Lakeside Living – Part 2

Lake Victoria is an amazing place. Even though you’d never want to swim in it, nonetheless it provides some stunning scenery.

We are lucky that within ten minutes by car we can be on the lakeside for an afternoon stroll or a sundowner.

Over the past few months we have been fortunate to see some hidden places on the lake in the company of a colleague we have hiked the back roads of Mwanza and seen some hitherto unvisisited beaches. We have also had a couple of recent boat trips and a follow up visit to a little area of parkland.

So here is part 2 of  a summary are some of the experiences of the past few months in Mwanza.

Part 1 is here.

Riding the Waves

A couple of times this holiday we have ventured out onto the waters of Lake Victoria. The first time was a boat trip organised by some friends. We took a speed boat out from Mwanza, passing by the many islands which dot the lake, including Senane Island – home to a small safari park, then returning for a glorious sunset. It got a bit wet too as the waves crashed over the speeding boat.

 

Ferry Cross the Strait

Our second boat trip took us across the Mwanza Strait to Kamanga, followed by a walk up a hill to watch the sunset. At 1000TzS (37p) each way, a bargain!

Weekly Photo Challenge: (Crater’s) Edge

A submission to the latest Weekly Photo Challenge :Edge

Taken on our trip to Ngorogoro Crater in October 2014.

Crater from the top

Rising Mists

Four Become Three

Today we leave the UK and return to Tanzania. We’ve spent a fabulous time in the UK for just about seven weeks. In that time we have travelled the length and breadth of England, visiting friends and relatives along the way, but now our time here is coming to an end. Perhaps because our stay has been fragmented between different locations (our longest stay in any one place was 13 days) time has flown quickly. We have taken a lot in and caught up with most (though sadly not all) of the people we wanted too. Being a visitor in our former homelands has been strange but friends and family have been generous and kind, we have had many meals and shared good times across the land.

One of our purposes here was to prepare our eldest for University. In just over three weeks from now he will start at his favoured University to study a degree in English Literature, History and Drama Studies. The next phase of his life is starting and so will ours. 

Our family has been four for almost 16 years, since our youngest was born. It’s difficult to remember a time when we were three, but even then he was there as a toddler – a part of our family for 18+ years. Now our family must change, readjust, re-balance to reflect the changing dynamic of daily life. It’s going to be wierd, disconcerting, challenging even.

Our son does not cease to be part of the family, but the relationship will change. New experiences for him and for us will undoubtedly separate us a little. This was always going to happen, it’s inevitability established on the timeline from the moment he was born. We have brought our son up from baby to toddler to child to teenager and now to a young adult. We have done our bit and set him up for the next phase of his life. 

The fact we are 4000 miles away rather than 400 miles  or 40 miles (the distance I moved away from my parents) makes this departure more geographically stark, but in truth when you leave home, you never quite return the same person. The next few years are going to be exciting and life changing. We must embrace it and look on the positive side. For today there will be sadness as four become three but we look forward to our reunion in time to come and the stories we will be able to share.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Morning (on the Road)

A contribution to this week’s photo challenge  on the theme Morning.

A year ago we had just completed a month long tour through from Lake Victoria to Victoria Falls via Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia and Botswana (including a brief excursion into Zimbabwe and a travel through Mozambique waters). All the photos below were taken during the mornings as we travelled across the continent. You can find out more by checking the link

Day 1- Mwanza Airport

Day 2 – Early Departure -Dar Coach Station

Day 3 – South of Songea

Day 4 – Mbamba Bay Morning

Day 5 – Mbamba Bay

Day 6 -Sunrise over Mozambique

Day 7 – Mango Drift – Likoma Island

Day 8 – Likoma Sunrise

Day 9 – Lake Malawi Morning

Day 10 – Monkey Bay Sunrise

Day 11 – Monkey Bay – Morning Monkey

Day 12 – Arrival at Chilmba Village (Chief’s House)

Day 13 – Zomba Plateau

Day 14 – Zomba Morning Departure

Day 15 – Dedza Pottery

Day 16- Lilongwe Bus Station – Keeping Warm

Day 17- Lusaka Coach Station

Day 18 – Victoria Falls

Day 19 – Chobe Trio

Day 20 – Zip Wire over the Gorge

Day 21 – Coach from Livingstone to Lusaka

Day 22 – Kapiri Mposhi Station

Day 23 – Tazara Train – Breakfast?

Day 24 – Tazara Train & Tunnels

Day 25- Kipepeo Beach

Day 26- Sunrise over the Indian Ocean

Day 27 – Union Cafe – Moshi

Day 28 – Coffee Plantation on Kilamanjaro

Day 29 – Return to Mwanza

WPC – Look Up To The Skies

A submission to this week’s photo challenge :Look Up – looking up to see the birdlife around us in Tanzania and across Africa.

Roller Close Up

Little Bee-eater

Black headed Gonolek

Red Kite

Yellow-billed Black Kite in the sun

Hamerkop in flight

Roller Landing

Red-billed Firefinch

White Throated Bee-eater

Black and White Casqued Hornbill

Yellow-billed Black Kite

Bronze Mannikin

Grey-headed Kingfisher

Klaas’s Cuckoo

Swamp Flycatcher

Roller Turn

Common Bul Bul

African Paradise Flycatcher

Spotted Morning Thrush

Palm Nut Vulture

Back to ‘Blighty’

I sit here in the lounge of my parents-in law watching Wimbledon – the Ladies Semi-Finals (Kerber vs Williams). It’s almost like we’ve never been away.

It’s our first day back in England (Blighty is an old-fashioned term for Britain / England). It was a long and somewhat stressful trip back with Turkish Air / Fast Jet.

It all started back in Mwanza with a lengthy conversation  with a ‘jobsworth’  Fast Jet official who insisted that although on weight – we were only allowed one bag each on the plane – this was neither on the ticket or clearly described in the small print – we almost missed our flight!

In Dar Es Salaam – we discovered our 3 am flight was delayed by six hours – resulting in a sleepless night in the Airport. The reason for the delay was never fully explained though attributed to technical difficulties. The result of all this delay was that we would miss our connecting flight from Istanbul to London. Thankfully but after a hour long, 1 – 2am wait in the airport we were re-scheduled for a later flight.

The delay was almost 7 hours in the end and got us into Istanbul with a little over an hour to spare before check-in. So a quick taste of European culture (Café Nero) before boarding our Heathrow flight. Arriving back in the UK about 9pm we realised that of our 7 bags, 3 were still in Istanbul. One of the three belonged to Anita who had no clothes, one to me who had no other shoes but sandals, the other to my daughter.
These were subsequently put on another flight – but one bag only has arrived thus far – the others having taken an even later flight back and expected late this evening. Although all these will be couriered across – things are still very frustrating.

I’m told this is the perils of long-haul travel – just hoping our journey back to Mwanza will be less of an ordeal.

 

I’ll Miss…. The Birdlife

Term’s over, school’s out and soon we’ll be out of Africa.

Not for ever ….. but for a couple months whilst we return to the UK. Here is a short series on some of the things I’ll miss whilst we’re gone.

It may not be a surprise to those who follow this blog regularly that the birdlife has been a major part of the experience here. You can find out more by clicking on the link below and working forward. A Bird a Day in June

Speckled Pigeon

Pied Crow

Grey-backed Camaroptera

White Throated Bee-eater

Mourning Doves

Redbilled Firefinch

Red Bishop

Red-chested Sunbird

Grey-headed Kingfisher

Green-winged Pytillia

Spectacled Weaver

African Thrush

Yellow-billed Black Kite

Speckled Mousebird

Grey-capped Warbler

Klaas’s Cuckoo

Pied Kingfisher

White Browed Robin Chat (Orange)

Swamp Flycatcher

House Sparrows

Lilac Breasted Roller

Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu

Scarlet-chested Sunbird

Swallow-tailed Bee-eater

Little Egret

Variable Sunbird

Purple Grenadier

Spotted Morning Thrush

Eastern-grey Plantain Eater

Black-headed Gonolek

Hadada Ibes

Laughing Dove

Marabou Stork

Bronze Mannikin

Dimorphic Egret

African Paradise Flycatcher

 

A Bird A Day (The ones that got away) – Day 35 : House Sparrow

Day 35 of a series illustrating some of the fantastic birds we see here on Lake Victoria and across Tanzania. Sadly there weren’t enough days in June – so here are some of the birds which got away. This is an apt one to finish with – a regular visitor we never expected to see here in Tanzania.

House Sparrow

House Sparrows

Other Sparrows

I’ll Miss…. The Weather

Term’s over, school’s out and soon we’ll be out of Africa.

Not for ever ….. but for a couple months whilst we return to the UK. Here is a short series on some of the things I’ll miss whilst we’re gone.

It rarely falls below 20°C here in Mwanza – and generally day-time temperatures hover between 25°C and 30°C – so I’m not looking forward to the ‘cold’ of the British Summer – let alone the rain.

I’m hoping for a heat wave back in Britain – otherwise it’s lots of sweaters and long sleeved tops – something I have hardly ever had to wear here.

We are now firmly in the Dry Season so not looking forward to the wet either.

 

I’ll Miss …. Lake Victoria

Term’s over, school’s out and soon we’ll be out of Africa.

Not for ever ….. but for a couple months whilst we return to the UK. Here is a short series on some of the things I’ll miss whilst we’re gone.

Lake Victoria affords some amazing views. It might be full of Bilharzia and polluted, but is scenically beautiful, whether from Tunza, Talapia, Malaika, Yung Long, Wag Hill, Jembe Beach, Papa’s or Igombe it’s lovely to sit by the Lake, the gentle breeze blowing cooling air, watch the nature and relax. Sunsets are awesome.

 

Wag Hill Sunset

Tunza Sunset

Malaika Sunset with Dow

A Bird A Day (The ones that got away) – Day 33 : Pied Crow

Day 33 of a series illustrating some of the fantastic birds we see here on Lake Victoria and across Tanzania. Sadly there weren’t enough days in June – so here are some of the birds which got away.

Pied Crow

Pied Crow

I’ll Miss…. The Sounds of Morning

Term’s over, school’s out and soon we’ll be out of Africa.

Not for ever ….. but for a couple months whilst we return to the UK. Here is a short series on some of the things I’ll miss whilst we’re gone.

I love the mornings here – particularly at the weekends – it’s light at 7 or so and the dawn chorus is the first thing to wake us.

Sitting on the verandah, coffee in hand on a warm sunny Saturday hearing the sounds of the garden and the neighbourhood -my favorite time of day.

The Sounds of the Morning

A Bird A Day (The ones that got away) – Day 32 : Speckled Pigeon

Day 32 of a series illustrating some of the fantastic birds we see here on Lake Victoria and across Tanzania. Sadly there weren’t enough days in June – so here are some of the birds which got away. This is a recent visitor to our garden but is found widely locally

Speckled Pigeon

Speckled Pigeon

 

African Green Pigeon 

This one is not local but found in along the Indian Ocean coast.

 

A Bird A Day (The ones that got away) – Day 31 : Egret

Day 31 of a series illustrating some of the fantastic birds we see here on Lake Victoria and across Tanzania. Sadly there weren’t enough days in June – so here are some of the birds which got away.

Little Egret

Little Egret

Dimorphic Egret

Dimorphic Egret

A Bird a Day in June: Day 30 – Bronze Mannikin

Day 30 of a series illustrating some of the fantastic birds we see here on Lake Victoria and across Tanzania. Many of these are seen in our garden including this one.

Bronze Mannikin

A Bird a Day in June: Day 29 – Southern Red Bishop

Day 29 of a series illustrating some of the fantastic birds we see here on Lake Victoria and across Tanzania. Many of these are seen in our garden – but this one is not but from close by.

Southern Red Bishop

Red Bishop

A Bird a Day in June: Day 28 – Black-backed Puffback

Day 28 of a series illustrating some of the fantastic birds we see here on Lake Victoria and across Tanzania. Many of these are seen in our garden including this one.

Black-backed Puffback

A Bird a Day in June: Day 27 -Northern Carmine Bee-eater

Day 27 of a series illustrating some of the fantastic birds we see here on Lake Victoria and across Tanzania. Many of these are seen in our garden – but this is the another one from elsewhere in Tanzania and further afield.

Northern Carmine Bee-eater

Other Bee-eaters

White Throated Bee-eater

Swallow-tailed Bee-eater

Rising Waters

One thing which has been apparent over the almost two years we have been in Mwanza, that is the fact that the Lake is rising!

Lake Victoria’s waters are flooding over the low lying land along the shoreline, like here at Charcoal Ribs, Jembe Beach south of Mwanza.

The above photo was taken a month after the end of the rainy season (we have had very little rain this past month) but the waters are not receding. This photo was taken south of Mwanza on Jembe Beach, but the pattern is repeated along the length of the lake where we have encountered it at Igombe, Papa’s, Talapia, Tunza and Malaika

Researchers in Uganda have measured water level rises of almost 6m in two years. Lake Victoria is a shallow lake and has only one outlet, the River Nile at Jinja. This accounts for 15% of the outflow. The water comes in via streams and the Kagera River, but again this does not account for much.

The water levels are mainly affected by rainfall and evaporation. Climate change appears to be having a big effect on Lake Victoria.

Information taken from

http://allafrica.com/stories/201601060324.html

http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/mobile/article/2000181998/lake-victoria-water-to-rise-in-next-10-years

A Bird a Day in June: Day 26 – Red-billed Firefinch

Day 26 of a series illustrating some of the fantastic birds we see here on Lake Victoria and across Tanzania. Many of these are seen in our garden – this in one of them

Red-billed Firefinch

Red Billed Firefinch

Redbilled Firefinch

Female Red-billed Firefinch

Firefinch (Red)

Firefinch

Red-billed Firefinch

Red-billed Firefinch