Today was our second day in Mkomazi National Park. We were up early and in the park by 7. Today we were going to visit a different area of the park where the original Rhino Sanctuary is located. As I understand it this is not generally open to the public at present but Ally knows the rangers so we are being allowed to visit this afternoon.
This morning it is quite cloudy but early on we get some good bird photos.
Eastern Yellow Billed Hornbill
We also see zebra, gazelles and eland in the distance. Some of them are grazing on the old airstrip.
Around 9ish we stop at the Ranger Station to let them know we are in the area and to check that our visit to the Rhino Sanctuary later is all ok.....it is. There are lots of monkeys hanging around along with dwarf mongoose, hyrax and squirrels, they clearly either get given left overs from the rangers or steal them. We also see a nice pair of agama lizards.
The tracks/roads in this area of the park appear hardly used recently. Ally asks the rangers which ones are in best condition at the moment and they give him some advice. As it turns out none are that good!!
We leave the rangers and drive off down one track. After a while we see our first ever gerenuk - a long necked antelope. It is a mother and baby quite a way away. We can see them clearly with binoculars and get some slightly blurry photos. They stay for a minute or so before running off into the bush.
We drive on a bit further but in the end this path is too muddy so we turn back. Ally says the mud here can be like clay and he doesn’t want to get stuck, especially as there is no one else around to pull us out and we don’t want to miss our “appointment” with the rhinos!!
So we try a different track and see some dikdiks and warthogs.
We drive on, however in the end this road becomes too risky as well, so we turn around. In reality it seems that the rangers only use and maintain the main road, as it is the one that goes to the Sanctuary.
As we drive around we notice that the few signposts that we see are all bent and broken......by the animals!! At one point Ally gets out of the car to read what one says and then tries to stand it up and straighten it out.
After lunch we drive around the local area again and see a few more birds before heading to the Ranger Station.
Black Kite eating something on the ground
Black Necked Weaver
Black Necked Weaver Nest with entrance tunnel.
The rangers also have a wild dog conservation program and they ask if we would like to see the dogs. They show us one pack of 14 dogs, 2 mothers and 12 pups. There are other packs there as well in different enclosures. The aim is that these dogs will be released back into the wild once the pups are old enough.
After this we meet Julius, the ranger who is going to drive us to the Sanctuary. For various reasons Ally is not allowed to take his car.
We get into a fairly old, very well used land rover and soon appreciate the comfort of our land cruiser. Today Julius is taking us to the “old” sanctuary. The rhinos here are very well protected surrounded by fences within fences. We pass through the main gate into the sanctuary and sign in and then further down the road we pass through a second gate. Here we meet up with some rangers who are patrolling the area on foot. They jump on the side of the car and give Julius some directions as to where we may find some rhino.
After a while we stop and they jump off and walk into the bush and then give Julius some directions and soon we see a mother and baby. We have some carrots in the car which we are allowed to feed them. They are slow to approach to start with as apparently rhinos have poor eyesight, but they recognise the rangers voices so they come closer when they call. These 2 have names, mum is called Grumeti and the baby is called Lucy. We all feed them carrots including Ally who seems to be just as excited as us by the whole experience. Once we stop feeding them they then slowly leave and walk off back into the bush.
After this Julius drives us back to the Ranger station. It has been a unique and fun experience. For security reasons the rangers cannot tell us how many rhino are in the Sanctuary. Obviously this is not the same as seeing these animals in the wild but at present the rangers are just trying to protect these endangered animals from poachers. The hope is that one day it may be possible to return some of them to the wild.
Back at the Ranger station it is feeding time for the wild dogs and we are invited to watch. It was interesting to see the “pecking order” with the 2 older females feeding first before all the pups are “allowed” to feed. We also notice how one of the females controls the whole pack. We watched as on several occasions one bark from her led to all the pups leaving the feeding area and returning to the main pen.
As we drive back we see some giraffe, an ostrich and a black bellied bustard. We also see what we think was a wild cat, running down the road. I get a rather poor picture, given the light and the speed of the cat.
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Epic trip. So pleased that you got to see the Rhino project. I wondered if you would. And your sightings of Gerenuk too. I don't see a tail on your cat photo but maybe you would when watching. I have seen Caracal along that track but your animal looks a bit too dark. Probably African Wildcat.
ReplyDeleteAll birds present and correct except for the immature Sunbird. You could be correct with Beautiful but I fancy Amethyst or Marico as alternates.
Wonderful day! Added to my bucket list.
ReplyDeleteHi both, thanks for your comments.
ReplyDeleteWe loved the rhino project and feel very lucky to have visited.
Yes that cat had a tail, I have a rather blurry ‘zoomed’ in picture that was not suitable for the blog but it definitely shows a tail.
And yes we were not really sure about the sunbird so thanks for the suggestions.
And Kristie, you should visit when you are next in Tanzania, you would love it