Exploring Tanzania

Super Drumsticks

Did you know that an ostrich can sprint at speeds beyond 40 miles an hour and can kill a cheetah with just one kick. On the end of each foot are two toes, armed with sharp 4-inch claws.

I photographed this male in the Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania.

Our 2026 African safaris are full, but will be opening seats for 2027 soon. Stay tuned.

Very Good

"God eyed all that he had made and (just look!) it was very good" (Gen 1:31). Everyday is Earth Day for those who take this statement seriously. Believers have reason to be the greenest people on the planet.

Come to Tanzania. See the goodness and consider creation care with new eyes. Find details in the comments below.

Pictured is the Common Impala (Aepyceros melampus), a graceful mid-sized antelope found in the Serengeti.

Bush Team Excellent

I am never disappointed by the kind service, commitment to excellence, and tireless energy on display in our tent camps. The staff at the Pure Migration Camp in a remote corner of the Serengeti is a perfect example. These good men transform tent camping in the wilderness into a luxury experience.

Our next Tanzanian safari with open seats is scheduled for February 18-27, 2026.

Monkey with an Alarm System

Vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) live in noisy groups. They grunt, chatter, squeak, and scream. These noises have been studied by biologists with surprising results.

Vervets have specific alarm screams that initiate different group responses. For example, one type of scream suggests the presence of a predator like a leopard. When issued, the group responds by scurrying into the smallest branches (outermost parts) of a tree. A second type of scream suggests danger from the air (like an eagle). The group responds by either scurrying to the innermost parts of the tree or diving into a bush. A third type of scream suggests a snake. The group stands up high on their hind legs and scans the ground.

These are just three examples. Get ready for this: Vervets have at least 30 unique alarm screams.

This vervet didn’t seem too perturbed by my presence. Or maybe he was too busy enjoying a star fruit to scream.

Mongoose Buffet

A foraging group of Banded mongooses swarms a termite mound, digging, scratching, munching. These critters, about the size of a cat, live on a diet of insects, but are opportunistic diners who will take snails, mice, rats, frogs, birds, fruit, and occasionally, venomous snakes.

Termite mounds are a buffet.

This group of about 20 mongooses came up behind us as we were looking for other game. They quickly picked over this mound, then disappeared back into the grass.

The Banded mongoose (Mungos mungo) is a successful hunter in the Serengeti. There are 22 other species of mongooses worldwide.

As a child, I thought Rikki-Tikki-Tavi was the coolest hero ever. He was a little Grey mongoose with a bottle-brush tail who lived in a place far away. How can you not hold your breath when you read these words?

"At the hole where he went in
Red-Eye called to Wrinkle-Skin.
Hear what little Red-Eye saith:
'Nag, come up and dance with death!'"

Delicate, but Tough

Behold, a female Grant's gazelle (Nanger granti). So delicate!

This gazelle is grazing among the tough brittle-brown grasses of the Serengeti. What is unique about Grant's gazelle is that it is very efficient in digesting dry matter. It rarely needs to drink! This means that unlike other species that require stops at water holes during the dry season, the Grants can avoid them. This means they can also avoid the predators waiting there.

Delicate in some ways, but really tough in others. That's a Grant's gazelle!

Battle between the Muncher and the Munched

Can you see the battle?

The acacia tree has an umbrella shaped crown with many tiny leaflets. These leaflets are precious reservoirs of moisture in the arid areas of East Africa.

The giraffe has acute needs for moisture and food. It also has a long neck allowing it unique access to the acacia crown.

But the acacia branches are lined with sharp spines to thwart browsers like a giraffe.

But the giraffe has a long tongue, capable of stripping the leaflets and twigs from between the thorns. It also has a tough mouth and really gooey saliva that coats the munched mess and helps it swallow (Imagine how horrible a sore throat would be for a giraffe!).

But the acacia tree has two lines of chemical defense when it senses an attack. Internally, it releases a tannin that turns the tiny leaves bitter, and if ingested in quantity, poisonous. Externally, the acacia releases a gas into the air. Other acacias, located downwind, get a whiff and release their own tannins, becoming inedible for a period of about two weeks.

But the giraffe has long legs. He tastes the tannins, moves on, upwind, to find an unsuspecting tree. He stretches and takes a nibble.

But biting ants swarm the mouth and lips of the giraffe. It appears that some acacias have hollow swollen spines, a perfect home for biting ants. The tree provides the ants with sweet nectar and shelter, and ants serve the tree as bodyguards.

The giraffe shakes off the insects and moves on.

And so the battle rages between the muncher and the munched.

A Wonderful Bird . . .

"A wonderful bird is the pelican . . . "

Do you know that the Great White Pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus) is a hefty bird with a wondrous gular pouch. The pouch hangs under the jaw (like a hammock), is expandable, and is used as a scoop for fishing.

I found this flock basking in the shallows of Lake Manyara, Tanzania.

Oh, and for the curious: the pouch can hold up to three gallons, three times more than its bellycan.

The Landing Gear is Suspect

“Any landing you can walk away from is a good landing,” the pilot chuckled.

I hope this one ends well for this Yellow-billed stork (Mycteria ibis). Those spindly legs make for good waders but seem a little suspect as landing gear.

I photographed these birds feeding in the wetlands of Lake Manyara National Park, Tanzania.

Bible Land Explorer has several safari excursions (public and private) to East Africa slated for the coming year. PM me if you are interested in scouting for cheetahs, "glamping" in the Serengeti, chatting about the wonders of creation, you know, that sort of stuff.

Gnu-uuu-uuuu!

Herds of blue wildebeest or brindled gnu (Connochaetes taurinus) spread across the floor of Tanzania’s Ngorongoro crater. Although they look like a frankinstein of animal parts, the wildebeest is a member of the antelope family.

During the rut (at the end of the rainy season) the bull will tirelessly protect his herem of cows, preventing other would-be suitors from approaching. Bellows and snorts (which sound like “gnuuuu”) are issued, ground is plowed with hooves or horns, and if all that display doesn’t work, charges and horn thrusts are exchanged.

There’s never a dull moment in Africa.

The Pleasure of God

The grey crowned crane (Balearica regulorum) has an elegant bearing. Its body has grey, white, and chestnut feathers, common enough, but its head is simply regal. That white cheek patch contrasts its black head and red wattles. Topping everything is a stiff gold explosion. What a crown!

Reduction of habitat has had severe consequences for this bird. It is now on the endangered list, with perhaps only 35,000 individuals left in the world. Without intervention, this African treasure could go the way of its American cousin, the Whooping Crane. In the 1930s there were only 15 "Whoopers" in existence. Since that time this crane has made a slow comeback from the brink of extinction. Can the same turnaround happen here?

The grey crowned crane reminds me to live beyond myself today. Beauty—like truth and justice—pull us toward the peaceful pleasure of God.

Help me with this one

With no less than 1,200 different bird species in Tanzania, identifications can be challenging. A birding novice, I click the shutter, and hope I can figure it out later.

This one is puzzling to me. It has some canary colors, but the bill isn’t short and stout. Weaver family. No, markings not quite right. Maybe a Cisticola (a member of the warbler family)?

One thing is sure. God sure likes birds. And He pulled all the crayons out of the box when He colored them.

Come follow Africa's "Great Migration" with us. We'll be "glamping" in grazing grounds in August of 2025 (dry season) and in birthing grounds in February of 2026 (wet season). Ooohs and aaahs, guaranteed.

Let Sleeping Lions Lie

"Let sleeping lions lie" should be a proverb.

I posted a shot of a lioness and a cub on a kopje about a month ago. Here's another for your day.

Like islands in a vast sea, granite kopjes rise above the Serengeti grasslands of Tanzania and provide a special habitat for plants and animals. Just tip-toe when you are around one. You never know who might be sleeping.

Go wild with us on safari in 2025 or 2026.

Chasing Cheese

It is hard to imagine a more elegant and agile creature than the common impala (Aepyceros melampus melampus). Long legs give it the ability to sprint up to 55 mph, jump over an obstacles more than ten feet high, and leap a distance of 33 feet.

We often encounter groups of these gregarious creatures in East Africa. They are easily identified due to their medium size, reddish-brown coat, lyre-shaped horns, and black markings on the hind-quarters. Imagine the black marks on the rump advertising the letter "M." See it? Don't blink. That's an iMpala!

Something else that might be of interest: note the black marking on the "ankles" (metatarsals) of the impala's rear legs? Those are scent glands. The impala is the only member of the antelope family that has these features. Some think that the impala leaves a "chemical trail" for others to follow in a chase! What's more, that trail has the smell of cheese! Cheese chase? Of course!

Can play Offense or Defense

The behavior of the African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) is unpredictable. Unlike its cousins, the American bison, yak, or Asian water buffalo, this animal has never been domesticated. In human whispers, buffalos are called "black death" and may kill more people than lions or hippos.

A big bull, like this one in Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania, weighs as much as a small car.

To protect themselves from predators, a herd of African buffalo play team defense. The young, elderly, or sick are encircled by the others, butts in, horns out!

Come safari with us in 2025 or 2026! We'll keep our distance from the African buffalo. Promise!

Bestie Beasties

We usually think of the wildebeest (gnu) in the context of "the Great Migration" of the Serengeti. However, mixed in these traveling mega-herds are many other species, including zebras.

The relationship between the wildebeest and the zebra is most interesting. These two animals crop grasses differently, so their grazing is complementary. They also perceive their world differently (helpful for avoiding predators!); the wildebeest's keen sense of smell complements the zebra's keen senses of sight and sound.

Working together, these animals do better than working alone. There's a sermon in there somewhere.