Nine special areas in Africa
Dave and I have decided to write a series on our favourite areas in Africa. Normally in May we are preparing for upcoming dry…
Justin Bell
Articles written by Justin Bell
The Great Migration
It is not easy to describe to someone who has not been what it is like to be in the midst of one of…
Qualities of a Guide
Why does A Step Ahead place such importance on your guide when you travel with us? Recently the travel industry, and especially the luxury…
Family time with chimpanzees
December 2018 I looked out of the window of the Cessna Caravan 12-seater aircraft as it banked and descended. The aquamarine waters of Lake…
Desert Lioness Update (2019)
When I was last in Namibia in January 2018 I was concerned about the chances of survival for the 3 one year old cubs,…
Gorillas, hardship and luxury in Rwanda
Africa is still the Dark Continent. It is replete with mysteries, wonders and misconceptions, among other treasures. Consider Rwanda, for example. This is a…
Silence in the reeds
I sit in a mokoro, or African dug-out canoe, my eyes only a metre above the waterline. My feet are stretched out before me,…
A bark at sunset
We were in the Okavango Delta, on the edge of an island of woodland overlooking an open floodplain, sipping cocktails and enjoying the changing…
Desert lioness (2018)
February 2018 The rich ochre and black ridges and the flat, stony plains of the Skeleton Coast appear to have no life at all,…
Mystery stripes
Ruyard Kipling wrote a wonderful book – Just So Stories explaining various mysteries including how the leopard got his spots, and how the rhino…
To the top of Africa
We reached a ledge where we could rest and have a picnic ¾s of the way up the formidable 3,000 ft high (over 1,000m)…
Giraffe – one species or more?
An essential requirement for a species is that they can reproduce and have fertile offspring. Clearly if they cannot do so, they become extinct….