Northern Serengeti October 2013

PART 1: INTRODUCTION

It has been a few years since my last visit to the Serengeti in Tanzania.  Previous visits had taken me to the southern short-grass plains in the Ndutu area, to Seronera in the Central Serengeti and also to the Grumeti area in the Western Corridor.  This was a first: a few days at a couple of Nomad Tanzania properties in the far northern Serengeti, close to the border with Kenya and just south of the Mara where I had spent a few days in June this year.

After just 4 days in the area three things stood out:  the Northern Serengeti is visually one of the most arresting bits of real estate likely anywhere in Africa.  There is just no way to do justice to this mosaic of grass, sky and rocky hills with a photo or description.  You just have to see it yourself.  A  soul-pleasing place where civilization as we know it ends and the primeval beauty of nature in the raw takes over.  Every now and then I felt like just stopping for no reason to let my eyes linger on the beauty around me.  Is there really a place like this where one massive grassy plain merges into another one, where one series of hills on the horizon vies with another to be more like the Africa you had come to see?  Yes there is – but don’t wait too long to get on a plane to Kogatende to experience it for yourself.  Already, there are quite a few mobile tented camps in the area and several permanent camps, with more to come.  It is not nearly as popular – and crowded – yet as the Masai Mara, but it won’t be long.

Which brings me to the second thing that struck me:  the game-viewing.  Even though our trip came right at the very end of the season, in late October, the quality of the game-viewing was of such a standard that even the most demanding ‘big cat only’ aficionado would have given it the thumbs up.  A first-time visitor would have been blown away by the diversity and the sheer numbers of animals.  By Day Two we had seen the Big Five (black rhino, lion, leopard, buffalo and elephant) and by Day Four we had notched up several game-viewing experiences which belong firmly  in our own personal hall of fame of best game drives ever.  More about that later.

Our third impression was of course the friendly and gracious reception we received from the management and staff at the two properties we visited and the range of accommodation options available in the area.  We spent a couple of nights at two very different yet both authentically African properties, namely Serengeti Safari Camp and Lamai Serengeti, both operated by Nomad Tanzania.

Serengeti Safari Camp is a rustic mobile tented camp which moves several times during the course of the year to be as close as possible to the wildebeest migration.  It recreates the style of an old-fashioned safari without too many modern trappings:  comfortable and a lot of fun with direct contact with the wilderness.  You expect to have some camp followers in the form of a herd of wildebeest stare at you as you exit the tent just before dawn to retrieve a welcome cup of coffee or tea.  You’re mildly disappointed if you don’t hear lions, hyenas, owls or other wildlife kicking up a bit of a fuss outside the tent at some or other time during the night.   And with a bit of luck you are treated to repeated doses of the Burchell’s zebra’s distinctive – almost birdlike – braying call, one of the most unmistakably African sounds of all.

Lamai Serengeti is no less authentic of an African safari experience than Serengeti Safari Camp- it just comes with nicer rooms, an expansive lounge and dining room area and likely the best view of any safari lodge in Tanzania.  The camp is located almost totally within the confines of a prominent rocky hill with a commanding view of the surrounding plains and toward the escarpment, the Mara River and the Masai Mara National Park.  It makes absolutely the most of the location.  Lamai has a few more rooms than Serengeti Safari Camp but it retains contact with the environment in a pleasing and effective manner.  Sit at a particular table for lunch and you’ll have a rockface a couple of meters to your right, and a massive expanse of plains, riverine valleys and hillocks, right in front of you.

We popped into two other properties in the area namely Mwanga Moto mobile tented camp, also in the Kogatende area, and Sayari, a beautiful and very stylish tented camp located on an elevated spot close to some reliable wildebeest migration crossing points on the Mara River.  Both of these would be perfectly fine choices for a visit to the area as well.  The tents at Mwanga Moto had a quality feel and appearance, and with a bit of color and some nice touches in the bathrooms it would make for a very comfortable tented camping experience.  We liked the small enclosed porches a whole lot.

Sayari was quite stunning: both the rooms and the common areas were replete with pleasing design elements.  Clean and uncluttered yet oh so stylish. On the day there were many pesky flies (regular ones, not tsetses) about, mostly because there was not even a whisper of a breeze in the air.

PART 2: BACK TO THE BEGINNING

Many Africa trips of course don’t start in Africa, and neither did this one.  It started two days earlier on a nice fall day in Houston, with the usual brusque treatment from the TSA, and the equally predictable late take-off on KLM bound for Amsterdam, in the same aging Boeing 747 Combi, as in June 2013.  This time without the race horses in the back.  We checked.

This time around the flight was a lot more bearable, dare I say enjoyable, due to an upgrade (which we paid for) to Economy Comfort.  This will be our default choice of seating on KLM, Delta or Air France from now on.  Price-wise it comes at a bit of a premium but nothing like the insane business or first class fares.  And what do you get?  Well for one thing as much as 4 inches of extra legroom and let’s face it when you’re flying, 4 inches is huge.  You can opt for a 2-seater section and on a flight that isn’t too full (like ours) you might even get lucky with an aisle and window in a 3-seater section.  Add a’ private’ toilet, a dedicated flight attendant and a very quiet section of the plane (towards the nose) and you have yourself a real bargain.

Despite taking off more than 30 minutes late out of IAH, we were in Amsterdam right on time due to a strong tailwind.  At times the aging B747 was zipping across the Atlantic at well over 700 miles an hour.   That’s about as fast as anybody has flown commercially since the demise of the Concorde!  Of course that is ground speed – the plane itself was flying at its usual cruising speed of around 560 mph, we were just being pushed along by a very strong tailwind.

Amsterdam was sunny for once, the concourses were just as busy as always, with lots of chintzy clogs and pretty flowers on sale, for not much more than the price of a hot tea and a cafe latte.  Somehow we whiled away three hours and then strapped ourselves in for yet another 8+ hours to Kilimanjaro.  The on-board food was so-so, the movie selection totally uninspiring but I found (in the CD collection) a nice selection of opera music.  So the next few hours were spent in the delightful and supremely talented company of Maria Callas and Anna Netrebko.  Nothing makes time fly quite as well as the late Ms. Callas’ rendition of ‘Je Suis Titania’ from Mignon.  Or pretty much anything sung by Ms. Netrebko.

But back to matters at hand.  On the flight from Amsterdam to Houston we were in regular economy class.  Even though we wanted to, we were unable to upgrade to economy comfort upon checking in at IAH.  Airlines are their own worst enemies when it comes to pursuing profit.  Making it difficult for your customers to spend their money is never a good idea.  Right? So it ended up being a very long and rather tiring flight – all of 8 hrs 30 minutes, watching a couple of movies (‘Heat’ was not too bad) and doing a little reading.

RIVERTREES COUNTRY INN, ARUSHA
We already had our visas for Tanzania but even so, it was a very slow process filing past the surly immigration official who preferred to make hand signals in lieu of speaking. Eventually we made it out to the luggage area, picked up our bags and headed outside where a Nomad Tanzania driver was waiting to take us to Rivertrees Country Inn which would be our digs for the night. By now it was just after 9pm and we were tired and maybe even a bit cranky. A very pleasant meal with a peppery carrot soup, a local bean dish, brown rice, beet salad, a fruit salad and fresh bread revived us somewhat.

The lodge is located amongst very pleasant surroundings, with a lovely garden and spacious grounds with a large deck from where there is a view over a riverine forest, some huge trees and various flowering plants.  There were lots of bird calls on the morning of our departure.

The room is large and comfortable and there is a double bed with mosquito net – we needed it.  The lighting was rather poor -it felt like we were already on safari.  A hot bath was very welcome.  There was a bit of a drainage issue when some water from the bath bubbled out onto the bathroom floor.  Another minor issue was the fan only working when the generator is on.  We could have used it going to bed.

SERENGETI SAFARI CAMP
We were up quite early on Oct 24, and enjoyed a good breakfast at Rivertrees: porridge with soy milk, toast and a selection of fresh fruit. Then on to Arusha Airport, where after a minimum of formalities and a maximum price for a cup of coffee, we boarded a Caravan for the flight to Kogatende in the northern Serengeti. The first stop was a Lake Manyara and after that Grumeti, making it a 2-hr flight in total.

On arrival at Kogatende we were met by our Nomad guide Philip who happened to have been our guide at Nomad Tanzania’s Sand Rivers Selous back in 2008.  Nice to see you again Philip! Philip drove us to nearby Mwanga Moto mobile camp for a camp inspection and lunch.

We looked at a couple of the tents at Mwanga Moto (Firelight) and liked what we saw:  spacious, nicely equipped and functional, particularly the bathroom and shower setup.  Lunch was nice too with chicken, potatoes, avocado salad, a mixed salad with peppers, onions and cucumber.  Camp manager John was clearly quite happy to have us.  The lounge and dining room areas were quite cozy and colorful.

Serengeti Safari Camp – Housekeeping Notes
Being a mobile tented camp, SSC is quite basic but I think most visitors would be happy with the
overall level of comfort. There is plenty of hot water (on demand) for a bucket shower pretty
much any time you want it. Hint: the shower has two settings – trickle and ood – so adjust the
rate of ow to your preference. Here is how to make sure you don‘t get stuck all soapy with no
water left in the bucket: get yourself totally wet rst, lather & shampoo next (turn off the water
while you do this) and then rinse.
We would have liked to have some type of running water other than the bucket shower, for brushing
teeth and washing one’s face in the morning. The room attendant puts out a couple of jugs
(one hot and one room temperature) in the morning but a small spigot on a metal or plastic tank
would be a great addition.

Then it was on to Serengeti Safari Camp. We were in Tent #4 (of 6), which was spacious enough with a comfortable bed and good pillows. We enjoyed an excellent dinner with Philip and a young couple from Hong Kong. In addition to a braised leg of pork the chef prepared a special vegan bean stew, together with carrots, potatoes & broccoli – nished off with dessert. On the way to the camp we had been experiencing superb game-viewing, despite the fact that we were driving in the middle of the day, usually a very quiet time. We saw hundreds of wildebeest, zebra, Thompsons gazelle, impala, eland, Coho reedbuck, giraffe, elephant, warthog, topi, and some interesting birds. Other additions to the list over the next couple of days were hippo, crocodile, Defassa waterbuck, Olive Baboon, yellow-winged bat, black-backed jackal and spotted hyena. And lions – plenty of lions. The first lions we bumped into (on the next morning game drive out of SSC) were members of the Gadenja pride – a female and three 4 to 5 month old youngsters. Not long afterward we came upon a group of 10 females and youngsters with another three lions a distance away. Our lion tally for the morning: 18. We spent an hour or so just sitting and waiting for them to possibly take an interest in a group of wildebeest, but no luck. By noon, we were back in camp for a lunch of vegetarian calzone, pea salad and a mixed green salad. Time for a shower (on request at this bush camp), and then a short nap. On the afternoon game drive out of Serengeti Safari Camp we made several major additions to the trip list including buffalo and black rhino. There were wildebeest everywhere, huge groups of them of several thousand moving through the area, possibly on their way back to the Mara. The Migration! Seeing a solitary black rhino in the fading afternoon light was electrifying. It was already too dark for a good photo but it really didn’t matter. Seeing such a rare animal moving about condently in an open area reminded me of what it must have been like all over Africa, decades ago. Sadly, there are now very few places in the world where you can see a Black Rhino in a totally natural setting. I was fortunate to get close to some young jackals in very good light this afternoon, for some of the best pics of the trip to date.

PART 3: LAMAI SERENGETI

Lamai Serengeti
It was another early start this morning with Philip – with very good game-viewing en route to Lamai Serengeti camp. We stopped for breakfast on the banks of the Mara River, having earlier seen the tragic aftermath of many of the animals having drowned in the river some weeks earlier, during the migration in the Mara. All in all I was quite unimpressed by Nomad’s ‘picnic breakfasts’. Good intention but no good. Of any meal, breakfast travels least well and is most unappetizing when served at room temperature. Cold fried eggs & sausage anyone? The company would be well-advised to scrap the picnic breakfast idea. Serve a light breakfast in camp and then return for a late brunch instead.

Just before noon we reached Lamai where there happened to be three cheetah lying in the shade, not far from camp. We jockeyed for position with about 5 or 6 vehicles in order to get a good angle for some photographs. Had this been the Mara, there would been 20+ vehicles around so I suppose a half dozen wasn’t too bad. Then it was on to the camp. I had been anticipating my rst visit to Lamai Serengeti for several months and I was not disappointed. The camp is built in such a way that it almost becomes part of the kopje (hillock) itself. It makes the very best of its elevated location, with great to fantastic views from each room. We were in room #1 which apparently has the best views of any of the rooms. Not having seen all the other views I can’t say for sure but won’t dispute it: our room had a 180-degree view from the front & side of the room as well as from the bathroom, over the prettiest African plains scenery imagineable. Add a hodge podge of bold rocky outcrops and a line of low hills in the background and voila – as ‘Out of Africa’ as it comes. All very soothing to the psyche of your average city-dwelling denizen. It clearly took a lot of verve and imagination and some considerable derring-do to even imagine putting a lodge in this spot in the rst place. Never mind actually building it. But it works.

The camp is not without its shortcomings, although it is difcult to be critical about such a wonderful place. It is a slog to get to some of the rooms, and there are steps – many of them – pretty much anywhere on the property. So not a good choice for people with mobility issues. To get to and from Room #1 is really quite taxing – so be sure to ask for a room closer to the main area if you don’t need or want the exercise. The two of us were quite happy to huff and puff a bit – exercise opportunities being a rare thing on safari.

The rooms are large and very comfortable and even on one of the hottests of summer days, we were never too hot. There is no fan but there is a large (approx 24 feet) gauze screen to the front which makes for very good circulation. So with just the slightest of a breeze, the temperature in the room is not an issue, very comfortable. The natural wood roof and light gunnite walls insulate the rooms pretty well too. There is a good size deck with a couple of comfortable chairs in front of the room, to sit and chill and enjoy the view.

It is a pity that the room itself does not match the unique setting. It is almost as if the designer had run out of ideas by the time the room interior had to be planned. For example: the bathroom has a totally stunning view but the furnishings are sparse and rather rough-hewn, with a shower in the corner as well as a very plain – totally standard – toilet and a rather unattractive vanity with his and hers bassinettes. There’s plenty of space for a large tub which would have great; or better yet an outdoor tub making the most of the incomparable view.

The bedroom portion of the unit is large but not necessarily a place where one would be tempted to spend a lot of time. The view from the bed is superb but it is obscured by a dark insect screen. Surely a sliding glass door would not be out of place here? The room just begs to be more open to its superb setting.

Of course I have no idea what the designer had in mind with the property. If the aim was something rather plain, even a bit rustic, then yes the muted colors, sparse furnishings, local materials and rough nishes do the job. Lamai Serengeti has an unbelievable setting and great game-viewing but if you are looking for a sleek, deluxe ‘bush chic’ property, this is not the place. It totally blends into its environment in terms of location, feel and appearance, and has a very authentic ‘classic safari’ feel. Lamai Serengeti is earthy and natural rather than glitzy and articial. If that rocks your boat then yes LS is the place for you. 

I haven’t said much yet about the game-viewing at Lamai and I should because it was simply amazing. Not just in terms of numbers – there’s a lot of stuff to be seen – but the quality of the sightings was right up there with the best we have ever experienced in Africa.

Our first afternoon game drive produced several scintillating sightings including cheetah, lion and leopard in that order! We took a second look at the three cheetah spotted earlier in the day, got a few ok pics and then moved on to a unique lion sighting: a lioness stretched out on the edge of a high rock cliff. She was completely relaxed, dozing peacefully in the late afternoon sun, likely seeking higher ground to escape the worst of the heat and possibly also the ies which were swarming all the other big cats in the area.

Then we went off to a nearby rocky outcrop where a family of leopard with 2 very young cubs had been seen the last two days. It did not take long for the rst little face to peer out from behind a rock ledge, and soon enough we were watching the antics of the two tiny leopard cubs clambering about, through the thick vegetation, along the edge of the rock face and beyond the outcrop when one of them decided to come and take a closer look at us.

Dinner at Lamai was fun – we were at a table with a few other agents and industry people – and like all the other meals here (except the packed breakfast) it was good and tasty. This evening’s menu included a nice vegetable soup and for the vegans a stuffed aubergine (aka eggplant) and fresh fruit compote.

It was one of the hottest evenings of the summer, yet we were very comfortable in our room behind the large mosquito net. The evening sounds included a male lion roaring quite loudly – we subsequently learned that he was in camp that night. That’s why they tell you not to go walkabout in the middle of the night…

Two More Game Drives In The Serengeti
Our last morning game drive in the Serengeti was a doozy. The morning routine at Lamai is a wake-up call with a hot beverage at 5:30A with the game drive starting at 06:00A. A bush breakfast is served around 8:30A or so, at a nice spot somewhere out in the bush. It is important to get out early because the heat builds up quickly and on a clear day temperatures reach 90F by late morning.

Our best sighting of the day was a lioness with three very young cubs, about 2 months old. They were cute as buttons, extremely playful and very photogenic as they charged somewhat clumsily but determinedly through the veld. Helter skelter they ran ahead of and sometimes away from their mother, one of the three in particular proving to be quite a handful. Mom had to backtrack a couple of times to corral her boldest child. It was rather worrying (for a human) to observe, knowing that the mortality rate of young lion cubs is extremely high at this age.

Back in the camp for lunch, we enjoyed yet another tasty meal, this time couscous, spicy vegetarian chapati rolls (atbread), a green salad and freshly baked bread rolls. Delicious!

Our nal game drive at Lamai produced a couple of memorable sightings, the best one being a Martial Eagle dragging its prey – a Banded Mongoose – and the other one an injured female lion struggling to survive a leg injury caused by a poacher’s trap. The lioness was in very poor shape but was feeding on a wildebeest carcass; my feeling was that she could make it with some quick medical attention (to remove the wire still imbedded in her leg).

We enjoyed sundowners on a large at rock a ways out of camp, watching a beautiful pink-tinged sunset. As we stood there awash in the glow of the setting sun, and seeing the reected light on the rocks behind us, I was filled with a palpable sense of well-being. It was an ‘Africa moment’ when time and place fall away and just for a second you feel as if you’re standing in the footsteps of your ancestors.

We slept well that evening, happy with what we had seen and experienced in the Serengeti, and looking forward to visiting some totally new areas (for us) in the Western part of Tanzania. Katavi and Mahale, here we come!

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Madikwe Game Reserve South Africa
June 2013

Tuningi Lodge & Madikwe Hills

Intro
By June 2 2013 – after a pleasant couple of days visiting with family – Kathy and I were on our way from Pretoria to Madikwe, a massive private game reserve in the north-western area of the country, just south of the Botswana border. In fact, it is possible to combine a visit to Madikwe with Botswana by road transfer to Gaborone from where there are regular scheduled fiights to Maun, the gateway to the Okavango Delta.

En route we stopped over at The Grove restaurant in Swartruggens where we enjoyed a nice breakfast; it was a good break on the approximate 4.5 hr journey. Part of the main road (N4) was under construction but within the next 6 months or so it should be all good.

Tuningi Lodge
From Swartruggens it was about another hour to the entrance gate to Madikwe, and then a fairly short drive to our first overnight stop at Tuning Lodge, operated by Seasons in Africa. We were just in time for an afternoon game drive which was initially quiet, but it livened up really nicely at a water hole where we had some nice ‘action’ with several groups of elephant interacting, as well as a solitary white rhino. We also had a look at a couple of female lions with cubs, but they were all sleeping.

June 3 2013 – Madikwe
On the morning game drive we came across a particularly scraggly male lion which really looked like he had been through the wars. Another very interesting sighting was at the carcass of a 3-month dead elephant, which was smelly beyond description. There were several hyena active at the site, and one of them was actually right inside the body cavity, taking a snooze inside the dead elephant. There were also several jackals around.

The rooms at Tuningi are superb, pretty much the ideal luxury safari lodge setup: lots of space, high degree of privacy (no line of sight to an adjacent room), a nice sized verandah which is functional – not just decorative – and a separate bathroom with a full sized bath, indoor and outdoor shower and a toilet that has a door. This particular room had a few steps between it and the lounge but one of the others (room #5, a family room) is 100% suitable for guests in a wheelchair. There are no steps at all in the room itself, and no steps to the lodge. There are just 3 steps between the lodge and the outdoor boma area overlooking a small waterhole.

Tuningi impressed us on several levels. Between them Wilma and Heidi could not have been more friendly and solicitous of our every wish and request. We enjoyed having a young family with 2 kids around – the very precious girl (around 2?) and her slightly older brother elicited quite a few smiles all-round.

Lodges often claim the ability to make guests ‘part of the family’ but few actually manage it. If our very short 24-hr visit could be considered a true indicator, Tuningi really gets this right.

As far as catering goes, they had a special vegan menu printed up for us and it was excellent, with some of the highlights being a butternut casserole and a medley of beans wrapped in puff pastry. Both were delightful.

Madikwe Hills Lodge
At just before noon this day, we hit the road for Madikwe Hills Lodge in the Eastern part of Madikwe reserve. The rooms (suites only) and the general areas (lounge, dining area and massive deck in front of camp) were about as impressive as it gets. Our suite was spacious and luxurious, with a separate lounge/entrance area, a sleeping area with huge king size bed, a large outdoor deck with private plunge pool, a massive tub and both an indoor shower plus a true (not enclosed) outdoor shower.

White Rhino in Madikwe
Our afternoon game drive with Jacques started with a brief look at a couple of sleepy lionesses,
but improved very quickly when we parked close to two huge white rhinos on the edge of a
dam. They were very relaxed and posed for us for an extended period of time, even edging closer
to us to take a better look at the ‘invader’ parked too close to their midden. It was an electrifying few minutes with all of our collective attention totally focused on the two behemoths. You could
literally hear a pin drop in the vehicle as we concentrated on listening to their breathing and their heavy footfall. Another guest in the car did ask if the rhinos were in the same family as hippos. Really?

Wild Dogs – a Madikwe ‘Special’
From the rhinos, Jacques headed out to the eastern fence-line where we were very fortunate to see a large pack of wild dogs running at quite a pace through heavily wooded area, clearly on the hunt. We got several good looks at them as they ran past the vehicle several times, seemingly totally oblivious to the attention from us and from a couple of other cars in pursuit. Unfortunately we rarely made a complete stop so it was very difficult to get any good photographs. Also the light
had pretty much disappeared by the time we saw the dog. Nonetheless African Wild Dogs is a mega-sighting anywhere in Africa so we considered ourselves very fortunate to have seen them again.

Dinner at Madikwe Hills on the deck was quite memorable – in every respect. It was a beautiful setting, the food was of gourmet quality – yet the service was on the slow side.

I was happy to find out that the WIFI at Madikwe Hills was working, having struck out at both Mashatu and at Tuningi. It is better not to have WIFI at all than to promise it and then not be able to deliver. Unfortunately the latter (promising it and not delivering) would happen all over the place.

A Lion Kill at Madikwe
The next morning we headed out quite early – before sunrise – towards a very open area of the park, where we spotted a gorgeous adult male lion walking from west to east, our left to our right. With excellent morning light, we make several good captures as it slowly walked towards us, crossed the road behind the vehicle and continued walking east.

There was a large group of wildebeest on that side of the road and the lion headed in their general direction. None of us anticipated what would happen next. The lion suddenly started charging towards the wildebeest and managed to create some confusion with some of the wildebeest breaking to the left, and others to the right. In the middle of all this a young wildbeest somehow blundered too close to the lion: all we heard was the death scream of the unfortunate victim. A minute or so later we could see the lion dragging its prey in a northerly direction.

Interestingly, our guide Jacques had just talked about the fact that male lions do in fact hunt and successfully so. Many guests are under the wrong impression that the female lions do all the hunting. As we experienced in a very personal and memorable way, that is definitely not the case.

Madikwe Hills not suitable for all guests
We would certainly be happy to recommend Madikwe Hills as a good choice for our clients, but there are some issues of concern. For one thing the camp is not at all suitable for physically handicapped individuals. In fact it would probably the worst choice of any for a person with impaired mobility – there are just way too many steps on the paths between the rooms and all the facilities, and even in the rooms themselves. This is because of the nature of the terrain: the camp was constructed right on top of a series of massive boulders so the architect and the builders had to be very creative in blending some of the natural features into the rooms and other areas. Our suite had one side of a boulder inside the bathroom. The visual effect is stunning and it works wonderfully as a design element. It is just not very practical – or at least not for people who are not fairly strong on their feet.

The service at Madikwe Hills was way too slow, particularly at breakfast. Atfirst there was simply nobody there (early one morning); and when someonefinally did show up, it was near impossible to get them to take a food order, and equally slow to get whatever you wanted. We suspect that it has something to do with the management team not putting in much of an appearance in the lodge itself (at least not when we were there), seemingly content to stay in their office suite which is part of the reception building.

Vehicle seating policy at Madikwe Hills not ideal
More importantly though, we were surprised and dismayed to find out that Madikwe Hills has a policy of taking up to 8 guests in the same vehicle on game drives. Inclusive of the seat next to the driver there are 10 seats altogether on the vehicles, so with 8 guest the seating works out to be one (in front); two rows with 2 persons (plus an empty seat in each of those rows) and then one row with all 3 seats occupied.

This means that some unfortunate person travel possibly halfway around the world and pays a hefty daily tariff at this superb and decidedly upmarket lodge, only to be stuck in the middle seat between two other persons, on a game drive. This is unacceptable at a lodge in this price category, in our opinion. At moderately priced or ‘cheap’ safari lodges this may be a more common occurrence and given the lower cost, possibly an acceptable trade-off. Just not at a property such as Madikwe Hills.

I know that there are private vehicles available and I would always recommend their use for really serious photographers or for family groups or others who are concerned about being in the same vehicle with someone who may have a completely different idea of the pace and ‘focus’ of a game drive. Such as having serious birders – who want to stop at and identify literally every different species of bird they encounter – in the same car with people who are only interested in big cats. If your interests are widely divergent from the ‘average’ game drive which focuses mostly on mammals but not to the exclusion of everything else – and which stops at a sighting long enough for everyone to get multiple photographs if they wish – then you should be in a private vehicle.

For ‘regular’ guests who just want to take some good photographs and/or video, and who don’t insist (for example) that the guide stays with any particular species for an inordinately long period of time – a personal vehicle is redundant and the additional cost is not justifiable.

JACI’S SAFARI LODGE

June 4 2013: Jaci’s Safari Lodge
By midday on June 4, Kathy and I headed from Madikwe Hills to Jaci’s Safari Lodge, located right along the Groot Marico River on the eastern-most border of Madikwe Game Reserve. Jaci’s Safari Lodge and its sister camp Jaci’s Tree Lodge are two of Madikwe oldest and also most popular and highly regarded properties.

Our hybrid tented room (some canvas wall and zippers, otherwise a permanent structure) was quite comfortable and spacious enough and would make a fine stop-over for a few days. The room did have a few rustic touches such as a large tiled bath, and an outdoor shower which is difficult to access, with zipped up flaps between it and the room. The outdoor shower did not drain properly.

One other design feature which we did not care for, is that the toilet has no door whatsoever and it is not private at all. There are two odd ‘corner’ steps down into the toilet from the bathroom, which can be tricky to negotiate at night. There is a curtained partition between the main room and bathroom but it is real rigmarole to have to close it up every time you use the bathroom and/or toilet.

On the plus side, the room had a great patio overlooking a small stream, under floor heating and electric blankets. Lighting is adequate; there is ample shelf and hanging space for clothes and other stuff. As well as several well-places plugs for recharging camera batteries and other equipment, any time of the day or night.

Lions with Ollie at Jaci’s Safari Lodge
That afternoon we met our driver-guide Ollie who would spend the next couple of days with us: he turned out to be very friendly and knowledgeable and extremely familiar with the area. With Ollie, we started to see lions again almost immediately, the first sighting between two females with 9 cubs – they were in the process of devouring a wildbeest. We tried for the wild dogs again but got to the area a little late, and struck out. We did manage to get a pretty good look at a serval cat on the way back into camp.

Dinner at Jaci’s Safari Lodge was excellent. We dined privately at fire-side – it was very romantic – and we appreciated the fact that the chef had previously come to talk to us about our dietary preferences. They really went out of their way at Jaci’s (both lodges) to make the vegan food choices as exciting and varied as any we have enjoyed before.

Our morning game drive on June 5 was on the quiet side. Ollie had decided to travel to the south in the hopes of picking up the tracks of 4 male cheetah which had lately been seen in the area, or to find some black rhino for us. In the end we settled for a pretty good look at two young male lions who were taking a siesta near one of the giant electric pylons (#178).

Jaci’s Tree Lodge
More lions and wild dogs – this time from Jaci’s Tree Lodge. We packed up our stuff this morning and the bags were taken off to the nearby Jaci’s Tree Lodge, a sister property. We were joined by 2 guests from the UK on the afternoon game drive – and almost immediately ran into a gorgeous male lion which we had heard calling earlier that morning, near day-break. He was checking out the scenery and put on quite a show for us before he settled down in a depression, to doze off. We then headed off to the eastern fence-line where we got lucky again with the wild dogs.

Ollie’s anticipation on where the Wild Dogs would pop up next was uncanny. We ended up being perfectly positioned to see them at several different spots. Other than on our previous encounter with the dogs out of Madikwe Hills, the vehicle was 100% stationary a couple of times, so I could get off a few decent shots. Guides in pursuit of wild dogs would be well advised to keep this in mind: nobody can take pics from a moving vehicle. You can be on top of the dogs in perfect light but unless you stop your vehicle so the guests can take their pics, it will remain just a great visual experience for them. Slowly creeping along is no good either. Just stop the vehicle, ask the guests if they are positioned correctly and give them a chance to press the shutter.

Just before sundowners that evening, close to the Madikwe Airstrip, Kathy and I also had a good view (brief and in poor light, but better than on the Mashatu Walking Safari) of a brown hyena. Apparently these animals are quite common at Madikwe.

On the way back to the lodge we saw a herd of 30+ elephants drinking in the marshy area in front of Jaci’s Tree Lodge. It was amazing to see them all – big and small – moving around at night. In the bright starlight and even more so in the beam of the spotlight they looked exactly like ‘great grey ghosts’ – almost soundlessly padding around on their giant fleshy feet. Elephants are not exactly nimble but their agility and sure-footedness can be astonishing. They can turn on a dime, can accelerate like a mountain bike and they are much faster than even Usain Bolt, reaching speeds of 40 kilometer per hour, about 25 mph. Almost twice as fast as most of us are able to run. Beware.

This evening, we enjoyed dinner at the boma at Jaci’s Tree Lodge. It was a very special affair outdoor around a large fire, with space heaters put at our back for an all-round toasty experience. The food was excellent. The special vegan offering was a curried bean stew, while the rest of the crew tucked into an oxtail casserole (declared to be superb) as well as various charcoal-grilled meats including lamb chops and chicken breasts.

Our last game drive with Ollie was very satisfying with good views of some young elephants jousting, as well as the previously seen two female lions with 6 cubs (three were temporarily absent) in very good light.

PART 3: MATEYA LODGE

By midday, once again, we headed out to our last Madikwe property – Mateya Lodge, which was actually not very far at all from Madikwe Hills Lodge. We were simply blown away by this fabulous deluxe property. The main lounge & dining room is a ‘de facto’ art gallery with dozens of authentic – and some clearly priceless – African bronze statuettes and other artifacts, some made of wood or stone. There were also many original oil paintings on display, several by the renowned Paul Augustinus. Owner Susan Mathis who hails from Atlanta GA had apparently collected most of the bronze statues over the course of 2 years while traveling with a private aircraft through western and central Africa. Ms Mathis lives on the property except for a few summer months when she returns to the USA.

We spent the next two nights in a massive room with a view over a water hole (seeing white rhino, giraffe, wildebeest, zebra, baboons, impala and kudu in the process). There was a huge marble bath with his and hers indoor showers with 2 faucets and shower heads as well as an outdoor shower, side by side. Doors open up in front of both the bathroom and the living quarter areas for views over the plains. From the bedroom the doors open up to a huge outdoor patio with large private plunge pool right in front. There are 2 comfortable wicker chairs on the left hand side of the patio and a glass-topped table and chairs as well as two loungers on the right. We easily could have spent a lazy morning or afternoon right there, particularly in one of the warmer summer months.

Our Mateya ranger was Francois who was extremely knowledgeable about every aspect of the nature experience at Madikwe, from birds through rodents to elephants. We very much enjoyed our time with him and he was at all times most considerate of our requirements, making sure that the vehicle positioning was just right for both of us, every time. We enjoyed a quiet dinner with Francois in front of the indoor fireplace at Mateya on our day of arrival there. It was impeccable: a 5-course affair complete with guava sorbet as a ‘degustation’. I was really happy to see a stir-fried tofu dish on the menu as well, together with a fantastic salad. We had our pick from amongst 3800 to 4000 bottles of wine in Mateya’s private wine cellar (except for Ms Mathis’ special French wine collection). In the end my choice of a Rustenberg Merriman turned out to an excellent one. It worked particularly well with Kathleen’s main dish which was (farm-raised) kudu fillet as I recall.

Birds and Cheetahs at Mateya
The two game drives on this day combined perfectly for everything one could hope for on safari. We enjoyed some bird-watching in the morning – as well as taking photographs of some rather wary Ground Squirrels – and then went off for some bigger and better things in the afternoon. No doubt the highlight of our stay at Madikwe – a coalition of 4 superb male cheetahs. We stayed with the cheetahs for nearly half an hour, watching them taking chunks of meat from a freshly killed juvenile wildebeest. It was one of our better cheetah sightings of the last few years, and both Kathy and I made some good captures of the cheetahs’ bloodied faces in pretty good afternoon light.

On the way back to Mateya we also had a look – not the best yet but a good glimpse nonetheless – of a pair of black rhinos. We had been looking for them high and low so it was nice to finally find them.

Rhino Poaching – nowhere is safe
We were very dismayed to learn that the scourge of rhino poaching had already extended its grim tentacles to the far-off reaches of Madikwe. Several of these amazing animals had already been killed in the reserve over the last couple of years or so. Like elsewhere, it is just about impossible to effectively protect these rather amiable behemoths against the lethal attention of intruders who slip in at night, stay clear of lodges and game drives, commit their murderous deeds and then disappear with their grizzly trophies in a sack. It is hardly more difficult than it would be hunting for cows.

Unless something is done soon to reduce or control the growing demand fro rhino horn it appears to me that the species has very little chance of surviving in viable numbers in the wild. There will always be small, heavily protected pockets of rhino here and there, but effectively the species will be lost to mankind, within the next 20 years.

It is a slowly unfolding tragedy of monumental proportion. It would be a stain on our collective conscience if this signature species – such as clear and distinctive link with the prehistoric past – were to disappear due to greed, ignorance and horrible mis-information and apathy.

This evening Kathy and I were treated to a private dinner in the wine cellar at Mateya. Just the two of us sitting side by side with some 4000 bottles of wine spanning 3 sides of the room, right in front of us and to our left and right. Our attendant Connies was keen to show us some of Ms. Mathis most prized French wines, including several splendid Bordeaux, some from the Pauillac region, a Chateau Mouton Rothschild and many others. With our meal – Kathy had a steak with peppercorn sauce and my special meal was a medley of quinoa and red beans with fresh vegetables – we enjoyed a fine Pinot Noir. It was a fitting end to a lovely stay at Madikwe.

June 9 _ Johannesburg
We skipped the game drive this morning, took it easy and then drove back direct to Oliver R Tambo Airport, this time using a different route via Sun City. From the Madikwe gate it took just about 4 hrs of moderately fast driving (at or just above the legal speed limit which varies widely) to reach the airport. The first 40 kilometers or so are on a dirt road which is a pity: it is not a bad road but I think most people who may consider doing this trip on a self-drive basis would likely prefer to stay on asphalt throughout. The total distance was round 325 km or just over 200 miles, right into the Budget Car Rental return bay. The signposting for the car rental return area at ORTI is just as bad as ever, with a few tiny unobtrusive signs not quite pointing the way…

CityLodge at ORTI a good choice
Kathleen was supposed to depart for Houston via Paris early this evening but as it turned out her Air France flight was delayed for all of 18 hrs. Quelle horreur! Fortunately we had a room at the CityLodge ORTI. So we had a nice dinner together and she was off early the next morning.

The CityLodge ORTI is an ideal stop-over for a quick overnight in Jo’burg, especially with a late arrival and/or early departure the next day. It is at most an 8 to 10 minute walk (in complete safety) from one’s room at the CityLodge to the terminal A or B check-in counters. The rooms are on the small side but they have a bath plus separate shower, an HD TV screen, WIFI on demand (at additional cost), a built-in safe and the rooms are fairly well insulated. We never heard any aircraft noise, just some slamming doors and cars honking.

The restaurant has a pretty good casual restaurant, at least judged by its breakfast offerings. One of the hotel’s best features is its proximity to a slew of restaurants less than a six minute walk from the foyer. These include Nando’s Chicken, Ocean Basket, Fournos Bakery, Kauai (vegan options), Fish n Chips, Anat Mediterannean, Raj Indian, Wimpy Burger, Spur Soaring Eagle Steak House & Burgers, Mugg & Bean and Woolworths for some quality take-aways.

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Mashatu Game Reserve & Walking Safari May 2013

PART 1: JOHANNESBURG

Intercontinental Hotel – Oliver R Tambo Airport
Once more and again, Kathy and I made sure that we had our passports, braced ourselves for the TSA ‘scare-port’ treatment and plunged into the maelstrom of ultra long-distance travel, which would take us from Houston to Johannesburg in just about 24 hours total.

Flying this far this fast plays havoc with almost everybody’s sense of time and place. Our human bodies were just not designed to be suddenly transported over multiple time zones at 500+ mph.

Somewhat bleary-eyed and jetlagged, but happy to be back on terra firma, we were met by a smiling representative of the Intercontinental ORTI. It was hardly necessary – the hotel is less than a 3 minute walk from the customs exit – but it was a nice touch anyway.

Soon enough we were up in 7th floor room with (good security, need room key to access any specific floor), where a welcome hot bath and a change of clothes revived us somewhat. A very late dinner (several vegan side dishes in addition to an array of more standard fare) and not too much later we were fast asleep, totally exhausted from the two long back to back flights.

The first leg from Houston to Amsterdam was rather uncomfortable in an ancient 747-combi with very little leg room and less than comfortable seats. The movie selection was ho-hum, the food totally unremarkable, but there were some good music choices so we strapped on our noise-cancelling headphones (standard equipment on all flights taken by Fish Eagle Safaris personnel), fired up the Kindles and got to grips with the latest Reacher novel. Well at least I did; I am sure Kathleen had something a bit more substantial going.

Just after landing in Amsterdam a strong horse-manure smell wafted through the rear section of the plane, emanating from an open door between the main cabin and the cargo section. It turned out that there had been 15 horses on the plane with us, all the way from Houston. As I said to Kathy, I bet those horses had more leg room and better food than us.

We whiled away a couple of hours at the giant Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam with some overpriced coffee and Dutch apple-pie (not bad!), checked some e-mail and had to submit to yet another frisking from some rather over-zealous Dutch cousins of the TSA.

Just after 9:00Pm the day after we had left Houston in the early afternoon, our feet touched African concrete. A longish walk to the immigration counter where formalities were dealt with quickly and efficient (no visa required, no silly forms to complete) and our luggage was on the carousel in a matter of minutes. All that was left was the brief walk over to the IC Hotel.

We slept solidly until after 7:00 on the morning of May 23, enjoyed a very tasty breakfast at the InterContinental’s exceptionally well-provisioned buffet breakfast. I took some exterior photographs of the hotel which is a little oasis of calm amidst the hustle and bustle of Africa’s largest airport.

We checked out a suite (impressive!), the spa, gym and pool area (nice!) as well as an executive room. Considering the high daily tariff for the room, the ‘standard’ deluxe rooms at the IC are on the small side. However what you are paying for here is mostly location and unquestionably it is #1 in Johannesburg in this respect. The hotel is almost ridiculously close to the international arrivals hall. Even so, the rooms are practically 100% soundproof and even during the very busy early morning take-off frenzy, we could not hear a single jet taking to the skies. Very impressive. The same can be said for the curtaining which turns the room into a pitch-black dark cavern any time of the day or night. Just what a jetlagged body needs. I quite liked the bath – just a good size – and there is a very amply proportioned shower as well, and a separate toilet with door. The room had a good quality TV, handy plug points, plenty of space for clothes & other stuff. Also the bed was super comfortable with some of the nicest, softest pillows we’ve ever come across. Kathy liked the espresso coffee maker and while we did not have much time to use it, the mini-bar was more than adequately stocked.

I have nothing negative to say about the IC; perhaps it would be a good idea to have a light switch for the bathroom inside the room, rather than on the bedroom side of the sliding door. At night it makes for a few awkward moments as the ‘awake’ person tries to sneak into the bathroom and has to switch on the bright bathroom light in view of the ‘asleep’ person.

The Intercontinental is of course also the safest option of any Johannesburg hotel. There is just about zero exposure to any kind of danger or potential danger. You walk (escorted at night) across an interior airport road, look up to your right and there it is, a few meters to the right.

Fairlawns Hotel Sandton
By 1300 a driver from Wilro Tours picked us up for the approximately 30 minute drive to Sandton. Wilro is the always-reliable company which we use through our destination management company Wilderness Safaris for all of our clients’ Johannesburg and Pretoria transfers and tours. As always they showed up in a spotlessly clean, seemingly new vehicle. Smoothly and efficiently we made our way back to Fairlawns Country Hotel in Sandton, on Alma Road just off Bolling Ave.

We had spent a night at this property before, in November 2012, but we arrived late and left fairly early the next morning. Not what you need to do at Fairlawns. Ideally this should be a 2-night stay. Take the time to enjoy this absolutely splendid jewel of a property, with an authentic country hotel feel, yet just a couple of miles from one of the busiest business centers in all of Africa – and the world.

This time around we were in Room # 15 – the Mandela suite – appropriately decorated with some African artifacts, and with walls reminiscent of a light ochre clay.

The room itself is absolutely massively proportioned in every way: huge entrance foyer with couch, a business nook with adaptors and a second phone, a divider, and then an huge middle area with a king size bed, facing a large HD television set.

The bath is equally large, with exceedingly hot water – don’t burn yourself! – and a jacuzzi function if you are so inclined. I soaked for quite a while trying to burn away the jetlag. It didn’t work.

That evening my brothers Francois and Nick joined us for dinner at the Terrace Restaurant and we had perfectly splendid time, reminiscing over times gone by and reflecting on the various scandals currently besetting both the US and the South African presidencies. It’s a small world.

May 24: Breakfast at Fairlawns
We enjoyed a very convivial breakfast with John and Anna Thacker, owners of the Fairlawns Hotel. What a gracious couple – and wonderful hosts. We shared a few comments about children and grand-children (theirs, not ours), agreed on the fact that Jo’burg has the world’s finest or possibly 2nd finest climate after Harare, and tucked into the superb cold buffet with perfectly ripe fruit, including gooseberries, even prickly pear and our favorite – papaya. There were also many cheeses, cold cuts, smoked salmon, an array of breads and much much more. In addition to that you’re free to order one of many hot breakfasts (eggs to order, bacon, sausage, Eggs Benedict, crumpets, oats, omelets and frittatas.

PART 2: MASHATU TENTED CAMP

We took a last look around Fairlawns- it was a perfectly gorgeous late fall morning in Johannesburg – collected our stuff and made out way back to ORTI with Thokozane, our Wilro driver. Very pleasant and efficient, he expertly got us back to the airport in good time. Unfortunately our SA Airlink flight to Pholokwane was running about 20 minutes late and that together with a short delay at the border crossing (by boat across the Limpopo) meant that we could not do an afternoon game drive.

It was no big deal – we needed a bit of time to get settled in, check out the camp, and catch up on a few things. Including this journal. En route to camp we did come across a nice journey of giraffes. Dinner this evening was excellent, with a special vegan dish (actually more than one) being offered in addition to some goat stew, breast of chicken, a nice cream of leek soup, plenty of fresh vegetables and a creamy ice-cream for the omnivores and a fruit filled pastry for yours truly. Tomorrow: our first game drive at Mashatu in several years!

May 25 2013: Game drive at Mashatu
It is quite amazing what a decent night’s sleep can do – feeling refreshed for the first time since we left the USA, I woke up 3 minutes before the scheduled wake-up call of 6:00A. It was quite cold – probably upper 40’s F – but with some good layering there was no need for a very heavy jacket. After a quick cup of coffee and a small bowl of porridge we were on our way with our guide Daniel and tracker Commando. The first hour was rather slow but then we started picking up quite a bit of action: first two female lions and then a group of 9 cubs – of several mothers – ranging up to 18 months old. They were a little wary of the vehicles put we good a few decent photographs before they linked up with the females and disappeared into the bush.

Not long afterwards we were practically surrounded by a large group of elephants moving from our right to our left, coming to within just a couple of meters of the vehicle. The elephants were very relaxed and one or two of them barely raised their ears at our presence, turning their heads towards us as if in greeting. It was a very impressive sightings, with nearly 50 elephants of all ages filing by us. At the same time another even larger herd was passing right by another vehicle, just 300 meters or so away from us. Elephants everywhere!

On the way back to camp we passed by more elephants, and saw a good mix of other game including lots of impala, some kudu, zebra, giraffe and several eland. As they tend to do, the eland kept their distance but we were able to get one or two decent captures.

By about 1000A we were back in camp and half an hour later it was time for brunch: quite a spread of salads, meats, cheese, egg dishes, bread, potato au gratin, a fruit tray, juices, toast with several jams and even a medley of black-eyed peas and white beans prepared specially for the vegan…

After a short siesta (a much-needed hour-long nap was most welcome!) we enjoyed yet another great spread for afternoon tea, and then set out with Dan and Commando to go and find some more wildlife.

Not too far out of camp we witnessed a single elephant giving himself a mud bath. Not just any old mud bath – a thorough dousing from head to toe. Repeatedly he would gather up a trunkful of muddy water and spray it all over himself until he was reduced to a shiny mud-covered spectacle. Eventually the elephant tired and appeared to take a little mini-nap, flat on his side in the mud pool. Then he got up, walked a little further and found a source of dust, which he proceeded to spray all over himself again. Many spas would have been envious of this multi-step treatment!

Shortly afterwards we enjoyed one of the best sightings of the trip so far – two elephant herds walking in near single-file, comings straight towards us in great afternoon light. They just veered off the road slightly, passing to our left, some of the young ones moving closer to their mothers and giving us a quizzical look. Of course there was the predictable young male flapping his ears at us while giving us ‘the look’…

Our next find was a pair of jackals which seemed quite relaxed, yet their ears were constantly tipping upwards to catch a stray sound which could result in food – or flight.

Our 2-night stay at Mashatu Tented Camp was an excellent re-introduction to the area and its wildlife. We still had a few things to do but for the next few days our focus would shift to some cultural endeavors as well as a walking safari.

Cultural Visit To Mothlabaneng Village
Early on the morning of May 27, we met our cultural guide Gaone (aka Booboo) for a half day trip to Mothlabaneng village, where we experienced a glimpse of life in a typical Botswana village. The village was quiet, peaceful and neatly laid out with simple but functional houses lining the streets. There was almost no traffic and the only sounds to be heard were children playing and adults exchanging greetings. We peeked into a trading store where I was not surprised to see many of the staples I had grown up with in South Africa (traditional mealie meal (maize flour) with which to make sadza, Huletts cane sugar, Marmite, Maltabella and several others. It was very basic, and the average American visitor would be astonished by the lack of brand choices.

From there we drove to the school (it was a Sunday so no one there) and then on to a small shop & tradecraft center where a few of the local women were busy weaving baskets. We observed the process for a while and checked out the wares for sale – a nice collection indeed. Kathleen picked up one or two things while I tried to get a photograph of a few children who were entertaining themselves swinging on a dilapidated fence. The kids were keen to speak English and were quick to respond to my questions about their grade level and who their teachers were. Soon enough, I was being quizzed about the weather in Houston, and I was almost stumped when asked if I had any special skills and abilities…

With lots of useful information and background information from Gaone, we inspected the local Kgotla (large circular open-air gathering place) where an important meeting was scheduled to take place the next day, to select a new chief for the village. A chief is ordinarily a hereditary position, passed on from father to son or daughter, but the villagers had collectively decided to democratically elect a new leader.

Our last stop was at a rather rudimentary palm wine production facility, but that would be a charitable description. In actuality it was just a local guy tapping sap from a few palm trees, in what appeared to be a singularly unhygienic manner. Once fermented this local brew is said to be quite potent not only because of its alcoholic properties, but also for its ‘cleansing’ effect. I am not surprised.

We enjoyed an al fresco lunch at a very secluded and sheltered rocky spot – where Gaone pointed out some fading yet still quite fascinating rock art examples – and were then transferred to the base camp of the Mashatu Walking Safari operation.

PART 3: MASHATU WALKING SAFARI

After introductions all round, we received a very thorough briefing from Stuart Quinn, whose enthusiasm and passion for the Tuli area and all of its beauty and wildlife became evident practically immediately. He was to lead our small group of travelers from Southern African and the USA on a walking safari which lasted only a couple of days, but which made a impression that would last indefinitely. Some of the ground rules were to walk in single file, taking turns to walk in front just behind Stuart, to keep the volume down and to follow his instructions at all times. Most importantly – in the event of something untoward happening – don’t run!

The overall objective was to experience nature in its totality. We would not be just driving through it in a loud, intrusive vehicle.

The walking safari would not be a dangerous or risky business – but we would stay well clear of elephants, particularly breeding herds. Compared with the usual walking trail in most other areas – which consists of a specific pre-determined route from which one cannot deviate – the Mashatu Wilderness Trail can take you anywhere, anytime. So Stuart may opt to deviate from a planned route depending on wildlife movements, the fitness level and enthusiasm of the group, or their specific interests.

Overnight At Trails Camp
Fairly late on the first afternoon, we set off from Serolo Camp at a fairly brisk pace, over mostly level to gently sloping terrain, passing through mopane forest & shrub, clearly well utilized by elephants. Our route winded down towards the Limpopo River floodplain where we crossed over just the corner of a large marshy wetland where we could see several ducks and other waterbirds in the distance. From there the terrain and vegetation changed quite rapidly into mixed woodland, where we started to see quite a few mammal species including zebra, impala and kudu.

It was almost dark when we reached the overnight trails camp, which consisted of several pre-erected ‘stand-up’ tents, in a heavily wooded area. Our tent had two small but comfortable cots side by side, with just enough space between them to move around, and a small area at the foot of the bed for one’s luggage.

There was no interior lighting at all, and just a few paraffin lamps elsewhere in the camp site. We immediately realized that we had way too much luggage for a walking safari (it was an ordeal trying to find something in amongst a large duffel bag in the dark) and that headlamps would have come in extremely handy.

We managed though and within 20 minutes or so (there was warm water available for a bucket shower if you were so inclined) we were seated comfortably around a camp-fire. It wasn’t very cold yet but temperatures drop rapidly after sunset in this semi-desert environment with a cloudless sky. Later in the winter months of June through August one would be well advised to take a well-insulated jacket and to plan on layering as it can get very chilly early in the morning, only to warm up again, as the sun rises.

We enjoyed some brilliant star-gazing with our fellow trailists Emil (a professional photographer) and Adelle (a photo-journalist by profession) and then sat down to a wonderful dinner prepared by Stuart’s wife Annelien and her kitchen crew. We were all rather tired so we went to bed early & fell asleep promptly. Out in the bush there is an almost total absence of ambient noise, just a beautiful natural sound-track consisting of calls and sounds made by elephants, hyenas, jackals and some restless birds. Someone even heard some lions in the distance. Not me.

The View From Eagle Rock
We were up early the next morning for a light breakfast and coffee or tea with rusks, again around the fireside. The morning walk would take us to Eagle Rock, an impressive promontory with a near 360 degree view over parts of the Limpopo Valley, with the Motloutse River in the foreground. As we approached the rocky area, we saw quite a bit of wildlife again, even some giraffe giving us their characteristic stare.

Along the way, Stuart pointed out various interesting geological features. Much of the rock was sandstone, with very visible ‘globules’ to be seen. These were round knobby protrusions or holes, depending upon whether the matter which caused their formation was softer or harder than the surrounding rock. If softer, the globule would wear away faster, causing a round hole; if harder, it would take much longer to erode, resulting in one of the knobby protrusions.

We clambered onto Eagle Rock where we promptly saw a Black Eagle take to the sky. Many of its favorite prey animals – dassies (also known as rock rabbits) were to be seen scampering away. From atop Eagle Rock, there were amazing views in every direction.

From there we made our way to the next overnight stop but not before a most interesting encounter with the rarely seen Brown Hyena. Stuart had mentioned the presence of the animals in a particular spot – a large overhanging rock which formed a wide shallow cave of sorts. We crept up to the area through a narrow rock canyon, hoping to surprise one or more of the brown hyenas near their den. As it turned out, we did not surprise them: they had heard our approach and were lurking on the ‘exit’ side of the canyon. Kathleen saw the brown hyena first as it bolted into its escape route, and Stuart and I also caught a glimpse of the dark shape as it slipped away.

As interesting as the sighting itself was the brown hyena clan’s boneyard. There were in excess of 40 to perhaps even 50 different bones – mostly skulls – lying around right in front of the shallow cave entrance. Most were impala horns with the top of the skull still attached, other were baboon skulls – even a much larger skull of a young elephant could be seen. The older ones were ivory white, while more recent scavenging finds such as a fairly fresh set of impala horns still had a pinkish tinge at its base, the animal having lost its life not very long ago at all.

Creeping Up On Elephants
At the enclosed but open-air Kgotla encampment, we dropped off our stuff, enjoyed a much needed and very welcome hot shower and took a bit of a siesta. Then we were off down to the Motloutse River where we saw about 30 to 40 elephants drinking and mud-bathing. Soon enough they were joined by first one, then another and yet another herd walking out of the bush on the other side of very wide expanse of sandy gravel, making up the river-bed. Crouched down so as not to break the sky-line too much and alert them to our presence, we crept closer for some great views of these imposing beasts. As always, it was endlessly entertaining to watch their interaction and particularly to observe their dominance displays.

By the time yet another herd approached the scene and started moving towards our right (the others were in front of us and to our left), Stuart wisely decided that it would be safer to move away from the river, just in case we got surrounded by elephants. Which would not nearly be as much fun as just observing them from a safe position.

We cut through a marshy (yet currently dry) area with lots of elephant foot holes, through a very thick patch of bush and then on to the Mmamagwa Ruins and Rhodes’ Baobab, which we reached just as the sun was setting. The views over the valley, with the sun setting right in front of us, were superb. A tiny rock elephant shrew entertained us scampering out from its rocky shelter right to our feet, quite unafraid of our presence. We had worked quite hard getting up the slopes and enjoyed a well-earned sundowner drink and some salty snacks there before we made our way back to camp, this time by vehicle.

We spent yet another enjoyable evening around the campfire, with good conversation, and a tasty, wholesome ‘home-cooked’ meal, with a couple of glasses of nice wine. By 10P we were snugly settled down in our individual cots, 6 of them spaced out in 4 clusters inside the open kgotla enclosure, right under a massive mashatu tree. It was quite an exhilarating experience to sleep in the open with nothing but sky and stars above. Kathleen and I both slept exceedingly well, she to such an extent that she did not even hear two lions who called very loudly around 0500A.

Trying To Walk Into Lions
After a light breakfast we set out with Stuart and Johannes to track and hopefully catch up with the lions. It was heavy going through thick sandy terrain, through and across the riverbed in a westerly direction. It was relatively easy to follow the tracks until they started to split up and re-converge in an almost circular fashion.

It turned out that two lions had met up there and the greeting ritual, with lots of moving about – had caused the disrupted tracks. Once the guys had figured it out, we were on our way again. Unfortunately time caught up with us as one of our party had to be at the Botswana/South Africa border by 1000A.

In the end the chase was almost just as good as the catch. In our mind’s eye we could see the lions bounding towards in slow motion just like in the National Geographic documentaries. Perhaps the imagined version of walking into lions – which is what we were trying to do – is better than the real McCoy. Maybe some other time!

PART 4: MASHATU MAIN CAMP

From the Kgotla, we were driven back to Mashatu Main Camp with a short trip inspection at Limpopo Horse Safaris en route. We did a quick walk-through of the stables (very impressive, lots of room), the tack room and the reception area, and afterwards we went to see the horses. Beautiful they were too! We tried to get a photograph with a very tall black horse with massive hooves, but he was not too friendly. An equally good-looking white horse turned out to be much more obliging.

Apparently the horses work for a week (going on safari with riders out in the bush), followed by a week of rest and then a week of training.

Over the next three days at Mashatu Main Camp, we experienced some of the best game-viewing ever, superb guiding, unrivaled hospitality and catering, retiring each night to a comfortable yet not overly luxurious or ostentatious room.

Mashatu offers in my opinion the ideal mix for several days on safari. The game-viewing is reliably good to excellent: if you don’t see leopard on a 3-night stay at Mashatu, you might consider yourself unlucky or jinxed. We enjoyed 3 different sightings of leopards while there: one at night on an impala kill, a young female at point blank range during the day, and yet another female walking briskly through the woodland, on our last morning.

Since my last visit to Mashatu the lion population has mushroomed: we saw several lions every day, including a couple of female with 9 cubs of varying ages between them, four other females and a mating ‘three-some’ of lions (2 males and a female), possibly one of the females mentioned previously.

On our last game drive one of the two males (a set of brothers), and his concubine put up quite a show for us, right in front of another Mashatu vehicle. I captured a few particularly good images – and so did Kathy.

Mashatu is more than predators though: we had some of our best views ever of eland, and spending a few hours in a hide with professional photographer Mike Dexter proved to be fun and educational. I captured a few good bird photographs and missed one potentially excellent one (a missing wing-tip) and I would recommend booking a few hours with Mike or one of his colleagues on any trip to Mashatu. Whether you are a rank beginner, have a new camera or just need to take your photography to a different level, there are few places better to do this than at Mashatu.

More Info

Email bert@fisheaglesafaris.com

Email jason@fisheaglesafaris.com

@fisheaglesafarishouston

#FishEagleSafaris

Katavi & Mahale Mts National Parks Nov 2013

PART 1: INTRODUCTION

Katavi. Katuma. Katsunga. Kapapa. There are several K-words to remember on a trip to Katavi National Park, one of Africa’s most remote wildlife sanctuaries, tucked into the southwestern part of Tanzania.

Not too many visitors actually make it to Katavi. It is remote, not very easy to get to (a long flight from either Arusha or Dar-Es-Salaam) and it does not have as many roads and amenities – or as big a selection of lodges – as many other East African parks. Once you do make it out there though, you’ll probably want to return again and again.

Why? Well – mostly for the same reasons as above: It is far from anywhere, rather tough to get to, there are few roads, very few other visitors and just a handful of camps. Katavi is the anti-Mara, the anti-dote to over-travelled African game parks where minibuses line up like gluttons at a buffet, for their passengers to gawk at overly habituated vehicle-climbing cheetahs to the sound-track of clattering shutters.

There’s none of that in Katavi. It is unvarnished Africa – raw and unltered and totally remarkable. Katavi is Tanzania’s third largest park and it is famous for its large buffalo herds which can reach more than 3,000 individuals at times. We did not see that many at any one time as the big herds disperse late in the dry season (October & early November). Even so, we experienced several other dramatic sightings including literally hundreds of hippo jammed together in small, rapidly drying pools, a very healthy lion population, leopard, good numbers of elephant and a wealth of general plains game such as giraffe, zebra, impala and Defassa waterbuck.
Katavi is Africa with a wild, harsh edge. It’s not that easy getting there, and it’s not a walk in the park being there. The late dry season months of October and November can be quite hot in the afternoons, and chances are that you will have a minor run-in with a few tsetse flies here and there, not to mention some African cousins of the June bug, during dinner.

Go all the way there and brush off these and a couple other minor inconveniences such as a lot of zipping and unzipping tent openings, and you will be amply rewarded. Having traveled to just about every ‘safari’ region in Southern and East Africa, Katavi struck me as one of the last few totally unspoiled game sanctuaries in Africa. There are few roads, not many other visitors and miles and miles of wilderness where Africa looks you straight in the eye.

This is not the Serengeti where the grass is ample and almost all the animals are in good condition, unless there is a drought. This is a place of feast and famine, where survival of the ttest really means something and where every organism is tested to the limit during the long dry season.
By late October the hippos are literally at the end of their rope with sometimes hundreds of them ‘trapped’ in shrinking, smelly pools of mud. They are very stressed and very close to the breaking point, losing as much as one third of their total weight in the process.

And it’s not just the hippos that have it tough. The large herds of buffalo have to disperse because no one area of the park can sustain so many of them in close proximity. Every animal other than the predators is reduced to just eking out an existence until the first rains come.

Heat & Hippos In The Wilderness
By the time we walked into our tent at Chada Katavi on Oct 28, it was hot, probably close to 90F.

We had been traveling for several hours, having made two long back to back fights on a Tanganyika Flying Company (TFC) Cessna Caravan from Kogatende to Tabora (for refuelling) and then to the Katavi airstrip just off the Katsunga floodplain.

The tented rooms at Chada Katavi are quite large with a separate but connected bathroom with bucket shower (hot water by arrangement, on request). A single small spigot supplied water for washing one’s hands. We were initially somewhat dubious about it, but the en-suite chemical toilet employs an efcient yet minimally water-intensive ushing mechanism. All the zipping and unzipping to get into the tent and out of it, as well as into and out of the bathroom enclosure, gets a bit tedious. The insect screening is quite good though so you just have to take it in stride.

Chada Katavi is a bush camp through and through. The tents are quite widely dispersed in a massive wooded forest with sandy paths connecting the various tents to the separate lounge/library and mess tent. Oddly enough the lounge tent was right out in the open and not shaded by one of the many trees in camp. It was not heavily frequented by anyone in camp while we were there. Just too hot.

After tea which was served at 4:00P, we set off with camp manager and guide Mohamed Kassim on a game drive which took us to the Katuma river where we were quite astounded at the sight of raft after raft of dozens of hippos packed into muddy pools: cheek to cheek, tail to tail with no space for any one of them to do a 360-degree move. In ones and twos they glared at us, rearing back a bit as we approached. But they soon relaxed and there was less in the way of warning displays such as big toothy yawns, than I had anticipated.

We also observed a few Yellow-billed Storks shing in the rapidly disappearing pond, plucking one after another small catsh out of the murky, smelly water. The stork would then throw the small fish around, seemingly catching and losing it several times, after which it would be swallowed whole.

Then we were off to another spot with even more hippo packed into a very small area. What a sight! Not long afterwards we came upon the Chada pride of lions, numbering around 16 or so. There were 3 young cubs not quite 3 months old. I made a few decent captures of the young lions, who were intermittently taking milk from their mother, half-heartedly playing with each other, trying their paws at tree-climbing or just sitting about and staring at the human intruders.

By around 6:30P or so it was time to head back to camp which we did; it is about a 20 to 25 minute drive to Chada from where we were, close to the Fox camp. After a welcome shower we enjoyed cocktails around the camp fire and then it was dinner time. Nothing too exciting this evening but tasty and well-prepared: beef or lentil stew with couscous, butternut squash, and fresh green beans. Then a cup of coffee and it was time for bed. Lala Salama!

At exactly 3:45A – I checked – I was awakened to the sight of a large grey ghost approaching our tent from the left (where the main entrance is). I woke up Kathy: ‘Look, an elephant!’ We both stared out of the pitch black tent trying to see the behemoth in the moonless night. By now he/she had moved really close to the tent and then something strange happened. The elephant leaned in and started scraping the tent with what seemed to be its hide, producing a rough scratching sound. In the dead of the night, it was extremely loud and most disturbing. What on earth was this elephant trying to do – flatten our tent?

I’ve never felt threatened inside a tent before but I must admit that this time, I started feeling around for a ashlight and mentally calculated how long it would take to unzip the door opening and make an escape. And then it dawned on me. The elephant was using its trunk to literally hoover the seeds of a massive tamarind tree from the verandah and roof of our tent. We were in no imminent danger of getting trampled; this particular elephant has been pulling this stunt for a long time! He knew exactly where to lean in under the verandah to get close to the source of the delicious, nutritious seeds. In doing so he got us really worried for a few seconds because he was pushing on the poles which keep the tent in place. I started giggling and thought about trying to get a photo but setting of ashlights right then might not have been a good idea. So we just relaxed, listened to a bit more scraping and scratching going on and then it was quiet. Our seed-eating pachyderm had moved on to scare someone else.

PART 2: CHADA KATAVI & FOOT SAFARI

Birds And Crocodiles At Chada Katavi
The next morning it was all about the birds and the crocodiles, and the hippo. We witnessed one of the most amazing sights we had seen in years when a giant of a crocodile started tossing around a large dead crocodile, shaking it in its massive jaw like a limp rag. Cannibalism is never a pretty sight, but this was fierce! There were hundreds of other birds around the pond, including yellow billed storks and pelicans. We were impressed by the high density of African Fish Eagles at the bridge with two waterholes on either side. This is the bridge with the sign which prohibits free game-viewing or photography. Sure.

It is a short drive from there to the camp headquarters where we witnessed a spectacle like no other. There were several hundred hippos packed in literally wall to wall in a morass of mud and thick sludge-like water. Hardly moving and seemingly resigned to their plight to waiting out the dry season, they were just enduring the stench and discomfort, waiting for better days. One could not help but feel sorry for the poor beasts.

We then drove to the main (Katsunga) pan, where we had another picnic breakfast at a lovely spot beneath some trees. The ‘vegan’ option was a cold toasted egg sandwich without bacon. Something got lost in the translation there, but not a big deal. I just don’t much care for picnic breakfasts, vegan or not. It would be different if there was a re or hot plate to grill something, but I think the point has been made. Over coffee we admired the pretty scenery and took some photographs of giraffes moving across the open plains, fringed with large stands of Borassus palms.

We drove past Katuma Bush Lodge and Fox Camp – both of which I think have a somewhat better location than Chada Katavi, being closer to the main river and oodplain. Earlier in the dry season the Nomad property – which is on the edge of Chada Pan – has a grandstand view of the huge buffalo herds for which the park is famous, so it all depends on conditions. However it felt like we drove quite a distance on most game drives, to and from the most productive game-viewing areas.

Just before we returned to camp for lunch and a siesta, we checked out another few individuals belonging to the Chada lion pride; this time a male (known for his grumpy behavior) and three female lions, one older female and two young ones.

That afternoon, it was back to the lions, observing a female with two young cubs around 3 months of age. The lions seemed to be hiding in the grass, possibly getting into position for a late afternoon hunt. We left them temporarily to have sundowners with a breeding herd of elephants as ‘entertainment’ in the background. The next activity was a night drive which produced a good crop of nocturnal animals including three genets, several lesser bush babies (one good clear sighting) and one of our best ever views of a Serval Cat.

A TWO GUN FOOT SAFARI

This morning (Oct 30) at 6:30A four of us plus our guide Mohamed and a TANAPA (Tanzania National Parks) ranger set out on a 2-gun foot safari. As it turned out that was two guns too many, the most dangerous game we encountered being warthogs. Of course it is well-advised to be protected at all times as one could come across elephant or buffalo unexpectedly – with unpredictable results.

Mohamed was exceptionally knowledgeable about various plants and trees, and we learnt some fascinating things about elephant dung (responsible for spreading Borassus palm seeds), a salty shrub (which the animals seek out for – duh – salt), acacia melliora (thorns low down but not high up), sausage trees (size matters – it’s a long story) buffalo thorn tree (natural viagra for the Hadzabe) and we watched the leaves of a ‘touch me not’ shrub close up at the lightest of touches. It was a pleasant outing and a nice change of pace from the vehicle.

A bit later that morning we saw two sleeping elephants next to Mohamed’s tent, right in camp. They were quite relaxed, just taking a nap.

ALL THE WAY TO PARADISE AND BACK

At around 10:00A we set off to Paradise to check it out briey and then to go on to Palahala Camp for a site inspection. Our friendly and competent Starlight driver-guide was Promise. It was a long 2-hr trip to Paradise but we did see quite a bit of game en route, including giraffe, impala, zebra, ground hornbills, a few buffalo and some hyena.

It’s true what your mother told you. Getting to Paradise is not easy. It was a good 40km from the bridge across the Katuma River and several stretches of the road to Paradise were infested with some pesky, persistent tsetse ies. By now I was well-prepared for them and really had very few issues. They tend to like some people more than others and unfortunately I am in the ‘favored’ category. So here’s what you do:

Bert’s Tsetse Fly Protection Plan

Over the years I have had a few run-ins with tsetse ies. Most memorably on a drive along a tsetse fly corridor to a camp in Zambia which I don’t think is even in business anymore. Here are my hints on how to avoid being bitten by these useless pests. Or at least to reduce the damage they can do.

i) Before you put on anything for the day’s outing, spray yourself all over with -preferably – Peaceful Sleep which is a very effective TF repellent. If you don’t have that on hand then use whatever DEET-containing spray or roll-on or cream you have on hand. Try to cover as much of your body as you can (even your back as they will probe and/or bite through clothing).

ii) Wear a neutral color long-sleeved shirt and long pants – shorts are just too much of an invitation. Tuck your long pants into your socks (the longer and thicker the better) and use some Peaceful Sleep or other spray or insect repellent liberally around the ankles. The TF like ankles A LOT! If you want some extra protection, wear gaiters around the ankles. The gaiters might even protect you from other biting flies.

iii) Put on a hat to cover your head. Next time I might even take some sturdy biking gloves for certain tricky spots or activities (a boating trip in Odzala-Kokoua, Republic of Congo come to mind). iv) Then spray yourself again – including on your clothing and socks, everywhere – with Peaceful Sleep. Repeat as often as necessary.

v) Take a small spray bottle with a Dettol anti-septic mix with you (2/3 water, 1/3 Dettol with some lotion to make it stick) and either spray it on every 20 to 30 minutes or so, or whenever you see TF activity increase around you. The TF don’t like the smell of Dettol. Yeah you will smell like an inrmary but trust me, TF bites itch like crazy.

vi) Take a cortisone cream or other anti-itch cream with you & apply it to a bite immediately. Take a couple of Benadryls if you get several bites. It happens. 

vii) When there are a few tsetse ies around, stay calm and don’t panic & ail away. It might be that movement attracts them, I don’t know. Still testing this theory – might have to book a trip to the Kafue region of Zambia to check it out. 

viii) If you do get bitten, don’t worry too much – it is not fatal and you won’t get sleeping sickness. I am told that the reaction to the TF bites reduces sharply after a week or so of getting bitten. If the choice is to get bitten by TF repeatedly for a week to build up resistance or do all the stuff above to avoid getting bitten, it should be an easy decision. Chances are you won’t need to take all of these measures but best to be prepared. Nobody likes to be bitten. The good news? There was not a mosquito to be seen anywhere in Northern or Western Tanzania. Too dry.

GOODBYE KATAVI

Our last game drive at Katava was relatively quiet. We saw some of the usual suspects (impala, giraffe, zebra, waterbuck and of course dozens of hippo) but no predators. A couple of good elephant sightings were most welcome, as we had not previously had any opportunities to photograph them in good light. I managed a couple of decent shots of a small herd moving from the Katsunga oodplain to the adjacent woodland. We also bumped into the only Roan antelope which we would see on the trip – a handsome yet shy individual who did not permit us to get any closer than about 500 meters.

Then it was back to camp to pack and enjoy breakfast (toast, baked beans, fruit and good Tanzania coffee). After making our contribution to the Tip Box we said our goodbyes & headed off on the 30-minute drive to the Katavi Airstrip. Soon enough a TFC Caravan appeared as if out of nowhere, ew over the runway to check for giraffe, banked again and came in for a landing. Within minutes the aircraft was airborne again, this time with us on board, and the pilot punched in the GPS coordinates for a small airstrip on the edge of Lake Tanganyika, just north of the border of the Mahale Mountains National Park. Next: chimps on the lake.

Once we got to Paradise, it was worth the trip. For one thing, the most amazing Borassus Palm forest dominates the landscape on either side of the river. It towers above the surrounding bush and thick riverine vegetation. We drove by several pools of clear water, at least compared with the dirty, muddy pools of the Katsuma River. We saw several bushbuck and a nice small group of Lichtenstein’s Hartebeest, a local specialty. The previous day some African wild dogs had been seen in the area, but we missed them as well as the roan antelope commonly seen here. Of course we were driving at the worst time of the day.

Palahala Camp – which is what we had come to see – consists of 8 rooms and it has a large mess tent and lounge area, conducive to spending some time reading and relaxing. The tents are large and somewhat elevated on a deck with a view of the Kapapa River. We did a back-of house inspection and I was impressed by how clean and well-organized everything was. By the time we got back to the lounge several elephants had wandered into the picture and over lunch we observed them drinking and feeding. We did pretty well ourselves with those two activities, tucking into some rice, a lovely coleslaw and a chicken curry dish, rounded off with a creme caramel. All in all a cozy, friendly camp with a good location. It is rather a long way from the camp to the Katsunga Pan area for game drives.

Back at Chada Katavi I spent an hour catching up on some e-mails, and shortly afterwards we departed for sundowners on the Chada Pan. As it happened, there was a really nice herd of about 300+ buffalo right in the open oodplain. Mohamed maneuvered the vehicle so that we had the sunset in the background. This is what you come to Africa for. Enjoying a gin & tonic while the sun sets over a gorgeous African scene, with a near 360-degree view of nothing but grass, a tree line on the horizon and a sky as big as Texas. And of course a few hundred buffalo.

Rather reluctantly we returned to camp by about 7:00P for a leisurely dinner – more like a feast really with a rice pilaf, roast pork, a traditional local bean dish, ugali, spinach and a mixed cabbage salad. Yum!

PART 3: MAHALE MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK

MAHALE MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK

It is barely over 40 minutes by air from Katavi National Park to the Mahale Mountains National Park but the two areas could not be more different. In fact they might just as well be 1,000 miles apart, they are so dissimilar.

Greystoke Mahale is tucked into a narrow sandy strip along the edge of Lake Tanganyika, below the densely forested Mahale Mountains with the mountains of the Democratic Republic of Congo visible about 30 miles across the lake. The mountain and the lake – most people would be hard pressed to pick a favorite or to guess which of the two is the most dominant feature. They are both equally impressive and both essential to the Greystoke experience.

Mahale is best known as a sanctuary and research area for a group of about 60 habituated chimpanzees, plus several hundred more wild ones which inhabit the national park. Having trekked for chimpanzees before in two different areas of Uganda I can say that the Mahale experience was by far the best I have experienced. The chimps are very well habituated and hence very tolerant of humans being close to them. The leafy ever-green forest habitat is superb and makes for a perfect backdrop. If you’ve never seen chimps before and want to do so, or if they are your favorite animals, a visit to the Mahale Mountains National Park should denitely be on your short list.

Even if there were no chimpanzees here it would be a more than worthwhile destination. Amazing views, the super deep-water swimming opportunities, shing, kayaking, birding, hiking – the area has it all and more. We spent quite a bit of time boating (on a motorized kayak) but it is also possible to just relax and take it easy. The beach at Greystoke rivals many a coastal resort area, with the prettiest lake imaginable spilling out onto a white sandy beach. 

On our first afternoon we spent 30 minutes or so suspended in what is estimated to be 17% of all of the fresh water in the entire world. Lake Tanganyika is one of the world’s cleanest lakes due to the absence of industry, and that is not likely to change soon. 

Over drinks that evening, we received a thorough and entertaining brieng from Robert about chimpanzee trekking, correcting some of the TANAPA brochure advice regarding tree-hugging (don’t do it) and making eye contact with the chimps (don’t worry, it is ok).

Soon after we retreated to our room, we knew that we would have no trouble falling asleep that night. Why? Because we were going to be lulled to sleep by the most hypnotic sound of all – waves gently crashing on the sand in seemingly endless procession. Just like being at the ocean. And so it was. Safely ensconced behind a large mosquito net (there were no mosquitoes), we drifted off to sleep happy in the knowledge that there would be no elephants scraping the seeds off our roof tonight.

The rooms are large A-frames – open to the front and very airy – with a connected bathroom/shower (hot water on request) and toilet. The room has an upper level lookout deck & relaxation area as well, but we only ventured up there once. The view from our room could at best be described as a ‘partial’ lake-view room. But it really didn’t matter – the rooms are great and perfect for the place and the environment.

Not The Best Of Days In Paradise

Sometimes even an idyllic place can turn out to be disappointing, just for a day. So it was at Mahale this day. It started with the chimps not putting in an appearance. Having been told that they had been right inside the camp the previous day, we were expecting this chimp trekking thing to be a total breeze. It didn’t quite pan out like that.

Breakfast was early (07:30A) with no word on the chimps’ whereabouts. So we had another cup of coffee. And waited. And waited some more. No messages from the scouts that the animals had been seen, no calls to be heard, nothing. About 2 hrs 30 minutes later I think the guides decided to send us out on a walk just to keep us occupied. And sane.

It was nearly 10:00A and already quite hot & very humid in the forest interior, by the time we set off. 2 hrs and 15 minutes later we traipsed back into camp after a tiring trek through the bush and gallery forest of the lower slopes of the Mahale Mountains. We had seen some up and down paths, some impressive trees, many shrubs and lots of rocks but – no chimps.

It was a somewhat dispirited group that sat down for lunch. Of course the unspoken thought was, what if the same thing happened again the next day, and the next? Would we be the rst group ever not to see the chimps at all? The Swahili-style lunch with ugali and beans, a great mixed green salad and vegan pizza improved the tenor of the day quite signicantly.

And just then we got word that one of the guests had spotted two chimps at bungalow #5. We looked at each other in astonishment. Excellent! Grabbed our face masks and scurried over the hot sand to bungalow #5. Where we didn’t see anything except other would-be chimp watchers looking around for chimps. Clearly, the chimpanzees had scampered back into the thick bush and were not seen again that day. Drat. Chimps 1, Tourists 0.

I took the afternoon off to nurse some tsetse fly bites from the previous day. Regrettably I had not followed my own tsetse y protection advice (link) while on the swimming outing and had received several nasty bites. It seems that my black lycra/polyester swimming trunks made a nice target. Bullseye. It was a bit of an unpleasant surprise to find out that the tsetses were active along the shoreline of Lake Tanganyika and even well into the lake itself. The little devils are seemingly quite keen to take a boat trip themselves. So by all means venture out into the lake for a swim and some shing – you don’t want to miss either of those activities – but go prepared. Cover up well until it is time to go into the water. And take your Peaceful Sleep spray as well as the Dettol mix, just in case. The TF are more active on bright sunny days than when it is cool or overcast. Also they are not found inside the forest canopy – so don’t worry that the TF will spoil your chimp trekking. It is not an issue in the forest itself.

I rejoined the group for sundowners at the bar built into a small rocky outcrop on the northern side of the property. Kathy and a few other guests had gone out swimming and shing and she caught several nice-sized Yellow-bellied cichlid, much prized locally for its culinary qualities. Dinner was couscous, green beans, broccoli and a very nice chickpea stew. The regular menu included a lamb tagine as the main course. And some fresh fish!

PART 4: CHIMPS AT MAHALE

Forecast For The Day: Warm With Chimps

We woke up to what promised to be another warm and rather muggy morning on the shore of Lake Tanganyika. And so it was, but with one signicant difference, compared with yesterday. At breakfast at 08:00A we were informed that the chimpanzees had been sighted and that they were about one hour’s ‘gentle walk’ away. So off we went single file into the forest up and down but mostly just up and often rather steeply so. We went through a couple of dry rocky streams with a little water here and there, sometimes scrambling up a slope, other times crouching beneath some low branches.

We stopped a couple of times for water (you carry your own water bottle & the guides provide re-fills) and to take a breath of air. Without exception, we were sweating heavily and feeling the strain of two days’ worth of solid exercise.

As we approached their position, we could hear the chimps long before we saw them. They were being very loud, making a range of sounds including some exuberant whoops and screams. And then, without much introduction, there they were. First one chimp high in a tree, then another one sliding down a tree stump and soon enough there were seven or eight of them visible in every direction.

Over the next hour or so we moved positions several times as the chimps either descended from or ascended into the trees. We observed quite a bit of interaction between individuals: young and old, they all apparently know their place and respect authority.

Photographic conditions were about as bad as they could be. Very poor light inside the forest gallery, and severe backlighting issues against the sky. Several of the younger chimps did their best to show off their acrobatic skills but in the poor light and with limited visibility (too many leaves and twigs!) it was just about impossible to capture the action.

I did manage a few decent portraits and some limited interaction, mostly feeding and grooming.

Every now and then we’d follow one or two of the chimps along one of the many footpaths in the forest. Our guide Robert knew all the chimps by name, sex, age and rank, and gave us ample warning when a ‘naughty’ individual was close by. We observed individuals of all ages ranging from about 6 months to well over 50 years. They were mostly quiet and not very demonstrative.

When our allotted 1-hour viewing time was over, we lowered the cameras, took a last look at the chimps who were moving into thicker bush and re-grouped a short distance away to have a drink of water. It was a happy group of campers who trudged back to the lodge. We were all very tired, perhaps even a bit dehydrated because of the heavy exertion in the hot humid conditions… Nobody cared – we saw the chimps!

By the time we got back to the lodge just over 3 hours had elapsed since we rst set out earlier that morning. It felt great to enjoy a cup of tea before we took the sandy path back to our respective rooms for a much-needed shower.

As usual, lunch was at 1:00P. It was usually lighter fare such as pizza, salads, fresh bread, pilaf, meatballs with tomato sauce & pasta salad served buffet tyles. Then it was time for a short siesta until 3:30P. After a cup of tea and coffee and a cookie, we set out for another dhow cruise, first checking out some hippo a couple of kilometers to the south. Followed by shing for Yellowbellied Cichlid. The shing is quite good but with only two persons being able to participate at the same time (with hand lines being trawled behind the boat) it is a bit limiting for a bigger group. The lodge needs some decent shing gear which could turn this activity into a very popular draw.

Our Second Chimp Trek At Mahale

This morning’s chimp trek was every bit as much fun and exciting as the previous day. Starting from the Japanese research station, the going was a bit easier than the previous day. Even so, by the time we got onto the chimps, a good 45 minutes had elapsed and it was deja vu all over again. We were hot and sweaty in the humid conditions. Being overcast, the temperature was several degrees lower than the previous day, which helped somewhat.

On this day, the chimps appeared to be mostly quite relaxed, sitting around in the open just resting or feeding, or busy with mutual grooming. Like the previous day there were individuals of all ranks and ages, including the alpha male Primus. We were amazed at some of the facts imparted by our guide Robert.

It turns out that despite their seemingly idyllic situation, the chimps were far from living in a cocoon of innocence. They are tangled up in political and sexual spats and ghts on a never-ending basis, and the maneuvering and plotting can be Machiavellian. Imagine pretending to be removing ectoparasites from a rival, but not doing so in fact. Thus setting up the unwitting beneciary/victim for a long-lasting negative outcome and potentially debilitating illness.

For a while there, we became very much part of the troop of chimps, sitting around not far from them, and feeling their glances on us as they casually ambled by. We took great care not to get in the way of some of the’ naughty boy’s such as Christmas, who is known to charge and scare an unsuspecting tourist every now and then.

An hour or so later we were all quite ready to take off our facemasks and to return to camp for some tea. Just like the previous day, the total duration of the excursion was just over 3 hours.

Here are a few things which might be useful for future Mahale chimp trekkers:

Bert’s Mahale Mountains Chimp Trekking Hints

* It is denitely a good thing to be fit and relatively agile as there is some scrambling (up and down) and rock-stepping to be done.

* In the warmer months dress appropriately (long trousers to protect legs and lightweight long or short-sleeved shirt with good ventilation/absorption). There were no tsetse ies or other biting flies present within the forest interior.

* Good boots with grippy soles are 100% necessary. You could be in for a tough time with the wrong shoes. No flip-flops!

* Light is an issue in the forest interior so to get decent pics of the chimps, bring a fast (f2.8) lens in the 70-200 mm range, and preferably a camera that can produce acceptable images at a high ISO setting. Long telephoto lenses are not essential – you will get closer to the chimps than you might anticipate.

* Drink plenty of water before the start of the trek and also during. Dehydration is a major concern during the warmer months and it can sneak up on you with very little warning.

* Denitely go on more than just one chimp trek as they are all quite different & the chimp behaviour and interaction vary greatly day to day. If you’ve seen one you certainly haven’t seen them all.

Our last afternoon outing at Mahale was yet another dhow cruise devoted to swimming in the lake and shing. We had our best shing outing to date, landing several good-sized yellow-bellies and quite a few smaller ones as well. All good: sashimi with cocktails and freshly sautéed sh for dinner. Less than one hour from the lake to the plate. Can’t beat that.

Dinner was under the stars on the beach, right in front of Greystoke Lodge. It was a perfect, cool night. I think we were all 10 a bit sad to see our Mahale experience come to an end.

Arusha And Nairobi Interlude

A visit to Mahale Mountains and to Greystoke ends just like it started, with a 90-minute boat trip along the Mountains, just off the shoreline of Lake Tanganyika. Just like on the day we got there, we marveled at the sight of the thick green forest clinging to the slopes like feathers on a bird.

From a distance it looks like a soft, inviting cushion of leaves. Having been inside of it, of course we knew that the forest was a lot more robust than that, with some giant (species?) trees making up the bulk of the vegetation.

Back where we started at the airstrip, we piled into two Caravans and powered into the air, turning back for a last, long look at beautiful Lake Tanganyika. From there the pilot headed back to Tabodra in a ENE direction. It took 90 minutes to reach Tabora, where we refueled and then a long 1 hr 55 minutes to Kilimanjaro Airport.

Then a final short hop to Arusha Airport from where we were driven to the Onsea House. Our room for the night was at the adjacent Macheo Wellness Center. It was one of the best rooms on the trip to date, complete with a big bathtub (what luxury!), and a TV (which didn’t work). Other nice features in the rooms were lots of storage space and hangers as well as a mini-bar. And free WIFI!

We enjoyed what turned out to be the best meal of the entire trip, in the excellent company of Lizzie who heads up Sales for Nomad Tanzania. It was a really nice evening but we were rather bushed after flying a few hours too many, that day.

A Birthday On The Move

Kathy’s birthday started 90 minutes earlier than planned when we were woken up at 5:30A instead of at 7:00A due to a mix-up of wake-up calls. Some decent coffee and a breakfast out on the patio got us going. Just after 9:00A we were picked up by Zubeda for a bit of a shopping tour of Arusha. We just shook our heads in amazement at Arusha’s traffic and the manner in which handcarts, goats, taxis, sedans, motor bikes and dozens of matatus (mini-bus taxis) run helter skelter all over the place in every direction. Somehow – miraculously – nobody seems to get hurt too often. It is a study in chaotic synergy.

Not too much later, we were in the rather dismal, dirty departures hall of JRO (Kilimanjaro) Airport, for the short flight to Nairobi. I was pleasantly surprised by how quickly we were able to obtain a transit visa (from a downright bubbly immigration official, go figure!), and collect our luggage. Much more efficient and faster than Johannesburg and miles better than Kilimanjaro and Houston’s George Bush Airport.

Our very friendly transfer driver Spencer dropped us off about 20 minutes later at the impressive Boma Hotel. We were on the 7th Floor in a spacious, well-lit room with everything you’d expect in a good 5-star hotel. It was quiet, comfortable and spotlessly clean.

The only down note: service at the Johari restaurant was glacially slow. It took more than an hour for our a la carte order (nothing out of the ordinary) to make it to our plates. Also the barman did not know how to mix a dry gin martini. Never a good sign. Otherwise no complaints.

Breakfast was good and available very early (at 05:30A) and checkout was speedy and painless. Getting out of JKIA was more of an effort than arriving. A chaotic security check right where you enter the building (no time at all to prepare) and then a lengthy wait in a dismal holding area.

Our Kenya Airways flight to Brazzaville took off 15 minutes early but otherwise it was uneventful. Congo here we come!

More Info

Email bert@fisheaglesafaris.com

Email jason@fisheaglesafaris.com

@fisheaglesafarishouston

#FishEagleSafaris

Kenya June 2013

PART 1: OVERVIEW & OL DONYO

June 9, 2013

My first ever flight on Kenya Airways did not start very well, with a ridiculously slow check-in process at Oliver R Tambo Airport. It took all of 90 minutes. The explanation’? ‘Too few people working’. That is the answer I got, seriously. To make matters worse, we were delayed for nearly 2 hours. In the end a ground supervisor promised me an upgrade to business class, but I had to take it up again with a flight attendant before I finally made it to the front of the plane. Once we were airborne I relaxed and picked up where I last left off with Jack Reacher on the Kindle. All good.

It was a breeze getting a visa at JKIA Airport on arrival, the immigration official was downright pleasant. What a shock. Just as shocking but not in a good way, was the condition of the airport. To describe it as a dump would be kind. It was great to see the effervescent Lydia from our Kenya destination management company Origins Safaris again. Always helpful, efficient and friendly!

Dinner At The Emakoko

Due to the lateness of the Kenya Airways flight, getting to my destination – The Emakoko Lodge – was a little bit involved as my Origins driver – the always smiling and capable Lazarus – could only take me to the gate of the Nairobi National Park, which closes at 1800. From there, an Emakoko driver took me the rest of the way. It was already dark so we did not see any wildlife; just some nightjars which I believe were Montane Nightjar.

I was quite famished by the time we got to the lodge; the vehicle has to negotiate a short but bumpy rocky stretch of downhill road (aka Emakoko Highway), parks on the edge of a stream and you then walk across a small bridge into camp. Over a very nice dinner with tomato soup, a lentil stew, basmati rice and a great fruit salad the co-owner and manager Anton (aka Anthony) filled me in on the lodge and its environment. Its best feature of course is its location right on the edge of Nairobi National Park and about 30 to 40 minutes from both JKIA and Wilson Airports, depending on traffic conditions.

There’s plenty of rhino, lions, giraffe, and all kinds of other game to be seen in Nairobi National Park during the day. And the park has a huge long bird-list as well. Another nice feature of The Emakoko is that all meals and drinks are included, unlike a regular hotel. I spent the night in a spacious room with a king size bed with mosquito netting. The lighting could be brighter, but it was adequate. Filtered water was supplied.

For visitors coming from N. America I would recommend two nights at the Emakoko on arrival. First night just to crash after the horribly long journey, with lots of stuff to do on the full day there. A game drive for some rhino which are scarce elsewhere in Kenya except for Lake Nakuru & Lewa, some general game and then some other Nairobi activities such as Giraffe Center, Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage and the Karen Blixen Museum. This could also be done with one night there at the start of the trip and one night at the end.

June 10

I was up at 0500 this morning for an early breakfast (toast, black coffee, and some porridge), and then took off on a drive of about 40 minutes to Wilson Airport. The Emakoko is about 20 minutes from the main or KWS Gate of Nairobi National Park and from there it is about 20 minutes to Wilson, sometimes a bit more if the traffic is really bad.

On the way to the gate we got lucky with a sighting of two lions right in the road. We had to slow down for them to find an escape route to the left. There were also lots of Spotted Thicknee and more (suspected) Montane Nightjars.

By 645A we were in the ‘departure hall’ at Wilson Airport where a rather perfunctory security screening was conducted before 9 of us boarded a SafariLink Cessna Caravan. We waited in line for 15 minutes or so for a take-off slot. Wilson is an extremely busy airport. A burst of power, a noisy rush down the runway – and then it was wheels up en route for Ol Donyo in the Chyulu Hills, about 40 minutes south-east of Nairobi.

Kenya Overview

I had a fantastic time in Kenya. Ol Donyo exceeded my expectations. It is a fabulous place which just has tons of ‘Africa appeal’ right from the moment you land in what appears to be just a grassy plain. There are the views (superb!), the people (managers Ray and Alyssa appear to be tailormade for this place), the rooms (stunning) and on top of that the various experiences including the game drives, birding, a bush breakfast and all the others which I didn’t have time to try. It is a true ‘dry oasis’ – paradoxical as a lot of water would likely ruin it. I really enjoyed taking a bath, knowing that the big elephants at the hide below the hill were keenly anticipating my modest contribution to their well-being. Water is trucked to the lodge each day and everything is recycled. It was encouraging to hear about the great conservation strides that have been made on the Mbirikani Group Ranch. I plan to read more about it – clearly did not have enough time to get detailed information about anything.

From there I took a sojourn with Edwin Selempo of Origins to Amboseli. Amazing elephants!! They are really chewing up the place though. And even more stunning views – I even had a fairly decent view of Kilimanjaro one afternoon. I also really enjoyed Tortilis Camp, had quite a pleasant night at the Serena (as always very well managed) and took a quick look at Ol Tukai, which seems to be a perfectly good option for slightly more budget-minded visitors.

Then it was on to Mara Toto in the Olare Orok Conservancy. From the word go I experienced unbelievable game-viewing there: on one afternoon game drive of barely 2 hours we saw 17 different mammal species with at least 8 of them within view at one stage. Not to mention great lions and a final morning with brilliant cheetah viewing. Just Edwin, me and the 2 cheetahs for more than an hour, no other vehicle close by!

How can anyone not like being in a camp with Lorna and Kim – and Richard. I did not see a photographer from Vogue around, they are missing out… The rooms are perfect for the setting; maybe a tad close to each other but as long as people know about that, it would be ok. We took a quick look at Mara Plains but it was difficult to get a real ‘feel’ for it without all the interior stuff in place. It doesn’t matter though, I know where it is, how close it is to the park, the quality game drives in the conservancy, and so on.

From there it was off to Lamu (fascinating area and lovely people at Manda Bay). I did not spend a lot of time in the town itself there but a short walk in search of Ali King’s confirmed what I had been told: Lamu is rather dirty and smelly. I prefer nearby Shella by wide margin – have to go back there some time when the Peponi Hotel is open.

I also spent a night each at two really interesting new properties in Nairobi, so different yet both appealing. Lions on the road on my way out of The Emakoko on Day 2, and the most advanced state of the art security barriers at Hemingways, very impressive. Massive hunks of meat being served for dinner there, all very manly as one would imagine. Fantastic room at Hemingways, complete with motion detected light in the walk-in closet. Wow. Plus a large-screen HD TV that appears out of a faux travel trunk. Really. As for the Emakoko it would be perfect for 2 nights, for people that can take an extra day at the start of a trip. Do a game drive, see some rhino, great birds, lions, who knows what. Get a bit of a taste of what a safari camp is going to be like – and then go on to where-ever.

I am also very happy to have finally done the ‘tourist’ circuit in the Karen area. Loved the baby elephants at Sheldrick’s and the giraffes at the Giraffe Center. The guide at the Karen Blixen Museum was very thorough. I know almost as much about Ms Blixen now as I know about my own mother.

Back To Ol Donyo

The scheduled flight from Nairobi arrives in Ol Donyo quite early, so my guide James Seki and I had quite a bit of time for a game drive en route to the camp. There was a lot of plains game around. In less than an hour we saw Fringed Oryx, Grant’s Gazelle, Thomson’s Gazelles (lots!), Zebra, Wildebeest (plentiful!) Giraffe, Warthog, and a good variety of birds including Coursers, Lapwings and lots of Superb Starlings.

On the drive into camp we had a really close encounter with a solitary elephant bull, who seemed to be screening new arrivals. I must have gotten the nod – and was checking into my room at Old Donyo Lodge shortly afterwards.

From the lodge patio, there is an amazing view over the plains and twin hills in the background. On a clear day Mt Kilimanjaro is the main attraction. I received a very friendly welcome by the young managing couple Ray and Alyssa, who are both US citizens. The cell phone coverage at Ol Donyo was spotty but ok, unfortunately the WIFI never worked.

Due to some lingering issues with a foot injury I did not get to try any of Ol Donyo’s many activities beyond game drives, which include mountain biking, horse-back riding, and foot safaris. For active visitors who want to get out of the vehicle and extend their experience beyond just game drives, Ol Donyo would be ideal. In the dry season – which is most of the year except for March and April and perhaps early May, there are several large elephant bulls to be seen from a well-constructed hide overlooking a few small waterholes right in front of camp.

During the time of my stay at Ol Donyo one of the other guests saw both lions and cheetah in the area, so it appears that many years of conservation in the Mbirikani Ranch Conservation area is paying off handsomely. I concentrated on some bird-watching and over the course of two full days in the area racked up more than 100 bird species, including several ‘life birds’ and many colorful and exceptionally interesting ones such as Gymnogene, Narina Trogon (in camp), African Hoopoe, Secretary bird, Pale Chanting Goshawk, Martial Eagle, Gabar Goshawk, and Hartlaub’s Bustard.

The area around Ol Donyo is dry with no ready access to water for man or beast. It is a curse and a blessing. Every day a tanker has totravel a long distance from Mbirikani all the way to the lodge, transporting a valuable load of water for the bathrooms with bath & shower, and even a pool. Would it be easier to drill a borehole closer to the camp? Probably yes and less expensive too, but that would inevitably lead to more people moving into the area, which would change it completely.

On the day I left Ol Donyo – by road to Amboseli – we stopped a ways out of camp and standing outside the vehicle, I realized that I could not see a building, a house, a car – not even another person – in any direction. Using binoculars. 360 degrees of nothing, except beautiful grassy plains, zebra and wildebeest in the foreground, a couple of giraffe in the background, slowly moving in front of and then past some hills. This is the Africa of old, of true undisturbed wilderness. There is not much of it left but you can still experience ‘old Africa’ at its best at Ol Donyo. Go there.

PART 2: AMBOSELI & MASAI MARA

Amboseli

With Edwin Selempo at the wheel, it was not too long a drive at all from Ol Donyo to Amboseli. For anyone spending 3 nights at Ol Donyo, I would certainly recommend doing a full day excursion to Amboseli National Park, unless the reserve is on your itinerary as well.

Within minutes of driving into the park, we were looking at upwards of 60 elephants happily feeding and cavorting in the massive Amboseli swamp, some of them practically totally submerged in the abundant water.

Any Kenya trip should include a stay in the Maasai Mara. Samburu is a close second and Lake Nakuru would be my choice for the third most productive area. If anyone had the time and budget to add a fourth Kenya destination, it would have to be Amboseli.

Elephants At Amboseli

The reserve might even be higher on the list for people who are fond of elephants. There are few – if any – places in Africa where elephants are as central to the experience as at Amboseli. They are almost everywhere to be seen, and seen as well as one could ever wish for. Sometimes semisubmerged in a swamp, they are beautifully offset by a flat, green expanse. In the late afternoon they may be captured in great light, making their way back to forested areas for feeding.

And everywhere they are as entertaining and engaging as always, almost human-like in their little spats and testing their strength, particularly the younger ones.

It was not all elephants all the time at Amboseli though – we saw a wide range of other plains animals including zebra, giraffe, wildebeest, some buffalo, Coke’s Hartebeest and also hyena, Bat-eared Fox, African wild cat as well as a beautiful serval cat. As at Ol Donyo, the birding at Amboseli was phenomenal. Here, some of the notable species included Collared Pratincole, Taveta Golden Weaver (very localized), Greycrowned Crane, Spurwinged Geese, Saddlebilled Stork, African Spoonbill, Goliath Heron and many other woodland species.

Tortilis Camp At Amboseli

My Amboseli accommodations were at Tortilis Camp and then Amboseli Serena. Tortilis would certainly be my first choice due to its much smaller size, its setting overlooking Mt Kilimanjaro (when visible) and its access to a private concession area for game drives, not open to the many other vehicles which sometimes turn Amboseli into a very busy, very dusty place. The tents at Tortilis are not fancy but very functional with a small bathroom and shower, and a really excellent dining room and lounge area, with a pretty garden and nice views over the valley, even when Kilimanjaro is shy to show itself.

Amboseli Serena

The Amboseli Serena was quite a pleasant place to stay as well, even though it is bigger than most properties we prefer. I have always found the Serena Lodges to be superbly managed, and this one was no exception. The friendly and efficient check-in set the tone. The room was compact but well-equipped with a king size bed, a bathroom with shower and a spacious corner desk/working area. More importantly the hotel had working WIFI – and relatively fast – in all the rooms.

Lunch at the Serena was fun with a huge variety of choices including several Indian-inspired dishes, rice, breads, sambals, salads and a dizzying variety of more conventional fare. Breakfast the next morning was even more impressive. Brioche, fruitcake, banana bread, Russian stolen, scones, farmer’s bread, muffins, croissants, several kinds of sliced bread for toast, 16 hot breakfast items, including 2 kinds of beans (baked and masala), plus of course bacon, sausage (pork and beef), cold meats, cheeses, 6 different fresh fruits, juices, cereals, yoghurt, and eggs or omelets every way you could possibly want them.

On the way back to the Amboseli airstrip for the flight to Wilson, I popped into Ol Tukai Lodge for a quick walk-about. It looked like a perfectly fine place and with a good location in Amboseli too. Definitely worth keeping in mind, if the price is right.

Last Words About Amboseli

Amboseli is a 2-night destination at best, in my opinion. You could fly in or even drive in early out of Nairobi, and then fly out to Samburu or connect to or from Tanzania with a road transfer to the Namanga Border Post.

Amboseli is very, very dusty so bring adequate protection gear for your camera equipment. There is no off-road driving allowed but that is not a big impediment as elephants and most other wildlife can easily be seen from the existing – very good – road network.

The park attracts a lot of visitors as there are many camps – some of which such as Serena (60 rooms) and Ol Tukai (80 rooms) are quite large. Many visitors also come from the nearby Kenya coastal resorts. So don’t expect to be on your own, particularly in the dry season from about May through September, and also February – warm but a very good month to be there.

The Maasai Mara

On June 14 at just after 10:00A I was on my way back to the Mara after a quick and efficient turnaround at Wilson Airport. Ol Kiombo Airport was at the same spot as the last time, not far from Mara Intrepids and just a few kilometers from the edge of the Masai Mara National Park. After a splendid lunch with Lorna and Kim – and Richard – we set out on a game drive in the Olare Orok Conservancy. In a matter of less than 2 hours, we notched up no less than 17 mammals species, including wildebeest, zebra, impala, buffalo, warthog, giraffe, eland, dikdik, topi, Thompson’s Gazelle, lions, scrub hare, Grant’s Gazelle, banded mongoose, hippo, waterbuck and elephant. The next day we added cheetah, baboon, hartebeest and a several more species.

Lions At Mara Toto

We watched the interaction between some lions (brothers and sisters, the latter now with pups and not at all impressed with the interest shown by their brothers). As the darkness descended, we hoped for the best for the many cubs of various ages and made our way back to camp.

The next morning we set off early for the spot where we had seen the lions the previous night, with packed breakfast and plenty of coffee. En route, we saw more buffalo, elephant, giraffe, topi and hyena. And then spent a couple of hours observing the lions (3 females and 9 cubs) eating, dozing, playing, hiding, rolling, drinking and jumping. Sometimes more than one of those at the same time. Very entertaining and very enjoyable. This is what safari is all about. No rush, no pressure – just you and nature and perhaps a camera. With enough time not be starting through thelens the entire time.

Cheetah In The Masai Mara National Park

That afternoon, James and I went out to find some cheetahs. Which we did – unfortunately not exactly where we wanted to see them. What drew our attention was a congregation of cars – this was inside the Maasai Mara National Park. As we approached, I noticed that there were two cheetahs on top of one of the vehicles. They were calmly surveying the surrounding plains. Not 3 meters from them was a guy in a hoodie, seemingly reading a book. He would occasionally look up the cheetahs to see if they were still there. Or something.

Eventually the cheetahs – first the one and then the other – jumped off the vehicle and walked fairly close to us, from our left to right. They were interested in some Tommies which we could see at the bottom of the hill.

The cheetah never got up to speed on this hunt due to the presence of some pesky Topi, known for their good eyesight. They are known to ruin things for a cheetah on the hunt because of their annoying habit of snorting which alerts everyone near and far to the presence of a predator.

In the end two vehicles from Mara Intrepids got in between the cheetahs and their intended prey and put paid to what slim chance they had of salvaging the hunt. It was not to be. We enjoyed a nice sundowner with two other guests – Mary Ann and Jo Ann – as well as with Lorna and Kim, and returned to camp in a happy mood.

Dinner was quite special with a delightful risotto as the main course. And then – surprise – authentic American S’mores complete with marshmallows, Hershey chocolate and Graham Crackers, toasted over the coals. Not 100% vegan but occassionally when in Rome, you’ve got to make like the Romans.

June 16 Cheetahs On Fathers Day

I started Father’s Day on a high note with the best game drive of the trip with just Edwin and me and the two cheetah females (mother and adult child), for well over an hour. Initially, under less than ideal light conditions, they both climbed atop an anthill to survey the scene. Shortly afterwards they engaged in an extended display of affection. Due to the poor light the photographs were good but not great.

The cheetahs then walked off, passing right in front of us and to the ridge of a nearby hill, well off the main track, close to the National Park boundary. In this spot there was little chance of any other driver finding the cheetahs – and all the more opportunity for us to enjoy their presence in solitude.

The cheetahs eventually sat up in good light, adopted a stalking posture and emerged from behind an anthill, even giving us a nice big fat yawn. Nothing much happened over the next few 20 minutes or so, so we decided to return to camp for breakfast and to finish up packing.

Before long, goodbyes were said and I was on my way with Safarilink to Nairobi, where I was treated to an excellent lunch with the always friendly and elegant Lydia at the restaurant at Wilson Airport.

Then it was off to Lamu in a Caravan with SafariLink – a solid 1 hr 45 minutes at around 165 miles per hour.

PART 3: LAMU

Manda Bay – Lamu

Lamu was a complete sea change from everything we had done on the trip to date. From the moment I arrived at Manda Bay it was clear that this was really a ‘do nothing’ or ‘do very little’ kind of place. Somewhere to enjoy the real luxury of an overly busy, overly structured life which is to gaze out over the ocean, read a book, relax, enjoy the water and just leave the schedule behind.

Manda Bay is an ideal two or three night break to relax, catch up on trip notes & photographs or perhaps to do a little fishing and explore the interesting towns of Lamu and nearby Shella. Of course if you’re the active outdoors type, there are many water sports available, ranging from snorkelling and paddle-boarding to kayakying, windsurfing, laser sailing boats, skiffs, kite-surfing, water skiing, deep sea fishing (best from October to the end of May) , and bay fishing. Some of these at additional cost.

Co-owner and manager Bimbi soon had me briefed on a few important issues at Manda Bay. Rule # 1 is that you can go barefoot. Some of the others: there are many good local cocktail options, cellphone reception is good, the shower water is salty but there’s plenty of it, and the main generator is switched off at 10:00P, so do any battery charging before then.

I promptly dropped my stuff, got out of the safari gear, and went for a 30-minute run along the beach in the direction of the ocean inlet. The tide was coming in, the sun was setting and my rather depleted travel batteries were well on their way to being recharged by the time I got to my turnaround point, all alone on a deserted beach. The sun was just the most gorgeous big red balloon slowly dropping to the horizon as I was making my way back. Realizing that I was not going to be back in time to capture it photographically did not even bother me. I had seen and experienced it.

Dinner at Manda Bay was a very convivial affair with guests, friends and family – some from Kilifi and others from as far away as London and several young people, all around a long table set outdoors. There was a gentle breeze and the animated chatter was muted by the soothing sound of lapping waves. Regrettably, my evening was marred when I bit into a massively fiery hot chili pepper which caused my diaphragm to go into a spasm. For a few minutes, as I struggled to control some violent hiccups, I thought I might just ‘lose my lunch’ right there and then. Fortunately that kind of catastrophe was avoided, but let’s just say that I did not care much for the food that evening.

Monday June 17

I took it easy at Manda Bay this day, where every day feels like a Saturday anyway. Here, you can just pretend – it doesn’t take much imagination – that you are part of an everlasting weekend, just Saturday and Sunday following each other in Groundhog Day fashion. I enjoyed a quiet cup of rooibos tea in front of my room, and then went in for breakfast. It ended up being baked beans and toast. I declined an offer of eggs, which was oddly interpreted as a yes for bacon. The coffee was good.

I spent the better part of the morning working on this trip report sitting at a great spot at the bar overlooking the bay. One could easily write a book sitting exactly there with dhows passing by, the high tide lapping up against the base of the building and sunlight bouncing off the water in thedistance. Did anybody say Hemingway?

For lunch, the main attraction was fresh crab with giant claws, much enjoyed by all. I was quite happy to be served some baked tofu – it was covered in a rather oddly spiced Nasi Goreng crumb crust. It was also a bit over-baked. Let’s just say that it was a good try but not successful. The accompanying tomato salad was not bad though.

Dinner that evening – which was again served at a communal table outside – was definitely the best yet at Manda Bay. An excellent starter (vegetable samoosa with a mildly spicy fresh tomato sauce) was followed by a really tasty main course of roasted chickpeas and vegetables and a perfect desert of mango with a Lyle’s Golden syrup sauce.

18 June 2013

I am clearly ready to wrap up my travels through Africa. My normal gregarious self-abandoned me this morning, and I chose to have breakfast solo, rather than with a seemingly nice couple from California. After nearly a month on the road I had exceeded my quota of social chit-chat, comparing notes about kids and dogs and so on. I was just not up to it today.

Bimbi had organized a boat ride for me to Lamu – essentially it was a shopping trip as I had a long list of kikois and kikoi pants to buy. My first attempt fizzled out in Lamu. I tracked down the store I had been told about earlier – Ali King’s – but they did not have a huge selection, did not seem to know their own prices and also did not want to accept US Dollars. So I had to make my way back to the main drag in Lamu, winding along a few rather dingy alleys, to a bank where I exchanged $100 for a fairly hefty wad of Kenyan shillings. Beware. Everybody in Lamu wants to be your agent. I had to wave away several unwanted applicants and one guy had the nerve to actually stick with me, ‘escorting’ me around to places and giving me unwanted and unheeded advice about the quality of merchandise, good places to shop and so on. I guess he did not mind having an imaginary client.

By then I had decided to take Bimbi’s advice and asked the boatman to take me to nearby Shella, a prettier, cleaner and less smelly – and quieter – version of Lamu. I did a walk-through of the Peponi Hotel premises (it was still closed until July 1) and then walked up the street to a very well stocked gift store to make my purchases. The prices were clearly displayed – no bargaining or haggling allowed – and they were good, almost 40% less than in Nairobi for merchandise of a similar standard.

Manda Bay is a good choice for family groups or other people who are keen on water sports such as paddle boarding, kayaking, windsurfing, laser sailing boats, kite sailing, and skiing (all levels). There are some skiffs for fishing and serious off-shore ffishing for marlin, sharks, sailfish, yellow fin tuna and dorado can also be done, the best time being from about October to the end of May.

A Few Words Of Advice About Manda Bay

Would-be visitors should know that Manda Bay is quite rustic: my room (#3) was very plain and rather tired-looking with a utilitarian bathroom. As I had been warned, the shower water was very salty and not always very hot. Some of the things that I did not care for included people smoking everywhere, including during meals at the table (outdoors and in covered patio areas) and also widespread use of cell phones in common areas. This is a real no-no at most safari camps and I think it is a practice that any resort should discourage. Nobody wants to listen to other people’s business negotiations, when you are on holiday.

Buzz and Bimbi and their staff could not have been nicer and more accommodating, and there is a lot to like about Manda Bay such as the great setting right along the bay with superb views to the east and west. It is possible to see a gorgeous sunset and sunrise from the same spot. Just don’t go there expecting a luxury resort. That it is not. There is no real beach in front of the property either – the entire shoreline is covered by water when the tide comes in. I hinted around a couple of times about wanting to do some fishing but nothing came of it. Also I was never sure exactly what was included in the price and what was not. For example one’s wine glass was readily re-filled during dinner. I had an uneasy feeling that it was costing me, but not how much. In the end my bill for optional drinks and other services such as the boat trip to Shella was not too high but for some people this may be an issue.

I am glad that I extended my stay in Kenya to include a couple of nights on the northern coast. The area had taken a shellacking due to some security issues a few years ago but it is good to see that the resorts are bouncing back. Places like Manda Bay merit inclusion on a Kenya trip for many reasons. Many people – and most kids and young people – can take only so much of day after day of bouncing around rough roads cooped into game drive vehicles. Spending a few days in a beach area in-between safaris is a great idea for family groups and for others who like to spread their wings a bit, and who want to diversify their Kenya experience. Of course nearby towns like Lamu and Shella offer a lot more in the way of cultural experiences, visual appeal, seafood and authentic local cuisine and some great shopping for easily transportable items such as kikois, kikoi pants, kangas and other fabrics. So add a couple of days to your trip at the end or break it up with a few days in-between two safari areas – you won’t regret it.

Hemingways Hotel Nairobi

By early evening I was back in Nairobi and fighting the traffic along Langata road. In the end Lazarus made a u-turn and took a detour ending up on Ngong Road, to get us to Karen and to the brand new Hemingway Hotel. The room reminded me a lot of the wonderful Saxon boutique hotel in Johannesburg, but Hemingways is just a lot bigger and more ‘grand’ in the old-fashioned sense of the word. It starts with a massive foyer with an oversized chandelier, twin staircases and a superb garden view from the balcony.

The standard suites are just as impressive – huge and well-equipped with a slide-away TV (built into a faux trunk), a desk and chair with fast, free WIFI, fully stocked minibar, tea and coffee making equipment and supplies, a huge walk-in closet with movement-activated light and a safe big enough for a 17-inch laptop. There’s even a plug for recharging one’s laptop inside the safe. What else? A shower with multiple showerheads, an oversized tub and marble everywhere. My only complaint? The light switches are totally confusing.

19 June – Nairobi

On this day I finally got around to doing some of the Nairobi-area activities which many of our clients have done in the past, and for which I have never time.

Our first stop this morning was a site inspection at Karen Blixen Cottages (hotel). I really liked the beautiful garden setting, the large attractive rooms and the cozy common areas. It felt like a very appropriate place for Nairobi: lush, colorful and on a manageable scale with only about 16 rooms total. For visitors who want to visit the Giraffe Center, the Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage and the Karen Blixen Museum, this would be an ideal spot to spend a night or even two.

Karen Blixen Museum

Our second stop was at Karen Blixen Museum. The original homestead is fascinating and walking through it with a local guide really takes one back to the turn of the century. It is not difficult to imagine Karen sitting in her office writing or entertaining guests in her dining room. I was surprised to learn how ‘primitive’ some aspects of life were, at the time. Kitchens and bathrooms like we know them just did not exist back in the day.

Giraffe Center

Next was Giraffe Manor hotel and a visit to the Giraffe Center. This atmospheric hotel which resembles a Scottish manor house is hugely popular and deservedly so: who doesn’t like a giraffe to pop in for breakfast, or to peek into your room on the 2nd floor? The rooms themselves were also superb, by the looks of it, and the entire place looked in absolutely tip-top condition. I might have to try this hotel on a future trip to Nairobi. Giraffes are such entertaining creatures and to be able to feed them and interact with them at such close quarters will add a lot of fun and excitement to what might otherwise be just a ho-hum overnight in the city.

We also took the opportunity to feed some giraffes at the Giraffe Center – an educational program which raises money for Rotshchild giraffe research and relocation as well as for general conservation education, particularly amongst the youth of Kenya. The feeding platform which is just a short walk away from the Giraffe Manor Hotel is open daily from 9:00A to 5:00 and visitors are given handfuls of dry pellets which the giraffes with their amazingly long tongues gobble up avidly. It was as much fun feeding a giraffe as it was watching a bunch of kids doing it – lots of girls squealing…

Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage

Finally, I spent about 45 minutes at the Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage, watching a succession of young orphaned elephants being fed by bottle. The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust is today the most successful orphan-elephant rescue and rehabilitation program in the world and one of the pioneering conservation organizations for wildlife and habitat protection in East Africa. This is a most worthwhile project and certainly worth an hour of anyone’s time. Unfortunately elephant poaching is on the increase all over Africa and the tragic side-effects include an ever-greater number of orphaned youngsters. I got some great photographs of the baby elephants and their handlers, and well as a big group of school children visiting that day. A few of the kids were initially quite apprehensive but it wasn’t long before they started to touch some of the baby elephants and being very up close and personal with them. I was thinking to myself that that is where and how the David Sheldricks and Richard Leakeys of the future are made: just one random wildlife encounter could be the spark that totally changes a young child’s life forever.

The rest of the day was given over to more food – a delightful lunch at a restaurant in Karen – and then a meeting with Origins Safaris’ Steve Turner at Hemingways. Always good to get the insider perspective and an update on what is happening in the wildlife tourism arena in East Africa.

Back To Houston
By early evening, we had to make our way (slowly – it is Nairobi, remember) to JKIA for my flight back to Amsterdam and from there all the way to Houston. The boarding process in Nairobi was laughably inept and chaotic with hundreds of passengers herded together for several hours in a small pre-boarding lounge where there was neither water nor toilet facilities. Confusion reigned as to the order of boarding, nobody could hear when their seat row # was being called. Just all round unacceptable. Things started to improve as we got airborne. This time around KLM had correct dietary information and the ‘vegetarian non-dairy’ meals which they served were quite palatable. It felt like forever to get back to Houston with a long (4 hr) lay-over in Amsterdam along the way. In future I think I will avoid taking KLM to JNB from Houston in favor of a direct flight on SAA or Delta. Just one too many frisking and security check!

More Info

Email bert@fisheaglesafaris.com

Email jason@fisheaglesafaris.com

@fisheaglesafarishouston

#FishEagleSafaris

Namibia February 2013

PART 1: SOSSUSVLEI LODGE, SOSSUSVLEI

After all the difficulties we had with Delta during our previous trip together, we had zero issues this time. We recommend some noise cancelling headphones for these long international flights. All Fish Eagle Safaris employees use Bose QC15 headsets which are just amazing. We did arrive in JNB early enough to enjoy our favorite restaurant, Ocean Basket, in the Emperor’s Palace complex. The Metcourt Suites were very nice as usual. Just a 5-10 minute shuttle away from the airport and free shuttles back to the airport at any time you need. Our flight in the morning departed very early, at 6:15 AM, but we were able to request a shuttle to arrive at 4:15 for our pickup.

Once we arrived in Windhoek, we were introduced to the rest of our group and our Safari Wise guide, Mark. Our group consisted of a couple of ladies from California, two from Poland and one that lives in JNB. We were given some nice arrival documents including our itineraries, brochures for multiple camps, and a road map which would help us later during our self-drive. We almost immediately set off for Windhoek where we had a quick tour of a few landmarks in town. It seemed like we had all day to get to Sossusvlei, but we would need the whole day as we found out later.

About two hours into our drive to Sossusvlei Lodge, we turned west toward a town called Aub and quickly experienced our first (but not our last) flat tire in Namibia! There wasn’t much drama though, Mark quickly changed the tire and we were on our way once more. After 4-5 hours of driving we arrived in Solitaire, a common stop between Windhoek and Sossusvlei. Solitaire is well known for apple crumble, which we would try later on during the trip.

We left Solitaire running quite late. The flat tire and some slow travel over gravel roads had us moving quite slowly. We had no way of knowing, but only 10 minutes from our destination we had our second flat tire! This one took a little longer to change, and by that time (roughly 4 PM) it was very hot. We finally arrived at Sossusvlei Lodge about 3 hours later than expected, but the lodge quickly took our mind off the long drive.

Sossusvlei Lodge has a large open outdoor eating area surrounding an open plain with a manmade water hole in the distance. There is a tall observation tower that helps you see for miles. The tower itself looms over a nice pool area and the bar. Speaking of the bar, Namibia has quite a lot of German influence in the country which has led to some very nice beers. If you enjoy beer, you can’t go wrong with the local brews in Namibia.

The rooms at Sossusvlei Lodge are quite big. Each room comes with an AC unit, which can help during the hot months. The lodge also had one of our favorite dinner buffets. Not only did they have the basic buffet selections including hot or cold appetizers and salads, but for your main course you can choose and of 9 local meats including oryx, springbok and ostrich. If exotic meats aren’t your thing you can always choose more common cuts including beef, chicken, fish and pork. Not only do you get to select your meat, but the chef cooks it for you on a very nice outdoor grill. All this talk about meat might have some vegetarians or vegans worried, but the buffet has a huge selection of vegetables and starches. You can even have another chef create a stir-fry with ingredients (including sauces and seasonings) that you select.

Activities were quite nice at Sossusvlei Lodge as well. Our choice was obviously to go into Sossusvlei / Dead Vlei and see the dunes. If you were to spend more time in the area the lodge offers many other activities including ATV rides, nature walks and even archery. We left quite early for our dune trip as you’re allowed in the park just at sunrise. Most tourists like to stop at Dune 45 to climb it, but we stopped just for a quick look. It’s a lovely area and an iconic spot to climb but if you aren’t there very early the crowds are immense. We drove on to Dead Vlei which was just stunning. The colors of the sand and the sky paired with the dead trees and salt pan were amazing. Jason tried to recreate a few iconic photographs of the pan and we think he did a decent job. After Dead Vlei we drove on to Sossusvlei for a lunch in the shade. Even in the shade it was quite hot, so once again get there early! You don’t want to be halfway up a dune when the temperatures get too high. Our final activity was a quick trip into Sesriem Canyon. The canyon has been carved out by water over millions of years. You can actually still see some spots where debris has been deposited during extremely high tide. It was very hot later in the day though, so we only stayed for a short time at the canyon.

PART 2: SWAKOPMUND, CRUISE AND DESERT TOURS

Our final morning in Sossusvlei was quick. We left early in the morning for Swakopmund. All in all it was a fairly scenic drive with multiple landscape changes as we drove. We went from the red dunes of Sossusvlei to huge open plains to mountainous ridges and canyons. Finally we ended in Swakopmund with its coastal dunes. Unlike the dunes of Sossusvlei which have turned red over millions of years of rust, the Swakopmund sand and dunes were very nearly white in color. Lucky for us we had no flat tires this leg and arrived in the nearby town of Walvis Bay in the late afternoon. After a short tour we drove another half hour north to Swakopmund.

We stayed at Atlantic Villa, a boutique guest house just on the outskirts of town. The rooms were unique but had plenty of space and amenities. Our room had two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a living area similar to an apartment home. Overall they were very nice accommodations. We also visited the Swakopmund Boutique Hotel, the Swakopmund Hotel and Hansa Hotel which we would later stay at. Each was a nice choice, but in Swakopmund it’s more about what you do than where you stay.

For dinner on the first night we walked just down the road to a restaurant called The Wreck. The outside was shaped like the hull of a boat, hence the name. If you stay at Atlantic Villa we would highly recommend it. It was affordable and each of the agents with us enjoyed their meals. The Amarula ice cream was especially good.

Living Desert Tour, Swakopmund
Without a doubt one of the highlights of my Namibia trip was the Living Desert Tour. Our guide, Chris, who is a native Namibian and about as full of energy as anyone I have ever met, came to pick us up at the hotel. It was evident from the start that he was going to be an entertaining and insightful host and I do believe he could captivate me while talking about some seriously mundane topics. Thankfully the tour itself was the farthest thing from it and when you combine those two factors it makes it a must see in my opinion.

It just so happened that out of our group everyone chose to partake in the Living Desert Tour except for Jason who instead went on the Dolphin Cruise. Because of this we only had to make one more stop to pick up a couple other clients before heading to the dunes to get started. Almost immediately upon entering the dunes we all step out of our large vehicles for the introduction/briefing. In all there are two guides, each with their own vehicle. Chris does most of the talking while the other guide scours the nearby dunes in search of life. So while he is off trying to find us a snake or gecko we are learning about the dunes. We learn about leeward and windward, how the quadbiking is ruinous to the desert animals and the landscape. We learn how the seedpods and grass that get blown in from as far as Botswana form the bottom of the food pyramid and we learn a few of the animals that make up that pyramid. All the while Chris is jumping between English for our group and German for the other group in the second vehicle. Instead of slowing us down he makes it fun and keeps it lighthearted with a lot of jokes and both our group and the Germans have a good sense of humor about it all.

After getting some of the basics we set out to find our first living creature. Chris spots a telltale sign of a dune gecko and begins to dig. The tunnel splits off in two directions and he follows the one path. It splits again and he is getting a look on his face that says he might be digging for a while. Luckily he has chosen the correct path and uncovers an absolutely beautiful gecko. Properly referred to as the palmetto gecko, this guy is so iconic that he is literally the face man for the company’s ads (Living Desert Adventures). After we all take turns getting close and photographing him we scamper off and find a small dancing white lady spider. These guys roam the dunes and when threatened can curl into a ball and quickly roll down the side of the dune to escape danger. Next we find some skink tracks and find a couple of the blind, legless snakelike creatures. They are smooth to the touch and Chris shows us how they practically swim through the sand.

Of course snakes are always a big draw but as the day goes on and it starts to heat up a little bit the guides are finding less and less snake tracks. Luckily they spot some very faint markings on the side of a dune and Chris manages to discover a tiny dwarf adder. 99% of the population of Swakopmund has never seen this guy, according to Chris, and it is easy to see why. This little guy buries his entire body in the sand and all you can are two black eyes. He pops up his tail and uses it as a lure to any geckos or lizards that come near. Eventually we were able to see him out in the open and he was kind enough to pose for us.

After this our next objective was to find a chameleon. Chris and his fellow guide got out of the vehicles and scoured a massive area while we waited patiently. Unfortunately they came back empty-handed and we were about to drive off when someone spotted a rather large chameleon right in front of our vehicle. He had been not 15 feet from us the whole time and blended in so well that it took us all that while to spot him. As Chris handled him he changed color which they apparently tend to do when they are feeling a little bit of stress. As a peace offering he was given a few grubs and to all of our delight he went after them with those famously long roll-up tongues. We observed him and photographed him for quite some time before moving on. We ended the tour with the landscape photography portion, a fantastic way to wrap up this fine trip.

The food on our second day in Swakopmund was quite good too. After our activities, most of the group decided to have a light lunch on the pier at a restaurant called The Jetty 1905. A bit of an odd recommendation, but be sure you check out the restrooms if you visit this restaurant. Each room is unique with pictures on the walls showing how the town was built. For dinner we went to Kucki’s Pub in the middle of town. Once again we had great food. Our dessert recommendation here is the crème brulee which was excellent.

PART 3: TALENI ETOSHA VILLAGE, ETOSHA NATIONAL
PARK

Today we departed for our first true game viewing opportunity in Namibia, Etosha National Park. The drive was about 5 hours again but felt much shorter as a large portion was finally on paved roads. We arrived at Taleni Etosha Village at about 4 PM and as a group decided that we would quickly unpack and head out for an evening visit to the park. Since this visit was not planned, we had to pay the park fees which were very inexpensive.

This first game drive was quite memorable. We had only just entered through the Anderson park gate and began heading toward Okaukuejo when suddenly (on a paved road mind you) our right rear tire had a blowout! This was easily the most jarring of the 3 flats that we had on this trip because we were going slightly faster on the paved road. Our guide Mark did a great job of keeping control of the vehicle even though he struggled to slow us down. The only problem with a flat in the park was that officially Mark could not leave the vehicle to repair it by himself! We had to request help from Okaukuejo. Luckily the rangers were quick to respond and had our spare tire on in a few minutes. Finally we could head out to do some actual game viewing.

Mark drove us through Okaukuejo toward a watering hole named Gemsbok Vlakte. It’s known for being a nice flat open area for lots of wildlife to congregate. We noticed a vehicle was stopped at the watering hole from a distance, which is usually a good sign. But while we scanned the horizon, something seemed to move a bit differently than the springbok and zebra in the area. It was our first lion sighting, but certainly not our last. Two lions, one male and one female, were on their way to the water hole for a drink. This brought our attention to the water hole itself, where it seemed a large dark skinned animal was already drinking. It was a black rhino!

We quickly drove to the parking area around the water hole and got directly between the lions and the water so they would walk as close to us as possible. This ended up being a great move and we were both able to get some great shots of the lions walking, the rhino backing up, the lions drinking with the rhino nearby. Unfortunately it was quite a quick evening due to the flat tire so we had to head back and be out of the park before sunset. As we left, we were lucky enough to see two more black rhino! A mother and calf that had been drinking slowly walked away from the water hold and gave us a quick glance.

Taleni Etosha Village itself is owned by the same company that owns and runs Sossusvlei Lodge so many of the same food choices can be had there. We had a similar buffet of game meats and a stir fry option with plenty of other buffet choices for dinner. Breakfasts have a huge selection as well with omelet/egg stations where the chefs will prepare eggs any way you like. The rooms were nice sized permanent tents with en suite facilities (even though they were technically outside the main living area of the tent).

Our second day in Etosha went quite well once again. We managed to come across half a dozen lion early in the morning, two of which put on a nice roaring show for us. It really is impressive to hear the vocal power of these lions! Another pair of lions just down the road posed for Valentine’s Day while holding hands. We even got to see two different lions mating. It seems like Etosha had Vday planned for us all along. The evening game drive unfortunately got rained out as a large thunderstorm was blown in. It was actually impressive to see how quickly the weather could change. The rain only lasted about 45 minutes but it was enough to get us out of the park and back for an early dinner.

PART 4: OKONJIMA, HOME OF AFRICAT

While we had wonderful luck with lions in Etosha, we didn’t see any leopard or cheetah. They really are much more secretive and difficult to see. Today we were on the way to Okonjima, the home of the AfriCat Foundation. AfriCat is well known around Namibia for teaching the local population about how to live with predators instead of trying to exterminate them as if they were pests. Many of the leopards and cheetah in the Okonjima reserve are previously rescued and re-released into the wild successfully. The drive was very short and all on paved roads. We arrived in time for a nice rest and a wonderful lunch salad before our afternoon activity: leopard tracking.

We left the camp at around 4 to try and find a leopard via tracking collar. This might sound easy, but the landscape at Okonjima is quite mountainous and full of areas a vehicle cannot traverse. We spent about an hour tracking a weak signal from a leopard and decided that a higher altitude would help out. Just as we made it to a nice cliff to track from, we noticed what looked like a leopard statue in the middle of a green grassy garden. Sure enough, we found our leopard! She rolled around in the grass for us then walked toward us, eventually heading off into the bush where she hid from everyone for hours. Our vehicle was the only one to get a glimpse of leopards that evening. While the viewing was very short, it was memorable.

Okonjima main camp itself was just outside the reserve which was a good thing. It was safe to walk between the lodge and tents without fear of wild animals interfering. There were still some antelope and warthogs around, which have a chance to come drink at the lovely water hole that the main eating/lounging area surrounds. The room we stayed in was a large round chalet with en suite facilities and about a third of the wall was a large open window with a view of the bush. For dinner there was a set menu, but the kitchen will listen to requests from guests. Breakfast had a somewhat small buffet but included an egg/omelet station which is always our first choice for breakfast.

Our morning activity was cheetah tracking. We thought it would be all in the vehicles but after getting close to the cheetah (also via tracking collars) we left the vehicle and went on foot! We were all a bit nervous but the guides assured us that the cheetahs we were tracking had previously been released successfully into the wild by AfriCat. While they were not tame by any means, they were habituated to humans over the years. We finally stumbled across two lovely cheetahs resting in the morning sun, their bellies obviously full. Never have we been so close to cheetah on foot. It was quite an experience that we will never forget!

After about an hour of viewing, we decided to leave the cheetah to have their rest. We were off to the main offices of AfriCat which was a very educational visit. They showed us how AfriCat works to educate the local farmers and their children about living with predators. While there, the “Adopt a Spot” program was brought to our attention. It helps visitors donate small amounts which add up to adopting an entire cheetah or leopard. Here’s a photo of Jason painting the spot that we adopted for Fish Eagle Safaris!

PART 5: SELF DRIVE, WINDHOEK AND SOSSUSVLEI

As we left Okonjima, we realized that this wasn’t the end of our trip. We had done nearly a full circuit in Namibia but had new places to see and new experiences to keep us busy for a couple more weeks. We can definitely say that the second circuit was worth it. Learning things we may have missed, or even hearing them a second time truly did help make this trip memorable.

Once we arrived at the Windhoek airport it was time for goodbyes to our group of agents. From now on it would be just the two of us driving all around Namibia with a map and a gps unit to keep us on track. The map would actually help more than the GPS unit, as a few of the roads we were planning to take were not listed on the GPS. Particularly the roads leading to camps in Sossusvlei and Damaraland were not available. If we were to travel mainly with the GPS unit we would have needed to direct us to a town near the camp and then hope for signs, which were few and far between. We did, however, request an extra spare tire as we had quite a few flats with the Safari Wise portion of our trip. Luckily the extra would not be needed, but at the time it was worth the cost. One other thing that we had to get used to was driving on the other side of the road! A few sketchy moments in and around town really teach you quickly where you can and cannot go. I also can’t tell you how many times we went to the wrong side of the car (driver to the passenger side, etc). It was quite an adventure.

Our first stop was the Hotel Heinitzburg, which is one of only 3 actual castles in Windhoek and the only one that is accessible to the public. They’ve added rooms nearby that are structured similar to a castle wall so you can really get the feel of the place. The rooms were large and seemed very formal in their decoration. We had a dinner at the attached restaurant, Leo’s at the Castle, which had delicious food. The only snag was a local power outage for about fifteen minutes which was handled well by the staff.

The next day we stayed at the Olive Exclusive, the more luxurious brother to the Olive Grove Guesthouse. Our room was a junior suite which was just beautifully decorated as you can see in the photos. We would eventually stay for dinner, which was once again excellent. For lunch we went to the famous Joe’s Beerhouse for a rare Sunday buffet lunch. As with any buffet, we enjoyed being able to try a multitude of main courses, sides and desserts. The atmosphere was very social and we were seated with a group of total strangers but found the conversation quite interesting. We would have liked to visit Joe’s for a normal a la carte menu but just weren’t in town for long enough to do so.

In the morning we enjoyed a leisurely and tasty breakfast at the Olive before departing for Sossusvlei. We decided to take the same route that our Safari Wise guide had taken just because we were familiar with it, even though it did net us two flat tires the previous trip. Driving ourselves took much less time than driving in a full group. We were able to plan our breaks and driver changes, all in all the drives went very well throughout our self-drive experience. A stop at Solitaire on the way was a necessity. We tried some of the famous apple crumble, which was quite good but perhaps our batch wasn’t their best work as it did not live up to expectation. Roughly 5 hours after we left Windhoek we arrived at Little Kulala. The camp is set just beyond a dried up river bed with some large dead trees similar to those in Dead Vlei. The dried river bed actually still has subterranean water, which made it a prime choice for a camp. We did learn that the wind at Little Kulala can get quite harsh, so plan ahead with dust covers for your cameras!

As with all Wilderness Safaris camps, the staff was excellent. Our guide Felix was one of the best guides on our trip, pity we were there for just one night. The rooms had en-suite facilities and air conditioning with private plunge pools and a deck for relaxation. It was a bit too sandy and windy for relaxing on the deck at times but the plunge pool was a nice escape from the heat. Our real focus at Little Kulala was to climb one of the dunes. On our previous trip we had been to Dead Vlei and Sossusvlei but only managed to walk around the base of some of the larger dunes, finally we would have the opportunity to actually reach the peak of one. Felix gave us a wonderful idea to climb a dune that is rarely used. He called it the arm of ‘Big Daddy’, which looms over Dead Vlei and is very popular (albeit very difficult) to climb. The arm was not as tall but still managed to have all 3 of us, Felix included, out of breath every 20 or so steps. Once at the top we had an amazing view and were able to glide down to the salt pan that is Dead Vlei for some more photography. This entire area really is breathtaking and we highly recommend spending a morning in the area.

Our second camp in the Sossusvlei area was Sossusvlei Desert Lodge, owned by AndBeyond. The Desert Lodge was the most luxurious camp throughout our safari. Each room had amazing views of a large valley where zebra and springbok made their way to a man made water hole. Sossusvlei Desert Lodge has a variety of activities to keep you busy. Not only can you go to Dead Vlei and Sossusvlei if you leave early in the morning, but you can drive to the star dunes, petrified dunes, quad biking, game drives, sundowner drives and even star gazing at night. Our first activity was a drive up to the local petrified dunes. The drive itself was amazingly steep, quite exciting actually. The dunes themselves have been solidified into a near rock like consistency over millions (or billions) of years. They represent the final stage in the dunes’ life cycle, very interesting to see. Our second activity was so fun that it ended up being our third activity as well, quad biking! The Desert Lodge has a quad bike track in the dunes nearby where guests can ride at their own speed in and around the sand. Please note that these bikes are very powerful, so if you choose this activity and it’s your first time riding them you can take your time. The views alone are worth the time spent.

The final night in Sossusvlei would be at Wolwedans Dunes Lodge in the NamibRand Nature Reserve. The camp itself is quite far south and while they do offer hot air balloon rides, they do not offer trips to the dunes in Sossusvlei as it would simply be too far away. Once again we were surrounded by amazing landscapes and views. The Dunes Lodge is actually physically built on the top of some dunes, quite interesting. The rooms were nice enough but we were told that at night the wind can hit quite hard, which can cause portions of the tent to flap around noisily. We were given earplugs just in case, but luckily the wind stayed low during our stay. The highlights at Wolwedan’s were the beautiful sunset and our 5 course dinner with some of the best food we had eaten throughout our trip.

PART 6: SWAKOPMUND

We departed on a roughly 6 hour drive once again toward the town of Swakopmund. Our destination this time was the previously mentioned Hansa Hotel which was directly in the center of town. This was the best feature of the hotel, as we were able to walk to restaurants, shops and all around the main part of town and never be more than a 10 minute walk from our room. We took advantage of covered parking across the street and left our rental there for two nights for under $5 per night. Our only complaint about Hansa Hotel was the smoking policy. The hotel allowed smokers in the restaurant, the bar, the lobby and even in some of the rooms. It didn’t ruin our stay at all, but there were a few awkward moments while sitting in the lobby where someone would sit right next to us and begin smoking.

We had been staying in touch with our Safari Wise guide, Mark, who was trying to put together a shark fishing expedition out of Henties Bay for the following morning. Alas, when we arrived we learned that a fishing competition would have all of the charter boats out of commission for the same day that we would spend on the coast! Instead of fishing, he put together some more quad biking for us which we thought would be a bit boring as we had already done it twice at Sossusvlei Desert Lodge. The terrain that we biked on was very different than before. We were out in the open, able to go full speed at times without worrying about where the track went and if there was a sharp corner up ahead. Our guide led us up the sides of some nice large dunes allowing us toalmost fly downhill. This quad biking was an entirely different experience, and for us, a very exciting one.

While in Swakopmund the previous time we were able to dine at some very nice restaurants, but didn’t have enough meals to visit all of the town’s favorites. This time we did manage to eat at The Tug, a very well-known restaurant on the coast. Both of our lunches were spectacular and we were seated right at the window (the entire wall was one large panel of windows) for a wonderful view. We also ate at our favorite, Ocean Basket, one more time and had a good time watching and learning some Rugby.

On our way out of Swakopmund we were asked to visit a guest house called Ietsiemeer in Henties Bay. The location was fabulous; you could walk out of the doors of the main lounge and instantly be on the beach. They offered fishing from the shore, so it seems we should have stayed here in the first place after our problems with getting a fishing charter. If you’re looking for a small quiet guesthouse, Ietsiemeer really does seem like a fine option.

PART 7: DORO NAWAS AND DAMARALAND CAMP

We had a solid 5 hour drive to get to our first camp in Damaraland, Doro Nawas. Most of the drive was on gravel road and although it was smooth sailing for the most part you should always be on the lookout for sudden dips or bumps in the road because if you are traveling too fast it is a recipe for disaster. We arrived in camp and thought that we had dodged some bullets only to discover the following morning that we had a flat tire. Apparently a piece of wire had found its way into the tire and overnight it had gone almost completely flat. Luckily for us it happened in camp and there was no problem and only a small fee getting it fixed up.

Back to our arrival, the camp itself is set up on a nice rocky hill and we arrived right around the middle of the day during a bit of a heat wave so to say it was hot would be an understatement. Between 110-115 degree temperature, a scorching sun and rocks soaking all of that heat in it can be rather unpleasant even for someone growing up in Texas. Luckily the rooms provide shade and a fan not to mention the camp’s swimming pool which we frequented during our stay. It cooled down significantly in the evening and night but even then I would classify it as warm and because of this we declined the option of having our bed pulled out and sleeping under the stars instead opting for the steady breeze from the ceiling fan.

The terrain and geography is really stunning, reminiscent of the southwest United States. The area is arid and mountainous with igneous rocks all around. Desert adapted vegetation thrives such as the different types of Euphorbia and the national plant, the Welwitschia mirabilis. Oryx was the most commonly seen antelope in the area followed by springbok and the occasional Kudu.

For our first activity our guide, Reinhold, was keen on finding the desert adapted elephant herd that had been in the area the day before. We left camp at about 4 after some snacks at camp and set off on the trail of elephant. It was still blazing hot at that time so be sure to bring more water than you think is necessary because you should be taking in a lot of it. Our first stop on the elephant search was a local village that has a permanent source of water. The elephant are said to frequent the area and we see signs of their passing all around. Unfortunately we had missed them by a couple hours so we had to start tracking them from there. For the remainder of our afternoon drive it seemed like we were on their heels but in the end we found tracks that appeared to go up into the mountains to a point we could not follow. The next day in fact our guide talked to a fellow guide who said he had gone on foot from the point the tracks ended and he had seen the elephants moving down the far slope of the mountain. On occasion the elephants move out of the area for 4-5 days at time and it just so happened that they chose the days we were in Damaraland.

That evening we had a nice dinner at the camp and discussed our planned itinerary for the following day with our guide. The following morning we set off for Twyfelfontein, Namibia’s first World Heritage Site and the location of the largest collection of San rock art in Africa. The rock art consists of animals found in the area and also contains maps of waterholes. A few of them are different in that they depict combinations of animal and man, said to be witchdoctors transforming into said animals. There is quite a bit of walking involved in the tour and as mentioned earlier it is quite hot so come prepared with water and some nice sturdy shoes/boots.

After resting up a bit we took off to go take a look at a few of the interesting natural formations in the area including the “Burnt Mountain” and the “Organ Pipes.” The Burnt Mountain is actually somewhat of a literal term as basaltic rock magma rising from the depths did indeed scorch sections of organic sediment turning it a nice crisp black. The Organ Pipes, just a stones throw from the Burnt Mountain, can also trace their origins to rising magma. In their case they are the remains of molten rock pushing through the Earth’s surface.

Lastly, we took a visit to the “Living Museum,” which is a recreated traditional Damara village. Some of the highlights include getting a lesson on many useful and interesting herbal remedies, taking a look at the village blacksmith and his tools, seeing how leather, mostly goat, is tanned and used, the making of traditional jewelry, and of course some singing and dancing. Photographs are encouraged and the people are extremely friendly.

Our drive from Doro Nawas Camp to Damaraland Camp was nice and easy and took about 45 minutes to an hour. There is a parking spot for non 4×4 vehicles that we took advantage of and we waited about 20 minutes to be picked up by a couple guides. Damaraland Camp has a great location with a couple of fantastic walking trails and beautiful scenery all around. The activities are nearly identical to Doro Nawas as they are so close in proximity.

The highlight of our stay in the area had to be our rhino tracking activity. We had to get up quite early in the morning, get in a quick breakfast and then drive about an hour to get to a hotspot of sorts for rhino. We waited a little while in the vehicle while the rhino trackers (3 in all) went to a nearby hill to scout the area. After a short while they signaled for us to make our way towards them. It was a bit of a hike over some rocky terrain but it was well worth it because there were two nice black rhinos waiting for us in the distance. We managed to get some very nice photos and even got relatively close before they heard us and took off. Once they decided to go it was amazing watching them and listening to them. Where we had been creeping silently and struggling with the terrain they were loud and unbelievably fast. By the time we got back to the vehicle we had worked up an appetite and ate our picnic lunches, all the while feeling very pleased with the outcome of our rhino tracking.

PART 8: ONGAVA LODGE, ETOSHA NATIONAL PARK

It was another road trip to get from Damaraland back to Etosha for our 2nd visit. This leg of the trip wasn’t really bad at all seeing as the majority came on nice paved roads and by this time we are probably feeling just as comfortable driving on the left side of the road as the right. We had inspected Ongava Lodge earlier so we knew it was located just outside the gate to the park in an adjacent reserve (Ongava Game Reserve). The lodge itself is well located, elevated on a hill with a fantastic view of a watering hole and the surrounding area. Our room was a short walk from the main area and it as well did not disappoint. The room was rather sizeable, had a similar view although not elevated of the watering hole and came equipped with an air conditioning unit. This proved helpful but it was not nearly as hot as it had been in Damaraland so Ongava Tented Camp, the smaller and more intimate Wilderness camp located in the same reserve, isn’t lacking much.

Our evening game drive was inside the reserve, as is the usual custom at Ongava. There had been a lion sighting nearby but unfortunately by the time we arrived they had gone into the bush and were not visible. The Reserve has a nice population of antelope and they were on display from the outset but overall it was a rather quiet drive. Our guide discovered some promising lion prints and we tracked them for quite some time but they eluded us just as the earlier lions had. We had our sundowners a bit later than usual and headed back to camp for dinner.

Little did we know the best sighting of the day would come as we ate our dinner overlooking the watering hole at night. A group of 4 white rhinos came to join us and they stuck around until just before dinner ended. This was really a special experience because it is rare to be able to spend so much time just observing these animals. To be able to relax, enjoy some good food and watch the rhino interact with each other while having a drink was a real joy and made us completely forget the quiet game drive we had just returned from.

In the morning we headed into the park and almost immediately found some lions lounging around. It was still cool in the morning but these guys seemed content to lie around all day. There were a couple of interested glances from some of the young males who must have caught scent of some prey but I would venture a guess that this pride could have been found in that general vicinity for the next few hours at least. After spending some time admiring the lions we stopped at a nearby watering hole and must have seen a group of at least 14 giraffe, some heading towards the water some already bending over in their unique way and getting a sip of water.

We made our way back onto the main road and got to Okaukuejo to check out a very popular water hole. We were not disappointed as it was crowded with antelope and, more importantly, a couple of elephants. We must have spent a solid 45 minutes there just watching the animals come and go. One particular kudu had the most impressive set of horns I have ever seen and of course elephants are endlessly entertaining.

After a quick restroom break at Okaukuejo we went deeper into the park and came across a zebra kill surrounded by jackals. We had just missed a hyena that had been feeding there but we saw him scampering off in the distance. After scouring the area our guide found a large male lion in the distance who must have been responsible for the kill.

For the evening we took our final game drive in the Ongava Reserve and apparently we saved the best for last. After driving up one of the rocky hills for quite some time we came to a watering hole near the summit. It seemed quiet and we drove off for a couple of minutes but wound up returning. It was a good thing we did because as we rolled up in our vehicle we witnessed a large pride of lion make their way to the water. Once they all arrived we counted 18 lions in total, many of them young cubs. It was the most we had ever seen in one sighting and quite spectacular. They took turns drinking and would then go lie down only to have one of the young ones come over looking to play. After a while the sun started to set and some of them came to rest in the shade of our vehicle. We stayed with them for at least an hour and I wouldn’t have minded another one, just a great sighting and a fantastic way to end our time in Namibia.

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