of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (elder brother to our Prince Albert) and naturalist Otto Finsch. He eventually died of the malaria he picked up on one of his expeditions.

The African Spoonbill (Platalea alba) replaces the yellow and black markings of the European species with a rather fetching burgundy.

The Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus) is a resident of southern Europe, Africa, South America and Asia - with some individuals moving north in the summer.

The Long-toed Lapwing (Vanellus crassirostris) is found over central and eastern Africa. It was first described by the German Ornithologist Gustav Hartlaub in 1855. 

In the marshy land were some big footed birds adapted to walking in this habitat: The Red-knobbed Coot (Fulica cristata) is an African species with a very small population in southern Spain. Gmelin first described it in 1789.

The Common Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) is another of Linnaeus' descriptions. It is found all over the 'Old World', with five sub-species recognised - here G. c. meridionalis.

Other sub-Saharan species: The Black Crake (Zapornia flavirostra)...

...and the African Swamphen (Porphyrio madagascariensis). 

There were a few African Teal on the water: The Red-billed Teal (Anas erythrorhyncha)...

...Cape Teal (Anas capensis)...

... and Blue-billed Teal (Spatula hottentota).

Grazing nearby were Spur-winged Geese (Plectropterus gambensis). Two species are found over sub-Saharan Africa - here the nominate one.

On reeds sat probably the most famous migrants - Barn Swallows (Hirunda rustica). They simply spend summer in the northern hemisphere, and winter in the southern hemisphere - something I'm working towards. There are eight sub-species classified by breeding area. Of the two known to over-winter in Africa, this is most likely the nominate European sub-species.

Western Yellow Wagtails (Moticilla flava) also come here for the winter. There are ten sub-species, and this is the yellow-headed one - M. f. lutea - which breeds in Russia and Kazakhstan.

It was impressive to see a herd of elephants wading through the marshy and treeless plain.

A Western Cattle Egret (Ardea ibis) was hitching a ride on one.

We drove up to the Lake Magadi, a shallow high alkaline soda lake (magadi simply means 'salty' in the Maasai language).

The lake was speckled with pink flamingos.

The Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) is a candidate for the most photogenic bird in the world. It is a resident breeder over Africa, Asia and southern Europe (but individuals will move further north, and are now a feature in Switzerland). The first captive breeding was in the zoo in my old city of Basel, where they showed that their lifespan can easily exceed sixty years. It was first described in 1811 by Pallas.

The Lesser Flamingo (Phoeniconaias minor), as the name suggests, is smaller - but also sports a completely dark beak compared to the mainly pink beak of the Greater one. It is restricted to sub-saharan Africa and a population in eastern India, preferring alkaline lakes - such as Magadi. 

Amongst the flamingos we spotted a Grey-headed Gull (Larus cirrocephalus). It has the unusual distribution of just Africa and South America, each considered separate sub-species - in Africa L. c. poiocephalus - but they could be separate species.

The Gull-billed tern (Gelochelidon nilotica) is scattered throughout the globe and is one the great migrators. Five sub-species are recognised - this being the nominate, found from Europe and Africa to south-east Asia. It is one of the species described by Gmelin in his revision of Linnaeus, based on a description of Latham.

In the distance we saw some Little Grebes (Tachybaptus ruficollis), a bird found all over Europe, Africa and south-east Asia. There are seven sub-species, here T. r. capensis of sub-saharan Africa. It was first described by Pallas in 1764.

Some over-wintering waders were seen on the lake's edge: the Ruff (Calidris pugnax)...

...and the much smaller Little Stint (Calidriss minuta).

The Chestnut-banded Plover (Charadrius pallidus) is only found in sub-saharan Africa, from Kenya to South Africa - but one of its two sub-species, C. p. venustus (seen here), is restricted to the Rift Valley of Tanzania and Kenya.

Hippopotamuses (Hippopoottamus amphibius), as the latin name suggests, never stray far from water. Not so strange then that their closest living relatives are the whales. It also means they have a patchy distribution over Africa to where there are lakes and rivers, and this has resulted in the evolution of five sub-species - here the nominate one.

Zebras are also not averse to a bit of splashing.

So much wildlife in one view.

The Blue Wildebeest (Connochaetus taurinus) has the unfortunate distinction of being probably the most important prey on the African savannahs - being numerous and slow. They were first described in1823 by William John Burchell, naturalist and son of a horticulturalist from near my roots at Fulham in London. He studied at Kew Gardens and went on to collect vast numbers of animals and plants in southern Africa and Brazil. Burchell died by suicide aged 82, hanging himself after a failed shooting attempt - what we might call assisted dying. Burchell had many animals named after him, including one of the sub-species of Plains Zebra.

The Common Eland (Taurotragus oryx) is found over southern Africa, and was first described by Pallas in 1766. Three sub-species are now recognised, the one in East Africa being T. o. pattersonianus - first described in 1907 by Lieutenant-Colonel John Henry Patterson DSO in his book The man-eaters of Tsavo - which describes his killing of the lions which were attacking his work force whilst building a railway bridge in Kenya. Paterson was a strange fish - an Irishman and career soldier who served in the Boer War, then the Ulster Defence Force, before leading the 'Jewish Legion' at Gallipoli and in Palestine during WWI and becoming an active Zionist (and godfather to Benjamin Netanyahu's brother). He spent his last years in California, but was buried in Israel according to his last wishes.

We saw again a Jackal, but this time it looks like another species - the Golden Jackal (Canis aureus). The Golden Jackal is not an African species, but rather has spread from Asia to North and East Africa, and is more closely related to wolves than other Jackals.

There were plenty of birds pottering around in the grasslands. The Rufous-naped Lark (Corypha africana) is highly variable over sub-saharan Africa. A recent very thorough multinational study using morphology, genetics, song and behaviour has concluded it is one of nine closely related species, with itself having nine sub-species - here most probably C. a. tropicalis.

The Whinchat (Saxicola rubetra) overwinters in Africa from Europe.

A wonderful display from the Rosy-throated Longclaw (Macronyx ameliae), found in eastern and southern Africa. It was first described in 1845 by the French ornithologist the Marquis Leonce de Tarragon, and named after his wife or mother (both named Amelie). Three sub-species are recognised - here M. a. wintoni.

Jackson's Widowbird (Euplectes jacksoni) is restricted to Tanzania and Kenya. Here a male shows off his impressive tail. Surrounding him are what look like sparrows. They are in fact females. It has been demonstrated that female Widowbirds prefer to mate with males with longer tails - and this 'sexual selection' has resulted in the evolution of long tails which, though increasing the risk of being predated, increase the chance of passing on genes.

Another marvel of tail sexual selection, the Pin-tailed Whydah (Vidua macroura) - a species of sub-saharan Africa. Like a cuckoo, it lays its eggs in the nests of other species - but unlike the cuckoo it doesn't destroy the host's eggs. Pallas first described it in 1764.

A Lanner Falcon (Falco biarmicus) rests between flights. It is an African species, but extends up into south-east Europe. It could be the nemesis of the above long tailed birds - the counter-balance of sexual selection with natural selection. Temminck first described it in 1825, and five sub-species are now recognised - here the nominate one.

Roaming the grasslands were some birds too big for a falcon - the Bustards - named after their slow 'tardy ' walk. The Black-bellied Bustard (Lissotis melanogaster) is one of the smaller ones - the male (above) with a long black-striped neck, and the female (below) plain brown. They are found across sub-saharan Africa.

A much bigger beast is the Kori Bustard (Ardeotis kori) - the largest flying bird native to Africa, with a length of up to 135 cm, a wingspan of up to 275 cm, and weighing around 18 kg. It has two-sub-species; the nominate in southern Africa and A. k. struthiunculus here in eastern Africa. Burchell first described it in 1822. 

People talk about seeing the Big Cats, but they shouldn't overlook the small ones. The Serval (Leptailurus serval) is found all over sub-saharan Africa with three sub-species recognised, the East African one being L. s. lipostictus. The Serval was first described in 1776 by the German naturalist Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber, professor at the University of Erlangen and Fellow of the Royal Society and famous for writing a book on the mammals of the world.

We left Ngorongoro for the Serengeti.

We were now well into Maasai country. The Maasai are a people who moved from the Sudan to the Rift Valley savannas (now of southern Kenya and northern Tanzania) in the mid 18th century. Adapting to this grassland habitat they transitioned from farmers to pastoralist herders by around 1800.

We passed the Olduvai Gorge memorial. It was close to here, in a 48 km long ravine across the Rift Valley, that in the 1930s Mary and Louis Leaky started the programme to unearth the fossil remains of early hominins - here representative skulls displayed above a near perfect specimen of Homo sapiens.

Then into the famous Serengeti, which includes 30,000 square kilometres of protected land of savanna, woodland, and tree-less plains - half of the area being in the National Park, founded in 1940. In the park roam over 3,000 lions, 5,000 elephants and 3,000 Giraffes - just for a start - and one can observe one of the earth's greatest animal migrations where large herbivores, led by Wildebeest with their new-borns, make a 800 kilometre tour travelling north in March for the dry season and returning in October.

We checked into the lodge at Ndutu.

An evening tour yielded some new birds. In a low tree a Dark Chanting-goshawk (Melierax metabates), a resident of sub-saharan Africa. Five sub-species are recognised, here the nominate one.

The Maribou Stork (Leptoptilos crumenifer) is found over sub-saharan Africa, and is a candidate for the land bird with the broadest wingspan - which can exceed three metres. It was first described in 1831 by the Frenchman Rene Primevere Lesson, He was born in Rochefort and (not being a demoiselle) joined the Naval Medical School, subsequently serving in the Napoleonic War as a ship's surgeon. After the war he joined a round the world expedition to collect natural history specimens, and was the first naturalist to see Birds of Paradise in the wild.

The White-browed Coucal (Centropus superciliosus) is found in eastern and southern Africa.

At sunrise the next the morning we drove out of camp and crossed the river.

The signs of the coming migration were there, as we watched Wildebeest and Zebras also crossing the river.

Once over the river we were greeted by a Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus). The fastest land animal, the Cheetah is built for speed and can run at over 100 km/hr. It was once found extensively over Africa and Asia, but there are now less than 7,000 left. Here we see the nominate of the four sub-species - found in eastern and southern Africa. The Cheetah was first described in 1777 by von Schreber.

In a thorn bush there looked to be another Dark Chanting-goshawk. But it was much lighter grey, and the bill more yellow. I think it is the Eastern Chanting-goshawk (Melierax poliopterus) which, as the name implies, is more usually found further east.

The Grey-backed Fiscal (Lanius excubitoroides) is found in eastern and central Africa.

We saw a new vulture, with a pointy face - the Hooded Vulture (Necrosyrtes monachus), found throughout sub-saharan Africa.

By the river Yellow-throated Sandgrouse (Pterocles gutturalis) waddled.

This looks like a sparrow, or is it a lark? It's a Fischer's Sparrow-lark (Eremopterix leucopareia) - named after Gustav Fischer and first described by Temminck in 1807  It's only found in south-east Africa.

The Crowned Lapwing (Vanellus coronatus) is found in eastern and southern Africa, where there are three sub-species - here the nominate. It was first described in 1781 by Georges-Louis Leclerc.

The Three-banded Plover (Charadrius tricollaris) is also found over eastern and southern Africa.

The Common Greenshank (Tringa nebularia) breeds across the Old World sub-arctic and 

migrates south for winter - from England to as far as southern Africa and Australasia. (I note it does look a bit like a Marsh Sandpiper?).

We moved away from the river and the savanna into the grassy plains. 

A male Montagu's Harrier (Circus pygargus) was cruising along looking for small prey, splaying his steely wings with their diagnostic dark stripes. He is another winter visitor from Europe. 

We saw a large dark black raptor on the ground, which I couldn't identify. It turned out to be the melanic form of an Augur Buzzard, these accounting for around 10% of the population. The white under the wings and the brown tail were visible when it flew off.

We had very clear views of a group of adult Ruppell's Vultures (Gyps Ruppelli), with the strong white feather markings and yellow beak not found in the 'White-backed' Vulture.

Then the plains opened up before us, full of large grazing herbivores as far as the eye could see - fattening up on the last of the wet season grass with their new young in preparation for moving west and north to escape the coming dry period. I found it at first a surreal experience, as if looking at small groups animals from various zoos having been put together in a huge holding pen, sadly reflecting the limited scale at which we are now used to experiencing wildlife. This then turned into a deep emotional response, as I realised that this is what normal should look like - until recently a similar site could have been seen over Europe, with herds of wild bison and horses. Here one can imagine how wonderful that world must have been.

The Wattled Starling (Creatophora cinerea) is a bird of southern and eastern Africa. Here the yellow-headed males are trying to impress a zebra with their wattles.

On the plains one can also see the food pyramid laid out - the seemingly endless grass providing for countless numbers of large herbivores, which in turn feed smaller groups of large carnivores. A pride of lionesses was resting in the heat - it is they who will hunt. They have learnt to escape the sun in the shade of passing safari trucks. But their eyes are the cold eyes of a programmed killer, demanding respect rather than affection. Cuddling up is not the same as cuddly.

Close by were some Bat-eared Foxes (Otocyon megalotis). You might think they are scavengers, hanging around near lions to eat the remnants of their kills, but in fact they live off insects - mainly termites. The species is split into two separate populations, one in eastern Africa (O. m. virgatus) and one in southern Africa (the nominate sub-species).

Lunch doesn't get better than this. It really doesn't!

Joining us for lunch, some dung beetles. There are over 100 species in the Serengeti, and they are responsible for preventing picnic spaces being buried under the excrement of large herbivores. They have three main lifestyles: living in dung, burying dung in tunnels, or rolling dung into balls and then burying it - which is what we watched.

After lunch, a siesta.

In the afternoon we found a massive herd of Wildebeest making its way across the grassland.

Close by we could just make out three cheetahs under a bush.

They sat up and showed interest in the herd, then moved towards it - staying low.

As they closed in the wildebeest and zebras became wary. But they are too big for leopards to hunt - they are looking for smaller prey, such as antelopes. The leopards rested, and we moved on - like the wildebeest.

We awoke on the last morning of our safari ready to squeeze out the last of it before leaving the park and driving back to Arusha. On the river we saw what I think is an African Helmeted Turtle (Pelomedusa subrufa).

We scanned the bushes and grasslands for birds. The Chestnut Sparrow (Passer eminibey) is an eastern African species, and is the smallest of sparrows at only 11 cm in length. Hartlaub named it in 1880 after the enigmatic Emin Pasha who we met earlier. Here we see a male and a female.

The White-bellied Canary (Crithagra dorsostriata) is also an east African species.

A male of the splendid east African Blue-capped Cordon-bleu (Uraeginthus cyanocephalus). 

Another east African beauty, the Purple Grenadier (Granatina ianthinogaster) - a male above and a female below.

The Diederik Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx caprius) was first described by Georges-louis Leclerc in 1780. The females lay a single egg in the nests of Weavers and Bishops.

The fifth species of Sunbird photographed - the Variable Sunbird (Cinnyris venustus), a bird of equatorial Africa. Here it is the falkensteini sub-species.

The sixth species of Weaver photographed - the Vitelline Masked Weaver (Ploceus vitellinus), found throughout the central part of Africa.

And the ninth species of pigeon we photographed - the Laughing Dove (Spilopelia senegalensis), widespread across Africa and Asia. Of the five recognised sub-species, the sub-saharan one is the nominate. Brisson first described it in 1760.

The Cape Crow (Corvus capensis) has a slimmer bill than most crows. It is split into two populations, one in eastern Africa and one in southern Africa.

A familiar bird - a brown Black Kite (Milvus migrans). They are resident in Africa, Asia and Australasia, with some populations migrating to Europe and northern Asia in summer to breed. Where I live in Switzerland Red Kites are seen throughout the year, and every Spring one can here the 'neighing' of Black Kites as they arrive. They were first described by Georges-louis Leclerc in 1770, and of the five sub-species it is the nominate one which comes to Europe.

Wheatears are often recognisable by their upright stance, as if they're trying to see something in the distance which has startled them. The Capped Wheatear (Oenanthe pileata) is a sub-saharan species, first described by Gmelin in 1789. This is the sub-species livingstonii (named after the doctor, I presume).

A rest along the road allowed us to watch a beautiful Agama with a red-head and blue body. Agamas are found all over Africa, where the males are very variable in their colours and patterns - which are thought to have been painted by sexual selection and are used in species mate recognition. Over the last twenty years the German biologist Philipp Wagner has been working on them, and thirty-seven species are now recognised - nine of which are found in Tanzania. Of these, A. armata is found in the Serengeti, and A. dodomae between the Serengeti and the coast. This is the latter.  the name Agama was first adopted by Linnaeus, though it comes from the West African Gbe language, in which it means chameleon.

Of course the large herbivores of Tanzania are not confined to the parks - there are no fences - and the drive to Arusha is a transition rather than a break. The difference is that outside the park the wildlife cohabits with the Maasai, who traditionally do not hunt wildlife for food but instead live from their livestock.

In the 1950s the Maasai were removed from the Serengeti Park to around the Ngorongoro conservation area. There has since been a debate about how compatible the Maasai lifestyle is with wildlife habitat conservation, though it is reported that some of their evictions from land by the government have been driven by profit rather than conservation. What is clear is that the human population has rapidly increased since the Maasai arrived on the plains of the Rift Valley. The Maasai now number around 1.5 million in Tanzania and Kenya, and the general population of Tanzania has increased over 700% in my lifetime from around 10 million to over 70 million. The challenge, as the world over, is how to achieve an equitable balance among humans and other species.

And then it was over. The wildlife whirlwind had included over 220 species of birds as well as  mammals and insects beyond our dreams. But it was much more profound than that. I read a lot about how in Europe the great herbivores were hunted to extinction, along with their predators, to be replaced by agriculture, and the impact that that has had on natural habitats and biodiversity - and how populations of deer and boar are now exploding without any natural predators to control them. In Tanzania I saw, and felt, the fine balance of nature, including the humans in the place where humans first evolved - from Lions and Maasai to dung beetles and bees. Maybe one day we will be able again to look at such a sight in Europe.

It was time to remove all of Steve's empty biscuit wrappers from the truck and to say our goodbyes - to Salim, who, with constant jollity, had put up with our constant orders to 'stop' and 'go' in our tireless pursuit of wildlife; to Sue, who, with kindness and elegance, did not flinch when we sprawled across her manicured home; and to Iain, a real African, who is responsible for everything I have written, as I would not have done it without his invitation and management - and I would be a poorer man today. I will never stop thinking of Tanzania.