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- Feb 3
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Intrepid Beauty of Africa and the Indian Ocean - Part 3: Mombasa to Mauritius

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Mombasa was the jumping off point for many passengers and three of the OWE team to head out overnight on safari.

The Mombasa Tusks © Jeff Clarke - OWE

We returned to the ship on the afternoon of the 29th December where we were joined by the fourth member of our team, Anthony (Anno) Brandreth. Having arrived from a freezing UK the wall of heat and humidity was a decided shock to his system.

We spent the pre-departure period finding shade, watching. and occasionally photographing, the passing birdlife. The big surprise was a very distant juvenile Martial Eagle. The African Pied Wagtail and Little swifts were a little closer to hand.

30th December 2023 - Zanzibar

The ship was at anchor. This afforded views of a sandbar on which we could clearly see was full of birds. Most significantly this included 184 Crab Plover. We were able to get interested passengers a decent view of them through our telescopes.

Sandbar off Zanzibar with large roost of Crab Plovers and terns from Deck 6 of Bolette © Jeff Clarke - OWE

As often occurs passengers alerted us to the presence of an interesting stowaway aboard Bolette. We rapidly located it and were delighted to see it was a large praying mantis, presumed to be of the Sphodromantis genus.

Praying Mantis, Sphodromantis sp. onboard MS Bolette off Zanzibar © Jeff Clarke - OWE

There were a few interesting birds close to the tender terminal, including Pied Kingfisher, Scarlet-chested Sunbird and Wire-tailed Swallows. Little did we realise that this would be the high-point of our time on land. The shocking thing about Zanzibar was the level of plastic pollution once you went ashore. The local populace treat the natural environment and the mangroves in particular, as a dumping ground. A walk to a local wetland site proved utterly dispiriting, prompting an early return to the ship.

Scarlet-chested Sunbird - Zanzibar © Jeff Clarke - OWE

The real highlight of the day came in the form of Indian Ocean Humpback Dolphins, they were clearly attracted to the tender boats and toward departure time they escorted each tender as it was prepared to be hoisted back aboard Bolette, This allowed all the interested passengers, and there were many, stunning prolonged views of this coast-going cetacean.

Indian Ocean Humpback Dolphins playing around MS Bolette off Zanzibar © Jeff Clarke - OWE

Indian Ocean Humpback Dolphins playing around MS Bolette off Zanzibar © David Chilcott - OWE

31st December 2024 – Dar Es Salaam

This is quite a thriving metropolis. Our berth overlooked some interesting habitat on the land opposite and there was also a somewhat dilapidated botanical garden within walking distance of the shuttle bus drop-off. Many passengers headed in that direction, despite the intense heat.

The most obvious wildlife feature of the botanical garden was the mixed species heronry. An unfortunate side-effect was that the area underneath the nesting trees was full of young herons of various ages that were slowly dying. Once the birds fall out of the nest they cannot get back and are no longer fed by their parents.

Stranded Black-necked Heron juvenile - Dar es Salaam © Jeff Clarke - OWE

One corner of the grounds was effectively a neglected midden. It was here that we found a diversity of birds, the most surprising of which was a small group of Water Thick-Knee. A flock of foraging Little Bee-eaters were particularly engaging, seemingly unconcerned by human presence and a nest building Spectacled Weaver made repeated forays to the grassy patches to collect building materials. Above the weaver a Cardinal Woodpecker would periodically break off from chiselling rotting timber to chase off a Spot-flanked Barbet it had taken exception to. The barbet was seemingly outside its known range in East Africa, though this may be a due to a lack of observer coverage. There were plenty of small finch-like birds, the majority were Bronze Mannikins, but we also picked out a pair of Red-billed Firefinch.

Water Thick-knee (Water Dikkop) - Dar es Salaam © Jeff Clarke - OWE

Little Bee-eater - Dar es Salaam © Jeff Clarke - OWE

Spot-flanked Barbet (left) and Cardinal Woodpecker (right) - Dar es Salaam © Jeff Clarke - OWE

Red-billed Firefinch female (left) and Spectacled Weaver (right) - Dar es Salaam © Jeff Clarke - OWE

If the heat on land was too much for folk, then the ship made a superb shady observation post throughout the day, with a minimum of thirty-five species being spotted from the decks. Heron species and their relatives featured strongly, Cattle Egret dominated but Black-crowned Night Heron and Black-necked Heron were also very prominent, the latter could be seen commuting from the direction of the aforementioned Botanical Garden heronry. Smaller numbers of Sacred Ibis, Grey Heron, Hammerkop and Open-billed Stork also joined the fly-bys. Some species came exceptionally close to the ship, with House Crows scraping Bolette's top deck rail and hundreds of Little Swifts wheeling low overhead.

Black-necked Heron (left & centre) and Grey Heron (right) - Dar es Salaam © Jeff Clarke - OWE

Hammerkop (left) and Sacred Ibis (right) - Dar es Salaam © Jeff Clarke - OWE

African Open-billed Stork (left) and House Crow (right) - Dar es Salaam © Jeff Clarke - OWE

Little Swifts wheeling around above MS Bolette's top deck - Dar es Salaam © Jeff Clarke - OWE

1st January 2024 - A Happy New Year’s Sea Day

Back on the ocean wave. A busy day for the team. The usual sea-day 'deck watch', David gave his lecture reviewing the sightings of the previous sector, whilst Jeff rescued a stranded adult Red-footed Booby from deck 6. It had attempted to land on one of the binnacles that had previously held the sonic canons deployed in the Red Sea. The plastic tarpaulin that now covered it proved too slippery, and the booby fell in heap between the stairwell and the bridge. Fortunately, the bird proved to be remarkably placid and it was safely gathered up and repatriated to the Indian Ocean. In gratitude the bird stuck with the ship for the rest of the day, chasing after flying-fish and eventually roosting on the ship that evening, accompanied by ten or more younger members of the species.

Red-footed Booby, Pale phase adult on MS bolette Deck 6 forward © Jeff Clarke - OWE

Red-footed Booby pale phase adult (same bird) later in the day © Jeff Clarke - OWE

Overnight we had picked up a couple of interesting hitchhikers in the form of hawkmoths. A couple of passengers had seen a large moth come aboard and hang up on a cross beam forward on deck three starboard side. On investigation it proved to be a spectacular Oleander Hawkmoth. This is a migratory species that on rare occasions turns up in the UK. There were also a couple of Striped Hawkmoths tucked into nooks in the beams. Later that night we picked up another large hawkmoth, this time a Verdant Hawkmoth. A brilliant green as its name suggests.

Oleander Hawkmoth © Jeff Clarke - OWE

Striped Hawkmoth (left) & Verdant Hawkmoth (right) © Jeff Clarke - OWE

The cetaceans continued to be elusive, always at distance. Only a small pod of Short-finned Pilot Whale being identifiable, everything else was logged as unidentified dolphins or unidentified beaked whale.

2nd January 2024 – Mayotte, Comoros Islands

Over one hundred Pan-tropical Dolphins on the early morning run-in towards Mayotte was a promising start, though as is seemingly usual in these waters, none came to ride the bow.

Pre-sunrise off Comoros Islands © Jeff Clarke - OWE

Seabird-wise it was ‘as you were’, with Wedge-tailed and Seychelles Shearwaters, Red-footed Boobies and Great Frigatebirds. There were also plenty of Sooty/Bridled Terns, but the distance and light prevent specific identification.

Mayotte, in keeping with so many other Indian Ocean Islands has had its native ecology severely disrupted, but thankfully we did find a good number of native species as well as well as the ‘usual suspects’ of exotics.

A trip up into the mountains by taxi to an area with some remaining native forest was an interesting experience. One of the first things we encountered was a troop of Lemurs, these were Common Brown Lemurs, introduced from Madagascar. Our happiness at seeing them was definitely tempered by the thought they should not be here and wondering what impact they might be having on native species.

Common Brown Lemurs - Mayotte © Jeff Clarke - OWE

The next delight was a Francis’s Sparrowhawk, this subspecies is endemic to Mayotte. It seemed largely unconcerned by our presence and sat patiently among the foliage as we filled our boots photographically.

Francis's Sparrowhawk - Mayotte © Jeff Clarke - OWE

A short distance further and the track opened out into a woodland amphitheatre. It was here we found a foraging group of Madagascar Bee-eaters. On our return the same area held a flock of Mayotte White-eye and a small party of Madagascar Paradise Flycatchers. A repeated but distant “eee-ooo” call was eventually tracked down to a Madagascar Bulbul proudly sat atop an exposed treetop.

Madagascar Bee-eater - Mayotte © Jeff Clarke - OWE

Madagascar Bulbul singing from a mountain top tree - Mayotte © Jeff Clarke - OWE

Madagascar Paradise Flycatcher male - Mayotte © Jeff Clarke - OWE

There were many beautiful butterflies flitting about, but most refused to be photographed, the exception being a dainty fritillary-like species commonly referred to as the African Joker Byblia anvatara. There were other invertebrates too, including a large spectacular Black Mud Wasp Delta emearginatum.

African Joker Butterfly - Mayotte © Jeff Clarke - OWE

Black Mud Wasp (left) & Golden Orb Weaver (right) - Mayotte © Jeff Clarke - OWE

All too soon it was time to return to the ship. It was at this point we discovered our taxi-driver had abandoned us. What a lovely chap. Thankfully a local with better English than our French helped us flag down a car and kindly explained our dilemma to the driver who, like the ‘good Samaritan’, gave us a lift back at the port.

There were many day-flying Comoros Fruit Bats Pterotus seychellensis comorensis around as Bolette prepared to leave port. Some came remarkably close to the ship as they crossed the bay.

Comoros Fruit Bat - Mayotte © Jeff Clarke - OWE

3rd and 4th January 2024 - Nosy Be, Madagascar

The early morning cruise in to Nosy Be passed over a superb area of undersea contours. Sadly nobody had thought to tell the cetaceans to come join the party. Just two, typically elusive, beaked whales broke surface momentarily, and never showed enough for certain identification. There were plenty of Lesser and Greater Crested Terns around the bay as we approached our anchorage, but it was a disappointing show.

Our first day at anchor was ferociously hot so we limited ourselves to local walks around the town, Hell-Ville/Andoany (although we somehow managed to cover 15km!). This proved productive for a variety of geckos and Panther Chameleons, Laura was particularly adept at finding them.

Panther Chameleon male - Nosy Be © Jeff Clarke - OWE

Broad-tailed Day Geckos - Nosy Be © Jeff Clarke - OWE

Magagascar Giant Day Gecko - Nosy Be - © Jeff Clarke - OWE

Abbott's Gecko (presumed) - Nosy Be © Jeff Clarke - OWE

House Gecko Hemidactylus sp. - Nosy Be © Jeff Clarke - OWE

There were few birds about on the third, mainly beause of the extreme heat, but a few Madagascar Kestrels were noted around the town of Helle-ville.

Madagascar Kestrel indulges in a pedicure after consuming prey - Nosy Be © Jeff Clarke - OWE

In less built-up areas, particularly the local farmland, there were a few birds to spot, with Madagascar Mannikin and Souimanga Sunbird being the most abundant, but our most intriguing sighting was watching Palm Swifts swooping into folded palm fronds to roost.

Souimanga Sunbird (left) & Madagascar Mannikin (right) - Nosy Be © Jeff Clarke - OWE

Palm Swift sheltering from the sun in a palm frond roost - Nosy Be © Jeff Clarke - OWE

A very large number of passengers would join official tours to Lokobe Forest Reserve or Nosy Kombe in the hope of seeing Lemurs. All the tour places had been booked so the OWE team organised a private guide, Alex of Nosey Be Adventures to take us out to Lokobe.

There is only one way to reach Lokobe reserve. This entails a drive from the port town of Hell-Ville to the village of Ambatozavary. Here we climbed aboard a slightly leaky wooden canoe, or pirogue, and paddled a fair distance, some 2.5 kilometres. On route we paddled past a cluster of Lesser Crested Terns and on arrival at the landing beach we were greeted by a Madagascar Kingfisher.

Alex of Nosy be Adventures leads the OWE team out to Lokobe National Park © Nosy Be Adventures

Lesser Crested Terns near Lokobe Forest National Park - Nosy Be © Jeff Clarke - OWE

Madagascar (Malagasy) Kingfisher - Lokobe National Park, Nosy Be © Jeff Clarke - OWE

We soon plunged off into the dense forest and it wasn’t long before we found a party of lemurs, in this case the endemic and rare Black Lemur. In lemur society the females are the troop leaders and the females are not black but a rusty mid-brown with big paler ear tufts and ruff. Only the males are black. A classic bit of male-centric bias in the naming of the species.

Black Lemur female - Lokobe National Park, Nosy Be © Jeff Clarke - OWE

Black Lemur female - Lokobe National Park, Nosy Be © David Chilcott - OWE

Black Lemur male - Lokobe National Park, Nosy Be © Anthony Brandreth - OWE

It wasn’t long before we found our next Lemur, a Nosy Be Sportive Lemur, also known as Hawk’s Sportive Lemur. The reference to ‘sportive’ is a curious one, but apparently refers to the defensive boxer-like stance adopted by the lemur when it feels threatened. This nocturnal species gazed at us for a minute or two, assessed we were harmless and resumed its slumber.

Nosy Be Sportive Lemur - Lokobe National Park, Nosy Be © Jeff Clarke - OWE

Madagascar is just as famous for chameleons as it is for lemurs. In the case of Nosy Be it is home to one of the smallest of all chameleons so far discovered, Nosy Be Pygmy Leaf Chameleon Brookesia minima. The easiest way to spot them is to sift through the leaf-litter at the base of forest trees. Our local guide also found one of its arch enemies, another tiny Chameleon, Plated Leaf Chameleon Brookesia stumpfii, but it’s a giant in comparison to minima. It predates the tiny chameleon but is itself vulnerable to its much large cousin the fist-sized Panther chameleon.

Nosy Be Pygmy Leaf Chameleon - Lokobe National Park, Nosy Be © Jeff Clarke - OWE

Plated Leaf Chameleon - Lokobe National Park, Nosy Be © Jeff Clarke - OWE

It was at this point that we experienced a true tropical monsoon downpour. Looking for birds was largely impossible, so we concentrated on reptiles and amphibians. Our next discovery was a Tree Boa, draped across the branches of a small tree. There were also tiny Ebenau’s Colorful Frog Mantella ebenaui, they were numerous on some parts of the trail, and you had to watch your step at times.

Tree Boa - Lokobe National Park, Nosy Be © Jeff Clarke - OWE

Ebenau’s Colorful Frog - Lokobe National Park, Nosy Be © Jeff Clarke - OWE

Soggy OWE team members (from left) Jeff Clarke, David Chilcott, Laura Dennis & Anthony Brandreth - Lokobe National Park, Nosy Be © Jeff Clarke - OWE

As brilliant as the lemurs and chameleons were, it was perhaps the leaf-tailed geckos that blew our minds the most. Our local guide found two, I think we could have searched for a month of Sundays and not found one, their camouflage is insanely good. It was only when they opened their eyed that you had any reference point to work out how they were arranged along their preferred branch.

Henkel's Leaf-tailed Gecko - Lokobe National Park, Nosy Be © Jeff Clarke - OWE

Henkel's Leaf-tailed Gecko - Lokobe National Park, Nosy Be © Jeff Clarke - OWE

Just before we emerged from the forest Laura’s keen eyes spotted a stunning Madagascar Bullseye Silkmoth Atherina suracca among the leaf-litter. Thankfully this was followed by the rain clearing and sunshine bringing out a host of bees and butterflies. With the exception of one butterfly called the Dark Blue Pansy, most eluded the camera. Thankfully the Glowing Carpenter Bees lived up to their name.

Madagascar Bullseye Hawkmoth - Lokobe National Park, Nosy Be © Jeff Clarke - OWE

Glowing Carpenter Bee (left) & Dark Blue Pansy Butterfly - Lokobe National Park, Nosy Be © Jeff Clarke - OWE

By the time we emerged from the forest, birds were once again becoming evident, this included a Crested Drongo and Madagascar Coucal, the latter was using the warming sun to dry its soaked plumage.

Crested Drongo - Lokobe National Park, Nosy Be © Jeff Clarke - OWE

Madagascar Coucal drying out after torrential rain - Lokobe National Park, Nosy Be © Jeff Clarke - OWE

We scanned in vain for Madagascar Fish Eagle as we paddled back. It was the sign of a great trip that we would depart Nosy Be wanting more time to explore.

5th January - Antsiranana, Madagascar

Amber Mountain was the destination for the OWE team and a very large contingent of Bolette’s passengers on an official tour. We were divided into six groups, each with a local guide, once we reached the reserve.

Each group would see a selection of the forests animals but no one group saw everything. Every group did encounter another species of Lemur, this time a large family group of Sanford’s Brown Lemur, with one group reportedly also seeing Crowned Lemur.

Sanford's Brown Lemur - Amber Mountain National Park, Joffreville © Jeff Clarke - OWE

Most groups also saw a small party of Lesser Vasa Parrot, but birds in general were difficult to locate, partly because by the time we arrived it was late morning and very hot, and also because each succeeding group would naturally cause a degree of disturbance. One group might see a Madagascar Cuckoo Roller, the next a Spectacled Tetraka. At least most people did catch up with the Madagascar Kingfisher.

There was a fine selection of chameleons and geckos to be seen. The smallest was the Montagne d’Ambre Leaf Chameleon Brookesia antacanana. The Mount Amber Globe-horned Chameleon Calumma ambreense was significantly larger. The oddest looking was arguably the Blue-nosed Chameleon Calumma boettgeri.

6th January – At sea

The highlight of the day was probably the pre-sunrise sky. The route to Réunion was over very deep water, consequently it was a very quiet day in terms of oceanic wildlife, most things that did appear were at extreme distance. No cetaceans, very low numbers of birds and only flyingfish could muster triple digits. On top of this three of the team were feeling distinctly under the weather.

7th January – Réunion

A day ashore on this prosperous island, where the economy appears to be thriving and the roads were in good order, it even had cycle lanes! What hadn’t changed was the domination of the birdlife by non-native species. A stroll through the green areas close to the port revealed the following non-native species: Red-whiskered Bulbul, Red-billed Quelea, Village Weaver, Pin-tailed Wydah, Common Mynah, Red Fody, Zebra Dove and Madagascar Button Quail.

The only native landbird species noted within walking distance of the port were Mascarene Swiftlet, Mascarene Martin, Réunion Grey White-eye and Malagasy Turtle Dove. Passengers who did some of the excursion tours were lucky enough to see a few other endemics including Réunion Harrier.

One of the most notable features were the number of agama lizards present, also not native to Réunion. At least two species were seen. The first was a large black-bodied agama with an orange head and a tri-coloured tail (silver, orange and black), our research suggests it is an introduced species called Peter’s Rock Agama Agama peticauda, alongside another introduced species Changeable Lizard Calotes versicolor.

The big highlight of the day was the sail-out. Immediately Bolette cleared the breakwater we were into oceanic birds, in particular a large gadfly petrel called Barau’s Petrel. Their brilliant white underbodies shone in the sunlight as they steepled high above the waves. Depending on the angle of the light their upper sides could vary from a seemingly monotone dark grey to a distinctly paler mantle with a dark black ‘m’ mark running across the wings. The birds seemed to be gathering offshore in readiness for heading to their breeding sites on La Réunion, which they do under the cover of darkness to avoid potential threats.

Alongside them were masses of Wedge-rumped Shearwaters and another new bird for the cruise in the form of Baillon’s Shearwater, a close relative of Seychelles Shearwater, from which it differs by having a white vent and undertail, as opposed to black. This part of the Indian Ocean is the only place on the planet where you can find Barau’s Petrel and Baillon’s Shearwater.

Despite the roughish conditions we did get a pod of eight Common Bottlenose Dolphin that appeared briefly in front of Bolette’s bow. A fitting finale to a terrific couple of hours of action, before the sun finally set.

8-10th January 2024 – Mauritius

Our final island destination for this leg of the cruise, like so many of the other islands we had visited in the Indian Ocean, it was non-native species that were most apparent. There are however some native species still clinging on in fragments of the original forested habitat. Particularly in the area known as Black River Gorges.

It was easy enough to find a few of the more resilient native species here, notably Mauritius Grey White-eye and Mascarene Swiftlet, though they were massively outnumbered by non-natives like Red-whiskered Bulbul, Green Singing Finch and Red Fody.

Mauritius is synonymous with last ditch efforts to save three iconic, endemic bird species, Echo Parakeet, Mauritius Pink Pigeon and Mauritius Kestrel. The members of OWE and a large number of passengers made a pilgrimage to the Black River Gorges National Park, particularly to the Petrin area, in an effort to connect with this tricky triumvirate.

For any visitors to Petrin, where the reintroduction breeding program is based, it was relatively easy to find the Pink Pigeons as they were reasonably common and obvious around the entrance area of the reserve. All the ones photographed by the OWE team were bearing colour rings on their legs, this aids in the field research when tracking the lives and fortunes of individuals.

The Petrin area of the park was also the easiest place to find the Echo Parakeets. The males in particular look very similar to Ring-necked Parakeet and to make matters worse this latter species has been introduced to Mauritius (sometimes you’d like to meet the people who did these introductions and shake them warmly by the throat and ask them “what were you thinking?!”). Fortunately, the female Echo Parakeet has a dark grey, as a opposed to rose coloured, bill and this makes identification reasonably straightforward. Echo Parakeets have a deeper sounding call as a secondary means of certain ID. We had superb views.

The park is home to a healthy supply of reptiles, notably colourful geckos, an important food source for the sought after kestrel. One of the species photographed at the reserve is the Mauritius Ornate Day Gecko.

A couple of groups from the ship visiting Petrin did however really hit the jackpot, they had two OWE members as escorts and together with the local guides they heard a commotion set up by the parakeets in response to a potential threat. It turned out to be the star prize in the form of a Mauritius Kestrel. The fact that anyone can still see this bird at all is remarkable. By 1974 it was down to just four known birds, two in the wild and two in captivity, with just a single reproductive female. Habitat loss and the ravages of DDT were the primary causes of its headlong rush to join the Dodo. Only a remarkable conservation effort brought it back from the brink. Even today there are only around 400 living wild in Mauritius. This special bird sat unconcerned at close quarters allowing stellar views and superb images to be taken by the team.

To put this good fortune into context, the local guide had never ever seen the kestrel at this location in Mauritius in the four years she had been guiding there. A fortuitous and fitting finale to this eventful leg of the cruise.

Note: All the images used in this blog were taken during the cruise. Copyright to all images remains with the photographer and Ocean Wildlife Encounters. Passengers aboard the illustrated cruise are welcome to copy the images for personal use only.

Acknowledgments: Grateful thanks to Fred Olsen Cruise Lines, the crew of MS Bolette and Peel Talent for enabling Ocean Wildlife Encounters to support this cruise.

Intrepid Beauty of Africa and the Indian Ocean - Part 3: Mombasa to Mauritius

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