Hadada Ibis

The hadada ibis is found widely in Sub-Saharan Africa. The only place I saw them, however, was on the grounds of the Sarova Shaba Lodge in Shaba National Reserve in northern Kenya, making their loud "haa-haa-haa" call. 

Hadada Ibis in Shaba NR in northern Kenya.

It is mostly brown and gray with a red stripe on the upper mandible, red on the upper surfaces of the toes, a white horizontal stripe on the cheek, plumage with an iridescent green/bronze/purple sheen over its wings, blackish legs and a black to gray bill.

My first impression on seeing this ibis was that it was iridescent green. That color kind of dominates.

This front view shows the limited scope of the red on the upper mandible.

African Sacred Ibis

When I first heard the name "sacred ibis" I was wowed by it. Why would a bird be called sacred? I've learned that in Egypt this ibis was a symbol of the god Thoth who maintained the universe, arbitrated disputes between the gods, judged the dead and was associated with writing, science and the arts of magic. Thoth is often depicted as a man with the head of an ibis.

The Egyptian god Thoth with the head of an ibis.

But that is not all, the ibis was also honored in Egyptian legend for killing winged serpents attempting to fly into Egypt from Arabia. As a result, the ibis was venerated and many mummified ibises have been found in Egyptian tombs. 

A sacred ibis in the Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania.

The sacred ibis is no longer found in Egypt, but it is found in most of sub-Saharan Africa and a small piece of southeastern Iraq. It has also been introduced into France, Italy, Spain, Taiwan and south Florida. It is black and white. Black head and neck, which are bald, bill (long down-curved) and legs, lacy plumes on the rump and tail (which are glossed with purple during breeding season) and on the rear border of the wings in flight; it has all white plumage everywhere else.

Good view of black feet and legs and lacy black plumes over the rump and tail.

Black-tinged wing feathers are visible in flight.

I thought it was fitting in the picture below that a Nile crocodile was in the vicinity of sacred ibises.

Sacred ibises, Nile crocodile and hammerkop along the Ewaso Nyiro River in Shaba National Reserve in northern Kenya.

The Nile crocodile is associated with the god Sobek who is represented as a man with the head of a crocodile. Sobek provided protection against the dangers of the Nile River and was connected to military prowess, fertility and pharaonic power.

The Egyptian god Sobek with the head of a crocodile. 

Look closely in the picture and you'll see another bird in the upper right standing on a log in the river. It is called a hammerkop or hammerhead. In Malawi, and perhaps other African cultures, the hammerkop was associated with lightning, which in ancient Egypt was attributed to the goddess Isis. 

Helmeted Guineafowl

The helmeted guineafowl (Numida meleagris) has gray-black plumage sprinkled with white and a blue and red featherless head with a knob on top (the "helmet"). There are nine subspecies. 

I believe this is Reichenow's helmeted guineafowl (N. m. reichenowi) seen in Nakuru NP. It is found in Kenya and central Tanzania. 

The knob can be red or yellowish. It has a rounded body, short rounded wings and a short tail. It is a good runner and flies in short bursts. 

The guineafowl travels in flocks of about 25 birds. 

These guineafowl were found in Serengeti NP. Note that the helmets on these are yellow, while those in Nakuru were red. I believe these are tufted guineafowl (N. m. mitrata). Tufted guineafowl are found from Tanzania to Zambia, Botswana, northern South Africa, eastern Swaziland and Mozambique. 

This is a cropped and closer look at the tufted guineafowl and its yellow helmet. 

This flock was in Nakuru NP.

They have been domesticated (we have seen one in our own neighborhood off and on over the years) and their meat is sold commercially in Europe and North America. I have purchased the meat and cooked it myself and I ate it in a restaurant in Montreal. 

While visiting Africa recently, we saw guineafowl on three occasions, each time in groups. Two of the groups were in Nakuru National Park in Kenya and one group was in Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. 

Hyrax

There are four species of hyrax: (1) the rock hyrax; (2) the bush hyrax, also known as the yellow-spotted rock hyrax; (3) the western tree hyrax; and (4) the southern tree hyrax. In East Africa where we were visiting recently (Kenya and Tanzania), there are no western tree hyraxes, but the other three species are there. The rock hyrax is heavily built and it has thick fur. The color varies from dark brown in wetter habitats to light gray in desert habitats. It has a pointed head, short neck and rounded ears. The bush hyrax is less heavily built, has a narrower muzzle, a more conspicuous white mark above each eye and a paler underside than the rock hyrax. The southern tree hyrax has long, soft, gray-brown fur and a paler underside. They tend to be more densely furred than the other hyraxes and more nocturnal. Their hairs are lighter near their tips and their ears have a fringe of white hair. With little experience, I found it difficult to determine what species we were looking it. 

We saw hyraxes in four different areas: (i) among the cabins of our lodge in the Serengeti in Tanzania, apparently living in the rafters of the cabins; 

This hyrax living on one of the individual cabins in the Serena Serengeti compound appears to be a rock hyrax as it has a less distinct eye patch, a lighter underside and a broader snout. 

A companion to the hyrax above. Note how heavy it is and the individual toes.

(ii) brief glimpses of some hyraxes scampering about in a tree in the Lerai Forest in Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania (which we were not able to photograph or get good looks at); (iii) among the rocks and trees near our cabins in the Masai Mara in Kenya; 

This was the first hyrax I saw - just outside our cabin in the Serena Mara compound. I believe this is a bush hyrax as the underbelly is more pale and the snout appears thinner and more elongated than those above. 

These cute (bush) hyraxes lived in rocks up a short trail above our Serena Mara cabin. 

This (bush) hyrax rests on a tree stump in the Serena Mara compound. 

This heavy (rock) hyrax was scampering among rocks, a tree stump and cactus in the Serena Mara compound.

and (iv) several adults and at least seven babies living among rocks in Nairobi National Park in Kenya. 

An adult and at least seven baby hyraxes in Nairobi National Park. I am guessing that these are rock hyraxes.

They were curious and would pop out of the trees or rocks to stare at us, but would also quickly disappear with any sudden movements or as we got too close. 

A basking hyrax in Nairobi  NP.

An adult and several babies in Nairobi NP.

Babies in Nairobi NP.

My favorites, in Masai Mara NR. They kept popping out to stare at us, then hiding again as we went closer to them for a better look. 

Hyraxes have some characteristics in common with elephants and manatees and have been called the closest relative to the elephant. Like elephants and manatees, the males lack a scrotum and have testicles in their abdominal cavity next to the kidneys. Females have teats in their armpits and in their groin. Female elephants have teats near their armpits and manatees have teats near their front flippers. Hyraxes have tusks developing from their incisor teeth, as do elephants, while most other mammals have tusks develop from their canine teeth. And like elephants, hyraxes have flattened nails on the tips of their digits, rather than curved elongated claws like most other mammals. Hyraxes have four toes on their front feet and three toes on their back feet. The toes are stumpy with hoof-like nails and their feet have rubbery pads with sweat glands that help them grip when moving up steep surfaces.

Stumpy hoof-like nails on a hyrax.

Red-Headed Rock Agama

The red-headed rock agama, also known as the common agama and rainbow agama, has an orange or yellow head, neck and tail and a blue body. 

Red-headed rock agama in Elmina, Ghana.

Outside of breeding season (breeding season is typically March to May), the male is plain brown, but often has sprinkles of green/yellow on the head. 

With green patches on the head.

They live in small colonies with a dominant male which is polygamous, having six or more females in his territory for breeding. Breeding males do "push-ups" to attract females, something we saw them doing a lot. We also watched one male vigorously chase other lizards away from pieces of lettuce we were tossing to it at an outdoor restaurant in Elmina, Ghana. Females have rufous patches and can also have the yellow/green sprinkles on the head. 

Female agama with rufous patches on the side. This was on a wall at Cape Coast Castle.

The ones I saw were toward the end of the breeding season (late May) and I think the coloration was not as pronounced as it would have been earlier in the breeding season. Note that the bodies were not blue, but were more gray with a little bit of color. 

Big male at Cocunut Grove outside Elmina on the top of the crocodile pen.

 

We found them in Cape Coast and Elmina, Ghana and I was able to catch several of the large breeding males and hold them for a couple of minutes before releasing them. 

This male in Elmina has striped orange on the underside of its neck.

Mwanza Flat-Headed Rock Agama

The Mwanza flat-headed rock agama is found in eastern Kenya and Tanzania, from the Masai Mara southwest through the Serengeti, and around the southern shore of Lake Victoria to eastern Rwanda and Burundi.  

This beautiful male Mwanza agama was found in Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya.

Different angles show the beautiful colors are all around.

Even from beneath, the pink and blue continues.

Mwanza is one of 30 administrative regions in Tanzania and covers an area where this lizard is located. The male’s head, neck and shoulders are pink, red or violet, the body is dark blue and it has a violet or blue/white line down its back. 

This is a different male on a tree, just about 30 yards or so from the one above.

The female is mostly brown and difficult to distinguish from female agamas of other species. 

A female agama in the Masai Mara. Not as flashy, but still a little bit of pink. There were six or eight females for every male we saw.

A younger female, quite a bit smaller than the one above.

We found these lizards all over the grounds of our Serena Mara Lodge in Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. I also saw a number of them on Naabi Hill, near the Naabi Hill Gate of Serengeti National Park. 

This male was found on Naabi Hill in Serengeti National Park. The pink is not as dominant and there is a rust color on the sides. The blue is also not as strong or vibrant. Still a very beautiful lizard.

They live in small colonies of about ten lizards with a dominant male. A September 21, 2009 article in the Telegraph, a British newspaper, notes that they have become popular pets and that they are the color of Spider Man! The Spider Man connection is also made on the website, Amusing Planet. Note that the colors in the above articles have heavily saturated the colors in the pictures. I was able to catch three females and hold them briefly, but was unable to catch one of the elusive males. Several of them had their mouths open, but none bit me. This is one of the most fun lizards I've ever seen. If we were still in lizards as pet mode, this one would be near the top of my list.

Cheese: Appenzeller

Appenzeller cheese is made of cow's milk and is a name-controlled cheese produced in the Appenzell Canton of northeastern Switzerland, near Austria. It is one of the 1001 Foods You Must Taste Before You Die (2008, p. 312). 

There are historic references to this cheese going back to the late 13th century. It is made from curd that has been cooked or heated before pressing. While it ages it is washed or brined in sulz, a mixture of pepper, herbs and white wine or cider which flavors the cheese and promotes a rind. This was probably introduced by monks like other washed rind cheeses. It is a wheel shaped cheese with a brown rind and yellowish paste and has scattered holes pea-size holes. There are about 75 dairies that produce it, each having their own proprietary brine wash. Three of the dairies make it with raw milk, recognizable by a bluish-gray line between the rind and the past. 

It is variously described as: (a) having a strong smell and "a nutty or fruity flavor, which can range from mild to tangy;" (b) "an aroma similar to burnt butter...similar to Gruyere but spicier, it is tangy and pleasantly sharp;" (c)  it is a "mountain cheese that is sharper than Gruyere, but not as sharp as Tete de Moine...[I]t has a singular fruity tang." Classic, which comes in a silver label, is aged three to four months. Surchoix, in a gold label, is aged four to six months. Extra, in a black label, is aged six months or more. 

Appenzeller Extra

I had the six month aged Extra, purchased from DTLA Cheese in Los Angeles. I like it quite a bit. It can be a little on the strong side, for example I've had it in salads and with some weisswurst on a tortilla, and the flavor really stands out, but it is fantastic on its own as a tasting cheese.