Many locals I chatted to proudly told me that the Zambia-Tanzania border was now a one-stop border post, making crossings very smooth. This was welcome news as I pushed my bicycle towards the border past endless lines of trucks, busy stalls, and noisy piki-pikis in the unattractive Zambian border town of Nakonde. As my knee had not yet fully healed from an injury in Botswana, I was reliant on busses for this section of a longer tour that took me from Botswana to Kenya via Zambia and Tanzania. Once inside a bus the traveling was reasonably relaxing, but the odyssey prior to that was always an annoyance I was keen to avoid. A quick border crossing was thus a promising start to catch a bus not too late in the morning to continue northwards in Tanzania.
While the border crossing went very smoothly enough indeed, the ensuing search for a bus was lengthy and the even longer bus ride saw me arrive at Utengule Coffee Lodge by the time it was dark – a whole day’s travel to cover 100 km. Not being the type of accommodation I would normally choose, I could fortunately pitch my tent on the lodge grounds instead of staying in a pricey room. The next morning, I noticed that there were ample opportunities to be distracted over the following two days by the birds visiting the flowering plants in the garden.
Although the closest I had ever been to East Africa was in Mutinondo, Zambia (a few days earlier), there were few birds here that were new to me. This was not a problem as several familiar sunbird species took advantage of the aloe stands around the pool, providing excellent entertainment. Olive Sunbird for example, normally a rather skittish bird, could be observed quite well. As fun as it was to watch them, I eventually reached the probably uncontroversial conclusion that it is not the most visually striking representative of their family.
The Scarlet-chested Sunbird on the other hand is a cracking bird. Not only that, but it was also the most approachable species in the garden, sometimes appearing oblivious to my presence only to dart off once I’ve approached too closely. I realized that it must’ve been aware of me all along but decided that such a clumsy camera-toting human couldn’t pose too much of a risk.
Way more active and harder to get hold of (on the camera viewfinder), the Variable Sunbird is one of my favourite sunbird species. I’m not sure why, but apart from its tiny size and beautiful colouration, I think this partly stems from the fact that I had wanted to see this species for years when I lived in South Africa. I did finally see it on a trip to Zimbabwe at the age of 15, and since then never got tired of its iridescent plumage that can morph from emerald green and blue into the most brilliant purple.
While sunbirds were the most colourful avian representatives in the gardens, the Speckled Mousebirds were probably the most comical. At times, they pretended to be sunbirds, perching on the aloe stands in all possible positions including upside down, with their long, scruffy tails dangling around. At other times they stayed true to their name, creeping around in low, dense thickets in a mouse-like manner.
As my first stop-over in Tanzania, the relative absence of new species was thus made up for by a number of familiar birds that awarded excellent views. Perhaps the birds felt so active and colourful here at the coffee lodge because my intake of this caffeinated drink was significantly above my daily average. Either way, after two days I dared to step into another noisy bus to travel further north, eager to see some exciting new birds in the Udzungwa mountains.
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