The Explorer Newsletter
November 2008
Botswana
Botswana, with its incredible geology, numerous habitats and immense wildlife reserves, twins well with our East African style of safari.
It took a while to lever me out of my comfort zone and put together the 3 safaris in southern Africa, but once we had the direction, there was no stopping the momentum of an opportunity that a safari in another country generated, with all three safaris filling almost overnight, and setting the calendar for the fall 2008!
My good friend Susie Nelson and her husband Jeff were centre to the arrangements with special emphasis on making Susie as comfortable as possible. It would be an injustice to refer to Susie as wheelchair bound, as her attitude and enthusiasm carried her across many obstacles, both physical and metaphysical that mere mortals would find intimidating!
With parameters set, Susie and I went about creating an outstanding combination of wet, dry and extremely dry habitats in which to safari. The highlights being somewhat top secret other than to the lucky few that participated!
Duma Tau, Selinda Reserves, Little Vumbura, Chitabe and San on the Makadikadi salt pans plus the River Club at Victoria Falls created unique and individual environments and game viewing excitement. There were so many intense experiences that it would be difficult to list exactly which were the most special! Night time lion hunt of buffalo, day time cruising on the flat waters of the Okovango, 4wheeling on the pans, Meerkat antics and Ellie Povah managing to get her own personal escort to the Devils Cataract at Victoria Falls, must warrant special mention, but, like our own friends in Tanzania of course, the exceptional new friends that hosted our stay at each and every location, undoubtedly cemented the experiences.
 |
 |
If I had to choose a personal highlight, perhaps my 50th birthday present to myself of bungy jumping off Vic Falls would have to take the vote! Getting good friends, Don Oliphant, Mike Hateley, David Thomson & Les Thomas to jump after me, gives an idea of the sanity levels on our safaris and jumping again with Pat Povah cements true friendships!
Botswana has a very special place for those that want to either expand their safari experience, or start off with an extremely high quality safari in a controlled environment. Rather than competition for Tanzania, Botswana compliments our portfolio very nicely and will feature in our favourite list of places to recommend.
Please e.mail us for the next Botswana departure or to arrange a private Eastern or Southern Africa safari. info@wildlife-explorer.com
Re-inventing the wheel?
Somewhat of a late announcement, but nonetheless exciting, is the operational release of our brand new Mobile Tented Camp.
We are extremely proud to have the 10 tent ‘bay’ fully operational for all of our safaris. The tents, which have been custom designed and built for us, offer the very highest level of comfort and mobility. Following on from our pursuit of the ultimate tented accommodation for our other styles of camps, we have incorporated a number of new ideas and designs that allow more freedom of placement and greater user comfort for our luxury mobile camp.
New furniture, new layout and now full led and energy saving light technology for overhead, bedside, toilet and shower illumination, make those early morning wake up calls even more enjoyable!
Each accommodation tent has its own individual solar system, allowing our crews much greater flexibility to place each and every tent in a stunning position.
The bathrooms remain en-suite, however the shower (accessible from the rear of the tent) now enjoys an ‘open air’ setting to really make use of our impressive night skies!
Combined with our renowned cuisine, extremely personal service and now the increased comfort of our tents, there really is no better place to be, than in our Luxury Mobile Tented Camp!
 |
 |
Brown Hyaena Project-Leo Hughes
Life here in the pans has become a waiting game, hoping that the rains will arrive soon and bring some much-needed water to the area. It seems that the wildlife know that the rains are imminent as everyday more wet season birds are arriving in anticipation of the onset of the summer rain. The brown hyaenas themselves seem to know the rains, and the zebra are not far around the corner and the time of plenty is almost upon them.
The research camp has become a busy place, as there is a film crew from Earth-Touch staying here. They have come to the Makgadikgadi for 5 weeks to film the wildlife of the pans, and fingers crossed, the arrival of the migration and the transformation that the rains bring to the area. They are going to be spending some time filming the cubs at the den, walking with the meerkats, as well as capturing stories that are unique to the Makgadikgadi Pans. They will be uploading their stories on a daily basis to their website (www.earth-touch.com).
The cubs are becoming more and more adventurous. They are now reaching the age where they are starting to forage further a field and resting away from the main den during the day. But they still return most nights, as this is where their mother, Bee, knows to bring them food. It was only last week that one early morning I went to the den and found all 3 cubs feeding away on an old calf carcass that she had brought them the night before. The film crew was very lucky, as this was their first morning to visit the den. They managed to capture this exciting feeding activity on film. The footage has been uploaded to their website and you can view or download the clip. Please take a look.
www.earth-touch.com/result.php?i=Young-brown-hyenas-feed-on-animal-hide
Over their 5-week stay they plan to visit the den at least once a week, so there will be more opportunities to return to the pans and see the cubs from the comfort of your home. They are also going to be filming the meerkats groups, as well as other scenes from around the pans. All their daily stories will be uploaded onto their website.
For more information on the Brown Hyaena Project, please e.mail Leo at:
 |
 |
Osunyai refurbishment
In spite of recent economic challenges, the refurbishment and development of our Osunyai Wilderness Camp on the Tarangire borders continues. The 4th thatched accommodation tent is fully underway and the lounge has been fully finished.
We have deliberately tried to retain the original feel of this camp, with lots of raw colour and natural fabrics, making use of the elements to patina the structures and furnishings within the tents and bathrooms.
The lounge has developed into a particularly beautiful place to relax, socialize, bird view and dine in! With the addition of small bird watering stations around camp, we have seen a huge increase in the concentration of birdlife viewable from the luxury of your tent, or sipping a cocktail or soft drink at the lounge. Despite our best efforts to surround the lounge with unobstructed white sands from the Tarangire River system, an 18 inch Baobab took hold on the north eastern sands a few feet away from the main building! And looks like being a firm feature for the next couple of thousand years!
Plans are to increase the number of thatched tents to 8, however for the next season we will open with the 4 guest cottage tents, plus 3 tented pavilions and an additional traditional Meru style en-suite tent available for our larger groups.
Walking and access to Tarangire National Park remain the highlights of Osunyai, with bush brunches and dinners, cultural exchanges and sand river fly camps all part of the programme. We plan to keep building on the success of Osunyai with more development next season.
 |
 |
The Alamana Reserve
As scheduled, the Alamana Wilderness Camp will be re-opening for the season as planned in our private reserve on the Serengeti borders. We open with a bang for 2 large groups over the Christmas and New Year period in the same kopje site, with the same breathtaking views and bush experiences, followed by a season of returning friends and new guests alike.
News from Olerai
Well, as usual, the year has been a hectic one, both for Wildlife Explorer and for the Strand family. Changes in governments, credit crunches, universities and schooling have all added their own dimensions to our lives. But of course, the bigger picture is that life goes on, even if changes are needed.
Wildlife Explorer continues to provide an unrivalled safari experience in eastern and southern Africa, and continues to increase the quality and depth of its product, reflected by the ongoing development mentioned above.
As a family, we all strive to bring our own individuality to the world.
Hannah made use of her summer break from University by managing a small camp in the Mahale Mountains National Park, on the shores of Lake Tanganyika. She threw herself into the new experience of management and guiding and thoroughly enjoyed the challenges of this remote area.
Jamie has just completed her second studio album ‘Predicting Storms’ which will be released to coincide with a benefit concert she is organising with other musicians. The benefit is in aid of the Olasiti HIV orphanage and day centre. Jamie has also just been offered a place at Taunton School in the UK for her 6th form years, so plenty of excitement planned for her next year.
Hunter continues to keep us amused. Now an archery aficionado, we all have to watch our backs for silent arrows! Thankfully his second front tooth has dropped, filling some of the lopsided space left from his milk teeth!
Jo took a brief break from teaching to join 11 other ladies to climb Mt Meru. Must have been a noisy climb I reckon! All made the summit and had plenty of laughs along the way.
The photos below sum up some of my excitement to date!
 |
 |
With warm wishes,
Gary & Jo
