As Seen By Susan: HILLS OF KILIMANJARO-OUR FIRST GAME DRIVE

Zebras, Giraffes, and Elephants, Oh My!

Having seen my first giraffe on the way to our tented camp, I was eager to see more animals in the wild on our first game drive which was scheduled for after lunch and after we had settled in our tents. As I came to understand, we'd typically leave camp about 3:30-4:00 and return anytime after 6-6:30 since being so close to the equator, the sun sets quickly and without the hour or so of afterglow common in more northern locations.

We had already seen many of these trees with the hanging balls which I came to learn are the nests of the Social Weaver birds.

According to Wikipedia, the black-capped social weaver (Pseudonigrita cabanisi) is a sparrow-like of bird that has been assigned to the weaverbird family. Adults have a large black cap, ivory-colored bill, red eyes, brown back and wings, blackish-brown tail, white throat and underparts with a black midline, and dark horn-colored legs.

It breeds in colonies, and its roofed nests with an entrance at the bottom are constructed by the male from grass stems in thorny trees such as acacias. It is found in parts of Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Tanzania. It is sometimes kept and bred in captivity.

Since I am typically not a bird photographer, I offer this artist's rendering of the bird instead.

This picture of an Acacia tree is one of my iconic Africa shots.

An interesting feature of our games drives in the savanna area near Mt. Kilimanjaro was the walks we had with our local guide, Ronjo. Unlike in the Serengeti where unrestricted travel was prohibited, in this part of Tanzania, our vehicles were allowed to drive off road, and we were allowed to get out of the vehicles to walk. That said, we always had Ronjo with us and were required to stay relatively close as a group. Also, the Land Cruisers followed us, albeit at a distance, so our walks were always in one direction.

Imagine yourself out here. What lurks behind yonder trees and brush?

Let's find out.
(As you can see, we are all dressed in our khaki clothes, or what I dubbed, Safari Drab.)

You meet the nicest people out here in the bush.

How many giraffes do you see? HINT: Look closely and count the legs.

How many elephants in this picture?

Antelope or Not?

What is the difference between an antelope, a gazelle and an impala? At first, it was very difficult for me to see the difference, especially when the criteria was simply size. Without seeing them side-by-side, it was hard for me to know which was smaller or bigger.

And then there were the two different kinds of gazelles--Thomson's and Grant's. But what about impalas? Little wonder I was confused when later, doing research for this blog, I learned this simple fact: all gazelles are antelopes, but not all antelopes are gazelles…

According to this website (https://www.tanzania-experience.com/blog/gazelles-vs-antilopes/) gazelles are a genus of the antelope group and antelopes belong to the bovidae family. Together they make up quite a miscellaneous group which include impala, gazelle, oryx, waterbuck, eland, wildebeest and many more.

All antelopes are ungulates meaning they have even-toed hooves. Gazelles like other antelopes also have a four-chambered stomach. But the main differences lay in their size and horns.

While gazelles are usually much smaller than other antelopes, a more obvious difference is that in most species of gazelles, both male and female animals have horns; however, with impalas, only males have horns. That’s why an impala is an antelope, but not a gazelle.

Easy, right? Well, not for me, but I found an even easier way to tell the difference, at least between gazelles and impalas, regardless of the horns. Impalas have three black stripes on their behinds--one down the tail and another one on either side of the tail. That's three, right? Gazelles don't.

This is easy. There are only two antelope in this picture.
But are you sure they are impalas?

Another visual difference is gazelles have a stripe running along each side. But then there are two kinds of gazelles--Thomson's and Grant's. So how's a person to tell the difference between them?

The Thomson’s Gazelle has a bold black side stripe separating the brown coat from its white underparts.

The Grant’s Gazelle has no side stripe or a faint black side stripe.

There are several other less obvious physical differences, so I relied on the side black stripe to tell me it was a gazelle, Thomson's or otherwise.

So these are Thomson's gazelles, right?

As for zebras, I had no trouble identifying them. Zebras are single-hoofed animals that are native to Africa.

They are very closely related to horses and donkeys being in the same genus, Equus.

Giraffes are also easy to identify, although there are several types of giraffes including four species and numerous subspecies.

The giraffe and its closest relative the okapi are the last survivors of the once plentiful Giraffidae family.

Today the giraffe is the tallest animal on Earth, with males topping out at about 18 feet at the top of the horns and 11 feet at the shoulder. Although no fossil trail exists, it is assumed the giraffe developed its remarkable physique and out-survived its relatives by reaching for the treetops.

Both males and females have horns known as occicones, which are formed from cartilage and covered with skin.

Females have thinner occicones that are tufted with longer hair on top.

Males' occicones are larger, have knobs on the ends, and become bald on top as they mature.

So this is a young female giraffe with its tufts of black hair atop her occiones.

Remember earlier I said there are other less obvious physical differences between Thomson's and Grant's gazelles?

Well, here they are:

1. The Thomson’s Gazelle (Gazella thomsonii) is cinnamon-colored and the Grant’s Gazelle (Gazella granti) is sand-colored.

2. The Thomson’s Gazelle lacks white on its body above the tail. The Grant’s Gazelle has white above the tail.

3. The Thomson’s Gazelle has a black tail. The Grant’s Gazelle has a white tail with a black tuft.

These are features that are difficult to see when you are at a distance and/or the animal is moving away from you,

hence making a positive ID for me was hard.

But looking at the photo below and the criteria above, is this a gazelle or an impala? And if it is a gazelle, which kind?

Based on the criteria, I think this is a Grant's gazelle. Do you agree?

Baboons were always fun to see.

They were usually in a large group even though these next two photos show them as being alone.

In reality, there were many more relatives just out of the picture.

Footprints and Poop: Reading the Signs

These are elephant footprints. By learning about the footprints in the ground,
we can tell who has been here and where they were headed.

An old elephant footprint made when the ground was wet is huge
compared to my size 11 feet (which some may also consider big).

Ronjo's footprint. Notice the design of his tire sandals.
Both ends are shaped the same which, we were told, is so you can't tell
by looking at a footprint whether the person is coming or going.