Having not been to Tanzania and Zanzibar for 14 years I was looking forward to revisiting and seeing what had changed in that time and also to seeing some new areas such as the Selous Game Reserve, Pemba Island off Zanzibar and also Tarangire National Park and Loliondo in north.
To start in the Selous was a joy - being one of the largest game reserves left in Africa with relatively few camps, I knew I would just love this place and it has long been near the top of my wishlist. To arrive and go straight to this remote camp, Kiba Point, was a very spoiling start to the trip. It is part of the Sand Rivers set-up, but it is a private camp that is taken exclusively by groups of up to 8 people - it has 4 extremely spacious and open thatched rooms looking down over the Rufiji River, the largest river in East Africa. Complete luxury with your own private plunge pool with a stunning view into the bush, down over the river and way beyond, the rooms are more like little open-sided houses. The main area is just gorgeous and a huge high ceilinged thatched building kept us cool in the heat of the day, as did the pool. Brilliantly run, this camp has a great home away from home feeling as you don't have to worry about other guests around you and you have your own staff to look after you while you are there and you can really settle in. We did a variety of activities here and my favourite was our boat trip upstream into Stiegler's Gorge where we stopped after an hour of game viewing (we saw buffalo, hippos, elephant, giraffe and plenty of birds) or so to get out onto a beautiful white sandy beach surrounded by rocks and steep sides of the gorge bursting with life and trees. Here we tried our hand at fly fishing and between us we caught 3 catfish! High excitement and our expert guides were so patient as we nearly garrotted them with fishing lines! With only monkeys and birds around you, it really was a stunning spot to just stop and be surrounded by nature with the boat engine turned off. Drives take you through beautiful scenery, made very lush from some recent and much needed rain, and some of us went for a lovely walk through the bush only to find ourselves at the top of a hill with a fantastic 360 degree view and a full bar set up for our sundowners. To top this, our manager Ross (an old friend from when I worked in the bush in Zambia) played his bagpipes as the sun went down which was quite a beautiful, even if unusual, experience on top of a hill in the middle of this vast and stunning wilderness. We were ushered through the bush to a dining table where we had a the most delicious 3 course supper in the bush - heaven! Being a huge seafood lover, I was delighted to be served some great calamari and red snapper whilst staying at Kiba Point - they are only a short distance from the coast here, so it was a fantastic novelty to be having seafood in the bush! I could not recommend this place highly enough. And nearby Sand Rivers is also beautifully located right on the river (whereas Kiba Point is set back a bit) and is a stunning camp with some lovely suites in addition to their tents and their special honeymoon spot, Rhino House, where you have your own chef/butler/guide to look after should you wish to be totally private.
On to Pemba Island and Fundu Lagoon - the only lodge on the island so you know you are going somewhere special! A short 20 minutes flight from Zanzibar you are then met by the Fundu Lagoon car, driven 30 minutes across the island to catch your boat to Fundu itself. It was built by two twin brothers Alex and Marcus and it really is a great place with a very good feeling of space - you can be as social or private as you want and they seem to combine the two effortlessly. If it is privacy you are after then go for one of the suites which has its own plunge pool and an open fronted house adjacent to your ensuite tent which is for dining, relaxing in the shade and enjoying the view from upstairs. There is so much to do here as well if you are not one for lying around on beach! You can go snorkelling and diving at Misali Island where the water is the most beautiful I think I have seen, crystal clear like a swimming pool....and visibility over the coral reef was just perfect and made for a great snorkelling spot off the beach there, accompanied by my guide which was a first for snorkelling! You can also go for a walk into the village where Alex and Marcus invest much money in the school and community projects, or you can go fishing for your lunch, take a picnic out....you would certainly not get bored here and the friendly and professional staff always seem to be around for advice on what to do next or help you with deciding which cocktail to try for your sundowner! There are so many different places to eat here whether it's on the beach, at the jetty bar, or the pool bar up the hill - or simply in the cool and breezy thatched dining room.
Zanzibar is where I noticed the biggest change - 14 years ago you struggled to find somewhere to stay but now there are hundreds of hotels to choose from, some of them very big, the Stone Town was very busy and full of tourists, and the airport is clearly struggling to deal with the international flights that now fly in and out of this island airport. Sadly it seemed that the sea has been severely overfished as well and the lodges often fail to find fresh seafood from the many fishermen. However, despite these changes and overcrowding, there are a couple of lovely retreats to hide away and enjoy the ocean views. The newest one which only opened last year is Matemwe Retreats which is just 3 private suites where you have a huge amount of outdoor living space where your private chef will chat to you about what you want to eat that day and you have your own private pool and roof terrace above your room with fantastic ocean views (and you can see over to Mnemba Island), whilst there is plenty of shaded space for relaxing and eating downstairs outside your Swahili style cool bathroom and air conditioned room. The Palms is also a quiet haven with just six spacious villas and exceptional food and service - you have your own allocated sala and day bed on the edge of the beach - whilst they are building a 30 bedroomed Oman-inspired lodge next door this did not seem to disturb the peace and tranquility there and their spa remained a cool and peaceful retreat.
After leaving the chaos, heat and humidity of Zanzibar airport it was off to the north and the cooler heights of Tarangire National Park. This is not the best time of year to visit Tarangire but we still saw a variety of animals including a poor impala abandoned up a tree, whilst the elusive leopard that put it there was not going to show itself. We also saw some lions hiding under a bush and many giraffe and elephants. Our camp, Olivers, is in the southern part of the park in the riverine and swamp landscape and there are very few other camps around so we hardly saw another car - the highlight for me was my morning shower which had the most fantastic view over the bush and I watched as a lone bull elephant walked towards my tent where he obviously fancied the tree about 3 metres from my shower as his breakfast. Luckily one of the guides came to see if I had overslept so he was able to escort me up to the mess tent for my brekky rather than missing out! The lovely tents are all very well spaced out and you do get the feeling that you are very much on your own here! A great bush feel to this camp.
Onto Ngorongoro Crater, one of the busiest areas in the north. We were lucky to be trying out the recently opened (December 2007) Lemala Luxury Tented Camp. Whilst it is on the eastern rim of the crater it does not have a view down into the crater but this did not seem to matter as it is in a lovely spot surrounded by acacia trees and you can hear the bells of the local Masai cattle in the hills around. You can take a walk into the nearby local village if you want as well. With eight tents this is a lovely option and fairly unique in this area, a welcome change to the bigger lodges on crater rim, and the camp has been very well planned and built and there is a great deal of attention to detail within the tents. They are very comfortable as well as being hugely practical in terms of furniture and space and the heaters in the tents kept us all very cosy and warm which is all important at this altitude. The location of this camp on the east means that you share the road down into the crater with one other lodge which is the only lodge nearby and it means you avoid the more crowded area to the south and west of the crater.
From here it was a long, and largely off-road, drive up to Suyan Camp in the Loliondo area - our guide was Jacob (from Sokwe) and how he found his way there I will never quite know as we drove over vast open and very barren plains. Jacob was sad to see the area so dry and empty of animals and global warming was a subject that reared its ugly head many times. There should have been wildebeest and zebra heading across these plains to the south for water, but they are still waiting for their rains and the wildebeest were long gone and we later heard that they were to the south west of the Serengeti by this time. We could see the single file tracks that they have etched into the landscape over the years, but we saw only a small group of them all day long. However, soon after we stopped for lunch under a welcome acacia tree we spotted a huge pride of lionesses with 3 young and curious cubs which was a real treat. How they survived in this huge dry expanse I don't quite know but they were certainly a little more shy and curious than some I have seen. As we continued north we started to see more and more animals including a large group of 17 hyenas, a huge group of around 70 mostly young ostriches, plenty of gazelle leaping around in front of us and magnificent eland thinking they could outrun us! It was quite exhilirating to be driving along next to these wild animals in the middle of nowhere. As we neared the camp the landscape slowly turned into rolling green hills that were dotted with giraffe and zebra, and then nomadic Masais. It was great to get to camp after a day in the car and it is in a spectacular location where you can go on some great walks and in addition to seeing game you can see some ancient rock paintings nearby on foot. Normally you would fly up to this area, but I have to say that I really enjoyed our drive in and out of this area as there was just no-one else around. Even if we didn't see a huge variety of game it was a stunning drive and when we did see something it was pretty spectacular and in large numbers, and just for our eyes only! After leaving the main road out of the Crater, we didn't see another car the whole way up to Suyan!
Then it was on to southern Serengeti which involved heading back over the plains of the Ngorongoro Crater Conservation Area where we saw 2 male lions lazing in the morning sun, more hyenas and a hyena trying to chase off the vultures from its kill of a baby wildebeest. Ol Donyo Lengai was spewing out volcanic ash from its crater and producing a rather ominous looking cloud over the horizon. And when we got to the southern Serengeti it was like a dust bowl, so much so that we did not really open our roof hatch that day. Lake Ndutu, which should have water in it at this time, was bone dry. Again the rains are being eagerly awaited and there was not much sign of animal activity, and certainly no migration. But it was still quite busy in the park and it was not until we got to Sayari Camp that I felt we had lost the other tourists. What a lovely camp in a beautiful setting, very comfortable tents with a comfortable sofa outside to enjoy the view down onto the plains in the distance. There was a great atmosphere here and the private dining tables in the mess tent made for a very jolly and noisy evening all round. The manager here was great and very chatty and clearly very experienced and ran a tight ship. The Serengeti is a huge area and you will no doubt see great game there and this is definitely the nicest of the camps I had time to visit in the park....excellent food too!
So all in all, Tanzania now provides a huge mix of areas and camps to visit and there are still so many other relatively untouched parks to explore in this huge country. The Selous is definitely one of my new favourite places and Pemba is also a winner location for some great beach time. Whilst some of the camps I saw were a little in need of some TLC I would put this largely down to end-of-season fatigue. They will now (March) all be taking down their camps, hoping that their much needed long rain appears soon and doing lots of maintenance work over the next couple of months. It is a beautiful and vast country with views to match, classic Africa. There is something for everyone here and still so much more to see.......

-----Original Message-----

Millie Summers
Africa, Country Director

Travel House, 51 Castle Street, Cirencester, Gloucestershire GL7 1QD
T 01285 650011 F 01285 885888 Millie@steppestravel.co.uk
http://www.steppestravel.co.uk

Uganda was everything I was expecting, and more – green lush mountains, misty mornings, rainforests, gorillas, chimps, monkeys….primates galore! Being November and rainy season I was also expecting mud and rain pretty much all the time. But whilst there was plenty of rain and mud there was also plenty of sunshine and a very pleasant temperature. The mud definitely made driving interesting and bumpy at times but it did not stop us doing anything that we had planned. Winching ourselves out of glue-like black cotton soil bog is all part of the adventure! What I hadn’t really expected was the abundance of fantastic birds and wildlife and the never-ending stunning scenery along our numerous road trips and the endless welcoming smiles and waves along the way.

This brings me on to transport – I really enjoyed having a private guide and 4x4 vehicle to drive me all the way through the western area of Uganda. You get to see the “real Africa” along the side of the road – and for a country that was seriously debilitated by Idi Amin in the 70’s and continues to be threatened by its neighbouring countries’ unrest I was in awe of its inhabitants’ resilience and optimism in the face of so many challenges to their much wanted progress. It is in a period of growth and tourism is blossoming, largely thanks to being one of the few countries left in the world where you can still trek the forests for mountain gorillas in their natural habitat.

My first stop was Semliki Wildlife Reserve – Semliki Lodge is the only lodge in this reserve which was set up as the first protected wildlife area in 1932. Years of civil unrest and war led to the area being poached and hunted, it was a favourite haunt of Amin. In 1995 The Uganda Safari Company won the concession for the Reserve, at which time the game was very low. The work they are doing there is fantastic and they are working closely with the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) to encourage animals back – such as large maned lions, kob, buffalo, savannah and forest elephants….even the odd leopard. They have a research station for monitoring and studying the behaviour of their own community of wild chimpanzees in the forest there, and there is access to Lake Albert and the Semliki marshes where you can see the extremely rare shoebill stork, amongst a huge array of other stunning aquatic birdlife. Our boat trip on the Lake was so peaceful – surrounded by the Blue Mountains of the DRC and a long escarpment and the Rwenzori Mountains, shrouded in cloud, the lake was as flat as a mill pond. It was rather eerie, but very calming and stunning, with dramatic blue light and cloud with slivers of sunshine trying to get through. Due to its proximity to the DRC I was informed that this is a route for supplies to go into the DRC across the lake, however, it did not seem to impact our morning’s activity and the Lodge is involved in the community and its healthcare developments.

The Lodge itself is extremely comfortable with the endless expanse of trees and mountains stretching out infront of you as you sit in the thatched restaurant/bar with a fantastic pool and chill out area, and hosted by a very interesting couple who met doing aid work in southern Sudan. They are passionate about the area and run a very tight ship with a very friendly crew – delicious food and the only lodge where we were hosted at meals which led to some fascinating conversations about the area and a great safari feel.

My chimp tracking walk in the Mugiri Forest there was probably the highlight of the whole trip – we set off early to track the dry habitat chimps that live there (around 40 of them) with a guarded ranger from the research post where we climbed to quite a height – from here, my guide and ranger managed to locate the chimps from miles away just by looking through their binoculars and watching the trees, listening for tell tale signs of their whereabouts. They laughed and marveled at my inability to see what on earth they were spotting! How we (OK, they) found them I don’t know – there were no radio calls here – and as they are not fully habituated we did not get closer than about 75 metres, but it was the most thrilling sighting to be hiding in the bushes watching three of them eating in a fig tree so far away, yet they did not take their eyes off us the whole time. This was definitely their patch and we did not push it – it felt such an honour to see them in their habitat, not another person for miles around, just surrounded by trees and forest and the many noises that go with that. What a privelage, a very special experience that will certainly remain with me as one of my top African treats. Like all wildlife, nothing is 100% guaranteed, which is probably why the experience was made to feel even more special. I should probably give a mention to the other primates we saw along the way, colobus monkeys, vervet monkeys, baboons, not to mention the numerous warthogs, kobs and birds. Night drives often treat you to a leopard sighting, but sadly they were elusive on mine, as were the forest ellies.

This was a tough one to follow but Ndali in the Kibale Forest area south of Port Fortal was a charming next stop and we drove through some beautifully mountainous scenery to get there. It is run by a very friendly expat whose family have been in the area for a few generations. It has a very homey, relaxed feel to it and a certain eccentric charm in the lack of electricity, friendly dogs who follow you around and a deep hot bath in your cottage to warm you up brilliantly after a rainy start to our stay there. The nearby Kibale Forest is where you can do a chimp trek in the morning where you are very likely to see some of the 1,000 chimps that live there. There are also plenty of lovely scenic walks you can do there after you have had breakfast on the terrace looking down over a stunning crater lake. We learnt about processing vanilla pods, bananas, tea growing and visited the vanilla factory, all in a morning’s walk!

The land got a bit flatter as we headed further south to Queen Elizabeth National Park where we went on a boat trip from Mweya Lodge there on the Kazinga Channel – we were with about 40 other people and we all oohed and aahed as we cruised slowly past pods of hippos all wallowing in the water happily alongside buffalo and crocodiles - we admired fish eagles, kingfisher, pelicans, herons, cormorants drying their wings on the shore.

Then we head to Jacana, a lovely lodge right on the edge of a crater lake where we spent the night in log cabin style rooms built of eucalyptus looking over the lake. This is a birders paradise and you can even take the pontoon around the lake’s edge for some close up bird watching. It is also quite handy for Kyambura Gorge (pronounced Chambura Gorge) which is another beautiful spot where you can go chimp trekking in this riverine forest – however there are only 16 chimps there and you have to remember they move around more than the gorillas so you will not always see them!

For more of the traditional game viewing safari feel in QENP, Ishasha Camp is where you want to head, at the southern tip of the park – this is a great tented camp right on the river in a beautiful area. This is where you would hope to find the tree climbing lions associated with the QENP – we did see some lions and 3 little cubs, but they were under a tree! Always a real bonus to see some cubs, it’s all I can do to stop myself getting out of the car to give them a cuddle.

From here it was a 3 hour drive to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest….the highlight of our trip to see the gorillas! In true Bwindi style we arrived in a torrential downpour and as we stood in the bar of the Buhoma Lodge we stared across the deep dark green valley over to the “impenetrable” forest that loomed up ahead of us and wondered how we were going to slip our way up the steep tracks the following morning. Yet the following morning the sun was shining on the dripping leaves around us as we started our ascent into the Bwindi National Park, aided by sticks and our porters who helped carry our day packs – the best $10 I have ever spent by the way. They are also there to give you a dignified push on the backside if you are struggling with a particularly steep and slippy part of the track! We were looking for the Habinyanja Group which has 22 gorillas (lots of babies) in it and we trekked for 2 hours up the mountain in our group of 8 and it was quite strenuous at times but we went at a slow and comfortable pace – once at the top it was another hour of slower trekking through the denser vegetation, off piste so to speak. We eventually heard the trackers who had gone out at dawn that morning to find the gorillas and we knew we were close. We left our porters with our packs, grabbed out cameras and suddenly there they were. You get so obsessed with how long you might have to trek to find them that it is almost a shock when you see them right there infront of you. It was just beginning to rain which is a bad sign as they don’t like the rain and hide in denser vegetation. Luckily they were still visible though and our hour with them went by in a flash. There was no fear or nervousness and I was struck by how peaceful they were – I was particularly taken with a mother cuddling and grooming her young baby with so much love and affection, I have never seen anything so human in the animal world and it was incredibly moving. The huge silverback behind them was minding his own business, munching on some branches before slumping forward for a little rest! The ones that did really stare you in the face almost seemed to be talking to you, I’m not sure what they were thinking but in no way was it threatening, it was more curiosity and a strange trusting acceptance of our presence. It was one of those experiences that really takes a while to digest. You are then back on that slippery muddy track back to base and the challenges that that incurs….and when you’re back at the lodge looking back at the dark forest you think “did that really happen”? Were we really that close to such an awesome and threatened creature up there? Definitely take a spare battery with you for your camera…mine was not charged properly and it was very disappointing not to be able to take more pictures than I did.

Our last stop en route back to Kampala was a half-way stop off at Lake Mburo and Mihingo Lodge – another stunning lodge location set up on the hills looking down over the plains around. 360 degree views from up here offer a huge feeling of space after Bwindi and it is a perfect place to rest up and let everything sink in, in beautiful surroundings. There is a great variety of game (hyena being the only predator – and no ellies or giraffe) and birds here and we enjoyed another beautiful boat trip on Lake Mburo before the rain really set in again. The Lodge only opened a year ago but it feels very relaxed and the tented rooms and solid Lamu-inspired bathrooms are extremely spacious, all with fantastic views – some are quite a walk down the hill so be careful to ask for one near the restaurant/pool area if you think you can’t walk too far after your gorilla trek! I could happily have stayed here for a couple more nights before heading back to the city.

In Kampala I had the pleasure of staying in the most cosmopolitan of boutique hotels I have come across in an African city to date (bar South Africa), with only 20 rooms – Emin Pasha is a very slick colonial style hotel set in a tropical garden up on a hill looking down over dusty Kampala. The open sided cocktail bar and restaurant was obviously popular with the expats on a Sunday afternoon and the quality of food and wine on offer there was very impressive, with cool white rooms, TVs and minibars and a great swimming pool and roof top terraces to enjoy the view.

A quick trip east of Kampala to Jinja, the source of the Nile, is really more of an attraction for those in search of more adrenalin rushes, if coming face to face with silverback isn’t enough – it is a centre for white water rafting, bungee jumping (although it looked a bit old and rusty for me!), quad-biking and generally geared towards backpackers and expats. I was slightly disappointed to learn it is also the second most industrial city in Uganda which was a bit of a shock after days of driving through lush countryside and small villages. Whilst Gately on the Nile was a homey place to stay, the disco in town seemed to ricochet up the river until the early hours of the morning and you were definitely back in the city.

My very last excursion was to Ngamba Island in Lake Victoria (45 minutes by boat from Entebbe) where there is a chimp sanctuary for orphaned chimps. Here they have the run of the island but they come back to base for regular feedings in the day and also to sleep at night. Here you can go on a forest walk and interact with the chimps and even play at being their caretaker for the day – an admirable and educational centre for learning more about chimps. There are 4 tents for those who want to stay the night.

All in all I just loved Uganda – it was completely different from any other country in Africa I have had the pleasure to visit. A road trip is also a great change from hopping around from lodge to lodge in small planes (which I love!) – having the continuity of one guide the whole way through out is fantastic and the road trips give you hours for riveting and educational discussions ranging from politics and economics, conservation and education to music and contraception! Fascinating. We met so many friendly and welcoming Ugandans (not to mention Rwandans and Congolese) along the road wheeling their bananas to market on their bikes, saw schools having lessons under the trees, women working in the tea plantations, and they all had time to stop and smile at us visitors! It is somewhere where you can walk around and meet people, visit orphanages and schools and see how real life ticks along in this beautiful African green gem of a country.

Having spent some 5 months in Kenya at the beginning of 2006, largely on the coast, I have always wanted to see the Masai Mara and actually go on safari in Kenya to see how it really compares to other safaris I have done around Africa. We arrived in the Mara and headed for Naibor Camp which is set on the edge of the Talek River amongst lush riverine bush and instantly I loved it. It has a fantastically bush feel to it yet it was very comfortable and the spacious cream coloured tents made a refreshing change. I was struck by the lushness of the Mara and even more so by the lack of other vehicles we saw on our game drives, not what I was expecting. They obviously thought very carefully about the relocation of this camp and it has paid off. Within 5 minutes from camp on our first game drive we saw hyena and two lioness with a male lion….and no other cars! Admittedly it wasn’t the busiest time of year in the Mara (ie. not migration time). We didn’t actually get very far on that game drive as there was so much to see around the camp area, but we did make it up to a hill for our sundowner where we had the most fantastic 360 degree view of the Mara (and apparently we were looking out over the plains at 3 rhino as well, but I couldn’t make them out, but good to know they are around!) which was very special.

The next stop was Shompole which is the only lodge in the whole Shompole Conservancy on the side of the Nguruman Escarpment in south eastern Kenya overlooking the Great Rift Valley and Shompole Mountain. Between the Amboseli and Masai Mara parks it is just north of the Tanzanian border and Lake Natron. It is probably my favourite place I have ever visited in Africa (I do tend to say this after each trip!), but it really is very special and dramatic scenery all around. I don’t know if it’s the water flowing through the spacious, open, thatched roofed rooms or the minimal feel created by the use of fig tree wood and white textiles or the people – I certainly did not want to leave and felt I could have happily stayed there for a whole week. The work being done there for the conservation of animals and the welfare of the Masai tribe is also a big plus and the game seems to be trickling back around the lodge so we were thrilled to see 3 cheetah and also 4 very young lion cubs (a slightly hair raising moment as we seemed to be unknowingly wedged in the bush imbetween the mummy and her babies). Here the variety of activities is a real bonus and we enjoyed a morning having our cooked breakfast in the fig tree wood and then a bit of kayaking on the river to work it all off – I didn’t have time to test out the mountain bikes but they were a hit with the other guests. Night drives are popular here too – we went on one after supper and found a rather lonely lioness prowling around! A visit to Lake Natron takes you to even more stunningly dramatic scenery littered with flamingo and pelicans and vast mud flats with the Loita Hills in the background. I will definitely be going back there and will be surprised when I stay somewhere else that beats it!

And then to finish it off it was time to hit the coast – and Funzi Keys. After the luxurious simplicity of Shompole, Funzi definitely feels more East African in terms of decor and set amongst the mangroves the Keys is a very peaceful coastal spot. The rooms are huge and have everything you need in them and the owners, Alessandro and Claudia, are your charming hosts and the range of seafood on offer is fantastic and you can eat it where you want and when you want which is great for those wanting to go off and explore the nearby sand banks on the catamaran or head off into the marine park for some snorkelling or diving, or even some fishing through the mangroves. We also had a lovely outing on the dhow to watch the sun set. Nothing is too much trouble here and our last (cooked!) breakfast on the sand bank was a real treat.

To see more of Kenya like this was such a joy – it is such a beautiful country with so much to do and see and despite it’s popularity I was over the moon to see that you can still stay in places where you simply don’t see another car or tourist.

I wasn’t quite prepared for the mind boggling facts that make Botswana and the Okavango Delta such an amazing geographical phenomenon. It is a landlocked country, the same size as France, that is a vast and nearly flat sand-filled basin characterised by scrub-covered desert or savanna. I was not expecting the whole country to be covered in sand, and I could not understand how a delta could be found in a landlocked country. I soon learnt that in the north west the Okavango River flows in from Angola and Namibia and sinks into the sand forming some 15,000 sq km of channels and islands that makes up the Okavango Delta. After the rains have fallen in Angola the delta in Botswana in turn floods providing a playground for people wanting to see the country’s stunning wildlife, whether it be by mokoro, motor boat, car or on foot. It is the most uniformly flat country I think I have ever visited and each time we got into another Cessna 206 or, on a couple of exciting occasions, a helicopter I kept thinking that the landscape would surely be different this time….but no, just miles and miles and miles of flat floodplains, papyrus swamps and islands with palm trees, acacias and sausage trees sprouting out of them. What it lacks in diversity it more than makes up for in its abundance of pristine wildness of its empty spaces, teeming with wildlife. The structure of the delta and its annual flooding makes it virtually impossible to move through that area overland and you therefore begin to feel very cut off and remote and surrounded by truly wild animals. Excellent, back in the bush!!

Seeing as it was November and the start of the rainy season we were pretty lucky with the weather and we didn’t get rained on at all. It was very hot though in the build up to the rains so game drives seemed to get earlier and earlier to avoid the heat of the day. Luckily, all of the fantastic lodges we stayed in either had a swimming pool or individual plunge pools (almost too refreshing some times) to keep us cool. Sadly, being the end of the dry season meant that the water level wasn’t quite high enough in the delta to go out on the boats but we had plenty to keep us occupied with some fantastic game drives, walks in the bush and my very first elephant back safari.

Abu Camp, and its neighbouring Seba Camp, are all about elephants – elephants that have been rescued from circuses around the world. They are so tame it is really quite strange to feel so completely safe standing next to and touching these huge ellies. Having worked in Africa I was used to seeing them outside my bedroom window and bumping into them around the corner from the kitchen on a daily basis but they were still wild and upredictable so it was their patch and they obviously had right of way! But here were humans in control…..they were like a very obedient, if rather large, Labrador. So we set off on an hour and a half stroll through the bush on top of the largest bull elephant, two of us in each seat with our guide sitting at the front. It was certainly a very peaceful way to travel, as we lolloped through the bush and waded through the water on his back.

And then on to Tubu Trees where we were made to feel extraordinarily welcome and our enthusiastic host was most disappointed that we weren’t tucking into the gin and tonics all afternoon…….and he was brimming with excitement when we got back from our game drive that evening as a leopard had just walked past all of our tents and up to the bar for a drink of water. Nothing would surprise me there really – we saw the most amazing variety of game there and I was still buzzing myself from a very close bit of head-on eye contact with a lioness who decided to use our vehicle as a decoy for a bit of stalking of some zebra. We had been watching these two lionesses for some time, waiting for the sun to go down before they attacked. We were convinced we were going to see some action and so decided to forgo getting out of the car for our sundowners, and proceeded to pour drinks in the back of the (very open) car where we were going to sit and wait for our first kill! Mid-pouring, our guide, Moa, very quietly told us to stop and not to move….turning slowly to the lionesses they were heading right towards us and seemed to be fixated on what was being served in the back of the car! Quite a heart stopping experience to think that you are actually about to replace the zebra for supper. But, in typical fashion, she got very close up, then looked away and lay down behind the car. Phew! Didn’t take long to drink that sundowner!

To top it off the next day I saw my first “wild” wild dog, having only seen them at a rehabilitation clinic in Namibia. I have never quite understood all the fuss about wild dog, I know they are increasingly rare but it wasn’t until I saw them here that I realised the attraction. You can see why they are often referred to as the painted dogs, there markings are strikingly clear and beautiful. They were hugely entertaining to watch as the five of them played with eachother endlessly….that is until a very large male baboon up a tree decided to bait them. We sat and watched for an hour as this fascinating interaction pursued. Moa told us what a great sighting this was and was snapping away on his own camera – he was a fountain of knowledge and incredibly interesting on all subjects and he gave us the most brilliant impromptu slide show after dinner of some of his beautiful photographs.

Vumbura Plains was our next stop – having been very sad to leave Tubu and its great team of staff I was blown away by Vumbura Plains. It is quite unlike any safari camp/lodge I have ever seen! No canvas and teak in sight, just very long planks of sandblasted pine and reed blinds and very funky décor and very high ceilings. No dark tents here! My room was just enormous, and with enough space outside in my sala for drinks for 8 of us before dinner! Luckily the rooms are very spread apart and you really felt that you had proper privacy here and I would have been quite happy to skip all game drives and hang around my own plunge pool and watch the animals come to drink at the natural pool infront of my room! But, as always, you never know what you might miss and the lure of venturing into the bush always won.

Kings Pool, last stop, is up on the Linyanti River so from the bar you are looking at Namibia on the other side of the river. The food here was quite simply the most amazing food I have ever come across in Africa, and quite frankly almost anywhere. Andre, the South African chef has been here for 2 years and the kitchen staff are quite incredible. And the presentation was mind blowing. Again, fantastic guiding here from Copper and, would you believe it, more wild dog! Oh, and some 6 month old lion cubs with their mother. I have been dying to see cubs for as long as I can remember, and they did not disappoint. All in all, quite an overload to all of the senses and what a morning game drive to end this visit to the bush on, before heading back towards the big lights of Maun and then Johannesburg!

I haven’t eve mentioned all of the other wildlife we saw along the way – cheetah, warthogs and their “wiglets”, lechwe, incredible array of birds of all sizes, hyena pups, hippos, crocs, new born impala and giraffe. Breeding season was under way with the smell of rain, and therefore, food on the way.

And the Botswana people were totally charming and so knowledgeable, it was a privelage to experience such a trip. Next time I will have to make it down towards the south east for a bit of quad-biking and sleeping under the stars in the Mkgadikgadi Pans and also on a true San Bushman walk in the Kalahari Desert……

Namibia Flying Safari - July 2006

When I was working for Robin Pope Safaris in the South Luangwa National Park (Zambia) last year a lot of our guests had been to Namibia and raved about the condition of the roads and how easy it was to self-drive around this amazing country. So to go on a week long flying safari (with a bit of self-drive at the end as we decided to extend our stay!) over the literally breath-taking scenery of Namibia far exceeded my wildest expectations. I'm embarrassed to say that it did bring tears to my eyes on one occasion which probably explains why some of my 400 photos are a bit out of focus.

Flying over the highest red dunes from Sossusvlei towards the coast in our little Cessna 210 when there is nothing else you can see for 360 degrees but sand dunes (for 45 minutes) was truly humbling and us 3 passengers were unable to speak, just gawping at each other and pointing and snapping with our cameras. Luckily there was plenty of time to actually soak in this experience between photos as the dunes just seemed to go on forever, as far as you could see. And then to finally reach the coast and fly metres above ship wrecks sticking out of the beach and old diamond mining exploration sites, long since abandoned, was also a once in a lifetime experience - swooping down almost at sea level on a seemingly endless beach is highly recommended for those in need of a new kind of adrenalin buzz!

Skeleton Coast, further north, is the next highlight for me. There are no roads into the Skeleton Coast Park which really adds to the excitement and remoteness, you really feel like you are at the end of the road. Even the water has to be brought in, so there's no hanging about in the bucket shower. We had two nights there at the Wilderness camp where we were very well looked after with delicious 3 course suppers and a drink and a smile greeting us at every point! We had the most fantastic day trip - a long walk along the beach at Rocky Point where Stephen King type pale green foam was washing up onto the beach and getting stuck in the rocks like a large (but not so inviting) bubble bath, after a while the fog moved in and it was all rather eerie; a visit to the lonely grave on the beach only added to this, as did the abundant driftwood and the odd fish bone (the pretty shells were a welcome addition). But the sense of space and freedom was just incredible and we all walked for a good hour down the windy beach before being driven up onto the dunes for a delicious picnic lunch and a well-earned cold beer in the sun. Much dune climbing began and to hear the dunes roaring as we all sat on our bottoms edging our way down was so exciting - it's difficult to describe how far away from the rest of the world you feel here. Flying over the dunes all I wanted to do was to get out and be in the middle of them on foot, and here we were in our own endless dune landscape having lunch!

There were so many other highlights on the trip, I haven't even mentioned our first flight from Windhoek down south to Fish River Canyon which is the second largest canyon in Africa and quite an amazing sight, especially from the air. Pretty exciting for a vertigo sufferer like me flying low over the edge of the canyon!

I also could have stayed at Wolwedans in the heart of the NamibRand Nature Reserve for much longer than one night. Surrounded by red dunes, mountains and beautiful views we enjoyed the best food I have tasted in Africa in very elegant surroundings.

Then there was also a great stay in Damaraland in the mountains where spotting a whole herd of desert elephants from Mowani Mountain Lodge was a real treat. Awesome star gazing around the campfire was aided by our friendly host Vincent and his laser pen! From here we went up to the Skeleton Coast National Park (mentioned first!).

By the time we got to Etosha National Park we were very sad to say goodbye to our pilot/guide/plane (which was dangerously beginning to feel like the normal mode of transport!) but ready for an adventure in our Volkswagen Sharan! In a country of Namibia's size and where the population is less than 2 million people we hadn't really seen anyone outside of the fantastic lodges we had been staying in. So initially it was a bit of a shock to the system to see lots of other people and cars at the gate to Etosha National Park. This was not helped by getting a flat tyre as soon as we got past the ticket office! But once on the road it appeared that traffic wasn't really an issue and we soon forgot about everyone else again as we admired the birds, oryx, ostrich, 4 lionesses, and a herd of ellies around a water hole while we ate our sandwiches. Not bad game viewing for a country where the focus is on the scenery.

There are lots of amazing lodges around the different gates of Etosha but the one that really sticks out as somewhere I would like to stay is the relatively newly opened Onguma Tented Camp. It epitomises funky modern decor, luxury and great attention to detail - how they have made it work in the bush I don't know but it's great. They are also going to open Onguma Plains Camp at the end of 2006 which promises to be ultra chic.

On our way back to Windhoek, we visited the AfriCat Foundation centre on the Okonjima Farm which was incredible and educational in a fun way - AfriCat are committed to long-term conservation of Namibia's large carnivores, especially cheetahs and leopards. So we tracked leopard and cheetah in their 4,000 hectare area and got closer than I've ever got to them before - again, a fantastic observation and photo opportunity! At the clinic there, I got my first glimpse of the rare African wild dogs that were being looked after there so that was a huge bonus.

It's hard to sum up Namibia - it really felt like another planet a lot of the time due to the scale of the dramatic scenery. There is so much to offer there and I will definitely be going back as soon as I can! After all I've got to go to Swakopmund and learn to dune board, dune ski, shark fish, kayak, quad-bike, parasail, ride a camel, visit the seal colony.....