On Safari with The Map's Edge

The emerald bush - Katavi and Mahale in the Green

2012-02-03T17:05:00.000+03:00

By Richard Knocker

We had a very weird spell of weather in October and early November – tremendous rains, unusually early and heavy. It was very patchy, so while everything at home was green and flourishing, and there was heavy flooding in parts of Serengeti, large swathes of Maasailand remained brown and parched.

So, November came around and with it a group of old friends from our days in Turkey. We were headed out west, for a week in Katavi and Mahale. Katavi will be at it’s best at this time, won’t it? The long months of hot and dry mean that large numbers of game will be congregated near the few springs, so game viewing will be a cinch. Except for that early rain (see above). The whole park was freshly painted in luxuriant greens, the Katuma River was flowing and the air felt vibrant with life.

Many of the hippos had moved out of the springs at Ikuu, their dry season refuge, and back into the newly formed pools on the Katuma. The crocs were slowly coming back to life, although many were still more or less somnolent in their riverbank holes.

The downside to all this, of course, was that much of the game, released from the tyranny of the dry season, had scattered to the four winds

It was gorgeous and we did find just about everything we wanted to see, so we had to earn out sightings with patience and good tracking!

We found a lovely pride of lion with cubs (the Chada Pride), and followed them for a couple of hours through the bush as they made their way to the river, presumably changing hunting grounds. They were lean and hungry looking, but with a healthy glow. We stayed with them for some time, hoping for a hunt (they were clearly ready for action), but nothing came of it.

It was the same story with elephant – when we finally caught up with a herd, we had a long visit with them, following slowly as they fed through the bush. There was a tiny calf with them, but we only got brief glimpses as Mama kept her close by her side.

It was strange to see so few elephant, but the mystery was solved when some of our group spotted a large herd, several hundred they reckoned, waaaay out on Katisunga Plain. Too far to go and see them, sadly, but nice to know they’re there. And always nice to solve the puzzle!

This happens frequently: elephant clans are forced to break up into small family groups during the dry season, because of the lack of resources, but when the rains start and food and water are plentiful, they gather once more into large groups.

Not long after we left, a herd of several hundred was seen just in front of Chada Camp – very likely the same clan.

One of our Chada highlights was a large scorpion, found by one of the camp waiters. Scorpions have this weird undead glow under ultraviolet light – perfect material for nightmares!

All too soon, our time was up and we upped sticks and moved on to Mahale Mountains.

Again, the recent rain meant that the forest was bursting with new life. Gorgeous butterflies flitting through the clearings and fresh new leaf everywhere. The miombo woodland on the mountain slopes was resplendent in shades of copper, crimson and brilliant fresh greens.

We had high expectations of our time with the chimps: as you probably know, the Alpha male of Mahale’s ‘M’ community was killed by his own kind back in July (??). Pimu was a thug who ruled by brute force and terror, and in the end his subjects rose up against him. If only Gaddafi had taken heed of this sorry tale…

Anyway, we were intrigued to find out how the succession struggle was working out. There are 2 contenders: Alofu, the former alpha, deposed by Pimu; and Primus, a young buck with his eye on the top spot. In the event, we had unexpectedly mellow viewing, consisting of peaceable group grooming sessions and youngsters endlessly at play. Endlessly watchable.

We are still waiting to hear who will take on Pimu’s mantle, but we can expect a great deal of manoeuvring and wheeling & dealing before the dust finally settles on this saga.

Gorilla Trekking in Rwanda

2012-01-31T19:05:00.000+03:00

By Squack Evans

This was a short safari in June, but we had an amazing experience: three days in Rwanda, trekking the Mountain Gorillas, a total of two treks, one with the Agashya group and the other with the Kwitonda group. There are very few Mountain Gorillas left in the world, experts tell us somewhere just over 800, so this is a very special safari.

Our first day out we bumped into a herd of buffalo on the way. This happens from time to time but you very rarely get a chance to actually see them. The normal state of affairs is the thundering of hooves, usually in the opposite direction. This time we had a good look at them; probably about 15 animals in total. Do these qualify as true Forest Buffalo, Syncerus caffer nanus?? Would love to hear the comments of an expert!

Both gorilla groups we visited have large numbers of individuals and both also have good number of babies which provides interesting interactions and play all the time. This youngster decided it was time to take a siesta on the Silverback, Agashya, he was very tolerant all told!

The Kwitonda group also has some very interesting dynamics with 3 silverbacks at the moment, which provides for some exciting viewing.

We managed on both days to get very close to the gorillas, on one occasion we were boxed in to the thick vegetation with a youngster sitting very close by watching with interest, and sometimes amusement, our attempts to maintain the required 7 metre distance. What a great trip, something every Africa-phile should do at least once!

June in Northern Tanzania

2012-01-27T15:07:00.002+03:00

by Squack Evans

Having had a busy season this year, there has not been much time to post about our adventures (although I confess to a certain amount of procrastination too!). A subject of a delicate nature with those who have kept up with their posts!

Starting our safari on the night of a full lunar eclipse, we made our way from Arusha leisurely north. Starting with an afternoon in Manyara National park with some amazing close up views of elephant.

Overnighting in the wonderful Plantation lodge and taking in the Ngorongoro Crater the following day. Onward to the Serengeti, we found some amazing 'rock star' lions perched on the kopjies in central Serengeti on the way to our mobile camp, set up in the Western Corridor, specially to catch up with the migration.

Scores of wildebeest and zebra with the cacophony of noise that goes with the wildebeest at this time of year; rutting season.

A balloon flight, bush breakfasts and on to the northern Serengeti for the last few days of our safari.

What a pleasure to arrive there and experience untrammeled Africa without the crowds! Out of season is definitely the way to travel these days.

Leopard, lion and cheetah in our time here not to mention wonderful vistas of seas of grass with zebra and topi navigating their way across the plains.

As if butter wouldn't melt in their mouths

2011-09-27T16:22:00.000+03:00

Photographs by Kennedy John

Pictures to melt even the most hardened of hearts. All taken on safari this year.

Tales of the Unexpected.

2011-09-27T15:22:00.006+03:00

By Kennedy John

Sometimes, things happen in the bush which are not explained by the usual 'blah blah' of animal behaviour guide books. It shows how much we still really do not know of these matters. I observed a group of three cheetah brothers and close by, three nearly adult cubs and their mother. The posture of the three brothers was head low, stiff legged walking which usually signifies agression. I assumed that mother and the cubs would flee but they turned and attacked the coalition of males in unison until they reached a stalemate, whereby all seven settled down in close proximity to each other, looking puzzled, like me I suppose, by the behaviour of the young cheetah cubs and their mother. They never expected that challenge either.

A story of unusual cooperation near Tarangire Silale Swamp. It is a normal thing to see feathered creatures such as oxpeckers clean buffalo by taking off the ticks and other insect life from their hides. But it is not at all normal to see a bird cleaning another bird. I observer this fork-tailed drongo, perched on the bulbous head of a Black-chested Snake Eagle. Thinking that this small bird was about to attack and maybe kill a large eagle though the eagle was doing nothing to get away, I picked up my binos and to see exactly what was happening. The insect collecter was actually picking parasites off the head of the eagle. I do not know if it was a common occurence in some places but to me, it was a new thing: to observe brids cleaning each other. Was it mutual benefit? Yes definitely. Drongo gets food and eagle gets cleaned, isn’t nature wonderful!

You never know what is just around the corner.......

2011-09-27T15:01:00.002+03:00

By Chediel Mnzava

On safari with a lovely family in July this year.
Location: Katavi National Park.
And this is why I like game drives. You just do not know
what is round the corner.

Late in the evening, making our way back to Chada camp, we stopped to take pictures of a beautiful sunset. Then, from nowhere, a leopard came running fast towards our vehicle. About 10 meters from the car, there was a small acacia tree. The leopard took a giant leap and grabbed a vervet monkey from the tree, just in front of us. We were all left with our mouths open. This all happened within a few seconds. It was so fast our great photographer, Andrew, only managed to snap one quick shot as the leopard was running away with the monkey hanging from his mouth.

This is another leopard spotted soon after, the result of careful reconstruction at the scene of the crime. We spotted the impala in the tree first and then searched around until we found the perpetrator.

The safari had many high points. On one of our game drives, we were watching an elephant picking up seed pods from under an acacia tree. We stayed with him for more than 10 minutes, not moving, just watching what he did with his trunk and admiring his ability to pick up such small things with his big trunk. He pushed the pod up with his foot, then picked it up in his trunk. Just before he moved off, he gave us a bit of a show, making a small, quick rush towards our landrover. He stopped a few meters from the car and shook his ears and kicked up some dust before turning around and calmly walking away and disappeared into the bush. As a guide, I knew it was all OK, the elephant was just showing off, but my clients were a bit uncomfortable until they saw that I was not worried. It turned out to be one of the highlights of the safari and gave them a completely different experience of elephants from all the elephants that we had seen before. They thought they knew alot about elephants but now they know even more.

The elephant having a good look in the car, before calmly walking off.

Mahale was next. On the way, we spotted a boat taxi just leaving with its passengers - the best way to get around on the deepest lake in Africa.

We had a good time there, we saw the chimps twice and both times, we did not have to walk far to find them.

We had a nice walk to the waterfall with a beautiful scenery on the way. It was so relaxing swimming on Lake Tanganyika and watching the sunset of the lake from the boat, talking about all the exciting experiences we had in the past 10 days.Mahale came at the right place on our itinerary to bring us to the end of this wonderful expereince.

Moru Magic

2011-07-27T14:30:00.002+03:00

By Richard Knocker
Photos by Mike Carr Hartley

What a pleasure to spend a few days in Moru once again.

Moru Kopjes, in central Serengeti, is one of the park’s iconic landscapes – great looming outcrops of granite, like so many whale backs, rolling through a grassy ocean. The up-thrust rocks give all kinds of trees a toehold, somewhere where they can flourish in the otherwise undifferentiated grassland. Each kopje is a botanical wonderland, with a crazy profusion of growth – and this, in turn, makes rich habitat for all kinds of birds, reptiles and mammals.

We are camped up by Ol Donyo Olobaaye (‘the last hill’), with long views over the plains, dotted at this time with zebra and gazelle. On the way to camp, we are blessed with 3 leopard sightings. One even climbs a tree for us, just to impress with his power and agility.
Late that afternoon, we are rewarded with sightings of spotted hyena and then a caracal, the elegant lynx of Africa.

Next day, we aim to take in the whole Moru area, but it is not to be – we come across a hunting cheetah, not far from camp. She spots a young gazelle and, after a short stalk, accelerates to full speed. At first, it looks as though the gazelle must get away but the cheetah quickly closes the gap and takes it down in a flurry of dust. She drags her prey into the shade of a bush and sinks down, suddenly invisible.
There is a pride of lion a little further on, with 3 young males right by the road, and the light is fabulous. We enjoy the sight, before tearing ourselves away to follow the river downstream with elephant, buffalo and giraffe along the way – then another pride of lion, whiling away the hours in the shade of a desert date. There are 5 tiny cubs; they can’t be more than a couple of months old. We spend a good long time here and as we are about to move away, 3 of the females spot a herd of zebra in the thick bush down by the river. They move purposefully into position. This is beginning to look like a 2-kill morning!

Meanwhile, a large herd of elephant is drifting our way. This could get interesting, as elephant don’t get on well with lion. Sure enough, they pick up the smell of large cat and several adults come over, ears out and looking like they want to show everyone exactly who’s boss around here. The male lions very quickly decide that discretion is the better part of valour and head for the rocks, quickly followed by the remaining adults. The cubs stare in consternation at the huge grey legs towering over them, then turn tail… another safari vehicle chooses this moment to move into a better position, which spooks the already nervous cubs, and they shoot off in the wrong direction.

The cats have all disappeared and there’s nothing to show for this little drama, except a herd of elephant, snoozing in the shade. We are concerned for the cubs – their mother is away hunting and they are on their own. She will find them easily enough later, but in the meantime they are at risk from a whole suite of predators – leopard, hyena, python or even a large eagle. Eventually, we turn and head for home.

The next morning, en route to our next camp, we swing by the pride again. Most of the adults are perched decoratively on a nearby kopje, every inch the kings and queens of the jungle. No sign of the cubs or their mother though; this could just be because she has them hidden away in a safe nook somewhere but we aren’t totally reassured.

Later, on a little used track, a herd of kongoni run from the car; why are they so wary of humans? The herd splits and we watch one group, as they bounce away with their distinctive gait. Mikey spots a lion – ‘Where did she comes from?’ There are 2 of them and they are feeding. The fleeing kongoni must have run straight past them and they made an opportunistic kill. Feeling a tad guilty, we continue on our way.

In the meantime, our home has been moved – the camp is now in the heart of the Western Corridor. We are here hoping for the migration. Once the southern plains dry up and the grazing around central Serengeti has been depleted, this is where the great herds come. In theory, at any rate – the whole migrations story seems so cut-and-dried, it scarcely seems possible to miss out. After all, there are over a million of these animals! The reality, however, isn’t so simple. Some of the cues (weather, grazing etc) that drive the migration are too subtle for mere humans to grasp.

We are in luck though. Next morning, we come over a rise into a great throng of wildebeest, all honking and mooing, a great wall of sound. For the rest of the morning, we are surrounded wherever we go. A terrific sight.

The Midas Touch

2011-07-11T18:21:00.000+03:00

By Sara Ashby

We had been watching the weather charts for days. It wasn’t looking good. Should we cancel the weekend or go somewhere else, somewhere with sunny skies and no black cotton soil? Nah… it would be fine.
So, the six of us set off to Mkomazi National Park, in a highly modified Land Rover and a ‘well loved’ Land Cruiser aka the “Anti-Christ” with its '666' number plate. As you can imagine from the very start, the Land Cruiser vrs Land Rover snipes were being texted between the two vehicles. Which was the real safari car?
We were only going for two nights and yet the cars were stuffed to the gunnels. I think it was the odd case of Pinot Grigio and slabs of cold beer that took up the majority of space. I, on the other hand, had packed my Ribena juice and granola bars.
It was time to get out of the office, back into the bush and what better way to do it than with a bunch of good mates? Just because we all work in the safari industry sadly, it doesn’t mean we spend our whole time in the bush.
Passing through the Park entrance gate, to our delight, we saw that we were the only people in the park. How brilliant is that? An entire Park to ourselves!

Squeaking into the campsite just before dark, we were half way through putting up tents when the heavens opened. It rained for a solid 4 hours. We got absolutely soaked to the bone. A makeshift tarpaulin and a dead acacia became our mess tent. Hey, we are safaris gurus - we improvised! The tarp leaked, the wind and horizontal rain put out our gas stove and our strip light was buggered. Gurus? … but at least the beers & wine were cold.

After a hearty breakfast, we set out to explore. Mkomazi is not known for her spectacular wildlife and rarely features on the normal milk run of the northern Tanzanian safari circuit. The game drive lasted 7 hours and, in that time, we saw a total of four different mammals and usually only the southern end of a north-going mammal. Thank God, we didn’t have paying clients along.

When the going gets this tough, it is a challenge to be kept entertained and this daunting duty lay solely at the feet of Richard Knocker. He thought he had the weekend off from his guiding duties… nope, sorry mate.

The passengers on board were probably worse than having paying clients. We all know our stuff, having been pro-guides ourselves. We have an intimate knowledge of the bush and there is little we don’t know. Well, that’s what we thought…..

No cats, no kills were seen that day. Man, that sounds boring, you might think. However…. it takes 7 hours of seeing absolutely ‘nothing’ to release just what it takes to be a real pro-guide. I have never had such an entertaining, interesting nor educational day. When the big five didn’t materialize, Richard kept us mesmerized with all the ‘small’ stuff. We learnt about robber flies, butterflies, trees, flowers. We read tracks & spoor down the road, learnt what leaves to eat if you have worms and what not to do when you hear ox pecker birds exploding out of thick bush whilst on foot - an indication that buffalo are present really close by. We chewed on things, smelt things, walked up kopjes, held poo and dissected owl pellets to find the jaw bones of different rodent species. Seven hours went by in a flash and still not a cat in sight. One of the best game drives we’d all had ever, except for the teeny weenie fact that the cooler box of beer & wine had been left behind in camp.

Golden Pipit

The birdlife of Mkomazi is absolutely amazing and I find it fitting that our favorite bird of the weekend was the Golden Pipit.

Oh, did I mention that Richard has just passed his Gold level exam with the Kenya Professional Safari Guides Association (KPSGA), one of only 10 in East Africa, and the only Gold level Guide in Tanzania? A Golden bird spotted by a Golden Guide, aka “Gigi”. Would I have paid good money to have been in Mkomazi with him? Dead right, I would have!

Threatened migrating herds need Wildlife Corridors more than ever

2011-02-10T11:10:00.002+03:00

By Richard Knocker

When Tarangire National Park was gazetted, back in 1970, few foresaw the looming population explosion, or the farms that would spring up in what were then, important wet-season dispersal areas for migrating herbivores.

That has now come to pass. Populations of migrants such as wildebeest and zebra have crashed, largely cut off from their ancestral calving grounds.

AWF (African Wildlife Foundation) recognised the need to protect important game corridors outside National Parks, in order to keep the old migration routes open. An important (if controversial) move was the purchase of Manyara Ranch, a 44,000-acre chunk of land occupying a central position in the vital Kwakuchinja Corridor, connecting Tarangire to the nearby Lake Manyara National Park.
http://www.awf.org/content/solution/detail/3505/

This is an attempt to achieve that holy grail of wildlife management – involving the local community in a sustainable conservation model, to the benefit of both people and wildlife. I wish them well. National Parks in Tanzania are, on the whole, in pretty good shape. Sure, there are inevitable issues, such as poaching. But I think most people are reasonably confident that, in 50 years or so, the parks will still be wildlife havens, providing enormous enjoyment to many visitors – and vital dollars to the national coffers. The future for wildlife outside the protected areas is much less certain.

There are similar projects afoot elsewhere in the region: north of the border, in Kenya, the Northern Rangelands Trust works closely with local communities, helping them to set up conservancies with fancy lodges so they can benefit from their wildlife resources. So far, NRT is involved in projects involving 15 communities, thereby helping to conserve hundreds of thousands of hectares of land in northern Kenya.
http://nrt-kenya.org/home.html

Here in Tanzania, high flying hedge fund manager and hunter / conservationist Paul Tudor Jones has been investing heavily in the Grumeti Game Reserve and Ikorongo Game Control Area, two degraded hunting blocks, lying just outside the western boundary of Serengeti National Park. The project has had its ups and downs but the proof of the pudding is in the eating: a few years ago, you would have been hard pushed to find much game in this area, so bad was the poaching. Now, it offers first-class viewing, with plenty of important species such as cats and elephant as well as hordes of plains game. Importantly, it now serves as an excellent buffer for the western Serengeti, which has historically suffered from massive poaching and wood cutting. And their conservation arm is leading the charge in the planned re-introduction of black rhino into the Serengeti ecosystem, to bolster the existing population.
http://www.lexdon.com/article/Grumeti_Reserves_and_Paul_Tudor/49004.html

What these projects have in common is the recognition that, outside the parks, successful conservation requires involving local communities and relies on the profit motive: I will protect that which benefits me. In other words, enlightened self-interest.

Contrast this with the situation elsewhere, in areas beyond park boundaries and lacking free spending conservation-minded billionaires: wildlife numbers are plummeting; the mechanisms and methods employed by wildlife authorities are, on the whole, outdated and simply not up to the task of conservation in the modern era. A lot of stick and not much carrot. And did I mention leaden bureaucracy?

Official policy has it that wildlife is a tremendous resource, a precious source of revenue, something to be cherished and nurtured – a blessing. The reality on the ground is somewhat messier: wild animals eat your crops and livestock; they are a threat to kids on their way to school, or women collecting firewood; and it is virtually impossible to make money from this ‘resource’, thanks to the convoluted and expensive bureaucratic procedures mentioned above. A neat example: a friend running a local NGO recently told me that the cost of creating a WMA (Wildlife Management Area) which is the legal process for Villages to regain control over their natural resources and develop commercial community toursim projects, could run up to a quarter of a million US dollars. Villages in rural Tanzania don’t HAVE that kind of money, which means that conservation can only happen in conjunction with large NGO’s with deep pockets.

Which means, once again, dependence on foreign aid…
What it really means is that wild animals are only really of any value dead, cut up into pieces and sold off to townies as bush meat.

So bring on the new private initiatives: if the game is to survive outside the parks, we will need this kind of approach.

The Spices of Life.

2011-01-31T15:02:00.006+03:00

By Jules Knocker
Photos by India Howell and Annie Birch

You know what it is like: if you live in a country, you never actually travel around to see what is sitting on your own doorstep. It is so easy to put it off to another day. Exciting and exotic foreign climes seduce with their Siren calls and the days and years go by.

A couple of months ago, we were on Zanzibar with a group of friends and we decided to try out the Spice Tour, fully expecting a mildly entertaining morning, and feeling virtuous by taking an exercise break from chilled dawas and that extra plate of garlic tiger prawns and tender calamari rings that we could not resist the night before, around the pool.

Insufferably smug, we set off early to avoid the heat of the day – sunglasses and hats to the ready. After all, we live here... we know a thing or two or four!

How wrong we were! It turns out we knew almost nothing about many of the spices that infuse and seduce the dishes that we eat.

Fresh cloves and their flowers

Spices have, for well over a century, been a staple revenue earner for the island yet they are not indigenous. The Omani Sultan's Chief Envoy brought the plants over with him in the mid 19th century to try and provide some income and develop an economy for the poverty stricken isle. It took off and Zanzibar was soon known as the Spice Island. Jute bags of cloves, dried vanilla pods and nutmeg would line the shores to be loaded onto the wooden trading dhows and off they would sail, with the monsoon winds, to be delivered all over the world, leaving just a hint of exotic smells behind on the shore. I remember visiting Zanzibar in 1994 and coming across a small, wooden sailing jahazi on the beach. The captain was making repairs to the old planks and caulking the inevitable holes. Leaning into the empty skiff to watch his tradecraft, we were rewarded with a delicious aroma of wood, sea mist and cloves. The spice had left its mark long after departing those shores.

Back to the Spice Tour. The guide took his job seriously and we had to work hard for him. We had to guess what each plant was – he was not going to help. ‘Ginger’ we cried triumphant, as we spotted the telltale long leaves wrapped around a thick stem, only to be shown quite clearly that this was actually turmeric or one of two different types of cardamom. All the same family but such a variety of colours and tastes. Cardamom is the seed from the flower stalks but turmeric is the root, just like ginger.

Cardamon flowers

Vanilla orchids wove along branches and posts. Each flower has to be individually pollinated by hand every morning. The blooms are only pollinated in the wild by a tiny bee, the Melipone, which cannot survive outside its native Mexico. So never let your plant grow wild or you will have to shin up into the heights of the tree canopy to get at the flowers.

Vanilla pods

The piece-de-resistance was undoubtedly an unassuming greengage-type fruit. We could not even begin to guess that one. The guide cut it carefully open to reveal a veritable jewel: a beautiful, shiny, chestnut-coloured nutmeg covered in an intricate lattice work of deep-red mace. A glittering treasure in plain wrapping.

Nutmeg and Mace

The seed pods that produce the red dye used in chicken tikka, the blooms on the stumpy trees that end up as cloves, the bark that transforms into cinnamon sticks, the lemon grass tufts - it is all there waiting to be discovered.

The tikka dye on my fourth finger and the stain from tumeric on my middle finger

And at the end of it all, cups of tea flavoured with the different fruits, leaves, pods and barks that were, finally, familiar to us.

And the dawas? Crush 2-3 juicy limes and pop the juice in a wide glass, add a generous desert spoon of honey (more if limes are too tart) and mix. Add in the lime skins and fill with crushed ice then pour over a generous tot of cane spirit or vodka. Stir well and sip contentedly as the ice melts......

Repeat repeatedly.

All of a twitter...........

2010-11-08T14:22:00.004+03:00

By Jules Knocker

The cacophony of bird song in dry country areas is spectacular. If you live in mainly green surrounds, you forget the sheer volume and variety of the various calls from these noisy creatures that are your constant companions from before daybreak to after night fall. Twitcher or not, these birds demand your attention and there is no escape.

It starts pretty early, especially if there is a full moon, with the squeaky bed-spring bird that has decided that the patch just by your tent is the perfect place to let rip. Koki koki koki, getting faster and faster as the Coqui Francolin gets into its stride. Any thoughts of a lie-in are swiftly dismissed, as you awake with a start. Who needs a morning wake up at 6.15 am when these birds will happily do it at 5.30? It seems pretty ironic that this incredibly loud sound emits from such a skulking, shy creature.

Not surprisingly, the tuneless alarm, with no snooze button, gets the others going and soon you are surrounded by Red-eyed Doves (I AM the red-eyed dove), Mourning Doves (wu HOOO wu, wu HOOO wu krrrrrroaw) and all their numerous relatives and friends, full of morning vim and vigour as you stagger to your vehicle, clutching binoculars and peering owlishly through your specs at the scene that greets you: that wonderful, crisp, clear morning air before the African sun has started warming the earth.

In the bush around your car, the Red-billed Buffalo Weavers and the Masked Weavers have got going and are hopping around the trees and the ground below, being very, very busy indeed.

The Red-billed Hornbill sits on a termite mound, peeping gently to the inhabitants within. WuckWuckWuckWuckaWucka. Soon, a brown, furry head pops up out of the hole, scratches itself and heads back to wake the rest of the dwarf mongoose pack. Since, by this stage, you have been awake for more than two hours, you are definitely envious that these smart creatures have such a civilised introduction to the day.
By breakfast time, more of the avifauna are ruffling their feathers, preening and setting out for yet another successful forage. The helmeted guinea fowl chuckle softly, moving onto an alarmed kakakakakakakaaarrrrrrr, fluffing up their billowing, spotted skirts, as they run this way and that, worried at intrusions and eventually settling down to a determined peck.

You are just about to tuck into your bacon and egg sandwich when a loud Screeeeech gives you pause for thought and a brilliant flash of green and orange whistles past into the dense foliage of a nearby baobab. The Orange-bellied Parrot. Much more soothing, but no less dramatic, are the mini-screeches from the small flocks of Yellow-collared Lovebirds, as they flit to and fro, from ground to tree, a spectacularly colourful display of emerald green and sunflower yellow.

No dry season would be complete without the large flocks of Red-billed Quelea. Thousands move as one, flowing in waves, twisting and turning with the leaders. Catch them in the heat of midday coming into drink at the river and the sight is spectacular. The noise from thousands upon thousands of continuous, small chatterings can be almost deafening.

The soft boom of the Southern Ground Hornbill or the squawk of the Violet-backed Starlings; the Babblers and Barbets, Brown-hooded Kingfishers, European Bee-eaters, Nubian Woodpeckers; the tink tink tink of the Blacksmith Plover and the kreekree kreeip of the Crowned Plover. The list is endless, the sounds distinctive and the action ubiquitous. There is never a dull moment in a dry season park, as there is always some interesting, feathered friend hopping about and chirping brightly.

Not all the birds are as noisy and active. Early morning will see the large birds of prey sitting gloomily on the top of a tree, waiting for the sun to give them enough thermal lift. You feel they share some of your horror at the early morning wake up, as they get mobbed by screeching Shrikes and Starlings if they are discovered too close to some nest or territory.

As night falls, the birds all head to their roosts and silence slowly descends as they fall asleep, exhausted from the day’s exertions. Not long after, you do the same. But just as you start floating off, the Pearl-spotted Owlet with its rising peep gets going or the prrrrrp-prrrrrrp of the Scops Owl seeps into your tent along with the wikwikwikuwik of the Slender-tailed Nightjar on the move, gently reminding you that this is their time. Luckily, they have more respect for the sanctity of the night and the gentle hoots will lull you to sleep.

Yet this time, your sleep will be a satisfying one and the extra early wake-up, a pleasure. The best thing about all of this avi-torture is that you soon become an instant bird expert, picking out the loud Haaa Haaa Haaa of the Go-away Bird with the ease of a professional. The calls are so distinctive and individual, that the names will just trip off your tongue, as you point, with knowing smugness, in the direction of the third branch from the top of the small acacia bush on the right, where a Diederik Cuckoo is perched. deedeedeeDEEderick

Waiting to Cross

2010-11-08T14:06:00.007+03:00

By Chediel Mnzava

For more than twenty years, my clients had been hoping not only to see the Migration, but also to see the wildebeest crossing the Mara River in the northern Serengeti. On 5th Sept 2010, I met them at Lake Manyara airstrip but it was not until four days later that we got to the northern Serengeti, as we spent two days exploring Ngorongoro Crater and the Highlands and another two days exploring central Serengeti.

We finally got to northern Serengeti on the fifth day. With our fingers firmly crossed, hoping to catch a crossing, we set out for the Mara River to see if anything was happening there.

We found a big herd of wildebeest gathered by the river, with more coming from the plains behind to join them. The pressure from the collective herd was growing and they wanted to cross but were undecided if this was the best time or place. So they kept following the river downstream and we kept following them, from a distance, so as not to panic them. After some time, they started to pick up speed. I raised my binoculars to my eyes to see what was going on. "They are crossing" I said briefly, so as not to waste time talking. We rushed to the crossing point and there it was, a perfect crossing. The herd was huge; the river bank high; the river deep and the current strong, but their instint was definitely stronger than all of that and they kept running down to the crossing point from all directions and they kept crossing.

We watched this drama going on for rmore than 40 minutes non-stop. We could not have asked for more. The clients felt their dream had come true. "I have been involved in several animal counts in southern Africa but never in my life have I seen so many animals as I have seen here, and on this entire trip. Anyone who wants to see game should come to Tanzania, you have a great country."

An average safari stay......or is it?

2010-11-08T13:45:00.003+03:00

By Halifa Suleiman

The first day from the airstrip to the camp is as good a start to a safari as you could possibly hope for: a herd of elephants cross in front of our vehicle, a hyena rests in the mud wallow and there are always the giraffe to look at.

During our stay at the mobile camp, we had good sightings of the wildebeest crossing the Mara River The crossing lasted for about 30 minutes but only after a long wait. A lioness was teaching her cub how to hunt. She brought down a wildebeest calf but left it only half-dead and then let the cub do the rest. Amazingly, on our way back to camp, a black rhino emerged from the bush. There are so few of these endangered animals left in the wild that any sighting is truly special.

Next was a visit to the village school and the BBQ of goat roasted by the Maasai.

The crocodile enjoy a free meal of some weak wildebeest that had drowned and the hippo are chilled out, sunbathing and watching the mass of wildebeest and zebra being pushed down by the water and current then struggling to reach the other side of this monster river.

The three cheetah brothers chase a yearling wildebeest and bring it down, tucking in from the rear, eating as fast as they can. Within a few minutes, the vultures arrive and wait around to take their turn.

Did I forget to mention the oribi, jackal and all the other game we saw?

Savour the moment - a close encounter with an elephant in Tarangire

2010-10-06T10:51:00.004+03:00

By Jules Knocker

We sat and waited in complete silence as the solitary male elephant ambled along between the acacia trees in our direction. Early morning and no other cars around to stress him nor to rob us of the exquisite moment. He was happy to take his time, as he followed a meandering game trail towards the track. We were happy to wait and accept whatever he offered us.

The elephant wandered out and stopped, inches in front of the car, then turned his head calmly, to consider us. His drooping eyes opened wide for a brief moment and the rising sun caught the full beauty of that ruby chestnut colour, usually hidden behind long lashes. He slowly brought up his trunk and reached over to the windscreen. We savoured the moment, almost feeling the rough and the smooth, as he whiffled the end of his trunk over us for a few seconds, before losing interest and slowly scrunching away in the sand – looking for that tasty acacia seedpod or an early morning tipple in the river.

We were all transfixed with the sheer majesty of the moment, to be so close to an elephant that was at peace with itself and its surrounds. To be accepted as part of the landscape and to be included, in such a natural way, in his perambulations was a moment to savour for always.

......And we never got a photograph. Despite the fact that we were holding the cameras all ready, it never crossed our minds to raise them and record the moment. If we had, I suspect we would not have been touched so fundamentally by that brief, magical moment of sharing. While the camera will keep your memories safe for the future, and your memories fade over time, the sad fact is the lens, between your eye and your experience, keeps you at one stage removed from whatever you are photographing at all times.

Sometimes, it is better just to sit and enjoy.

Our Tarangire elephant - the only shot we took, when he was about 40 yards away

Home on the plains - Katavi National Park

2010-10-05T10:00:00.005+03:00

By Squack Evans

So, after a very long time away from my favorite park in Tanzania, I got to go back, guiding a great couple for 5 days. It was a bit like coming home, as I was the Manager of this camp for a couple of years, although there were lots of differences as well. Chada camp was as I remember it, with a few, small, cosmetic changes and some major reorganisation to the stores and kitchen and back of house. I believe though that major upgrades are scheduled for the camp soon, so we can expect a completely revamped camp in the not-too-distant future.

The park was a lot wetter than the years I spent there and, as a result, the river still had a lot of water; it must have only stopped flowing a few weeks before. Hippo were spread out along the length of the river, as were the crocs. It seemed like the egg-laying had just completed, with rather a lot of crocs guarding nests on the river bank. The storks and pelicans were enjoying plentiful bounty with the catfish and the fish eagles were enjoying a bit of piracy, robbing the hard-working storks of their catch. We saw one congregation of 11 Saddle-bill Storks in one small pool, along with hundreds of Yellow-billed, Marabou and Openbills along the remaining water.

There are some regular pachyderm visitors to the camp and we even had one stroppy, young bull give us a head shake as he took a few steps toward us, when we left the dining tent. They were enjoying the Tamarind fruit falling from the trees in camp and also appeared to enjoy using the tents as rubbing posts!

A pride of 7 lions kept us awake on our second night, as they caused a commotion by murdering one large member of the 800+ strong buffalo herd just outside of camp. Between the hyaena, the buffalo and the lion, there was quite a furore! It did provide us with some fantastic viewing over the next few days, though, with lots of interaction between the lions and other scavengers waiting in the wings (or in the case of the vultures… on the wing!).

The last day found the pride snoozing up in trees on the edge of the floodplain; who says you have to go to Lake Manyara to see tree climbing lions?!

Phenomenal Serengeti!

2010-09-02T15:02:00.001+03:00

Posted by Squack Evans

The Serengeti this year has proven to be phenomenal; we spent a week with a lovely Chicago family exploring the northern and western reaches of the area.
We started in Kleins, just outside the park, on the north-eastern boundary - the idea being to have a great Maasai experience before the wildlife spectacle of the migration.

Within five minutes of landing, we had found a huge male leopard ensconced in a tree and, on closer inspection, we found a pride of 4 lion feeding on a zebra carcass about 30 yards from his tree!

We found a further 6 lions in two groups on the way into the lodge and only got in around 9 o'clock, after some spectacular viewing. Over the next few days, we enjoyed more game; more lion and lots of plains game and some elephant herds plus a great afternoon and evening with the Maasai, followed by a spectacular electrical storm.

By day four of the trip, we had seen a leopard a day; and all amazing sightings with great light. On our first morning in Kogatende, we only had a brief wait on the banks of the Mara River and witnessed a herd of some 25,000 wildebeest crossing. They chose a bad spot to leave the river and in the first few minutes of the crossing, we witnessed some 40 - 50 wildebeest drown before they found a better place to get out. After an hour of watching, we returned to our breakfast that we had hastily abandoned as the crossing started.

Our last stop was Grumeti Reserves for a bit of pampering. The spa was well used and we also managed to fit in an early morning balloon flight, which was phenomenal, and to cap off our previous experiences, we had a female cheetah kill a Thomson's Gazelle right in front of the car. Again, after waiting only a short time. It became more and more difficult as the days went by to convince the family that these things don't happen every day on safari!

Our final day was one of smoke and fire. Sadly, there was a huge bushfire which burnt its way across the reserve, consuming some 30,000 acres or more of grazing.

We moved out of the lodge we were in so as to escape the smoke, as the fire came right up to the lodge itself. We spent our last night gazing across the plains at the beautiful, if sad, picture of jumping flames and glowing skies in the distance. What an action packed 8 days!

The Controversy over the new proposed road across the Serengeti

2010-07-08T12:24:00.005+03:00

By Jules Knocker

Economic livelihood or conservation - which should win out or can both co-exist in relative harmony? Right now, the impassioned debate is focussed around a new, proposed road that crosses the north of the Serengeti National Park and which has received the go-ahead from the government, despite strong protests from environmentalists and reported opposition from TANAPA
First, what is at stake?

The initial moves to establishing a quick commercial connection between Arusha and Lake Victoria were included in the election manifesto but the issue only really came to public notice two or three years ago. The plan is a road which will run from Mto wa Mbu, via Natron, up to Wasso and along to Klein’s Gate on the park border. From there, it will cross the narrowest part of the Serengeti to Tabora B and onto Mugumu and the Lake region. The road would increase trade and services to an area of North Tanzania that has seen minimal benefits from the general development and infrastructure improvements happening in other areas of Tanzania. It will provide a quick link between Lake Victoria and Arusha, enabling both regions to benefit. The road would bring improved access to hospitals and schools; enable small business to set up, and current ones to flourish, by reducing the cost of operating and transporting goods; offer employment opportunities where there were few before. It will, no doubt, eventually bring the advantages of the national grid and access to reliable and cheap internet down the line. The quality of the daily life of many of the inhabitants of the region would improve. Regions of Tanzania that have been somewhat isolated, in one way or another, from the more prosperous eastern side of the country will be more accessible. The appeal of the project is clear, especially in an election year.

The current access to the Lake is a murram road, caught in a continual degrading cycle of erosion and repair, that goes between Karatu, around the Ngorongoro Crater rim, down to Naabi at the boundary of the Serengeti, Seronera, Ikoma and off to the Lake. The route is longer, crosses two major wildlife sanctuaries and is more expensive for the transit traveller than the proposed route.

On the conservation side, either road is a devastating and nett loss to the ecosystems and the effective husbanding of world- renowned natural resources. I suspect the extent of the impact of the new road is not easily predictable in advance and many of the changes or losses may not become apparent for several years, when the damage is done and it is too late to reverse. Let us not also forget the threat to tourism revenues, which play such a crucial role in government income and the health of the economy as a whole. A degrading of the tourism experience will lead to a drop in visitor numbers, as they look for other still-pristine environments.

On the current road, tourists, game, rickety buses and overloaded Fuso lorries fight it out along the dusty, bumpy length to the detriment of all. Accidents are quite common, as are road kills and the visitors’ experience of driving along such a busy highway is seriously poor. The road is not designed to cope with such heavy traffic and its very existence is anathema to a quality tourism product

The new route goes through the fragile eco-system of the volcanic plains west of Mtu wa Mbu, the green season pastures of the Tarangire/Manyara migration route and Lake Natron, a crucial nesting place for flamingos and subject of a recent battle over a proposed soda factory by TATA, supported by the government, which was opposed successfully by environmentalists. It then comes up onto the Loliondo plains, currently a Game Controlled Area and hunting block and into the Serengeti. Here, it crosses one of the lesser developed but very rich areas of the National Park: an area which is host to the spectacular draw of the wildebeest migration driving across the Mara River in the dry season and sustains the herds when the rich grass of the southern Serengeti plains have been exhausted with the end of the rains. The lyrical scenery hosts a multitude of wildlife all year round, not least rhino and oribi. It is a quiet and relatively undisturbed paradise, both for animals and for tourists. The new road will put all this at risk.

The concerns are numerous: the increased human development that will come along the length of the road in the areas outside the National Park, which are currently lightly populated, allowing a large number of game to live relatively freely will slowly push out the game; the disturbance to the wildlife patterns which many fear will have a negative impact on wildlife numbers in genreal throughout the eco-systems. (The Tarangire/Manyara/Gelai Migration route is already under serious threat from agricultural development and the restriction of wildlife corridors around the Tarangire and Manyara National Parks). How will the flamingos react at their nesting sites? Will the Migration be placed under damaging stress and will it reduce their numbers and reduce their ability to find adequate pasture and water that takes them thousands of kilometers each year? The increased pollution; the increasingly easy access for poachers; the degrading of the tourism experience, which will put the current attraction of the Serengeti as a must-see destination ubder question; the road kills (as everyone appreciates it is unrealistic to either build effective wildlife tunnels or put the road on raised pylons). And perhaps something that is often overlooked – it is unlikely that all transit, commercial traffic will be forcibly diverted to the new road as for some, the trip will be much longer. We will then end up with not one, but two, busy, commercial and destructive highways crossing the Serengeti at different points.

The government has deemed the negative impact on the environment to be outweighed by the economic benefits but there is a concern that the decision makers have a greater understanding of, and interest in, the commercial sector than they do in the environment. Perhaps they believe that the tourism revenue will continue to flow, regardless of the quality of the experience and the impact of the road. Perhaps they are less interested in the potential knock-on effects of putting several ecosystems at risk as these cannot be quantified learly in advance. TANAPA have stated that the decision is no longer in their hands. Frankfurt Zoological Society opposes the plan, as does AWF. Environmentalists are up in arms and have taken their fight global. Articles have appeared in the New York Times, The Sunday Times, The East African as well as the local papers.

So, people or wildlife? Who gets to make the choice and who gets to live with the consequences?

Or is there another alternative?

For many years, the proposed route for a commercial link to The Lake was very different from the current one.

South.

Skirting Ngorongoro and Maswa Game Reserve to the south of the Serengeti, through Shinyanga and joining up to the lake. It is longer, and therefore more expensive to build, but it does not cross protected areas, it does not put eco-systems at risk, it does not threaten unique wildlife events and it does cross miles and miles of deprived areas where the local populations have long missed out on the benefits given to others. Same economic arguments but just a different group of people and greater numbers of people that would benefit. They are in the same situation as those in the north but perhaps they have even fewer opportunities available to them. At least there are noticeable rewards to be had from tourism already operating in the northern Serengeti and Natron area for some of the local residents. Looks like a win-win situation to me.

Why has this alternative been ignored? Why are the voices so insistent on a compromised and compromising plan that puts much at risk?

Guide training with the Map's Edge guides

2010-05-21T16:41:00.006+03:00

By Richard Knocker
Guide Training – as ever, a double-edged sword. On the one hand, with so much to do, finding the time to take two weeks out of everyone’s schedule is always a problem. But then again, once out there I am caught up once more in the camaraderie of it all; the one time in the year when we all get together out in the bush, sharing ideas and learning lots of new stuff. Guide training is really fun.

This year, we headed out to Ndarakwai, a lovely private game ranch at the foot of Kilimanjaro, a couple of hours from Arusha.

My particular task was to head up the firearms training. Quite a hefty responsibility, given the need to make sure that the guides and scouts who are carrying a rifle, can actually do so safely and responsibly and that they are comfortable and good enough to take control in the bush. But we usually manage to have some fun along the way.

So off we tramped into the bush one day, with our rifles – and an old truck tyre. I wasn’t quite sure whether this was going to work but I needed a decent hill to find out. We found the perfect place in a remote corner of the ranch. I explained what we were trying to achieve, and then we rolled the tyre up the slope and… let it roll back down again towards where we stood in a small clearing at the bottom. There were some disbelieving glances and a lot of nervous laughter, for this was about as close as we could get to facing up to a charging buffalo without actually, err… facing up to a charging buffalo.

We had two hectic days of this: a couple of our number would toil up the slope, dragging the cursed thing into position, where it would be held in place by a Heath Robinson stick-and-a-piece-of-string trigger mechanism. Tug the string, and our ‘buffalo’ would come bounding down the hill. The trick was to try and get 2 good shots off – and then dodge it. Please trust me, this last bit is important: you would not want to be in the way of a 30kg tyre doing 40kph!

Like I say, we managed to test our abilities and have some serious fun while we were about it.

With the shooting bit out of the way, we devoted the rest of our time to practicing approaches on big game. There are usually some ellies to be found on Ndarakwai and luckily there were two or three herds around most of the time, this year. Things were spiced up a bit by the presence of an oestrous cow with some big musth bulls vying for her attentions. I’m glad to report that nobody was trying to get too close to them on foot, as things were just too unpredictable.

Safari visitors April 2010

2010-04-23T15:28:00.004+03:00

Halifa Suleman

Ndutu : this is the south west of the Serengeti ecosystem. It is the favourite area, at this time of year, for the migration and by that I mean the great wildebeest migration and their fellow travellers who wander the plain looking for the green and nutritious pasture that grows in this volcanic ash from the Crater Highlands.

It is a quiet and very cold night. The owl, with its deep voice, makes this night seem very lonely with its mournful hoot. Far away, the hyena woops and lion roars, protecting their territory. I am half-asleep; half-awake and the moon is shining this great night. I see the shadow of an animal approaching the door of my small tent. It is a lioness, looking for shelter because it is raining. This little tent has a canopy fly-sheet which provides good shade for this poor lioness and she has no idea that a few centimetres away, Halifa is there!

It is amazing to experience: this lioness inspects the area by sniffing the site yet never turns her head towards the place where I was: with open eyes but as immobile as a dead man. This lioness spent some time cleaning and licking herself and shaking to clear the water. I am so pleased to be so close to the lioness and not inside a vehicle. Another lion came and greeted and played with my lioness and then they both left! The night was very long for me but such an enjoyable, easy night watching this beast.

The next day was another beautiful morning and I saw some tracks outside my tent.

We drive to Ndutu air strip where I am going to meet nine guests. Our first night, we saw a lioness with ten cubs along with giraffe, zebra, impala and some flowers and birds.

The second day we wandered off across the plain and we stopped at a water hole where we enjoyed looking at the animals coming and going: some of them drinking while others socialised, some lions tried several times to hunt but the day was not on their side - they missed! During our day’s adventure, we had a picnic breakfast with a perfect African view: to the West - Gol kopjes and Naabi hill; to the North, the short grass plains; to the East, Ngorongoro Highlands. What a site!

The rest of the day was a slow amble by Lemuta Hill stopping at one of the kopjes to stretch and look at the life around: the tracks and trails, dung and dung beetles, flowers, agama lizards catching flies, the vulture soaring ready to clean up the plain. Lunch at Nasera rock followed by a climb for the fit. It was a long day but very enjoyable. A hot shower got rid of the dust and then a refreshing, lovely cold drink and watching bush TV. Let’s call it a day

The challenge of the Migration

2010-04-23T15:23:00.007+03:00

Chediel Mnzava

Here we are in the Southern Serengeti in April and the clients arrived from a safari in Kenya, with two of the top Kenyan Private Guides. The Challenge was on as they had all had a very successful safari in Kenya and had watched good sightings of almost all the big game but they wanted to witness the Wildebeest Migration and some lions. It was our job to show that the Serengeti could more than live up to its northern neighbour, not just for the Migration but for the whole safari experience. For many years, Tanzania had been seen as the poorer cousin in terms of safari but in the last ten years or so, it has managed to throw off that misconception and come into its own.

At the end of their four nights, they were convinced that coming to Tanzania had added so much more than expected to their trip: a nice pride of 14 healthy lions, attempted lion hunts and the plains were teeming with wildebeest, zebra and plenty of other game. And the great Serengeti views: grassland, waterholes, kopjes, hills and mountains.

The Good Safari Guide 2010

2010-04-13T16:32:00.001+03:00

Some kind soul has nominated Richard and Squack in the Best Camp Guide category for The Map's Edge - which is a great honour. Many thanks to those of you who took the time to support the nomination at http://www.goodsafariguide.com/awards/nominate_property.aspx

Serengeti splendours in March 2010

2010-04-12T17:36:00.008+03:00

Richard Knocker

It is always fun going on safari with people you already know and John & Nano are old friends, having been on at least 5 safaris with me now.

We catch up with Charlie, a small and very mobile camp in the old style, at a stunning location next to Nasera Rock, an imposing granite monolith that looms over the entrance to Ang’ata Kiti on the eastern edge of the Serengeti Plain. This is our home for three nights, the perfect jumping off spot for an intensive search for wild dogs. We failed on this occasion to find them but the early morning light on the swooping plains and the great restless herds were well worth the price of admission. In the afternoon, we tried to climb Lemuta Hill but fresh lion scat and tracks made us think again.

Day 2 saw us taking a dramatic hike along Ol Karien Gorge in the Gol Mountains. The rains had washed away some useful props for getting down the trickier parts so we had to improvise. And we were rewarded with the drama of emerging from the deep, narrow cleft into the great cathedral space of the mouth of the gorge: hundreds of vultures wheeling overhead like something out of the Lost World and small screaming parties of swifts shooting by like fighter jets - an incredible scene.

Next day, the three of us, with Jairo, our driver, spend a leisurely day crossing the migration-strewn plain to Moru. Miraculously, the whole camp has leap-frogged ahead of us and there is Goodluck waiting for us with cold beers, tea and a big smile. We are in the heart of the Moru area, a tumble of great, rounded humps of granite, looming from the landscape like whale backs. These kopjes are home to a host of unusual species - plants, reptiles, birds and mammals – we have come to enjoy the smorgasbord of life on parade.

It is on Day 5 that we really catch up with those pesky pachyderms: large herds milling around, with us doing our best to keep up with all the goings on. At one stage, we turned out backs on the leopard in a sausage tree to watch a serious fight between two musth bulls skirmishing over an oestrous female. The occupants of a nearby vehicle thought we were mad.

After a pampered stay at Sabora Plains in the Grumeti Reserves concession, we fly to Shu’mata Camp, a new tented camp on the flanks of the hill of the same name. We are on the arid plain at the foot of Kili, just a few kilometers from Amboseli in Kenya. Acacia-dotted grassland stretches as far as the eye can see. Everything is green, thanks to recent rains, but one senses that it can get DRY here. A scorpion scuttles out of the way.

The first evening turns magical – beautiful sightings of gerenuk and lesser kudu on a hike around the hill back at camp. And next day, we walk right up to the elephant herd. The wind is perfect, with plenty of cover… they haven’t a clue we’re there.

So all in all, a great safari. If variety be the spice of life, then life is surely spicy.

On Safari with the Map's Edge

2010-03-07T21:25:00.000+03:00

Welcome to the Map's Edge blog, hopefully we will be able to provide you with regular updates, safari news, reports and pictures: when we are not in the bush of course!