As you cross the Mchanga (or Sand) River, pause on the bridge. You may be rewarded by a glimpse of a monitor lizard sunning himself on the bank. Monitor lizards are found in damp marshy places where they feed on frogs, fish, carrion and eggs and fledglings of ground nesting birds.
After Sand River you will soon leave the cover of the forest and find yourself in light bush country where you may see a ground hornbill, which is a large turkey-like bird. Although these big birds spend much of their time on the ground feeding on insects and reptiles, they will fly slowly and heavily to perch in a tree, at which time their white primary feathers are conspicuous. At a distance the call of the ground hornbill sounds very much like human voices in conversation and a Maasai folk story translates the sound as a man speaking to a woman saying "I want more cows" to which she replies, "You'll die before you get them."
Two other species of hornbill are common in this area. Von der Decken's hornbill, with its black and white plumage, is often seen perched on a tree or in undulating flight. Superficially similar to Von der Decken's is the grey hornbill, although the bill is duller and the plumage more drab. Both species live almost entirely on fruit and berries but they may eat an occasional grasshopper.
Here, as in many parts of the Park, you will probably catch a glimpse of warthogs feeding on their knees, or running away with their tails in the air. Warthogs are strictly diurnal, spending the night in burrows which they take over from other animals. They often back into the hole, to be ready for any attack made on them by predators. They are usually seen in family groups with two to four young, but sometimes the previous year's young stay in the family. Old males, recognized by their impressively curved tusks, may become solitary.
If you see lines of reddish-colored ants crossing the road, they are probably safari ants. These are extremely fierce creatures with sharp pincers and several hundred of them can easily and quickly devour a small animal. They are particularly active during the rains and at this time elephants are said to avoid the ground water forest to avoid getting ants up their trunks.
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