Tanzania

This was a simply astonishing 17-day Birdquest tour to Julia's childhood home country, led by the excellent Nik Borrow. We kicked off in Arusha with a little light hotel birding (Brown-hooded Kingfisher and Brown-breasted Barbet as highlights) and then headed for the 'lark plains' a little to the north, where we succeeded with the incredibly rare and range-restricted (endemic) Beesley's Lark, among others.

We moved on to the beautiful and Baobab-heavy Tarangire NP, which featured incredible thunder clouds and rainbows. Bombarded with big game, especially Elephants and Masai Giraffes (and a rather obscured Leopard), we also enjoyed a wide range of special birds, including Yellow-collared Lovebird, African Crake, Long-toed Lapwing, many Silverbirds, endemic Ashy Starlings, African Scops Owl and Verreaux's Eagle-Owl, plus a brilliant night drive which produced our first Serval, and Double-banded, Bronze-winged and Three-banded Coursers, plus Slender-tailed Nightjar. We even saw a large African Rock Python.

Next was Lake Manyara, where recent tectonic movements have flooded out large areas and made some inaccessible, but have also created highly productive wetlands where we saw masses of birds, including Dwarf Bittern, Golden-backed Weaver and many bishops and warblers. The woodlands turned up Purple-crested Turaco, Usambara Barbet and much more, and we had two road adventures: first we were blocked by an Elephant and a tree it had felled, and then we got in a massive tangle with a bomb crater of a collapsed road with a lorry stuck in it. We got stuck too! The overnight stop produced Verreaux's Eagle and Grey-headed Bushshrike.

And now a major highlight: Ngorongoro Crater. The climb up through forest produced Grey-capped Warbler, White-browed Robin-Chat, Red-faced Cisticola and Schalow's Turaco; and then we reached the crater rim. Wow! We could see Black Rhinos as tiny dots already, and so many mammals...mouthwatering. the next day we descended into the crater and had the most amazing time. There were stunning birds and mammals in every direction, and we got incredible views of the Black Rhinos especially. Rosy-throated Longclaw was a major highlight too.

We birded around the lodge next morning, seeing Bronze Sunbird, Abyssinian Crimsonwing and more besides, then descended across a bizarre moorland habitat, via Golden-winged and Malachite Sunbirds, widowbirds, Anteater Chats and others. We finally reached the gateway to the Serengeti, where at once we were surrounded by thousands of Zebras and Wildebeest on migration! We found African Wolf, Black-backed Jackals, Spotted Hyenas and more besides. Incredible: and we hadn't even really started.

The Serengeti produced an astounding diversity and sheer number of birds and mammals; numerous Lion prides, Cheetahs, a Leopard, multiple Servals, many Lesser and some Greater Kestrels, Tanzanian Red-billed Hornbill, Maasai Apalis and Grey-crested Helmetshrike (all endemic), rollers, bee-eaters, larks and cisticolas aplenty...I could go on.

After an incredible three days, we headed across to the quieter and more subtle Ndutu, where we could drive off track and really get close to the action. This site was exceptional for Cheetahs (we saw at least five, very close), and we had another Serval, and even an African Wildcat. The birding was also tremendous, with the endemic Grey-breasted Spurfowl, flamingoes and many waders around the soda lake, plus great views of Rufous Chatterer, Red-necked Falcon and many vultures and other birds of prey.

We dropped in at Olduvai Gorge on the way back towards Ngorongoro, where Little Swifts screamed around and we had good views of Pale White-eye, White-browed Scrub-robin and others.

Our final destination was Arusha NP, which is dominated by the 4566m Mt Meru. The forests were damp and rather quiet, but we found the endemic form (and perhaps species) of Guereza, or Colobus Monkey, plus Kenrick's Starlings, White-eared Barbets, Black-headed Apalis, Hartlaub's Turacos, the endemic Broad-ringed (or Kilimanjaro) White-eye and Silvery-cheeked Hornbills. The plains (in better weather) were spectacular, and we said goodbye to Tanzania with Sentinel Lark, Moustached Grass Warbler, Scaly Spurfowl and many other birds, plus the most astonishing mega-herd of over 65 Masai Giraffes!

This trip really was all we had hoped...scroll down and take your time with our longest ever photo gallery. It's genuinely well-worth viewing the images on a bigger screen than your phone - they pop!