Tanzania Trip Report
5th - 17th June 2022
Giraffes on the savanna of Tarangire National Park
On returning from a great trip to Costa Rica I immediately started planning my next venture, determined to make up for the time lost during the pandemic. I decided on Tanzania, the missing piece in my East African catalogue and arguably the world's premier wildlife watching destination. I chose to hire vehicles and drive myself around, firstly on the mystical island of Zanzibar and then a round-trip safari of the northern national parks on the mainland.
Zanzibar Island
Zanzibar is a busy, bustling island, very popular with young back-packers but with thriving local communities as well. The wildlife is surprisingly good too and heading to Jozani, the island's one National Park, I quickly found both Blue Monkeys and the endemic Zanzibar Red Colobus. My main target, the bizarre Black and Rufous Elephant Shrew wasn't difficult to find either... though photographing them as they scuttled about in the undergrowth was another matter.
After several hours of creeping around in pursuit without a single photo I eventually gave up to focus on the monkeys... and almost immediately an elephant shrew noncholantly wandered up and spent 20 minutes feeding right in front of me!
After several hours of creeping around in pursuit without a single photo I eventually gave up to focus on the monkeys... and almost immediately an elephant shrew noncholantly wandered up and spent 20 minutes feeding right in front of me!
My other main target, the dolphins that can be viewed off the south of the island, was much less successful. Dozens of boats were hounding one small dolphin pod with energetic young back-packers leaping in among them for selfies. As soon as I saw what was happening I ordered my boat back to shore and I wouldn't recommend dolphin-watching to anyone visiting the island. Until it's properly regulated. there is no such thing as ethical dolphin-watching from Zanzibar.
Despite this setback, I really enjoyed my stay at the excellent Unguja Lodge which has lots of wildlife freely wandering the grounds including both monkey species, elephant shrews and Suni antelope.
Despite this setback, I really enjoyed my stay at the excellent Unguja Lodge which has lots of wildlife freely wandering the grounds including both monkey species, elephant shrews and Suni antelope.
Zanzibar Red Colobus (Piliocolobus kirkii)
Lophyra Tiger Beetle
Saadani National Park
From Zanzibar I flew back to Dar es Salaam on the mainland where I managed to persuade Mr Aliy to drive me to Saadani, 6 hours north along the coast. I spent an excellent couple of days photographing butterflies, lizards and fiddler crabs on the tropical dunes and seahore.
On our way back to Dar Mr Aliy managed to arrange for us to drive through Saadani National Park, including a couple of hours guided by Park Ranger Sadik where we saw lots of mammals and birds including giraffes and a beautiful African Crowned Eagle.
Giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis)
Little Bee-eater (Merops pusillus) feeding
African Queen butterflies (Danaus chrysippus) feeding
Arusha National Park
The final section of the trip involved flying to Kilimanjaro to pick up a Landrover from Shaw Safaris and then spending a week touring various national parks sleeping in a tent on the roof. First stop was the woodland and lakes of Arusha National Park.
After a couple of hours exploring, I spent the night in a woodland glade, completely alone apart from the Guereza Colobus calling in the trees above and a Rusty-spotted Genet stealthily hunting in the undergrowth.
Rusty-spotted Genet (Genetta maculata)
Cape Teal (Anas capensis)
Tarangire National Park
I continued my exploration of Arusha in the morning, photographing various mammals, flamingoes and several species of duck before setting off for Tarangire National Park. All the parks I visited had different strengths, but Tarangire was probably my favourite with the largest number of mammal species as well as many beautiful birds like the superb Lilac-breasted Roller.
The large mammals included Giraffe, Elephant, Eland and Lion but I was more interested in some of the smaller species like the Rock Hyrax chasing each other around the cliffs and a family of Dwarf Mongoose perched on termite mounds on the lookout for predators.
Rock Hyrax family (Procavia capensis)
Lilac-breasted Roller (Coracias caudatus)
Dwarf Mongoose (Helogale parvula)
Ngorongoro Conservation Area
After a fruitful morning in Tarangire my next stop was the famous Ngorongoro Crater, reputed to have the highest carnivore density of any park in the world. I arrived late in the evening and camped in a woodland glade high up on the rim, again not another human in sight as I settled into my rooftop tent to a chorus of cackling hyenas and roaring lions.
Up before dawn I made the steep descent to the crater floor, scouring the grassland for predators. There were thousands of zebra, wildebeest and gazelle but by the time I made my midday departure I'd also photographed over 20 large carnivores... mainly lions but also Hyena, Black-backed Jackal and African Golden Wolves.
Lappet-faced Vulture (Torgos tracheliotos)
Spotted Hyena (Crocuta crocuta)
African golden wolf (Canis lupaster)
Lake Manyara National Park
AFter climbing back up over the crater rim my next stop was Lake Manyara National Park, consisting mainly of acacia woodlands along the shores of the large alkaline lake. Many of the savannah mammals like Impala, zebra, elephants and giraffe were present in small numbers but the highlight for me was the birds.
Beautiful Grey Crowned Cranes were patrolling the lake shore accompanied by weirdly grotesque Southern Ground Hornbills. But with vicious, biting Tsetse flies everywhere I made an early exit with a brief last visit to Arusha National Park before returning the landrover and heading home.
Grey Crowned Crane (Balearica regulorum)
Southern Ground Hornbill (Bucorvus leadbeateri)
Overall trip went very well. The photography wasn't quite as good as I'd hoped but driving myself around African national parks and camping in the wilds with nobody around and just the wildlife for company was amazing! Unguja Lodge on Zanzibar was a beautiful place to relax and photograph the local animals and Erika at Shaw Safaris was brilliant... advising me on the itinerary and organising all the necessary passes and permits.
I would definitely recommend a trip like this to anyone wanting to experience the incredible wildlife of East Africa. However if its your first time it would probably make sense to hire a local driver and maybe mix the camping with some nights in lodges... self-driving in Africa is never going to be a relaxing holiday!
Black and Rufous Elephant Shrew (Rhynchocyon petersi)
Mammal Species Lists
Zanzibar
Zanzibar Red Colobus (Piliocolobus kirkii)Blue Monkey (Cercopithecus mitis)
Black and Rufous Elephant Shrew (Rhynchocyon petersi)
Suni (Neotragus moschatus)
Zanj Sun Squirrel(Heliosciurus undulatus)
Red bush squirrel (Paraxerus palliatus)
Gambian Pouched Rat (Cricetomys gambianus)
Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops aduncus)
Saadani National Park
Olive Baboon (Papio anubis)Vervet Monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus)
Bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus)
Red Duiker (Cephalophus natalensis)
Waterbuck (Kobus ellipsiprymnus)
Impala (Aepyceros melampus)
Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis)
African Buffalo (Syncerus caffer)
Hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus)
Plains Zebra (Equus quagga )
Common Warthog (Phacochoerus africanus)
Arusha National Park
Banded Mongoose (Mungos mungo)
Olive Baboon (Papio anubis)
Blue Monkey (Cercopithecus mitis)
Guereza Colobus (Colobus guereza)
Red Duiker (Cephalophus natalensis)
Kirk's Dikdik (Madoqua kirkii)
Bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus)
Waterbuck (Kobus ellipsiprymnus)
Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis)
African Buffalo (Syncerus caffer)
Plains Zebra (Equus quagga )
Common Warthog (Phacochoerus africanus)
Savanna Elephant (Loxodonta africana)
Tarangire National Park
Common Genet (Genetta genetta) (Camera trap)
Dwarf Mongoose (Helogale parvula)
Olive Baboon (Papio anubis)
Vervet Monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus)
Bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus)
Kirk's Dik-dik (Madoqua kirkii)
Waterbuck (Kobus ellipsiprymnus)
Impala (Aepyceros melampus)
Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis)
African Buffalo (Syncerus caffer)
Plains Zebra (Equus quagga)
Blue Wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus)
Common Eland (Tragelaphus oryx)
Common Warthog (Phacochoerus africanus)
Savanna Elephant (Loxodonta africana)
Rock Hyrax (Procavia capensis)
Ngorongoro Conservation Area
Spotted Hyena (Crocuta crocuta)
African golden wolf (Canis lupaster)
Black-backed Jackal (Canis mesomelas)
Olive Baboon (Papio anubis)
African Buffalo (Syncerus caffer)
Plains Zebra (Equus quagga)
Grant's Gazelle (Nanger grantii)
Thomson's Gazelle (Eudorcas thomsonii)
Blue Wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus)
Common Eland (Tragelaphus oryx)
Common Warthog (Phacochoerus africanus)
Savanna Elephant (Loxodonta africana)
Common Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius)
Lake Manyara National Park
Olive Baboon (Papio anubis)
Vervet Monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus)
Blue Monkey (Cercopithecus mitis)
Bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus)
Impala (Aepyceros melampus)
Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis)
Plains Zebra (Equus quagga)
Common Warthog (Phacochoerus africanus)
Savanna Elephant (Loxodonta africana)
Bush Hyrax (Heterohyrax brucei)