How do you

Hi Neil,

Photographic safaris are one of the very best ways to experience Africa and it is still possible to do this old style with nothing but a good pair of a walking shoes, your camera and an experienced guide/ranger.I would probably recommend that you consider Zambia or Mozambique or Zimbabwe for an off the beaten track experience. These camps are remote and offer excellent walking safaris and mobile camping options, and you will be able to get fantastic wildlife shots.

Would you require a specialist photographic guide? If you know your way around a camera then it’s probably not necessary, but at the same time, it’s always great to benefit from an experts knowledge.

You will probably find also that guiding has come along way in the past few years, and rangers are better trained and are much more aware of conservation and minimising the impact we have on the animals.

Thanks Vanessa,

So far I’ve been looking at Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa. Are the walking safaris I’ve read about the same? I know that the Mara, Serengeti, and Ngorongoro are all popular places in east africa as is Kruger in South Africa. Any opinion on KwaZulu? Also, I plan on learning Swahili, even if I dont go to Kenya and Tanzania. How far will that knowledge get me in other countries?

Thanks,

Neil

Jambo Neil, various new options on walking safaris are on offer these days plus photographic safaris in Kenya/Tanzania this is becoming increasingly popular with travellers want to truly experience Africa in all its glory and nothing to mar the moment (vehicles, noise etc) There are Samburu camel led safaris in the northern regions of Kenya - great idea - just yourself a Samburu warrior or two and yourself.

Has anyone here been on a walking safari? I’d like to hear some first hand experiances.

Habari ya jioni, Neil ? With the high density of Wildlife in East Africa+ increased marketing of these ‘iconic’places do often come the ... crowds - no way of denying that. Does that necessarily mean that one has to play part in that circus/zoo and has no longer a choice of getting around that ? I wouldn’t really dare to say so. Of course, there’s always certain time-frames when chances of having your own little slice of African Wilderness shrink - such as over the peak season months of July and August for example ... the holiday season for many European families).Just as a quick example - the Tarangire National Park in Northern Tanzania - being at it’s wildlife peak over thetime-frame of let’s say July to mid/end October. It is true that the months of July & August are more busy than the months of September & October - but I wouldn’t take that as a deciding factor as it will all depend on the location of the property your travel agent willbook you into. One of my favourite camps in this region, Oliver’s Camp - is located in the South Eastern sector of the National Park (close to the Silale Swamps). Is is one of only 2-3 Camps (with maybe a total of 25 Tents) in this remote location and here you will never have the ‘overcrowding-feel’ ...even not over the peak season months. Incomparison, the Northern Part of Tarangire has 02 Large Lodges and a washing list of Tented Camps in the Conservation Area bordering the Park. Most people staying at these large propeties are often ‘one-nighters’ on the way to/back from the Ngorongoro Crater and do not have the time to visit the South Eastern section of the National Park. The same scenario does apply to the Serengeti. The remote Kogatende Area for example (this is the Western Section of the extreme North of the Serengeti) - and area offering a ringseat in the wildebeest crossing spectacle - does only have about 4 Camps (three of them mobile camps) and can not be reached on a day-trip for people staying at one of the chain-lodges in the larger Central Serengeti. I do think these two quick examples do show that not all is lost, Neil - and that things will much depend on where you will be based on your trip. Hope this doesn’t add too much to the confusion ?

Oh yes - about learning Swahili ... I’d say - go for it !! It is a very logical language and I picked up my Swahili when doing development work at grassroot level in Tanzania - well, there was little other choice as no-one else besides the schoolmaster in the villages spoke any other. I have worked in Tanzania & Kenya for a good number of years and knowing Swahili opened many doors. People see you with different eyes and do respect this tremendously. You’re all of a sudden not a ‘tourist’ any longer - but a ‘brother’ or a ‘sister’ or ‘one of ours’. I have travelled a lot in the Eastern and Central Region of this continent and you will be amazed how wide spoken Swahili is. After having lived in South Africa for three years - I moved to Uganda recently and even here it is impossible for me to get lost or get ripped off. So again yes - if you do have the time - go for it and learn Swahili. After having visited East Africa once - you’ll certainly come back ... so it will be very handy !!

Asante Diederik, that those postes helped greatly. I’m am now 100% sure I want to learn swahili, but how do I go about that? Computer program?  Also what does Habari ya jioni mean? I’m not familiar, and I dont think google translate gets it quite right. What are everyones favorite east african safari companies( is that the right term?)?  Just throwing out questions as they occor to me,

Thanks again,

Neil

Karibu sana (you’re welcome), Neil ... seeing the number of people having Swahili as their first, second, third - or even closely related language to their local dialect - I do think we have found a gap in the market. By the way - ‘habari ya joini’ means literally ‘news of the evening’ but in spoken terms ‘how’s your evening going?’. How to learn the language ? Not too sure - I remember I had quite a good book (forgot the name as this was about 15 years ago) + was dropped in villages where people only knew ‘yes & no’ - but even thanmanaged to usethese two words wrongly as they could never figure out what the question was. What you will also notice in East Africa is that when for example asking for the road/way or so - people won’t easily say that they don’t know and rather put you on the wrong track. It is a cultural thing - and people are often scared to disappoint you and rather say X-Y-Z than to say ‘I don’t know’. A helpfull thing to keep in mind ...

Preferred Safari Companies ? Well - I don’t know ... it all depends on quite anumber of things. I do deal with few different companies on a daily basis - depending on what the exact needs, expectations, estimated budget, etc ... of the travellerare. CertainGround Handlersare specialised in budget-friendly safaris - afforable - yes of course ... but than we’ll be looking into the type of scheduled vehicle group-safari making use of large lodges. If someone is for example a keen photographer - I’d again use anotherof our Bussiness Partners on the groundfor the type of trip whereby the traveller has a private 4WD Vehicle (with unlimited mileage)with experienced naturalist driver-guide. I do than try to secure one of the guides I travelled with myself andknow personally. The same goes for ornithologists, etc ... There’s one common thread through all this and that is the extensive consulting process. In this process - communication from both sides is of utmost importance so that we canmatch Camps/Properties in line with time-frame of travel. The end result : the best type of experience for him/her in line withexact needs & expectations and ... not to forget ...budget. So it’s difficult to just say ‘wich one is the best Safari Company’ - asassembling asuccessful safariis far more than choosing a company ... it’s all about knowledge of the consultant you are dealing with - does he/she sells out of a brochure or does he/she knows the often complicated safari logistics of the area inside-out? What do other clients say about him/her ... can he/she provide any references of previous travellers, etc ?

Neil - I’m sure the article on the African Blog will also be interest to you : /african-blog/how-to-spot-a-dodgy-travel-agent-3489/.

Hi Neil, some good comments from Diederik above and any of these ideas will certainly offer the experience you are looking for. I found you pick up Swahili very quickly (when you are in East Africa, which you are not…) Everyone who hears you trying out new sentences/words will help! There are certain companies for sure who offer a better walking/photographic safari than others - when I say this I only mean that they have been in the business for many years so know all of the “ins & outs” of a succesdful trip. I havent personally been on the Samburu led safari yet but it is something that has become a great adventure that I want to try. I know of a few travellers who have however done it and they came back with rave reviews. I suppose with so many different walking safaris available its not easy to choose which would be best suited to you - from 2 - 3 hour walks, 4 day trips where you walk between 12 - 20 km’s per day but camp is set up for you each evening. So ultimately you would need to decide do you want to do a combination of game drives, & short walking/activities etc or prefer to do the hiking type of trip. Either way you are going to see Africa in a way that most travellers never get to see it.

Thanks Lauren, it really is daunting. Googleing “walking safari kenya tanzania” gets me more than I could ever read. If I thought about what I wanted out of my safari, and posted it here, do you think that you or other members might be able to refer me to a specific comapany? Seeing as how active all of you are on this site shows how much you care about people enjoying thier trip, so all of yalls opions matter to me.

Hi Neil,

I completely agree that the sheer volume of information on the internet can be quite somethign to get through! As far as I am concerned when anyone wants to visit this region which was my home for many years I want that traveller to experience it at its absolute best.

If you would like to contact me via my profile I can offer more suggestions.

Hi Neil

Walking safaris are awesome - see things from a really fresh perspective - but you need to know that you won’t be getting really close to animals and no good photographic opportunities (unless you’re looking for the smaller things and not too many big-and-hairies).

It’s amazing to view elephant, rhino and buffalo on foot (antelope are more skittish and usually run away). I wouldn’t recommend Big Cat viewing on foot, though! You can combine vehicle-based photographic with walking. Just make sure you choose an operator that’s sensitive to the environment - I believe in this, as it seems you do too.

Cheers

Hi Neil, I reckon the best bet for you would be to go on quality walking safaris with experienced guides. My suggestions would be Saile Tented Camp in Botswana, Footsteps (Ker & Downey) in Botswana and then Khwai Tented Camp in Botswana. The other two are run by African Bush Camps and they have quality guides. Then Oddballs and Delta Camp you can go on walks on Chiefs Island - you are normally assigned your own guide as well, so it is a really personal experience. Then in South Africa I would recommend Africa on Foot Camp, all the guides are experienced and qualified and the walks take part in a “not that commercial” part of the private reserves of the Kruger - in the Klaserie. Zambia is also very well known for its walking safaris - the Bushcamp Companies camps in the south of the Park are really remote and worth it - visit Zambia at the right time though.

Hope that helps, Brett

Mambo Vipi Neil, (How are you?)

There are some decent books available on Amazon to help with your Swahili learning or you can even invest i the highly sought after Rosetta Stone Swahili language computer program which is very very good.

Kind Regards,

Tom

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