OMARI PICKED US UP FROM OUR DOWNTOWN HOTEL at 9AM with Nasib as his co-pilot. We hadn’t seen his son since our 2006 safari when he was only three days old. He is a good looking 12-year old now, quiet and polite as most African kids are but curious and friendly, too. This was a bonus day of birding — not guide/client but just friends, a day we will cherish.
Nasib, 12 years old
We stopped along the way to pick up Faraha, one of Omari’s employees and an up-and-coming bird guide. He and Omari pointed out bird after bird as we stopped along the road outside of Arusha. This was a bonus day of birding, sort of a family affair. Connie was getting back in the swing of real African birding and Omari is a much better birder than he was 12 years ago. Nasib had his binoculars up, too.
Engikaret, home to Beeseley's Lark and patrolled by the Masai
Our goal was the nearly extinct Beesley’s lark, an unremarkable bird that lives only in the Masai controlled Engikaret Preserve. It was certainly no match for the Cory Bustard, the world’s largest flying bird. Our count for the day was 59 species with ten lifers for Connie.
Kori Bustard
Omari had told us that Fatima was expecting but we weren’t aware that it was an “any time now” deal. As it turned out, today was the day. When he and Nasib met us for dinner, Omari hugged Connie and said “It’s a Connie” just as he told us “It’s a John” when Nasib was born. Now Nasib has another four kilos of baby sister to go with his other three.
