It is a very short drive from the Elephant Trail, where we spent most of our morning, to Gibb’s Farm. We likely spend more time at the gate trying to convince them that we have a reservation than driving to the Farm. However in the parking lot we are expected and are given some directions before being let lose. But first we use the restrooms which here have a nice view over the gardens, cool!
We start our exploration with the gardens where we descend via a gravel path. There are no birds of note on this stretch, only a Bulbul.
In fact it is more interesting as a garden in this stretch. There is table that shows everything that is growing and then you can look at the plants and link the table with the plant. We had no idea that there are even that many vegetables, so it is quite interesting to us.
Birding wise the major attraction here are the Verreaux Eagle-Owl pair in the largest tree in the middle of the garden. They are quite annoyed as we pass under them giving us the stink eye.
And down we go towards the main garden. This area has shade from the bushes and we enjoy it even though we see quite a bit of sun in our future.
There are also a few birds here but nothing crazy special, the Bronze Sunbirds are the only lifers and we will see quite a few of them later on the trip.
Now we are outside of the shade and the sun is beating down on us as we examine the garden and the many vegetables grown here.
The weirdest thing we find is a small ananas plant, we had no idea that ananas are growing like that and so close to the ground. I guess you learn something every day.
Returning on the other side we notice that this is the lifestock area. There are cows and the goats who even get a tower to explore and enjoy.
There are also hens, geese and turkeys in a securely enclosed area as you would expect given the many dangers in the forest next door. Or just flying above really.
As we start returning to the main house for our lunch we stop and ask our guide about some bushes that have no plaque to understand what is grown here. And it is coffee, ouch, we should have recognized it.
As we climb back to the main house we see a few more birds, the very common here Speckled Mousebirds and the common but in an unusual place Red-billed oxpecker. We always see them on animals, this time it is the first time we see them on a tree.
We then pass through the ornamental garden with some nice small ponds that are taken over by Grosbeak Weavers and their young. It seems they really like ponds and islands to build their nests.
And then we arrive at the main building, here we show again we have a lunch reserved and luckily it works out now let’s see how this famous lunch tastes.
We are taken to a secluded table with a nice view, at least reserving in advance, with quite some difficulty, worked out. The lunch is buffet style and not a-la-carte with quite a few meat options. And also lots of vegetarian options.
Quite a few in fact. The larger table is full of vegetables from the garden which is what Gibb’s Farm is known for. Unfortunately we are still quite full from breakfast and are also afraid of gastrointestinal issues so we are sparse with the vegetables but try to taste test everything available.
We also get soup and there are quite a few dessert options available. Quite nice.
Sitting at our secluded table we can also birdwatch, here we see our first Streaky Seedeater and a beautiful Variable Sunbird exploring the flowers in the garden.
When we get dessert we notice a very feisty White-browed Robin-Chat that has taken the opportunity, when we were not at the table, to explore the goods. And found the butter and it seems it really likes butter?! Random really. And then it is time to pick up our guide and return to the car we have a longer drive ahead of us to our Ngorongoro lodge.
