THE GREAT WILDEBEEST MIGRATION, TANZANIA by Owen Floody at The Intrepid Tourist

52 Places to Go: Week 11

Migrating wildebeest crossing the Mara River, Tanzania, Africa

Our friend Owen Floody, who recently retired from a career of teaching and research at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania, has had the good fortune of being able to travel frequently. His trips have been divided between treks and safaris, reflecting his interests in seeing (and photographing) interesting landscapes and wildlife. Here is his report on his safari to Tanzania in late July and early August of 2017.  

Grey-crowned crane

Though I have visited Africa many times, I never had focused on, or adequately seen, the Great Migration of more than a million wildebeest, zebra and other animals that is concentrated in Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park.

Wildebeest launching themselves into the Mara River to begin their crossing

In one sense the Great Migration is difficult to miss: Rather than being confined to a fraction of the year, its clockwise circulation of animals continues nearly year-round.  Still, there are parts of the migration that are more dramatic than others and one of the most dramatic of all seems to be that at which the animals are forced to cross the Mara River, near Serengeti’s northern border.  It is at this point that the wildebeest probably are at greatest risk of death due to drowning or predation by crocodiles.  It is estimated that about 6,500 wildebeest drown in the Mara each year, injecting tons of nutrients into the river ecosystem in the process (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114, 7647, 2017).

Wildebeest entering the Mara River

My desire to see a river crossing led me to work with Warrior Trails, my favorite Tanzanian tour operator, to plan a trip to the northern Serengeti in late July and early August, when crossing seemed likely.  Our plan committed us to five nights at a tented camp within striking distance of the Mara. It seemed most prudent to give ourselves several opportunities to catch crossings, assuming that we had guessed right on the time of year.

Wildebeest emerging from the river at the end of the crossing

So, did we see our crossing?  Yes, we did, and on the second day of our time in the north.  As crossings go, this seemed extremely benign: The river was low and slow, and the crocodiles must still have been digesting their meals from prior days as none of them made an appearance.  Nevertheless, the crossing was one of the most exciting spectacles I have seen.  And I did not feel cheated in the least by the uniform success of the animals we saw crossing: There was adequate evidence of past (and likely future) failures, and I did not really need to directly observe these.

Lion

This focus made for a relatively simple itinerary.  We flew into Kilimanjaro Airport, near Arusha, and essentially made a beeline for the northern Serengeti, a transfer that involved many hours of often dusty driving.  Upon the completion of our time there, we returned to Arusha almost as directly.  What terrible hardships we endured!  Lest you feel too sorry for us, bear in mind that we made several stops en route, at Lake Manyara National Park and in the central Serengeti on the way north, in central Serengeti again and at the Ngorongoro Crater on the return.  Also, bear in mind that Serengeti is varied and wonderful, possibly my favorite place in earth.  What a privilege to be “forced” to spend a couple of weeks there.

Female Leopard

Our early success freed us for a succession of game drives exploring different nearby parts of the Serengeti.  It exposed us to some of the variety of habitats that the park incorporates and helped to put the Great Migration in context by contrasting areas that the migrating animals were vacating versus occupying.  In addition, it provided us with the time we needed to find, view and enjoy some of the other wildlife (and scenery) for which the Serengeti is so famous.  

Grey-headed Kingfisher

In preparing for an African safari, I think it generally best to not become too invested in particular sightings: The chance element is too strong and there are too many wonderful things to be seen, any subset of which is likely to be thrilling. Altogether, our trip could not have been much more successful or pleasant.
Note: A wildebeest is a large dark antelope with a long head, a beard and mane, and a sloping back. It is also called a gnu. 

 

All text and photos copyright Caroline Arnold at The Intrepid Tourist
www.theintrepidtourist.blogspot.com

THE PHILLIPS COLLECTION, Washington, D.C., Part 1: America’s First Museum of Modern Art

Detail from Auguste Renoir's Luncheon of the Boating Party at the Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.

The Phillips Collection in Washington, DC. is not exactly off the beaten path, but many visitors to the capital do not realize the wealth of art that it contains. On our recent trip to Washington we discovered that the museum was just a few blocks from our hotel, so we went for a visit.

Music Room, Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. Note the ornate gold ceiling.

In 1921, Duncan Phillips, and his wife, Marjorie Acker Phillips, a painter, turned the family art collection into a public museum, the Phillips Memorial Gallery, in their home near Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C. The collection soon expanded and the family moved across the street, turning over the entire house to art.

Henri Matisse, "Interior with Egyptian Curtain." The curtain is based on a Middle Eastern textile owned by the artist.

From the beginning the collection focused on “modern” art, acquiring paintings by French Impressionists such as Monet and Renois and Cubists such as Picasso and Braque. Giving equal focus to American and European artists, Phillips juxtaposed works by Winslow Homer, Thomas Eakins, Maurice Prendergast, James Abbott McNeill Whistler, and Albert Pinkham Ryder with canvases by Pierre Bonnard, Peter Ilsted and Édouard Vuillard.

Luncheon of the Boating Party by Auguste Renoir

But the painting that makes the museum famous and draws the most visitors is Renoir’s Luncheon of the Boating Party. On our recent visit to the Phillips Collection we happened upon a docent talk in which we learned the identities of all the people depicted in the painting and the history of its acquisition. (The man in the lower right corner is painter Gustave Caillobot, a friend and financial supporter of Renoir.) Phillips paid $125,000 for the painting–a sum far beyond anything that had ever been paid for a painting before. It turned out to be a good investment!

As the collection expanded over the years it became necessary to add a new wing to the museum. Every room is filled with remarkable art. One small room is devoted to four paintings by Mark Rothko, each intense canvas taking up most of each wall. Standing in the middle one feels bathed in color on every side. (It is the one room in the museum where photography is not allowed.)

Migration Series by Jacob Lawrence

Another room contains the 60 paintings of the Jacob Lawrence Immigration Series, depicting the migration of African Americans from the rural South to the urban North.. As one circles the room, it is like reading a book. In another room was a remarkable series of photographs, all taken at night and therefore very dark, but with small glimmers of light. The series traces stops on the Underground Railway as they look today.

The Phillips Collection continues to expand and in two years will be celebrating its 100th anniversary. Visiting the permanent collection is free. Special exhibits require paid tickets. We did not have time to see those.

The museum has a nice small café (where we had lunch) and a very nice gift shop. And when I went to the ground floor to the rest room, I passed an exhibit of children’s art created in a joint project of the museum and the Maryland Department of Education. Art education is so often neglected in today’s schools, so I was pleased to see the museum’s involvement in the local community.

THE GREAT WILDEBEEST MIGRATION, Tanzania, Africa, Guest Post by Owen Floody

Migrating wildebeest crossing the Mara River, Tanzania, Africa

Our friend Owen Floody, who recently retired from a career of teaching and research at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania, has had the good fortune of being able to travel frequently. His trips have been divided between treks and safaris, reflecting his interests in seeing (and photographing) interesting landscapes and wildlife. Here is his report on his most recent safari, to Tanzania in late July and early August of 2017.  

Grey-crowned crane

Though I have visited Africa many times, I never had focused on, or adequately seen, the Great Migration of more than a million wildebeest, zebra and other animals that is concentrated in Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park.

Wildebeest launching themselves into the Mara River to begin their crossing

In one sense the Great Migration is difficult to miss: Rather than being confined to a fraction of the year, its clockwise circulation of animals continues nearly year-round.  Still, there are parts of the migration that are more dramatic than others and one of the most dramatic of all seems to be that at which the animals are forced to cross the Mara River, near Serengeti’s northern border.  It is at this point that the wildebeest probably are at greatest risk of death due to drowning or predation by crocodiles.  It is estimated that about 6,500 wildebeest drown in the Mara each year, injecting tons of nutrients into the river ecosystem in the process (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114, 7647, 2017).

Wildebeest entering the Mara River

My desire to see a river crossing led me to work with Warrior Trails, my favorite Tanzanian tour operator, to plan a trip to the northern Serengeti in late July and early August, when crossing seemed likely.  Our plan committed us to five nights at a tented camp within striking distance of the Mara. It seemed most prudent to give ourselves several opportunities to catch crossings, assuming that we had guessed right on the time of year.

Wildebeest emerging from the river at the end of the crossing

So, did we see our crossing?  Yes, we did, and on the second day of our time in the north.  As crossings go, this seemed extremely benign: The river was low and slow, and the crocodiles must still have been digesting their meals from prior days as none of them made an appearance.  Nevertheless, the crossing was one of the most exciting spectacles I have seen.  And I did not feel cheated in the least by the uniform success of the animals we saw crossing: There was adequate evidence of past (and likely future) failures, and I did not really need to directly observe these.

Lion

This focus made for a relatively simple itinerary.  We flew into Kilimanjaro Airport, near Arusha, and essentially made a beeline for the northern Serengeti, a transfer that involved many hours of often dusty driving.  Upon the completion of our time there, we returned to Arusha almost as directly.  What terrible hardships we endured!  Lest you feel too sorry for us, bear in mind that we made several stops en route, at Lake Manyara National Park and in the central Serengeti on the way north, in central Serengeti again and at the Ngorongoro Crater on the return.  Also, bear in mind that Serengeti is varied and wonderful, possibly my favorite place in earth.  What a privilege to be “forced” to spend a couple of weeks there.

Female Leopard

Our early success freed us for a succession of game drives exploring different nearby parts of the Serengeti.  It exposed us to some of the variety of habitats that the park incorporates and helped to put the Great Migration in context by contrasting areas that the migrating animals were vacating versus occupying.  In addition, it provided us with the time we needed to find, view and enjoy some of the other wildlife (and scenery) for which the Serengeti is so famous.  

Grey-headed Kingfisher

In preparing for an African safari, I think it generally best to not become too invested in particular sightings: The chance element is too strong and there are too many wonderful things to be seen, any subset of which is likely to be thrilling. Altogether, our trip could not have been much more successful or pleasant.
Note: A wildebeest is a large dark antelope with a long head, a beard and mane, and a sloping back. It is also called a gnu.

MONARCH BUTTERFLIES at the Ellwood Butterfly Grove, Goleta, CA

Monarch butterfly, Ellwood Butterfly Grove, Goleta, California

Among nature’s most incredible journeys is the annual migration of monarch butterflies.  After spending the summer fluttering and feeding in woods and fields in the United States and Canada, the butterflies travel south for the winter, flying up to 80 miles in a single day.  Monarchs east of the Rockies fly to the mountains of central Mexico. (See update below.)  Monarchs west of the Rockies make their way to California where they gather in eucalyptus groves along the coast.

On a recent sunny afternoon in early October, Art and I visited one of these butterfly groves near Santa Barbara, California--the Ellwood Grove and neighboring Coronado Grove in Goleta, not far from the University of California Santa Barbara campus. Tucked between a residential neighborhood and an open coastal mesa, giant eucalyptus trees grow along a seasonal creek. At the peak of the season, in December and January, more than 50,000 monarchs cluster in the trees in this grove.

We knew it was a bit early to see the giant clumps of butterflies hanging like bunches of orange and black living leaves, but already some of the monarchs had arrived for the winter.  As we walked the shady paths through the grove (which is protected as a nature preserve) a parade of butterflies flitted over our heads, their colorful wings catching the sunlight.  And then we came upon a bush where we found hundreds of butterflies perched like jewels as they fed on the flowers.  As we watched them up close, we could see their tiny legs and antennae and their coiled proboscises sucking up nectar. 

Monarchs have an amazing life cycle.  An adult monarch lays its eggs on milkweed leaves.  When the eggs hatch, the caterpillars eat the leaves. After a few weeks, when the caterpillars are about two inches long, they stop eating, attach themselves to a leaf, and form a beautiful light green chrysalis. Inside the chrysalis, the caterpillar grows wings and metamorphosizes into a butterfly. After about two weeks, the butterfly emerges, gradually unfolding its wings. When they dry, the butterfly is ready to fly.  It will look for food, lay eggs, and the cycle of life will begin again.

When monarchs eat milkweed sap, a little bit of the poison in the sap becomes part of their bodies.  It helps protect them from birds and other predators. (Predators do not eat monarchs because they taste bad.)

Information sign at Coronado entrance to grove

Monarch butterflies have a life span of about a year.  Each butterfly makes the migration trip only once.  The amazing thing is that they know where to go even though they have never been there before. If we return again next year to see the butterflies, we will see the descendants of those that fluttered over our heads on this trip.

Coronado Butterfly Preserve:  Located adjacent to the Ellwood Grove.  Click HERE for more information:

Video: For a great video of the butterfly migration and information about other monarch groves in California click HERE.

Directions to the Ellwood Butterfly Grove and Coronado Butterfly Preserve: Click HERE for directions to the Coronado entrance to the Elwood Butterfly Grove and links to other hikes in the Santa Barbara area.

UPDATE February 23, 2014:
Monarchs, milkweed and the spirit of Rachel Carson. See this article in the Los Angeles Times about how pesticides are endangering the monarch butterflies.  Fewer butterflies have migrated to Mexico this year than ever before.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/commentary/la-oe-nabhan-monarch-butterfly-extinction-20140223,0,7973387.story#axzz2uBU4ETM3

Marker showing paths from the grove across the mesa to the beach in Santa Barbara