2006 news & pictures from our finest East African safaris:

Highlights of the last season 2006

Over the last couple of years, as more and more people wish to come on safari, we have noticed that I am unable to work on itineraries because I am in the bush too much. In order to fix this problem, my wife Janelle has resigned from her job and joined me. So while I am away on safari she will work on itineraries with you. She and I will be in comms each evening so that we can work together on itineraries and logistics. Janelle has been in the business all her life and arranges the most wonderful and imaginative safari itineraries. She started out managing camps in Zambia where she was also a safari guide and recently finished up building exclusive safaris for independent guides from Kenya and Tanzania. She still has a special interest in Zambia and would love to work out safaris that take in both Tanzania and Zambia (the Luangwa Valley, Victoria Falls etc). She is also working on historic routes that follow the likes of Livingstone, Von Lettow Vorbeck, Staley, Burton, Speke.

Maswa Game Reserve – wildebeest

The first year of safaris in the private TGT concessions went off extremely well. In the earlier part of the year we did some great walking in Maswa Game Reserve. The first of these safaris saw a lot of wildebeest although the main body of the migration never did enter the reserve. Maybe early in 2007 they will get back to their “normal” route and enter the game reserve. It is really amazing to be able to walk among thousands of wildebeest.

Lake Natron area

Natron was, as always, wonderful. We had some fun horse rides and some great adventures. The heavy rain in February proved to be a bit of a challenge when trying to get out of the area. It took several hours sliding sideways and into ditches with the land cruisers. A lot of fun all round. The big plains were particularly productive this year with fringe eared oryx to be seen in herds of around thirty animals. We also saw a lot of East African Eland and one herd with 76 animals. We camped up on Gelai Mountain at about 9,000 feet and it was freezing but with crisp clear days. We found the mountain top to be crawling with buffalo, bushbuck and bushpig (See picture of tent in the mountain). The flamingos were in Lake Natron and some great pictures came out of wading way into the lake to get the shots (see pictures of flamingos below). The whole area is really photogenic and offers up the most classic East African scenery (see pictures of giraffe in front of volcano). Oldonyo lengai, the volcano in the pictures, erupted over easter, and we could hear it from the Gol Mountains! The next day as we were driving across the short grass plains we heard pattering on the vehicle and stopped to see bits of volcanic ash raining down all around us.

Ugalia Game Reserve

Perhaps the greatest find for me was Ugalla Game Reserve late in the year. I was lucky enough to take two safaris there in October and November. The water in the back country had dried up and all the game was concentrated around the river. Where else can one go to stalk up on Sable Antelope and Roan Antelope on foot and get amazing pictures of these very cool animals. On one long morning drive we found wilddog (see pictures of wilddog), Sable Antelope and Shoebill Storks. Very little is known about the shoebill which is rare and extremely vulnerable (see picture of stork in reed).  And to have totally exclusive use of the WHOLE 1,000 sq km game reserve is awesome!

Chimpanzees, crocodiles and private camping in the Serengeti

The chimping in the Mahale mountains on lake Tanganyika was fantastic this year and the sushi from our own fishing was tops. On one safari the chimps came in through the camp. (see pix of chimps and pic of dinner table set out on beach with sunset)

Katavi National Park was also very unusual. We hit it just before the rains at the end of a very long dry season. Crocodiles were to be seen creeping up dry river beds into dry caves. Along the edge of a dried swamp we found about seven kilometers of thicket. We were driving along the edge of this thicket and peering into the deep shadow – slowly as our eyes became accustomed we noticed hundreds of hippos all lying up in the shade waiting for the rain.

As always the Serengeti and Ngorongoro were wonderful wildlife spectacles. I still believe that one should always put a day or two in at the crater, especially on a first safari. The scenery and the wildlife take every ones breath away. Our private camping in the Serengeti is as always a great experience.

So that’s it for this year. I will be seeing some of you in January in the USA and others back in Tanzania in 2007 and some of you in both places!