Excellent Kilimanjaro

white browed sparrow weaver

Arguably, the most beautifully long eyelashes belong to the elephant. Most animals (and that includes us) have eyelashes to keep eyes healthy by preventing things like dust, water, and other debris entering the eye.
An elephant really needs them, that's maybe why they are so long in comparison with other mammals. They often tilt head up to eat leaves and that dust often filters down, blowing sand is another and when they bathe or enter water, that's another example.

Rosy-patched Bushshrike, Rhodophoneus cruentus, Masai Steppes, Tanzania, March 31, 2026

Kilimanjaro, Tanzania 🇹🇿 ♥️

This bird will build a nest the size of a Toyota Probox or sometimes a Toyota Noah. Then instead of relaxing and raising chicks like normal birds, it begins a lifelong procurement scandal. It flies around collecting every useless object in sight: rusty cups, cow ropes, bicycle sprockets, broken hoe heads, axe blades, cracked pots, cattle skulls that survived generations of dogs, and random metal whose original purpose even ancestors forgot.
You look at the nest and wonder: is this a home or a corruption exhibit? None of these items help the bird. It cannot drink tea from the cup, ride the bicycle sprocket, or plough with the broken jembe tine. But still it gathers more. The bird is not nesting—it is looting.

Golden-breasted Starling, Lamprotornis regius.
Samburu National Reserve, Kenya

Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro

7am stories from Africa...

Day 4 of 7 on the Machame Route. We've just woken up to the most beautiful views of the mountain. Many of us are starting to feel the Altitude Sickness. We had several fall very ill the night before and let's just say the health check didn't go so well.

But this morning, many of us are feeling better.

When I got out of my tent and started lookin around (much of this we couldn't see the day before because of cloud cover), I'm both anzed and in disbelief. I look at others that are packing up camp to leave before us, and I start seeing where they are headed.... Then I start taking pictures and zooming in on them.

I realize we are climbing that wall today. We're at the famous Barranco Wall. 😊

It's time to switch over to my boots. I've been in my preferred trail runners this whole time, but today will be different. It's basically rock climbing without a harmess.

This is the Mara River, a river of life, danger and survival.

The Mara River begins its journey high in Kenya’s Mau Escarpment at the Napuiyapi Swamp, nearly 3,000 metres above sea level. From this water tower region, it is fed by several important tributaries including the Amala, Nyangores, Talek, Engare, Sand and Engito rivers. These tributaries collect water from forests, hills and grasslands, sustaining the river as it moves across the landscape.

As it flows downstream, the Mara cuts through the Kenyan rangelands, vast savannah grasslands where pastoral communities graze livestock and where small to medium scale farming takes place. Here, the river is a lifeline for both people and wildlife, shaping daily survival in an environment defined by seasonal rainfall.

Further south, it enters the world famous Maasai Mara Game Reserve, where it merges with most of its tributaries. In this protected ecosystem, the river supports elephants, hippos, crocodiles, birds, fish and countless other species, forming one of the richest wildlife habitats on Earth.

On the Kenya–Tanzania border, the river continues into the Serengeti National Park, where it is joined by the Sand River. In these protected landscapes, human activity is minimal, allowing natural processes to dominate and wildlife populations to thrive.

Every year, the Mara River becomes the dramatic stage of the Great Migration. Millions of wildebeest, zebras and gazelles attempt to cross its powerful waters, facing strong currents, deep channels, steep banks and waiting Nile crocodiles. It is one of nature’s most intense survival moments, where instinct meets danger and not all journeys end safely.

Despite its beauty and ecological importance, the Mara River faces growing pressure. Deforestation in the Mau Escarpment reduces the natural forest cover that regulates its flow. Soil erosion increases sedimentation, reducing water quality and altering river channels. Water abstraction for agriculture and irrigation

Today's post is about osteophagia. Osteophagia simply means 'feeding on bone' and it's something that some animals do, even animals that don't feed on meat. It's something that you don't see often, but you could come across an herbivore chewing on a bone

Online I found that osteophagia is done by giraffe, kudu, red deer, camels, wildebeest, tortoises, grizzly bears and cattle.
I can add another one to the list from personal experience as spotted an Nyala (antelope) chewing on a bone!
Animals mentioned in the comments: impala

The above mentioned animals don't get enough nutrients in their diet, they become nutritionally stressed. When this happens they will eat/chew bone to get the calcium and phosphorus their bodies needs.

The animals feel when they are lacking nutritions and they will look for a bone to chew on. While they chew on the bone little parts come loose which they swallow. They will not eat the entire bone, they'll chew on it for a while and drop it on the ground again.
Isn't it amazing that animals can feel what their body is lacking?

Here are some photos of animals chewing on bones.

The African Giant With Beautiful African Giant 🔥