Sunday, June 30, 2024

2024 African Safari Plus: Basecamp Wilderness Game Drives B (6/29-30/2024)

Saturday, June 29, 2024
Giraffa tippelskirchi/Maasai Giraffe (KSS)
The morning game drive began at 6:15 and included
a bush breakfast; the safari vehicle was equipped with 
a folding table and camp stools!
Egg and corn fritter, bacon, sausage, and a pancake
Giraffe and Tragelaphus oryx/Elands (KSS)
Giraffes and Phacochoerus africanus/Warthogs
Although considered one of the Ugly Five, we began to
consider the warthog as kind of cute; and everyone here
 calls them "Pumba," Swahili for silly or foolish,
the name given to the warthog in Disney's Lion King
The Ugly Five are hyena, warthog, wildebeest, Marabou stork, and white-headed vulture.
The domestic cattle appear to be a type of
Small East African Zebu cattle breed (KSS)
Equus quagga/Plains Zebras
Balearica regulorum/Grey Crowned Crane
A male Loxodonta africana/African Bush Elephant;
how can you tell he is male - he is alone
Today lunch was a cheeseburger and "fries"
Handmade strawberry ice cream
Afternoon game drive:
Sagittarius serpentarius/Secretary Bird;
here you can see the long tail feathers
Secretary Bird; here you can see the head feathers
A real dazzle of zebras (KSS)
I usually do not like to take a photo of animal rear ends
Vachellia tortilis/Umbrella Thorn Trees
Lamprotornis nitens/Cape Starling (KSS)
We would also see Egyptian geese, guineafowl, grey herons, white-crowned lapwings, a grey-headed bushshrike, red-billed oxpecker, Marico flycatcher, and a white-browed robin chat.
Panthera leo/Lions relaxing (KSS)
Damaliscus lunatus jimela/Topi
aka "Blue jeans with yellow socks"
More topis (KSS)
Elephant moms and babies
Giraffes seemed to always walk in a very spread out line (KSS)
We would also see vervet monkeys, hyenas, hartebeest, wildebeests, Thomson's gazelles, Grant's gazelles, bush duiker, and Cape buffalo.

Sunday, June 30, 2024
Cossypha heuglini/White-browed Robin Chat
We would also see Egyptian geese, Swainson's spurfowl, Cape turtle doves, white-bellied bustard, white-crowned lapwings, secretary bird, white-headed buffalo weaver, African red-eyed bulbul, superb starlings, and southern ant-eating chat.
Today we went on a walking safari, led by a ranger with
a rifle and a Maasai with a spear, then our safari guide,
followed by another Maasai with a spear
We had to watch our step on the uneven rocky ground
Rocky ground
Lichens
The smallest antelope (Sylvicapra grimmia/Bush Duiker)
has the smallest poop
Peltophorum africanum/Snouted Termite mound
After startling us by tossing a stone into a hole
resulting in a warthog storming out, the ranger
and Maasai check out another hole
The Maasai cut walking sticks for us, and
here we trudge through knee-high grass
Crossandra subacaulis
Datura stramonium/Thorn Apple is toxic (KSS)
We would also see a scrub hare, banded mongooses, hyenas, zebras, impalas, wildebeests, topis, Thomson's gazelles, giraffes, and warthogs.
Next: Getting to Tanzania.

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