October in Mana Pools in the Zambezi valley below the escarpment is called suicide month, for a good reason. In the five days we were there, three of them averaged 43 degrees centigrade in the shade and 53 in the direct sun in the early afternoon. Part of the reason for visiting Mana at this […]
Author: Mike Haworth
My name is Michael Singleton Haworth, nicknamed “Howie”. I was born and raised in Zimbabwe and now live in South Africa. Zimbabwe was a fantastic place for youngsters to grow up, where opportunities abounded to get into the bush. I have two great ‘shamwaris’, Mike Condy and Adrian Lombard, whom I known for around 60 years. All of us have a great love of the bush and birds.
Serengeti’s spring rhythms
This is the last post from my Serengeti trip in September with CNP Safaris travelling around the western corridor in their wonderful specialised photographic vehicle. The Grumeti Tented Camp was absolutely superb and the staff were friendly, attentive and the best. Rather than give you too many words, I thought I would rather show you […]
Serengeti hooves
The annual migration of wildebeest and other grazing herbivores across the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem is one of the greatest spectacles in the natural world. The Serengeti is well known for its vast herds of wildebeest and zebra which migrate in a clockwise route from Ndutu in the south around February and March up along the western […]
Serengeti raptors
Mid-September in the Serengeti is early spring. This is too early for most of the raptor migrants, so we saw mainly residents. Migrants such as Steppe Eagles had not yet arrived. The raptors in the Serengeti at this time of the year were Tawny and Bateleur Eagles, Martial Eagles, Long Crested Eagles, an array of […]
Serengeti’s bone crushers
This is another post from my trip to the Serengeti in September. The abundance of prey and predators is a perfect environment for Spotted Hyaenas, which are also known as ‘laughing hyaenas’. The hideous ‘laugh’ is really a signal of submission. Hyaena can also be spelt hyena, but I prefer the former because these are […]
Serengeti birdlife in spring
It was mid-September in the western Corridor of the Serengeti. A bit early for most of the migrants, but there were a few early arrivals. The resident avian population in the Serengeti at this time of the year is diverse and would gladden any bird lover’s heart. There was also a wide variety of habitats […]
Batty about Serengeti’s foxes
At the Grumeti Tented Camp in the Serengeti, we usually gathered at the open air lounge before first light for a cup of coffee and a rusk or muffin. This was a traditional meeting to work out where to go for the morning and discuss what we hoped to see. There were very few vehicles […]
Southern Ground Hornbills in the Serengeti
After spending some time on the eastern side of the Grumeti river in the Western Corridorof the Serengeti, we decided to venture on the western side between the Grumeti river and the Kirawari range of hills. We crossed the swollen Grumeti river across the bridge near the Grumeti Tented camp. Other than a few hippo […]