A September/October newsletter is all about Dry Season! At this time of the year, fierce winds fill the sky with dust – the dried soda of Lake Ndutu and Masek is swept to the west, billows up and forms impressive white clouds. The winds have been unrelenting these past weeks and maybe that’s why the dead Acacia tortilis in front of the Lodge finally fell over. Since it died, some ten years ago, it has been under constant attack from different armies. Birds and insects have steadily hammered away at it, gnawing, eating and boring holes through the bark and into the wood. However, still standing upright, it commanded great presence, and served as an ideal perch or look-out for birds of prey. Often at dusk, a flock of guinea- fowl would spread over the bare branches and use it as their overnight lodging. Now that it’s lying on its side, it will continue to provide shelter and food for a host of crawlies, snakes, scorpions and centipedes making all of them very happy!
Most of the action now revolves around the few remaining water-holes in the area such as the Big and Small Marsh, as well as some springs along and at the end of Masek. In fact, Heathrow Air Traffic volume is nothing compared to the flight movements of a great variety of birds coming and going, especially doves and sandgrouse. After landing and a good check around, they fly to the water, followed by a quick drink and then take off again, filling the air with constant clappings and whooshings of wings. In all these flurry of flights it only takes one bird of prey to fly over and the birds scatter in every direction!
Three cheetah seem to have taken over the Big Marsh area and guests have been lucky to witness quite a few hunts and kills so our Grant’s gazelle population have to be on their toes at all times! Elephants, drinking and bathing in the mud, giraffe coming in late afternoons, an occasional leopard and serval sighting… it may all be called "Low Season or Dry Season" but what wonderful spectacles there are! With less vegetation at this time of the year, animals can be spotted more easily. The yellow and sepia colours of the grasses, so typical of the end of dry season in Serengeti, as well as some stunning sunsets, provide a beautiful backdrop for photographs.
Several guests have commented how nice it was to be able to watch animals undisturbed by vehicles and noise… one couple stayed here for four nights watching a female cheetah with three cubs every day. This particular female has been resident in the area, moving around the marsh and Lake Ndutu and as she made several kills, she was very easy to spot.
I went out for a quick drive to the Big Marsh the other morning and saw Bat-eared foxes, Grant’s gazelle, Hartebeests, Giraffe, Zebra, Hyena, Elephants, Cheetah and Lions as well as Ground Hornbills, Ostrich, Secretary birds, Verreaux Eagle Owl, flocks of European Bee eaters and a great variety of other birds… all in a short one-and- half hour! Later that same day, it was a special treat to wait for the full moon to rise over the white soda of lake Ndutu, with a brilliant and very bright Venus hanging in the Western sky.
Starting to dismantle the roof
As Newsletters are about all manner of news… I suppose I need to mention our recent and rather drastic building activities. Since the last rains, the main roof of the dining room and bar has been leaking in several places and short of replacing yet again a layer of building plastic between the existing thatch of banana and palm, we decided to redo the whole roof and structure, in order to be able to carry the heavier corrugated iron sheetings. With some professional help on the design and construction side, the wooden rafters from the early days have been replaced by a less old-fashioned design.
The team
Since we’re so far from Arusha town, advance planning of materials and transport was essential. It took two days to dismantle the 19 rafters and strip the entire old roof with its layers of thatch (which created a dustcloud on the premises to be remembered!). Then the huge new heavy poles needed to be hoisted up. In Africa this is sheer "manpower", and we have all been in awe of the 6 fundis (experts) from Arusha who managed this job so quickly and effortlessly!
Needless to say throughout all this, there was great concern for the well-being of our famous genets, who after all can rightly claim the Ndutu roofs as theirs! We were very worried they would flee with their stamping ground in such disarray but after the first demolition day we left some mouth-watering pieces of chicken on the one upstanding wall and were very relieved to see 6 Genets nibbling away in the midst all the chaos.
The day of the rain
The work is still in full swing and we hope most of it shall be finished within our schedule of the fortnight we put aside. Having not had a drop of rain since mid May, the first and so far only shower ironically hit Ndutu Lodge in the afternoon of the 29th September, about an hour after the roof came off!! We hope that the "new look" of the Lodge will be a success and it will certainly be a relief not to have to worry about leaks when we are hit by the next tropical rainstorm.
During the demolition
The finished roof
To end on a humorous note… recently great zoologist friends came to stay for a few weeks. They have lived in Tanzania for many years and so should know better. One evening they forgot some things on the verandah in front of their room. The next morning they woke up to find that of three pairs of shoes, all three left ones were missing!!! Who says hyenas don’t have a good sense of humour?
Ndutu Safari Lodge
