ultra-mellow Tarangire national park

The park seemed raucous when we stopped at the entrance to do our paperwork.  Three black faced vervet monkeys could smell the bananas Elaine left in the car and did everything they could to break in.  As I approached them to take a picture, they all screeched and chased around the parking lot, swiping at my legs gently.  I don't need a rabid monkey bite, like sharon strezlecki in Bali.

Whom to attack next?  Hmmm..

Groovy magical mystery van

Death surrounds us

Great meta photo op

The park is mostly known for its herd of about 500 elephants, but also impala, thompson's gazelles, a huge herd of Cape buffalo, and 300 species of birds.  Animals migrate here when the Serengeti dries up since a fresh water river flows all year.  Because there is so much lush vegetation, the animals are not as desperately hungry, and everyone including human guests and workers was far more relaxed, almost terminally mellow.

Relaxed impala grazing 

I was Surprised to see so many Huge awkward-looking ostriches grazing throughout the park

Majestic mammoths.  

My gut reaction from my recent months of observation in my Taronga zoo behavioural science role is that their behavior is much more relaxed than our zoo elephants in captivity.  of course they are African rather than Asian.  Males seem to mix ok with the herd, too.  They arecAlways eating long grass, better than the dry straw ours get.  And they are always surrounding the calves, which they have forgotten to do in the zoo.  But as an elephant never forgets, I am sure those instincts would kick in during any sort of threat.

(Add video)

Colourful strong male and drab female  agama lizards

I need to identify this guy.

Everyone is so snap happy including me and my iPhone, though it's so much simpler and quicker to use than a real safari camera. I've done this before and the camera can be a crutch to detach oneself from the moment on a hard journey.

This is a rare occasion in which we stopped and exited the truck to snap a leopard tortoise.  He was timid poking his head in and out of his shell when we approached.  It is illegal and dangerous, but we were in a good place to enjoy wilderness on foot quickly.

Elephants knock holes in the millennium old baobab trees yet they keep triving.  The spongy core of the tree is coated with super hard wood, but the tree is not useful for anything for people.

Banded mongooses inhabit an abandoned termite mound, perched on top with an excellent view of predators and prey 

(I shall write about birds separately.)

Off to Arusha w