Our Journal

Return guests who become friends are the best on Safari, having travelled together previously we headed for the best East Africa has to offer, to celebrate a special wedding anniversary back in Africa.

To acclimatize, we spend 2 nights in the quaint safari town of Arusha, sleep, rest, exercise and exploring. A day in Arusha is always well spent, we learnt so much about coffee, explored local markets, shopped till we dropped, amazing Masai beadwork from the finest local artists and local crafts too. Soaked in the culture and relaxed in the serene surroundings of legendary lodge on the coffee farm. The best way to start a Safari.

From Arusha we headed to the southern Serengeti for a new adventure, hunting and foraging with the local tribes. An extremely unique and authentic experience with 2 of the oldest tribes on the African continent, a people who are uninfluenced by any modern society, a truly incredible experience, and for me, the best local experience I have ever had like this.

We went to a Datoga village, immersed ourselves in their lives, drank sour milk, and home brewed beer, herded goats, sang and danced. The Datoga are traders, and don’t deal in currency. It is a profound experience, heartwarming and thought provoking. What a start to the Safari, a journey of all dimensions. 

Next morning, we head out with The Hadzabe – a band of nomadic hunter gathers, incredible people, men and woman of the earth, walking in the bush with them is surreal, they found a beehive, and proceeded to harvest the honey, making a fire with friction sticks, cutting open the tree with an axe and munching on the most delicious honey ever, together, sharing a truly special moment. A learning experience, and an eye-opening experience, an unforgettable few days with some of the last true bushmen, genuine humans, with a love of the earth and of each other. Humanity at its best as two worlds come together.

From here we head 40 minutes north by private Cessna Caravan to Singita Grumeti Reserves, paradise found. Sasakwa Lodge is truly magnificent, set on a hillside overlooking the Serengeti Plains. The area is teeming with game, Lions, Cheetahs, Elephants and the Great Migration!

What a place to celebrate an anniversary, bush breakfast in between lions hunting, massages and treatments midday and closing the day off, alone in the middle of the plains, the sun setting in an orange red fire, and fifteen thousand wildebeest galloping past, gin and tonic in hand. There is no other place on earth, where one can be alone in a situation like this, surrounded by thousands and thousands of head of game. I will never forget each evening spent with the herds.

Lion sightings were off the charts, male, females, cubs, mating, hunting. Many unsuccessful hunts. Time spent with Cheetahs.

Incredible guides, meals and experiences, but the memories which will last forever are the dinner conversations, the laughs out in the wild, and the quiet moments, idling around this wonderland, contemplating our thoughts.

Singita Grumeti Reserves – a special place. Full of special people.

From Singita Grumeti to Singita Kwitonda, Rwanda. There is absolutely no doubt that this combination of these two lodges and the Migration and Gorillas combination is as good as any Safari can get.

To Rwanda we head for 2 Mountain Gorilla treks. Always a highlight, a physical challenge, a mental boost, spending time with the endangered Mountain Gorillas and the guides who live their lives with them is breath taking, always.

It rained, and the conditions were tough, muddy, wet, it makes it even more fun. Two tough treks make it all the more worthwhile and coming back to Kwitonda for a massage and local tea, to clean off the mud, and to contemplate, watching the sun set over the Volcanoes Mountain Range, sitting by the fire, drinking fantastic wine, meeting new friends, on trek and in the lodge.

We end off the Safari in Kigali for 2 nights, Kigali is a city not to be missed, the history of the genocide is extraordinary and puts life into perspective, last meal at Hotel Rwanda, overlooking the city.

Cruising in the local markets, hunting with Hadzabe, being surrounded by Wildebeest in the middle of the Serengeti Plains, and watching huge Silverback Gorillas challenge each other for the attentions of a female. Extraordinary travel in extraordinary places. 

But it’s the people who make it all that extra special, dinner conversations with guides, drivers along the way, history, stories, funny and very sad. This is what Safari is all about.

Creating memories and living the dream. Until next time!