Feel Good Moment on Safari.

I'd would like to share with you a warm fuzzy stop on your wildlife Safari experience in Northern Tanzania, a place that is near and dear to me. I know it will be yours as well. 

Rift Valley Children's Home.

When you and your young world explorers want to head out on a life changing Family Safari in Africa to see the amazing wildlife but also want to leave a mark of compassion not only for wildlife but also citizens of the world; then let me introduce you to a children's home we support. 

Natalie came prepared with undergarments for the girls and boys. They were so thankful. 

A bit of background.
When Baba Peter worked in the Safari industry with Mama India, he once told her he would like to help the many orphaned, neglected, abused children of Karatu region by providing them a safe home but would love her help in finding funding. Mama India had just moved from New York after a Mt. Kilimanjaro climb [which she did not want to do but on arrival, ended up falling in love with Tanzania], and told him sure. Well, years later, she and Peter have adopted around 100 kids from around Karatu region. 

Now why is this place different?
Each child has a home. A home where there is a Mama. A mama to cuddle at night for when you have nightmares, a mama to cook your special food because it's your birthday, a mama to make sure you do your work, a mama who keeps you in check. Each home has around 10-15 kids so you actually feel like you are living in a home. There is a kitchen, a living space, a patio, some space in your room; just like home.

Our client enjoying a game of soccer with the kids. Fun times for everyone. 

It's not only a safe space. It's where the child will thrive. 
The kids go to good school close by thanks to funding provided by you, me and the donors, have medical help onsite via a registered nurse, maybe their parents are being helped so they can get on their feet with micro-financing, have a lovely soccer field because well, soccer or football as we say, is huge, basketball court because there are lots of US volunteers and it's just a fun game and much more. Mama India and Baba Peter together with a team of volunteers truly care for the kids. 

We can set up an afternoon for you to spend time here.
Play with the kids, see the mamas in action, learn more about the organization ++.  
And, I have many clients including Sydney, my young explorer who said she'll come back here and volunteer when 21. Now, that is a Safari moment for the books.

"Tanzania is definitely an exception."

When Matt and Ashley D. contacted me to plan their 10th anniversary Safari, they had one request. They wanted to spend time in Oliver’s Camp.

Why? Their friend John H. had recommended that Safari lodge. John H. and I met randomly at Oliver's Camp in 2009 while having dinner in the family style table. A friendly chat lead to us keeping in touch for all these years.

The Deel's Safari was super fun to plan. 
And I managed to surprise them with a few anniversary treats.  

"THANK YOU SO MUCH for planning our amazing anniversary trip.  We’ve traveled to numerous countries over the years and I always say “I don’t like going to the same country twice because the world is so big and there is so much to see”, but Tanzania is definitely an exception to this rule!  It is such a beautiful country with wonderful people.  I can’t wait for our return trip and I hope to bring along friends and family so they can experience all Tanzania has to offer as well.   

Thank you again for making this exceptional vacation happen!

- How was your time with Fazo? 
Fazo was exceptional!!  He was courteous, professional, knowledgeable and so much fun.  We enjoyed getting to know him, laughing with him, and enjoying a beer at the end of the day with him. He truly cared for the land, animals, and people.  He was patient and kind, he not only cared about us and our experience, but he also cared about the other camp guests and wanted to ensure everyone had a great safari experience. One safari guide staying at a camp with us was new to the area and didn’t know his way around very well. Fazo was disheartened to hear that those guests didn’t see the same animals and have the same great experience as we did during the day, so Fazo very politely spoke with the resident camp guide and the new guide and helped make sure the guests had a better experience the next day. He privately took the new guide under his wing and gave him advice, while not speaking down to the new guide or making him (or his guests) feel uncomfortable.  This is only one example of Fazo’s passion for his job and his country.   We told Fazo that he is welcome in our home if he travels to Florida, Missouri, or Kansas.

- Did you enjoy your Safari experience? Wildlife, birds?
We absolutely enjoyed our safari experience. The wildlife, birds, bugs, and insects were all amazing (yes, I even took pictures of the dung beetles).  I also really enjoyed the people and the culture.  Seeing and visiting with the Maasai was definitely a highlight.

- Any favorite story/ stories?
1) We really enjoyed meeting a Maasai boy outside of the Ngorongoro crater that Fazo had befriended over the years.  The boy was about 8 years and an absolute pleasure to meet.  As we were driving I saw a small boy in the distance sprinting across a field. After a few twists and turns in the road we came upon the area where the boy was running to and Fazo noticed that the boy happened to be his friend (the Maasai boy had recognized our car in the distance).  We stopped and visited with the boy for about 10-15 minutes and I definitely consider this to be a highlight of our trip.   

2) A favorite was also the late afternoon game drives when Fazo packed a few snacks and a couple beers.  Happy Hour in the bush watching a lioness and her cubs play is hard to beat! 

3) The staff’s recognition of our anniversary was also great.  We had a surprise sunset bubble bath and champagne at Oliver’s Camp (we didn’t even know our room had a bathtub!) and we also really enjoyed the celebratory dancing and singing with cake and champagne at Olakira.  Such unexpected treats! Thank you, Mefi for coordinating the celebrations.

4) Having Fazo tell us about the baboons that jump into cars and steal food, then to witness it firsthand a few minutes later when another guide failed to close down the roof before parking.

5) Seeing an elephant in the crater get upset at a safari car and charge the vehicle. Luckily Fazo was always watching and paying attention because he promptly started our car and zoomed down the road so that the car behind us (the one the elephant was charging at) didn’t run into us.

6) We enjoyed learning about Fazo and his family.  His volunteer work protecting the wildlife, his avid volleyball playing, his wife and children, his knowledge of sign language, his support of the deaf community, and his love and respect for the people and animals within his country.

7) Having Fazo ask us questions about where we grew up (rural Missouri and Kansas) and his surprise that we had dirt roads and how similar the views of the Kansas plains are to the Serengeti plains.

- What about the Safari Lodges? Did you enjoy your time here?
All of the lodging was great.  Oliver’s Camp and Olakira were our favorites because we enjoyed the camping experience, but all of the accommodations were fabulous.  

- Was Zanzibar enjoyable? Did you enjoy the Stone Town and Spice Tour?
Zanzibar was beautiful!  During our one full day there we went on a snorkeling tour that included lunch on a private beach (coordinated through Matemwe Lodge), it was a great way to spend the day.  We weren’t sure what to expect from the Stone Town and Spice Tour, and to be honest we weren’t really looking forward to them, but they were great and I am so glad we went on them.  We learned so much on the tours and we enjoyed seeing another side of Tanzania. Our Zanzibar guide was very knowledgeable and the tours were fantastic.

- Any suggestions for us for future clients? Any improvements we can make?
A suggestion for a future client would to bring more long, moisture wicking dresses.  I only brought two and I wore those more than anything else on our trip.  They kept me cool and comfortable on game drives and in the evenings when I wanted to dress up a little I wore them with my wedges (not that dressing up was ever required). "

Happy Anniversary!
See you back on another African Safari with your family. 

A Typical Day on Safari in Tanzania and Kenya.

Everyday is a different day on Safari. No agendas; just you and your Safari guide making plans on what to see, where to go, how long to be out, and more. Here are guidelines to navigate your day on a Tanzanian Safari.

Morning.
For the most part, I'd say on Safari, waking up early should be the norm even if you are not a morning person. Why? Sunrise. This time of the day is truly glowing. 

Your wake-up call can be any where from 6:00 am onwards.

1. You can decide to have breakfast at the lodge. Enjoy coffee in your room, then head to the main area. Majority of the Safari lodges in the national parks have a deck looking out at the park. Enjoy the sunrise while eating breakfast.  
2. Start around 6:30 am and go out looking for wildlife in the early morning, when the sun is lighting up the African soil. Have breakfast around 8:30 -9:00 am [or when your stomach calls for food] in the middle of the national park. This should be your choice at least once or twice in each national park.

Afternoon.
Depending when you have started, you will have two choices. 

1. Stay out for lunch in the parks. If you have stayed in for breakfast, go out and stay out for a bit longer. There are many picnic spot your guide will take you or in some cases, you will eat in the car while watching the rhino crawl or in the middle of the Wildebeest Migration.
You can come back to the Safari lodge at your own leisure for your afternoon siesta.

2. Come back for lunch at the Safari lodge. If you have been out from early morning, this can be an option. And if you want, squeeze in an outdoor shower when the sun is out. 

Late afternoon / Evening.

Around 3:30 - 4:00 pm, you will be heading out again if you have been in the Safari Lodge. Go out to capture the evening golden hour. If you've had enough for the day, stay back. There are no rules. 

You will be out and about until 6:30 pm, stretching it to 7:00 pm before you have to return back. Many a rush drive back have been had as you want to soak in every last light on Safari.
Also, this is the time for sundowners. The time you park your vehicle, enjoy a drink while watching the glorious sunset in Africa. You will pinch yourself, you are on Safari.

Night-time.

Pure cozy. Campfire, Safari stories by the camp manager or staff + dinner.
Some stories that have to be heard like this Maasai warrior telling us about his right of passage by hunting lions. Keep an open mind - it's not all black and white, lots of grey, lots of changes that need to be made, lots of traditional ways that have to alter, lots of cultural stories that need a new course - listen. 

In the end, you decide your travel style. Some clients want to be out all day; they want to soak every minute of being on Safari. Others want to relax a bit more; have all meals or more meals at the lodge and go out on game drive at leisure. 

Whatever your style, you will love your day on Safari. 

"Reactions were Priceless"

When the Angela H. emailed to say she wanted her children [twins aged 12, 15 and 17 year old] to experience more than wildlife on their winter-holiday Family Safari to Tanzania, I knew where I wanted to take them - off-the-beaten-path area of Lake Eyasi where the Hadzabe tribe live off the land as well as my favorite organization, The Rift Valley Children's Village. As you will see, Sydney who is 17 year old is planning on going back here.

Grier's feedback is very honest about the sounds at night. I should suggest having a white noise app or device in my packing list. And the twin boys, well, Angela's bees and birds topic got taken care off by the wildlife on Safari. Nature at its' best. 

Planning the Hall Family Safari was great fun. 
Thank you for trusting me to show your beautiful family my Tanzania.

" We had an incredible time on Safari.
First, we must thank you for being so flexible & helpful on the trip delays and then with the delayed baggage. This greatly reduced the stress of 50+hrs of travel getting there, knowing that you and the team were handling everything. 

You are correct – John Bingo is an awesome guide, and that totally made our trip as special as it was. He sometimes got more excited than we did to find certain animals or see the animals do funny things (a female elephant itch her butt in a mud pile, or a zebra scratch it’s belly on a large rock). We came across the largest group of dung beetles John had ever seen so he slammed on the breaks of the truck & jumped out so fast!

Kids:

• Sydney was enthralled by the Rift Valley Children's Village. She has already asked to set up a savings account just to buy another plane ticket there so she can volunteer for a year after she turns 21!

• Grier was terrified of the night noises – so she didn’t get much sleep. My favorite Grier quote was “The days are neat, but the nights are so long.”

• The boys took so MANY pictures & go-pro videos. They also got some animal kingdom sex education – lol. Lions mating & a Thompson gazelle giving birth. Think both grossed them out, but we all thought their reactions were priceless.

We crammed the Night Safari & Walking Safari into the single evening/morning at Oliver’s Camp – it rushed us a bit but we understood why (due to the travel delays)."
[*Journey To Africa note - They were disappointed they would miss these activities when they realized they were going to miss a night at Oliver's Camp due to weather related flight delay leaving Boston but we made it happen.]

The Hall Family.
December 2015

Life worth Exploring!
What will your Family Safari Story be? We can help You find out. 

2016; Kwaheri.

As we bid another year good-bye, we are grateful we got to show You the beauty of Africa.
The range of wildlife, birds and other creatures in the amazing National Parks of Africa, the chimps of Mahale Mountains and gorillas of Rwanda, the warm people, the blue waters of the Indian Ocean or Lake Tanganyika,  the highest peak in Africa, Mt. Kilimanjaro, and much more.

There is just so much to love on an African Safari. Thank you for letting us share our love.
Cheers to 2017. We welcome you.

Safari Photography.

Before I Safari, I told myself ... do not use the automatic mode on your Canon 80D camera that I bought specifically for the Safari. Gulp! 

Yup, me the hobbyist photographer took a leap after hearing how I should learn to use the camera from uber-guide / friend Paul Oliver on my Natron Safari and Ruaha's hot chilly loving Italian guide Lorenzo. I practiced at home on my kids. I made them twirl and jump so I can figure out the F stop, ISO, Aperture, etc. Still learning.

And off I went on Safari and set my Canon camera on manual. I cheated a few times but stuck with manual most of the time. While shooting with my camera, I realized this is fun and not as intimidating as it sounds. I would try a few different setting until I liked what I saw.  I have upgraded myself to an amateur photographer, I think. 

Here's are some of the results of Journey To Africa Photography. Ahem! 

This leopard was lying on the tree in a distance. I had my Canon 70-300 mm L zoom with me and had the picture cropped so the leopard could be in focus. My pro friends would have likes the Canon 100-400 mm.

Okay, I love this picture. This march of the elephants was such a glorious moment for me. The golden hour light and the closeness of these giants was just magical. 

This is a Bateleur Eagle with it's eye lids closed. A bit different don't you think? During the day time I mostly kept with ISO 200-400 and played with F stop. Birds! Even trickier to capture. 

The details on the elephant truck just get me. The truck has around 40,000 muscles and has such an important function. And you can see the blade of grass. 

The jackal is my husband's favorite animal. They are so beautiful. On the food chain, they lurk around large predators and feed off their hunting work and compete with hyenas. 

I can see the whiskers. When I admire professional photographers work, I am always amazed at the details they capture. I was happy to see whiskers where clearly defined. The little things.

Here is my reason for nudging you - if I can do it, you can too - especially if you like photographs and like to play a little with your camera. Turn the dial and enjoy clicking away. 

Camera Tip:
Play with your camera before you head out on Safari. Practice at home, read the manual, learn the controls and then come back with amazing photographs to share. 

Not into photography and rather just enjoy the experience, good for you. You sound like Sally, my client-friend who lost her pictures in Ruaha [she accidentally formatted her memory card - oh my] but was so zen-like and got over the memory loss. 

Take your camera out for a spin on Safari. 

Wellness Safari.

I was recently interviewed by Travel Weekly about wellness travel trends for 2017.
Here is what I think wellness Safari means when I plan these Safaris for my clients. 

" When I think of wellness that my clients have been craving when on their Safari in Tanzania this year, I think of human connection wellness. We have definitely seen more request for cultural stops. And they are requesting not meeting them the touristy way or quick photo op, but rather to spend a few hours or days, interacting one-on-one, to get an insight into a different world. 

I think the shift is because we see more stories on social media, news and sometimes we make up our minds or we are given opinion that we accept without research but until we see, listen and experience the other side, we really can't judge until we see it for ourselves. Parents have told me they want to open their children's eyes, an investment in their future. 

We have had a few groups visit the Maasai tribe ladies with a local friend to see them make jewelry or making leather the natural way so they can support their families. Clients have come back saying these stops are eye-openers and the simplified questions 'why do they choose to live like that' answers are more complex because change takes a lot of time, investment and personal desire. 

I like to take kids [and adults of course] to see the one of the last hunter gather tribe, the Hadzabe tribe in remote Lake Eyasi region. These tribe members chose to keep their ancient ways of life in this modern world though wide cracks are forming in their lifestyle. One 16 year old client told me he wishes people would not force change on them as what we perceive as 'backward' is actually a happier earth based lifestyle and we could all learn from them. That is the type of response that is rewarding.

It's these mind changing / human connection wellness Safaris that I am excited to share more in the future. "

What do you think?
Wouldn't this be a life changing Safari. A peek into another culture and lifestyle. And combine that with amazing wildlife and maybe the traditional wellness - massage - and you have opened your eyes to a whole new world. 

Let's get you on Safari.

Everything we dreamed off and more.

When Vickie called me to say she and Neil wanted to go on a Journey To Africa Safari, I was super excited. See, Vickie and Neil are world travelers. They have been to every continent with famous large travel operators. I was up for the challenge to show them my Tanzania and provide them with the same quality service they had come to expect - and more - because we are into tiny personal details.

Safe to say, they had an amazing time and even after a few years, Vickie and Neil are still great supporters of Journey To Africa by constantly sending us referrals.

Asante Sana Vickie and Neil. 

"Amazing, incredible, life changing are just a few words I use to describe our  "Journey to Africa".

From the moment we arrived in Kilimanjaro, we were transported into one of our most magical vacations ever! (That's saying a lot! as we are veterans of world travel, seven continents with some of the top outfitters in the travel industry)

We picked Journey to Africa because Mefi could design a VIP tour package to fit our schedule, our personal Africa safari wish list:

• We wanted our own guide. 
• We wanted to experience five luxury camps at our leisure. We wanted to go on a minimum of three safaris per day. 
• We wanted to meet Maasai , Hadzabe, Datoga tribes and experience their cultures.
• We wanted a hot air ballon ride over the Serengeti.
• We wanted to see the "Big Five"

We received every single item on our personal wishlist, and much, much more!

Everyday was at our leisure, perfect for us, as we didn't want to share a vehicle or a "time line" set up by others. We saw lots of game on all our drives, we witnessed a couple hunts and kills - we were there during the migration.

While in Ngorongoro, two well known "five star" outfitters zoomed by us missing a beautiful leopard sleeping in a tree very close to the road. They were on a "scheduled tour" staying at the same lodge as us. Their guest informed us they have to stay on schedule so they couldn't stop for the leopard.

We stayed in the same world renowned lodges and camps as other outfitters but, we were offered something that they couldn't provide, a personalized experience.

We experienced everything we dreamed of and more!!!

-The Love's."

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