Tag Archives: Africa

Travel Photos

Wildlife Photo: Marabou Stork in Nairobi, Kenya

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Often called the “undertaker” bird, the Marabou Stork is one of the ugliest birds you’ll come across in Africa.

Marabou Stork
A Marabou Stork in a Tree in Nairobi, Kenya

 

Strangely, this was my first wildlife encounter when I landed in Kenya for a month long safari in eastern Africa. These birds were found in parks and trees around the capital, usually just standing there, as if waiting for something to die so they could swoop down.

Kind of intimidating at first, after a few days and seeing them fly and hop around on the ground, I started to like them a bit more. They’re no beauties but just like vultures, they play an important role in the cycle of life in Africa. For the most part they are harmless birds, attracted to leftovers at animal kills. But if you do run across a bunch of them in a city, be a little wary, as they have been known to get aggressive if they’ve become habituated and accustomed to feeding off of human garbage and scraps.

 

Travel Photos

Wildlife Photo: Waterbuck

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Wildlife Photo: Waterbuck
A large antelope, the Waterbuck, taking a rest in the Serengeti

 

One of the larger antelopes of Africa, the Waterbuck is also very widely spread. They’re found in West, Central, East and Southern Africa, across much of the entirely of Sub-Saharan Africa. Despite this, I only managed to see a couple of them during my time in East Africa.

As with many antelopes they prefer dry grass and scrub lands (not water, as their name implies). From a distance they have a similar profile to many of the deer commonly seen at home in North America – except of course the males which grow two piercing, long horns.

This male Defassa Waterbuck was photographed in the Serengeti,  lying in the cool grass and taking a break from the afternoon heat.

 

 

Wildlife and Nature

The Scariest Animal in Africa

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There is one animal I came across in Africa that gave me nightmares.

No, it wasn’t a lion, hippo, cobra or scorpion. I came across all of those and didn’t flinch. This was more of a wolf in sheep clothing type of scary creature, except it was a Dassie in Devil fur.

The cutely named Dassie has many aliases, probably because of it’s secret scariness. Rock Rabbit and Rock Rat are a couple of alternative names. You get the idea – they are furry things that mostly hang out around rocky outcrops.

In reality their official name is a Hyrax and along with Sea Cows (real name Dugongs) they’re the closest relatives on Earth to Elephants.

The ones I came across in Tanzania are Bush Hyrax, or Yellow-spotted Rock Hyrax. Want to see one of these beasts? Are you sure? Ok, you’ve been warned…

Yellow-spotted Rock Hyrax
A Yellow-spotted Rock Hyrax in the Serengeti

 

Ya, ok. They even look cute. But it is just a disguise. Watch these evil creatures long enough and you’ll see another side to them.

When a mature  Hyrax gets excited, a bump on their back starts to form…called a dorsal gland. This gland opens up, pushing fur to the sides, as if giving birth to some mutant life form. They move around oddly too, it’s all so strange that you expect their eyes to start glowing red and shoot laser beams at you. Well, at least that’s what happened in my nightmares.

Supposedly they only secrete some weird liquid or something, no actual aliens and it’s only done when they’re wanting to mate or are feeling threatened.

A Dassie or Yellow-spotted Rock Hyrax
A 'cute' Dassie or Yellow-spotted Rock Hyrax, getting ready to birth some aliens

 

Still, if you saw one of these things open up a crazy looking gland on it’s back you’d freak out too. I’ve saved you the horror of seeing the scariest photos…you can always use your friend Google if you dare.

 

Beer

17 Great Beers from Africa

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Enjoying a ‘sundowner’ or two in Africa after a day of game viewing is a long standing tradition; and beer is often the drink of choice.

Mosi Beer at the Wildlife campsite in South Luangwa National Park
Beer and Cards at South Luangwa National Park

Tusker from Kenya and Castle from South Africa may be well known outside of their home territories, but for anyone who is headed to southern or eastern Africa on a safari, here is my list of top 17 beers to seek out at sundowner time. The only caveat I throw in here is that THB is not the best tasting beer. It deserves to be in the middle of this list, but it is my sentimental favourite, thus gets special treatment. (I’d love to get my hands on some more if anyone knows where to find it in Canada or the US!)

If trying 17 different beers while you’re on safari is a bit too ambitious, stick to the top nine, as they’re a great mix of styles of tastes. Anything below Kuche Kuche was satisfying and thirst-quenching, but after months of ‘research’ on my travels around Africa I can say you won’t be missing out on much if you skip over them.

  1. THB or Three Horses Beer pilsener, from Madagascar
  2. Laurentina Preta, a dunkel from Mozambique
  3. Castle Milk Stout, from South Africa
  4. Hansa pilsener, from Namibia
  5. Mosi lager, from Zambia
  6. Carlsberg brown, a dark lager from Malawi
  7. Windhoek lager, from Namibia
  8. Ndovu lager, from Tanzania
  9. Kuche Kuche lager by Carlsberg, from Malawi
  10. Ice pilsner, from Tanzania
  11. Tusker lager, from Kenya
  12. Safari lager, from Tanzania
  13. Carlsberg lager, from Malawi
  14. Queen lager, from Madagascar
  15. Serengeti lager, from Tanzania
  16. Kilimanjaro lager, from Tanzania
  17. Castle lager, from South Africa

Happy drinking in Africa. Did I miss your favourite African beer? Let me know!