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Photo of the week

Taken by client Reggie and Bill Hepp in Ngorongoro Crater.

Taken by client Reggie and Bill Hepp in Ngorongoro Crater.

Beautiful black rhino, with a peaking crested crane, in Ngorongoro Crater.

To save our rhinos from poachers, please remember to never buy rhino horns. Their horns do not aid in fertility, give you strength or aid in fever reduction.  Horns are actually made of keratin, the same material our human fingernails and toe nails are made off.  Do not buy artifacts with rhino horns. Say no to bracelets or daggers made out of rhino horn.

The only place a rhino horn should be is on a rhino!

For more information and help, visit //
http://www.savetherhino.org/
https://biglife.org/

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Maasai and Ngorongoro Crater

Walking is not allowed inside Ngorongoro Crater, unless you are a Maasai tribe member.  They are the only people currently [they were once again allowed in the 90s after restrictions] who are allowed to bring their cows [cattle] into this wildlife-dense eco-system. The number of cows a person owns displays the patriach’s wealth.  Its their currency. They depend on it for meat, milk and blood.  Yes, blood. Maasai tribe members fill their gourds with milk and blood.

Maasai have coexisted with wildlife for generations.  They used to live in the now Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro Conservation, and Masai Mara and its wider area in Kenya area until these areas were designated National Parks or conservation.

Today, in Tanzania,  they continue to live in Ngorongoro Conservation Area.  You can stop at one of the boma [homestead] for a quick visit – a tourist stop – or you can go to a private conservation in areas like Longido [east of Serengeti] such as Alamana Reserve.  Here, you can spend time understanding and learning about the unique, fascinating, and changing Maasai tribe.

Maasai tribe members walking their cows to Lake Magadi

Maasai tribe members walking their cows to Lake Magadi

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Flying taxis

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18-seater small plane – flying taxis.

What would we do without our flying taxi planes.

  • They have made planning Safaris to less visited areas simpler.
  • They save a lot of transfer time.
  • They are pretty cost efficient and with more carriers, prices are getting competitive.
  • They offer great aerial views.

Places like Northern Serengeti which about 6 + years ago was only accessible via driving. You needed to commit time in Serengeti to enjoy this beautiful area. Some clients still do of course enjoy drive and exploring different regions slowly.

Flying from Serengeti to remote parks in Southern Tanzania is now possible. Daily flights to Katavi National Park have been scheduled from Serengeti by Coastal Air. You can now easily make Southern Tanzania an extension to your Northern Tanzania Safari. Heading to Lake Tanganyika and beautiful Greystoke Mahale after your Safari – zip away.

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Ngorongoro Highlands on the way to Northern Serengeti. Taken in 2011

I will be flying from Arusha Airport to beautiful Northern Serengeti in 2 hours. Driving would have been a 2 day affair. After my walk in Serengeti for 2 days, I will be flying from Central Serengeti to Arusha in the evening in time for dinner with my family.

Thanks little zippers.  Even if you have a 33 lbs weight limit, you make getting from A to B convenient.

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Specialist Guides on Safari

Our Safari guides are fantastic! We feel incredibly lucky to have some of the best trained guides working with us.

Sometimes, some clients want something different. They want to dig a lot deeper as they crave more knowledge of the animals and the land. They want in-depth answers to the what, why, how, when, why not, what if, what now, what more. Specialist guides will have your in-depth knowledge soar.

What makes them specialist guides?

  • Guides that have been guiding for more than 20-25 + years.
  • They train other guides.
  • They are friends/mentors with other specialist guides.
  • They cater to clients who already know a lot about the land, its people and wildlife.
  • Guides who are in the news as they have done research or have been part of research teams or organizations.
  • They are into photography and have articles published or are mentioned in articles.
  • They care about conservation and are our public voice. They have access to a larger platform.

But above all, they want you to come and enjoy being on Safari. They will have you love our country as much as they do. Twende [let’s go] Safari. There are fantastic memories to be made.

Stunning capture of zebras fighting.

Stunning capture of zebras fighting.

Paul Kirui.
We were first introduced to him in 2005 when we were on Safari in Masai Mara. Our luck we crossed paths with him. Paul, who has a gold standard certification, has been a source of information. He was involved with BBC’s Big Cat production as well as Disney’s African Cats.  He has been on many top Safari guide list. A Safari with him would be equal to winning a lottery.

Paul Oliver.
You have head of him many times on our blog. He has been our mentor when we first started Journey To Africa. At that time he operated Oliver’s Camp in Tarangire. Today he divided time between Tanzania and Australia. His passion for guiding is unwavering. He is an avid birder. He and his trusty land-rover can take you from Northern to Southern Tanzania. Get ready for a witty time.

Paul Oliver birding in Southern Tanzania's Katavi National Park

Birding in Southern Tanzania’s Katavi National Park. Taken by our friend Paul Oliver.

Jo Anderson and Mark Baker. 
Jo and his business partner Marc, started an organization in Tanzania called Carbon Tanzania. They have teamed up with local community and together with lodges and Safari companies, off-seat your carbon footprints.  They are deeply involved in conservation and going on a Safari with them will want you doing more for Mother Earth.

Why so many elephants in Ngorongoro? Poaching in other regions have them taking refuge here.

On his May Safari, Jo counted 350 + elephants in Ngorongoro? Not normal. Poaching in other regions have them taking refuge here.

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Life worth Exploring. ™
Make memories on your Journey To Africa Safari.

Get in Touch //
Email us – Safari@JourneyToAfrica.com
Toll Free – 1.877.558.6288 
Outside of US – 1.713.592.6228
Form – Request Information

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Travel Insurance

A friend in the industry recently was recalling an incident when her phone was stolen from her hand in Dar-Es-Salaam, the capital city of Tanzania. Things happen even at home but become cumbersome when it is not on your own turf.

When clients head to Safari, we always recommend getting travel insurance.  We took our own advise and purchased our travel insurance from our provider Travel Guard.

Some of the reasons why our clients have been glad they had travel insurance.

  • Jann F was scheduled to leave in two days when she had an emergency appendix operation. The recovery was going to take a week and if they did end up going to Tanzania [accounting the international flight penalty and fare change], they would have missed most of the Safari with their friends.  Luckily, they had travel insurance with Travel Guard and her and Bernie, her last husband, managed to enjoy the same Safari the following year with some other friends.
  • US ambassador Thomas Pickering was all set to head on Safari when his daughter broke her arm right before her Safari. She could not join them  and had to cancel her Safari. Refund was provided by Travel Guard.
  • You can not climb Mt. Kilimanjaro with a broken leg. Our client Debbie G was in Amsterdam ready to board her flight to Kilimanjaro Airport when she fell in at Schipol airport and broke her leg.  She was devastated she could not join her friends for the climb. She had to fly back to the US.  Travel Guard reimbursed the extra cost of the flight from Amsterdam to US and refunded her Safari.

These occurrence are not common – thankfully – but they did and do happen. Losing the Safari + international flight money would have added more injury to the already hurt wound.

And then there are those clients that don’t let a cast stop them from enjoying a ‘limping’ Safari. Darrell and Drew Howton enjoyed their 2nd Safari with Journey To Africa in Katavi and Mahale + Lake Natron and Southern Serengeti with professional guide Paul Oliver.

Darrell enjoying Katavi with a cast on his leg

A broken leg did not stop Darrell from enjoying Katavi

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Photo of the week

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Taken by client Alisa Thomas

Alisa Thomas, a five time Journey To Africa took this beautiful Elephant mama and mtoto [mother and child] in Lake Manyara  National Park in 2004.  Stay safe precious elephants.

 

Our Guides

One of the biggest reason we have many repeat clients and clients sending referrals is our guides. Our guides will always make your Safari special. They will help you fall in love with Tanzania and Kenya and get you hooked on being on Safari.

“We had a fantastic time. It all started with Ayoub. He was a fantastic guide. He was very articulate and spoke multiple languages. Kate Bartell had told me to request him. We got him by accident. He made the days truly memorable and outstanding. I made him an honorary Texan. If I ever do this again, I want him, and I would highly recommend him to your future clients.”
Carlos Mata – July 2011 and June 2013

Carlos went on Safari both times with Ayoub. He has made a friend in Ayoub for life.

Carlos and John with Ayoub

Carlos M. and John L. with guide Ayoub on their second Journey To Africa Safari

“Our guide, Luke, in Kenya was very good.  Our guide, Elissa was outstanding.  We enjoyed the company of both men and they made us very comfortable during our safari excursions.  Elissa was always on time and always explained things to us in detail.  We also felt very safe with him.  He also has a great sense of humor.”
– Gayle Thomas – July 2013

Gayle is mother to Alisa Thomas who has been on 5 Safari with Journey To Africa. She and her mother had a mother + daughter Safari to Southern Africa in 2008 and went back to Tanzania + Kenya in July 2013. 

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Maria J. with guide Jackson having lunch at Ngorongoro Crater picnic site.

Our guides have to work hard to keep working as guides. During off-season, they have to go through intense training not only in wildlife and plant knowledge but human phycology, astronomy, vehicle maintenance, first-aid, and much more. Trained by renowned guides like Lewis Mangaba, head guide at our favorite Oliver’s Camp, who recently won the Wanderlust Magazine best guide award to fantastic teachers like Richard Knocker, Ethan Kinsey and our friend Paul Oliver.

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Receiving their training certificate from Lewis Mangaba [in shorts]

Asante Sana [thank you] to all the hard-working guys on Safari.

Life worth Exploring! Capture memories on your Journey To Africa Safari.

Get in touch //
Email – Safari@JourneyToAfrica.com
Call – 1.877.558.6288

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Serengeti Map

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My Serengeti map drawn by my 5 yr old son.

Safari planning / dreaming in full swing here.
Twende – let’s go!

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Pack for a Purpose

Planning for the Safari is done. Now, the packing fun begins.

For my camera gear, I am renting a 70-300 f4-5.6 L from Houston Photo Rental for my Canon T3i.  I will have about two 32GB cards, flash, my laptop to download the pictures at night and get some work done where wi-fi is available. June is going to be a cooler month [70-50F range] so more long sleeves and pants. Since I am walking in Serengeti [terribly excited] trekking shoes are a must. Can not forget SPF, hat, sunblock and my trusty scarf.

What else? School supplies. A lot of lodges that we partner with are members of this great organization called Pack for a Purpose. They work with the lodges around the world, identifying what they need for their community school and ask us tour operators to let our clients know what they can bring – 5 lbs of supplies or whatever you are comfortable carrying.

Lodges on they are currently partnered with that we will be stopping by :
– Onsea House in Arusha
– Gibbs Farm in beautiful Karatu Region
– Rhotia Valley right outside Ngorongoro Gate
– Sayari Camp – we will pass our supplies to this lovely camp on our way to Olakira Camp
– Ras Nungwi Beach Resort in Zanzibar Island
– Chem Chem Safari between Lake Manyara and Tarangire National Park

Looking forward to making someone’s day when in Tanzania.
Life Worth Exploring!

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Pre-primary kids playing at Rhotia Valley Tented Camp
[picture taken by Rhotia Valley]

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Happy Earth Day

EarthDayBeautiful Serengeti. Beautiful Sunset.

What can we do daily in our lives for Mother Earth.

Some things I was aware of today that I do that hopefully make a difference.  Driving consciously. I try to line up my errands so I am not wasting gas. Drinking out of my stainless steel water bottle. Turning off lights when leaving the room and switching off the AC on the second floor since the weather is perfect now in Houston. Putting this laptop to sleep mode when not using it. Planting a meyer lemon tree in our yard. Non-toxic cleaner like simple vinegar for cleaning the kitchen and Seventh Generation for laundry. Using an Amazon Kindle device for reading a book.

At Journey To Africa, we are happy to use lodges + camps and ground partners that support solar energy, participate actively in reforestation programs in many areas in Tanzania and supporting our friends at Carbon Tanzania, and in the forefront in conservation of our endangered wildlife via programs like Honeyguide Foundation.

Here is to more beautiful pictures from our beautiful Earth.