The Explorer
March/April 2005
News from the Bush!

After what seemed like an interminable number of days and nights without rain, during the height of the season, we were finally rewarded with capacious downpours across the entire northern Tanzania landscape.

Even Ndutu, which suffered greatly from the lack of rainfall, magically turned into a wild golf course type landscape, where greens were created from the burned grasslands at the end of last season.

The Migratory herds, which it has to be said, eluded many during the course of the past months, journeyed into neighbouring Maswa game reserve instead of remaining on the plains around the Ndutu woodland, finally have ventured back in endless lines to prepare for the rut.

Now at the close of season-or at least, as season slows- the Serengeti and The Ngaroi resemble how they should at this time of year-Emerald Green, vibrant and full of game!

The Ngaroi and The Alamana Wilderness Camp

Seasons are always considered a success when our guests leave with countless tales of encounters with the wilder side of what Mother Africa has to offer, so with this in mind, the following description of one of Philip’s guided walks seals another successful season!

I can now retire a happy camper. Not that I intend to! I enjoy my job too much to go that far just yet, however the experience I had on the 2nd of March 2005 will never happen again, and that I guess, is what makes guiding walks in the African wilds of The Ngaroi such a trip.

Sheryl and Steve Radcliffe, Jane Nettesheim, Philip Durkee, John Maeki (Maasai) and I set off a bit late from camp, as happens on the first morning in Alamana. We drove in an open safari car across the short grass plains to the base of Irkumeishin hill. As we were running a bit late I decided to start walking from the middle of the ridge in a northerly direction along the ridge.

It was hellish windy, clear and cool. On the windward side hats were blowing off and it was hard to steady binoculars as the whistling air buffeted us, but the leeward side was calmer with a breeze in the opposite direction up the slope into the vacuum created by the strong constant easterly.

The wind worked for us all morning drowning out our heavy footsteps over the uneven six hundred million year old rocky slopes of the Irkumeishin ridge. However all the birds where hanging on to swinging twigs in the middle of the Three Hook Thorn and not budging, so ornithologicaly it was a bit dry. We had an exciting time trying to creep up on a large heard of Zebra and had good sightings of Klipspringer, Chandlers Mountain Reedbuck and Eland.

With the cool weather we walked further along the ridge, by about a mile, than we had ever managed to previously. When we came up to the last little valley before the northern end of the ridge, where the old buffalo bulls always lurk, I asked if everybody was ready to continue and complete the ridge, or if we should call it a day and use the valley to walk down to the car. Sebastian and Bill Streby, who where patiently waiting to collect us, were content on the plains below, watching Cheetah. After some discussion where nobody wanted to poop the party it was realized that we were not the sort to give up near the end and would have to complete the ridge. That was a very lucky realization.

Guiding walks in areas where dangerous wildlife is common, is as you can imagine a stressed occupation. One must exude a confident pose so ensuring that the naive, relaxed clientele remain just that, and are not too jumpy to enjoy the magnificent vistas. It is vital to remain a little on edge, with senses on hyper alert, because the bush law dictates, the minute your guard is down something will happen, good or bad.

We were in a place where John and I have encountered Lion on several occasions, suffice to say, I was looking carefully around. The northern end of the Irkumeishin ridge offers a stunning view. The ridge itself divides into two little rocky parallel ridges, separated by a fifteen foot deep depression, that slope at about forty five degrees down to the flat open wooded valley below. There are a few scattered Acacia, Buffalo Thorn, Lannea and Commiphora bushes about. As I walked around one of these, a pale tawny coconut-like head rose out of the grass in front of me, or as Steve Radcliffe put it:

“Leaning into the 40kph headwinds near the end of a six mile game hike, we crested the Irkumeishin ridge. I was immediately perplexed by the presence of a huge golden object 35 meters in front of our party. Being tired and accustomed to seeing rock outcrops of varying colors, it took me a second to realize that this hairy and faceless mass was not a rock and that in the deafening headwinds, we had inadvertently placed ourselves in the position of surprising something very mean.

Just as it dawned on me this was the largest male lion we had seen on the trip, Philip quickly turned to us with his hand in a “claw” position and motioned for us to move backwards slowly to the slight rise behind us. When we reached 50 or 60 meters distance, (I sat down to enjoy the moment and steady my hands, just for a few seconds, at this point), we stopped to enjoy the magnificent spectacle as the lion was intent on the valley below. We then edged closer below the opposite ridge and came up still a little higher than the lion and across a small dip.

Philip said quietly, “We are going to let him know we are here get ready for a photo.”

My immediate thought was” Now why the hell would we do that?”

But it became clear that we needed to show him who the dominant “animal” was in this locale. As we held our breath in this surreal situation, Philip yelled “Hey you. Yeah I mean you!” The lion, which must have been sleeping and totally unaware of our presence, turned his huge maned-head quickly and with a startled, wide-eyed glare, decided that he just didn’t have the advantage of the moment. He bolted from his rocky perch and headed down the ridge. As if that wasn’t enough excitement, when we approached his resting site seconds later, still looking for him, an unseen female companion exploded upwards from the brush looking away from us for the danger. She was very close, just a few feet away. Philip shouted again, raising his rifle, and she in a single fluid movement, glared at Philip, and then disappeared down the hillside. We had not seen her until then.

The cool professionalism displayed by Philip and John, his Maasai partner, really never made us feel threatened. But then we were new and naïve to the African bush.”

I doubt that I will be in a position to experience lion again with the terrain advantage in my favor to the extent that retreat was his only option, let alone have a picture to remind me. He does appear to have a black nose showing him to be mature and is in his prime. I did not really get to look at him with much appreciation at the time, and I now can. I was concentrating on keeping his attention on me, hence the vocal greeting. I was concerned too that we would have had to walk a mile back along the ridge to the nearest reasonable way down, that little valley that has an old bachelor buffalo or two in it. I looked at Jon who was looking at me and suggested we would have to move the lion and he agreed.

Past experience has shown me that backing away from a lion can serve to bolster a lion’s confidence, encouraging them to consider you as a gastronomical entrée!!

A Man for all Seasons?

Sebastian Chuwa, one of our top Safari Guides has reached the towering age of 50 years old and is fast approaching his 51st birthday!!! Congratulations Seba!

Guiding for Wildlife Explorer is of course just one very small part of who Sebastian is.

With his 50th birthday passing Seba also celebrates 30 years in conservation and the planting of over 1 million trees!

In 1973, Sebastian graduated as a Botanist from the Mweka African Wildlife College, followed by working with the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority as their leading Botanist and assistant Conservator. During this period, Sebastian’s self initiative started a campaign in the Arusha, Karatu and Ngorongoro Districts that would result in wide spread awareness of the dire predicament of the indigenous forests.

In Sebastians own words:

“It is now 30 years since I became a Nature Conservationist! I have been asked by many people why did I choose to spend most of my time in the wilderness studying plants, when I could have chosen a better, more relaxing and enticing career!!

I believe that to be a lover of nature, and to commit oneself to conserving my countries natural wealth is a valuable vocation that I love, I believe it is an inner drive that comes to me naturally forging that commitment. On my part I feel that way”

Gary first met Sebastian in the early 1980’s when they both enjoyed the Ngorongoro Conservation Area together, before the days of having plants named after him (Seba), winning the Rolex Award for Conservation (Seba) or appearing in Salt Lake City during the Olympics to accept the Spirit of the Land Award (Seba!).

Other than a few grey hairs (mostly on Gary!) nothing has changed between the two.

Sebastian lives with his wife, Elizabeth and their two sons and two daughters on the slopes of Kilimanjaro in northern Tanzania.

Wildlife Explorer considers it a privilege to know Sebastian and to include him, as one of our Professional Guides.

Game Fishing from Camp?

As The Ngaroi continues to grow in popularity, we are striving to incorporate new ideas and increasingly exciting options to include for our guests who wish to stay longer in this unspoilt wilderness.

In addition to the Game Walks, Walking Safaris, Fly Camps and Game Drives available from The Alamana Wilderness Camp, we are now able to offer guests an opportunity to fish for Nile Perch on Lake Victoria.

Good friends, George and Debbie Mavroudis, owners of The Lake Victoria Flying Company and GM Safaris are able to collect guests from a nearby airstrip for the 45 minute flight to the shores of Lake Victoria for a day of game fishing.

The Nile Perch is prolific in Lake Victoria, growing to gargantuan size as it predates on smaller fish in and around the islands and offshore channels of the lake making for exciting fishing and a lot of excitement trying to get them into the boat!

Whilst the day is primarily for the fisher folk amongst us, the white sand beaches and beauty of the traditional fishing vessels as they ply backwards and forwards between the numerous lake towns and villages makes for a charming interlude from safari.

As an extended treat, Lakuba is George and Debbie's paradise retreat on a private island offshore from the northern lake town of Musoma.

The 5 roomed lodge is set on its own private white sand beach with individually decorated thatched cottages set looking across the beach. The plunge pool set high up in the granite boulders is the perfect setting for cooling off with a glass of something in the middle of the day and at an altitude of just over 4,000 feet, Lakuba is a coastal experience away from the humidity and mosquitos of the ocean!

Lazy barbecues, cocktails on the flat top kopje behind the lodge watching as the sun sets over the surreal ocean like lake or simply relaxing under the shadow of a white sunshade punctuate a stay at Lakuba.

News from Olerai

Happy belated Easter!! Time as ever got away from us and with Hannah returning home for the vacation it seems like life is full to overflowing.

This holiday we joined friends for a romp down at Lake Eyasi staying at the beautiful Kasima Ngeda camp overlooking the lake. With a backdrop of Oldeani mountain, the Eyasi Rift, and freshwater springs it was a relaxing start to our safari.

Lake Eyasi and the area around the lake are traditional hunting areas for the Barabai and Hadza tribes, both unique in their own ways. The afternoon hours spent watching a Barabai blacksmith meld metals of brass and steel into beautiful ethnic jewellery rates as a highlight for our family.

On across the plains and into The Alamana where, over champagne, we watched a Cheetah and her half grown cub stalk along the wetland in front of the lounge tent!

The children all climbed rocks and took turns driving the open land cruiser on game drives from camp and even sipped the occasional celebratory glass of bubbles to herald my 47th birthday! Hunter as usual talked the hind legs off of any and all that would spare him the time to do so!

Finishing our safari, we took the short flight to Musoma and then by boat to Lakuba where we relaxed for what seemed like days and days before flying home.

All in all, a great way to spend time with ones family and friends.

And with that, greetings from us all and the end of our news from the bush.

With warm wishes,
Gary & Jo