Majete WR, Malawi - A remarkable recovery

Elephants at the Shire River

If you’re unfamiliar with AfricanParks, it’s an NGO set up in 2000 to rehabilitate and manage national parks that had been neglected and poached out of animals.  After 3 years of negotiation, Majete became the guinea pig - the first reserve in AfricanParks’ portfolio. 

Uganda - The pearl of Africa

Crossing the Equator, just up the road from QE national park

The only real point of reference we had for the Pearl of Africa was the Semliki Forest. Much like the Serengeti, Maasai Mara or the Okavango delta are hotspots to the wildlife enthusiast, the Semliki is for birders due to the sheer number of endemics this small dot on the map seems to have. If you have ever paged through any volume of the ‘Birds of East Africa’, the Semliki will most certainly catch your attention. There are other draw cards for Uganda including the primates and of course the shoebill and all this lay within a day’s drive Kigali!

Rwanda - land of a thousand hills

The land of a thousand hills

The Rwanda story has to start with the horrible events of 1994 but I leave you to read the various reads on this subject, without which one can never really understand the Rwanda story but all I can say is never again! What is relevant is to focus on what Rwanda is today and just how far this small little country has got to since those dark days of 1994. In a relatively short period of time Rwanda is today one of the great success stories of Africa.

Mikumi NP: January 2017

Us and our road block

Ten days after spending New Year ’s Eve at Mikumi and opening our 2017 shooting with Super Sub on the road, we were back at Mikumi. It was the first long weekend of the year and last one before the April holiday season so we were back looking for shooting opportunities. The rains were late and except for the odd spot of green, the landscape was still waiting for the rains in January. Metres from the gate there was a fresh buffalo carcass by the side of the road and the hope was the lions were in the vicinity.

Mikumi NP, December 2016

Hippo Pools was the only water for miles.

With no long weekends in November, two public holidays early in December was an opportunity to check out Mikumi for the last time of the year. The usual early morning start and we were on the road this time with 4 new heavy duty shocks a new clutch plate. The check in at the gate was surprisingly quick for a long weekend. The lion report was the Hippo pools pride was last seen near the water holes two days ago.

Serengeti NP Day 6: A last gift on the long road back

Young male lion in morning light

This was our final morning in the Serengeti, and knowing how long the drive back would be, we were up again early with a plan to have a morning game drive before heading out to Naabi Hill gate.

Serengeti NP Day 5: Chasing after cheetahs

Cheetah cubs in a row

While we’d had nice sighting of lions and fantastic sightings of leopard, our cheetah sightings had been limited to a few long range sightings, and we’d hardly taken a photo of one.  So it was back to chasing cheetahs again.  Along with the information about the cheetah family at Mawe Meupe, we also had a lead on a family between Maasai and Boma Kopjes, so the plan was to head out to that area.

Serengeti NP Day 4: A day of spots

Up again at the crack of dawn, we were ready to go at 6am even though it was still dark.  But it was an hour’s drive to the leopard, so we left in the dark hoping to be one of the first at the leopard.  In the end, we were the second car to be on the scene, the other being a guided tour vehicle with one guy with a massive lens – he no doubt had the same idea as us.

January 2016 - Back to Mikumi NP

Lazy lions at Mikumi

After the car behaved from our last week’s trip and with a long weekend on offer, it was Mikumi again with a night at Udzungwa mountains planned. We were on the road early Saturday morning but there was swelling on my jaw which we decided to monitor and keep going. 

January 2016 - Mikumi National Park

Mikumi elephants are awfully chilled around cars

After a string of car trouble over Christmas we were back on the road but uncertain how the car was going to fare. It was probably the quietest drive with both of us on the edge listening intently to the car. The car itself, despite the odd sound after the engine had to be opened as a result of the broken timing belt, appeared to be cruising as normal. Passing the very spot we broke down the couple of weeks before was kind of strange but also relief that we had made some ground.

Lake Manyara NP & Amani Nature Reserve

The Maasia steps decent on to Lake Manyara

Our Christmas trip to the Serengeti had been put on hold thanks to car trouble on the way north from Dar es Salaam to Arusha.  So instead, after a delay in Moshi to get the car sorted, we'd changed plans and headed to Tarangire national park.

But now, the tsetse flies of Tarangire national park finally got the better of us and we decided to check out Lake Manyara national park which is about an hour away. 

Selous GR: New Year's in the South

The focus of Selous is the Rufiji River

The decision to visit Selous with the rains in December was made on the way back from the Serengeti as we had only 3 days after Christmas to decide where to go for the New Year's Eve long weekend. Selous is expensive and very difficult in the wet and the game would be off the river this time of the year.  But...

Serengeti NP: Christmas in the rain

Storm clouds gather over the Serengeti plains at Simba Kopjes

Another Christmas and another plan is hatched to spend Christmas under the stars in the best park in the world. The last time we were here in the Serengeti was to check out the Mara crossing and there is no way anything would top that. We were or course following the herds once again, and like the previous year, the rains were chaotic and the herds we running out of synch. 

Mikumi NP: The lions of the village

After missing our planned trip over Easter thanks to malaria, we were itching to get out to the bush again, so we decided to make use of the May day holiday and make it a long weekend.  Since it would only be 4 days, the only real viable option would be Mikumi. 

Mikumi NP: Mikumi, mud & malaria

Road block

A long weekend, and a quick trip to Mikumi.  We'd started to get cabin fever with the lack of long weekends, not having been to the bush since January.  So we were quite happy that there were a few coming up in April to get our fix of the bush.

Mikumi NP - 1st trip of the new year

Three days after returning from a 9 day camping trip to the Serengeti over Christmas, we were packing up again for Mikumi over the New Years Eve long weekend. Although we were ready to camp, the combination of 7 days camping the week before and the Mikumi camp site, which can get crowded and have dysfunctional toilets, we were hoping to get in to our favorite rest house.

Serengeti Christmas - Day 7 Mkomazi NP

Baglafecht weaver in Karatu

After a good evening meal and just as good a sleep, I woke up a lot earlier than Dru and spent the early morning birding while he slept.  The birding wasn’t bad but it was really the people that were more entertaining.  

Serengeti Christmas - Day 6 A final surprise

Cheetah and cubs

Because we had come into the Serengeti only after lunch, we knew that we would have plenty of time to have a morning game drive before heading out to the gate.  We decided to use the time to take the long way round to the gate, more or less the same way we had come in.  That way we got a nice game drive, and also avoided most of the badly corrugated road from Seronera to Naabi Hill.  

Serengeti Christmas - Day 5 Spending time with lions

The pride on the Serengeti plains

Our last full day in the Serengeti, and we were determined to find the lions from the previous day.  Stopping only to get a few shots of the Serengeti sunrise, we headed straight to where we’d seen the lions the previous evening.  Of course, they had disappeared, so we slowly started driving in each direction to try and pick up their tracks.  We did eventually find spoor, but they weren’t nearby.  

Serengeti Christmas - Day 4 Christmas on the plains

It's rare to see something good on your own, but we were lucky

It was an early start on Christmas day, but we were soon rewarded near the campsite by 4 male lions chilling on a rock watching the sun come up.  We decided to head to where the leopards had been sighted the previous day and were amazed to find the young leopard still there!  He was on a different tree, but only about 30 meters from where we’d seen him in the evening.