We turned off the narrow tarmac road onto a dusty track at a roadside village with scattered makeshift houses roofed in tin sheets or thatch. The landscape was stunningly picturesque and simultaneously harsh. Thick thorny commiphora bush dominated the vegetation interspersed with sporadic grassy open areas. Ring-necked doves cooed and ...
In February 2018, I was on safari in Namibia's Skeleton Coast, a desert simultaneously so harsh and beautiful that it never ceases to impress me. The wildlife here roams vast distances in search of vegetation and water. Some species such as oryx (gemsbok) and springbok are so well adapted that ...
It was August 2021. I made the most of a rare break due to the pandemic and travelled to Zimbabwe with my family. A highlight was our stay by the banks of the Zambezi River in the far north-east with Carl Nicholson, a keen younger professional safari guide. In 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, living along the Hoanib River in the Skeleton Coast National Park. They were the daughters of the desert lioness Margeaux (marked XPL-55 by Desert Lion Research) ...
We were in the Okavango Delta, on the edge of an island of woodland overlooking an open floodplain, sipping cocktails and enjoying the changing sky; the evolving russets, oranges and reds of the sunset. I was with a wonderful family from California - three generations, so there was quite a ...
February 2018 The rich ochre and black ridges and the flat, stony plains of the Skeleton Coast appear to have no life at all, but the Hoanib River wends its way through. The term “river” overflows with optimism, and not water. The Hoanib is actually a dry, sandy, meandering watercourse ...
One morning, while we were out in the Serengeti Plains looking for cheetah, we came across a solitary female who looked hungry and appeared to be working the scrubby bushes as if she was hunting hares. We watched as she swept the area for some time, until she suddenly stopped ...
My younger daughter has been on safari several times. However, since she was two years old, when we moved to Spain, these experiences have been far apart. This time, two years since her last visit, I watch her become totally immersed in the activities of this African world, its smells, ...
The Serengeti Plains are divided into two conservation areas - the Serengeti National Park and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. The Serengeti National Park provides full protection to all the wildlife, and humans are only permitted there as either researchers or employees of the national park, or as paying guests (tourists), ...
In October I was on safari in Laikipia County in Kenya. This multi-use area covers about 9,500 km2 (3,700 mi2) and straddles the equator between Mount Kenya and the Aberdare Mountain range. Although most of Laikipia is at high altitude, it is fairly dry country and is generally more suitable ...
Most people who come on safari hope to see some of the big cats – lion, leopard and cheetah. Nearly everyone will see a lion, and more likely several. Depending on where you are on safari, there is a good chance of seeing one of the other two large felines. ...
As we drove slowly towards our camp in the Moru kopjes area of the Serengeti we passed a herd of zebra that were moving north. Then suddenly they bolted to the side, stopped and gazed into the apparently benign grasslands. I told the guests that they must have smelled a ...
