AE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Detail
We spent 2 nights at the Masodini Lodge organised by Bubezi Safaris. We had 3 game drives during our time there. The lodge was wonderful and the food and service were excellent. The drives - 2 evenings, 1 morning - were great. Bert was a pleasure to have as the driver and we appreciated his knowledge andsense of humour. However, the overriding feeling was that every detail was taken care of expertly and our stay there was hassle free. The dinner conversations were fun and even better when the excellent wine was close at hand. Andy is one of a kind. We couldn't have asked for a better guide who looked after every detail from start to finish! We'll be back.
US
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
It was a remarkable adventure & great opportunity to view amazing animals in their natural habitat.
Though the park does not have the most beautiful of scenery (it's mostly dirt), the wildlife is amazing. I arrived at the park early in the morning for an all-day game drive. Immediately after entering the park, I saw various antelopes and bucks, which made me excited for the rest of the day. It wasn't long before we came across a rare and elusive leopard! What an amazing opportunity! Seeing such a beautiful creature in its natural habitat was a truly remarkable experience. As the day continued, we saw various birds, many giraffes, and even a pack of cheetahs as they enjoyed a recent kill. It would have been nice to be able to spend two days at Kgalagadi in order to see more of the park and view even more wildlife. My guide was very knowledgeable. Our overland truck proved advantageous because it gave us a better view, as we were sitting quite high. There was a gift shop at the park entrance and clean bathroom facilities throughout the park. Overall, I have to say that my experience at Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is something that I will never forget. If you're a wildlife lover, this park is definitely worth your time!
Trip for 2
Joseph was very patient and catered for our trip even though we only had 2 people, great service and a good friend!
Lake Turkana tribes
Lake Turkana is not a conventional 'safari' destination. It is a place where you visit the tribes that live there and not so much look for wildlife. If you want to see wildlife, you better visit the parks in the south of Kenya. Although if you want to visit both the east and west side of Lake Turkana, you could drive from Loiyangalani on the east side, through to South Horr and Maralal to Lake Baringo. You will have great views of the Lake Turkana when leaving Loiyangalani. Lake Baringo is a great place for bird watching and there is a good lodge in the park. As mentioned before, Lake Turkana is a place to visit the tribes that live there. The Turkana, the Pokot and the Rendille tribes. The terrain they live in is pretty rough, so you will need a 4x4 to travel around. You will need to go off the beaten track to find some villages that are still living in an original way. Also if you go camping, bring all your supplies with you, there is not much available in the villages. If you stay in the lodge in Loiyangalani, the food is good and the beer is cold. The owner is a German that married a Turkana woman lives there already for decades. It is a good place to relax in the middle of your trip. The Turkana and Rendille that live here are already changed a lot to 'modern' live. The more original Turkana live on the west side of the lake. You will need to go to the area between Lokichar and Lodwar to find them. The winter months are the best time to go to the Lake Turkana area, as it will be very hot in the summer time.
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Fantastic experience
Visiting my son Adam we organised a two day safari via Andrew ably assisted by Jeff. We did Lake Manyare and the Ngorogoro crater, camping at the Panorama campsite where David cooked a lovely meal and breakfast before giving us a lovely packed lunch. Our guide was Derek who was great, tailoring the two days to four lads, even finding us a bar at the end of the day to watch Man City v Liverpool! We saw all of the big 5 and Derek was very knowledgeable but a good laugh as well. Great value and an unforgettable experience. Andrew is a gentleman and a really nice guy. Highly recommended.
DE
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Camping and guided safari excellent
Ladies and Gentlemen,
below you find my Report about Nkasa Rupara Park.I confirm that it never has been published before. You are free to use. If you have questiones, don't hesitate to ask me on [email protected]. Also, if you are interested on photos (free of charge).
My Report about Nkasa Rupara Park of July 2008
In July 2008 we travelled three weeks through Namibia, Botswana and Zambia with 5 couples (at the age of between 24 and 58) in 4 cars. We took the Trans Caprivi Highway until a point where we met Keith Rooken- Smith, a very respectable and impressive park ranger. From now on we followed his Jeep for several miles over smaller ways and sand strips through the bush until we reached a water course which we had to cross on a simple wooden bridge. The problem was that the whole bridge with its longitudinal and transverse loose comprised wooden beams was under the water surface, only a few posts on both sides were standing out of the water and showed the driver the direction. It was a wild and risky ride for each car over the rolling slippery beams and after each crossing the transverse lying beams had to be ordered and positioned new by hand.
After about two hours all 5 cars had reached the other side and we could continue our way through the bush and reached one or two hours later the place where we had our camp for the next three days. We slept in tents which were placed on the top of our cars, easily to built in the evening in 5 minutes and to fold together in the morning in 15 minutes. Those tents have 2 main advantages: the low weight and flat package does not disturb upon the car during travelling and the position on the top of the car gives you the feeling of safety before wild animals during the night. It is said that a lion never will enter your closed tent on the ground, but once, when a pack of hyenas were chasing through our camp, we were happy to watch them from our safe lookout.
The camp included the luxuries of a toilet, not water flushing but with a comfortable seat over a digged mine and a bucket with unslaked lime, all hidden behind a blue white striped tarpaulin, and we had a big bucket hanging down from a branch filled with warm water with a shower and a water tap under its bottom. It is a great feeling standing after an exhaustive day alone and naked in the forest under the down running warm water. Some black people looked after warm water all the time and for enough wood for the camp fire in the evening.
Soon after our arrival Keith gave us information about the Caprivi and Nkasa Rupara park and its peculiarity, the frequent annual flood waters which attract thousands of wild animal, elephants, buffalos, lions and many more. And he gave us some basic instruction, how to meet a wild animal (or how better not) to avoid returning home inside plastic sack (citation).
The next three days we went on safari: each day with a little truck to another interesting area and then following Keith through the bush on foot, he was always not armed. He led us close to hippos which gathered when he called them with specific shouting. He brought us close to an Elephant which just crossed a water entered the riverside not more than 100 meters in front of us. To make this possible Keith required from us to obey his orders and advices strictly - and we did.
We had to run over the dry flat or to step through slippery mud and even had to cross streaming watercourses by food which were quite cold at this time and reached up to our chest. It was not easy to keep standing and save our cameras dry. The clever ones of us wore swimwear and put off their trousers and kept them dry, the others had to run through the Kalahari in briefs or had to be cold in their wet clothes. One time we crossed a deeper water course by rowing boat and had a lot of fun. Whether all these exertions really were necessary ore was some sort of safari program for tourists is, an is an unresolved question for me. But all in all it was a great adventure. We watched lots of all kinds of animals and birds living there – only lions were missing.
Because of the high water in that year 2008 there was only one way to enter and leave Nkasa Rupara Park – across our well known bridge under water surface. On the way to it we had to pass a ford and one of our Range Rovers got stuck in the deep mud and we needed 3 hours of hard work and the help of the other cars to get him free again.
When we reached our bridge we found it blocked. One hour before some people from South Africa broke the bridge when they tried to cross it with a caravan trailer. They needed three full days to retrieve the caravan with our help and to repair the bridge with a team of black natives. It was a real torture for the black people to work and dive in the cold water.
As I saw in the net the old bridge has been replaced by a new steel construction and the times of this kind of adventure are gone.
For three other days we opened a new camp in the bush – this time without toilet and shower. We went washing in a nice water course, always being aware of hippos and crocodiles. At last we run out of food, but Keith supported us with bread and beer and helped us to come through the time with some additionel safari trips.
After three days we left Nkasa Rupara Park over the renewed bridge and could continue our trip with our next target, the Caprivi River Lodge, a very comfortable house at the shore of the Sambesi River, at that time owned by Keith and Mary Rooken-Smith.
Summary
Nkasa Rupara Park at 2008 was a beautiful area for people who want to experience wild nature and watch animals and birds. The approach is very difficulty without a guide. Self driving is risky and was not allowed. The guided tours by food were excellent and exciting but strenuous (for the elder ones). During the trips each opportunity to take photos was respected by the ranger. We met no other tourists (except at the broken bridge).
Jürgen Muscholl 20.08.2012
Thank you Tomodachi
Last year, I decided to go to Tanzania because I had already heard that it is among the best to watch untamed wildlife. My safari, which was on late June, 2013, was well organized. Also, the accommodation was very comfortable. Besides all of that, I had an excellent driver and a new 4x4 vehicle (Toyota land Cruiser). This combination led me to a very successful safari.
Finally, I want to say “Thank you Mr. Joseph for every thing you did to make my trip very convenient.”
Solayman
FR
65+ years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A wonderful trip, superbly organised and fascinatingly varied
I’ve just done the ten day Wild Dog Namibian Explorer trip. It was a journey to recapture lost times for me.Forty three years ago I lived in Okaukoejo for three months then in an engineering campsite on the side of the road towards Outjo for another three. I wanted to see it all again and I wasn’t disappointed.
For a start the Wild Dog organisation was really faultless. I’d like to take our guides, Gabriel and Manfred, home with me to run my life as brilliantly as they ran the trip. I doubt they’d be interested in relocation, though. They are safari guides through and through, both of them so knowledgeable about birds, animals, plants, geology. Did you know that termite mounds all face North to keep them warm and protected? I didn’t. Gabriel did. Both he and Manfred are unflappable, very hard working, it’s quite a knackering amount of driving Gabriel had to do. They are imaginative cooks, too, and the speed with which they prepared each meal for all eleven of us was a bit shaming for those of us more used to cooking in well equipped kitchens than on camp fires. I’ll stop about the guides before their heads burst.
What about the sites and terrain we covered? Stand out camp site for me was Hoada dwarfed by vast granite boulders. We skinny dipped in the pool and sat on top of one huge rock to watch the sunset while Manfred cooked dinner.
In Etosha we saw lots of animals including a pride of 13 lions, the adolescents tumbling, cuffing each other, watched by grouchy dads. Next day, a group of them were feasting on a newly killed zebra.
But it wasn’t even the animals that made the trip but the journey through ever changing terrain under huge, over-arching skies and magnificent cloud formations. The soil colour changes every few kilometres and even the ubiquitous thorn trees vary throughout the journey, some green flat tops, others with tiny white flowers.
Go and see it for yourselves. It’s a wonderful experience.
Ruaha's Wildlife: The real deal.
I've visited Ruaha National Park as part of a field trip for Biology Students.
We got a very unique camp site at the side of the Ruaha River. The view was absolutely stunning. During our siesta's at noon, we could even see groups of elephants passing by and 2 huge fish eagles had their nest on the top of a tree on the other side of the river.
The weather was perfect. Warm, but not too hot, and cool (but not cold) at night.
The park is huge an you can drive for hours trough the beautiful nature without bumping in to another jeep. Some places of the park are really green, while others are more savanna-like and very dry.
Most of the time we had our own guide, but one day we had a guided walk by a park ranger. He knew a lot about the animals and their tracks and dangers. Very interesting! We even walked along the river revealing many kinds of bird species.
So, in short. Ruaha National Park is really worth a visit!!
NL
20-35 years of age
Amazing experience
I've lived in Iringa town, just a 2 hour drive from Ruaha National Park and I've been to Ruaha multiple times. You can stay in a luxerious campsite or go for the Government Bandas, just 20 US dollars a night. It's basic and you need to bring your own food, but there is a decent toilet, shower, nets and some bandas where you can chill and drink a nice Tanzanian beer with a view over Ruaha River, and if you are lucky, some elephants. There is no fence, so during the night you can expect animal visitors, but there is an armed guard. Close to the bandas there is a campsite too, where you can camp with your tent at your own risk, since there is no fence too.
The scenery is beautiful, with hills and so much variety. The park has over 10,000 elephants, so it's easy to spot them, esp. in the dry season. Hippos, impalas and girafes are easy to spot too. If you are lucky you can spot lions and cheetas. In the wet some of the roads are not accesable, but the scenery is beautiful; so much green and it's a great season for watching exotic birds. If you are going with your own transport you can 'hire' a guide in the park or you can arrange a driver/guide in Iringa town. There is a couple organisations who arrange safaris.
I would recommend this park to everyone, although I hope it will maintain quiet with tourists now, so you really have the feeling you are alone in the park like you have now.
