Beth Camp Historical Fiction

Thursday, December 06, 2012

Birding in Tanzania . . .

Flamingos in the Ngorongoro Crater

I never saw a crocodile bird,
nor the village weaver with its round bush nest.
I missed the Eastern Paradise Whydah
and the little red-billed fire finch.
I looked unsuccessfully
for the yellow-eyed babbler,
and the red-cheeked Gordon-bleu.

But I saw waves of pink flamingos rise from a marsh,
one Gray Crowned Crane, far from home,
and a Masai ostrich court his mate.
I fell in love with the bright blue eye patch
of the friendly Helmeted Guinea Fowl,
watched baby Francolins skitter away in the grass,
and admired the stately walk of a Secretarybird.

I once slept in a tent in the grasslands of the Serengeti,
and heard lions cough at dawn.  
The long-tailed widowbird never appeared. 

Helmeted Guinea Fowl
Slowly, slowly, I'm putting together pictures and stories about our three-week stay this November in Tanzania in my Travel Blog, On the Road Again. Words don't seem adequate to describe the scope and depth of what we saw.

2 comments:

  1. I bet it was amazing! I would love to go there for a visit.

    Shannon at The Warrior Muse

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  2. Sound lovely. I like the wistfulness about how there is much more to be seen.

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