Far North 8 - Waza National Park

After our stay with the Hollingsworths, we had a couple of days at Waza National Park. What follows is simply a summary – it's difficult to fully describe two days of spotting wild in a short space. We did learn some things there, such as why it takes months for David Attenborough & co to shoot half an hour of useful material – hardly anything stands still or wants to be found. We also noticed that in this place it is possible for hundreds of species live side-by-side, possibly due to the absence one particular creature (Homo Sapiens).

This is the view of the park from the hotel on the outskirts. The drawback of dry season is that everything looks... well, dry! Once inside, we could see that is was far from being a barren wasteland interspersed with trees!



So, our guides. Driver (left) and camp-guide and animal spotter (right). Lovely, friendly men without two words of English between them. However, the names of animals carry well from French to English, so this wasn't a major issue.



The first animals we saw were a troop of baboons that ran right in front of the car and into the tall grass. However they were running very fast and didn't pause for photos. On the other hand, the giraffes did.



We saw lots of them and they came across as friendly, docile animals. They just stopped and stared at us. Some walked a little closer (and stopped and stared more).





To our surprise, one of the fastest things on earth just dandered along.



No idea what they were, but they just sat on top of a ridge.



Just after them, we spotted a kingfisher-type thing. According to 'National Audobon Society's' field guide, it is a Narina's Trogon.



Soon after, it was dark (it gets dark quickly) so we paused to read the advice to tourists and went on our merry way back to the hotel.



Day 2 – Topi. The only thing I knew about these before seeing them was the head of one used to decorate the end of the maths corridor in my old school! I have no idea how they obtained it!



Despite the best efforts of our guides, the elephants and lions didn't want to be seen. There was a bit of stopping to check out footprints and we can't accuse them of not trying. In their absence, the birds proved fascinating. Some decorated a tree with their nests as if they knew it was Christmas.





Some hung out at watering holes.



Many swooped and soared and I came to see why people become fascinated with birdwatching. Alas, their non-posing made many decent photographs impossible. Never mind – it was a worthwhile experience to see such a huge space without human beings. Sadly, there are far too many stories from many countries of poaching and irresponsible short-term behaviour that is driving many species to the edge of extinction. We're glad to have enjoyed these and hope that Waza and many similar places will continue for a long time to come.