Fish Eagle Safaris

African Safari Update # 14
Spring 2000


In this issue:

From the Editor’s Desk

The Wilderness Safaris Experience

Sossusvlei Aerial
Aerial view of the massive sand dunes in the Sossusvlei area of the Namib Desert.
In ten years of helping people with a wide variety of trips to Africa, we have learnt a great deal about the ingredients for a successful safari.

Our guests prefer to experience Africa in small groups, obtaining an in depth education about Africa, with personable guiding staff. We are seeing a growing demand for small camps, accommodating in some cases six, eight or up to sixteen guests. In such an intimate setting our guests receive tremendously personal attention from dedicated staff, and generally work with one guide for the duration of their stay in a property. This means they are able to glean a full spectrum of information from their guide, as opposed to going with several different guides over several days, and having information duplicated by each guide. This also allows the guides to learn the likes and dislikes of their guests, and allows them to tailor their activities to suit.

Aerial view - Rocktail Bay
The beach at Rocktail Bay on the Indian Ocean in far northern Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa, has been nominated as the world’s best beach, by a prominent outdoors magazine.
Our observations also show that guests require comfort while on safari, though not at the expense of the real "Africa" feel. The essentials must be provided, such as good food, hot water, flushing toilets, comfortable beds in a mosquito free environment (and perhaps a few more like hot water bottles in winter, great snacks on game drives etc.), but the wildlife experience must be authentic and "experienced" rather than just viewed. This "experience" can be enabled by excellent guides who take the time to explain their understanding of the environment and all that occurs within it. This, again, is made further possible by the use of smaller facilities with a high staff to guest ratio.

Another important aspect of today's safari seems to be the matter of access to areas. The old idea of a two day drive to get into a great wildlife area is gone, and guests now prefer to spend an hour or less in a light aircraft, to reach the best areas with the minimum of fuss. This is being made possible through the use of light aircraft and dirt airstrips, located close to the top wildlife destinations.

If this sounds like what you have in mind for your next trip, please call or e-mail for a copy of our 2000 brochure which lists almost 100 small-group scheduled trips and a wide range of fly-in safaris to Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Bert du Plessis
Houston
February 2000

MANA CANOE TRAIL: ZIMBABWE
By Colin Bell

Mana Canoe Trail - Eles
An encounter of a different kind on the Mana Canoe Trail in the Mana Pools area.
This is a trip report for those who are interested in what canoeing through Mana Pools is all about. I was fortunate to be able to do the Mana Canoe Trail along the Zambezi River, on the Zimbabwe side of the river, in October 1999. These are my impressions.

Wilderness Safaris took over the Mana Canoe Trail from the old Legends operation at the start of 1999. It made good sense to have a canoe trail to link Ruckomechi to Chikwenya Camp. I had not done a canoe trail for over 10 years and I was keen to get back down there again - and to take a break from the office.

We landed at the new Ruckomechi strip.....what a pleasure to have easy access to Ruckomechi. There are no more long road / boat transfers to get guests to Ruckomechi Camp.

Ruckomechi with eles
A group of elephants draw attention in front of Ruckomechi Camp, Mana Pools, Zimbabwe
RUCKOMECHI
The camp had a complete rebuild 18 months ago and will have another smaller upgrade at the end of this season to improve the entrance and to rebuild the dining room, as well as to completely insect proof the bedrooms. We want to raise the standard, without losing the ambience and atmosphere.

For those who have not been there, guests sleep in large, cool, thatched rooms which have reeded walls. The rooms are attractive and with a bit of a refurbishment will be wonderful. The rooms don't face onto the river as there is not enough shade along the banks of the river for all the rooms. Instead the rooms are built under massive Albida trees in a crescent shape facing away from the river. All rooms are built on the edge of this crescent and face out onto the plains. Each room is in effect a hide in itself and guests get great views from their "stoeps" to the plains and the animals around the camp. I was only there for a short period of time, and there were no elephants in camp. But judging by guests comments and the amount of fresh spoor, elephants seem to be in camp just about every day in the dry season.

Mana Canoe Trail
Guide and guest on the Mana Canoe Trail along the Zambezi River, Mana Pools area.
THE MANA CANOE TRAIL:
We met our guide - James - at Ruckomechi and had our first safety briefing. James is around 30 years old and is a full "pro" guide (as are all our canoeing guides on the Mana Canoe Trail.) This means that he is allowed to walk with guests, with a rifle, anywhere in Mana Pools. He is a wonderful character and extremely competent and professional. He has about 10 years of experience on the Zambezi. He was part of that expedition a year or two back which canoed the full 2700km of the Zambezi from its source to its mouth. Since we were only covering 55 km, our trail paled into insignificance compared to what he had achieved over 3 months of hard slog.

We had a mixed bunch of people. Some had never canoed before and we had an Australian who had canoed through Mana Pools six times and is already talking about coming back next year - if his wife will let him! The Mana Canoe Trail is such a special trip - one which can be done over and over again. The combination of great scenery; great game viewing and wonderful exercise means that all the ingredients are there for a great experience. One is away from a vehicle and there is no place to hide - and this heightens the sense of adventure!!

There is no question that part of the fun of these trails is your traveling companions. This is not a trip for the fainthearted - nor those with a grumpy disposition. I would not recommend this trail for anyone unless they are keen, enthusiastic and active. No canoeing experience is needed - just a willing heart (and body) and a sense of humor. Even though one is drifting with the current, there are times when the wind is up, when you have to paddle hard. We had half a day of strong winds out of the total time we were on the river - so it was not a real issue, but it could be for some.

Two people per canoe paddle downstream in sturdy 18 foot Canadian canoes. The vehicle heads for camp with your baggage and only one’s camera equipment and food, water, folding tables etc. for the day, stays in the canoes.

The first day we paddled 11km into camp. The river flows at about 3km / hour and the paddling adds another 2 or 3 km per hour. If there is a head wind, you slow down considerably.

Mana Pools View of River
Relaxing at a campsite on the Mana Canoe Trail along the Zambezi River in Zimbabwe, with Zambia in the background.
The first hippos and crocs spotted are always daunting - especially when one knows that there are only another 1,200 to go over the next three days. Eyes and all senses were certainly alerted once we spotted the first ones ... that first pod seemed enormous and got the adrenaline going. Further on down the river, we took an alternate channel to evade Psychotic Simon - a notorious hippo, well known for his lack of humor. Horrible Henry, Mad Max and Syd Vicious were still waiting for us somewhere downstream!!

James knew every inch of the river and we were able to snake our way around the pods of hippo all the way. It was wonderfully reassuring to the group to have a guide of this caliber. There were no heroics at all on the trail - yet we were able to get very close to game without feeling as if we were out of control and we were in "their" space.

We arrived in a camp in the Vundu area just as the sun set and we enjoyed the most wonderful colors on the River. That broad slow moving Zambezi's sunset's are just wonderful.

The camp had been pre-erected prior to our arrival and we had a team of smiling canoeist's faces when they saw the tents, beds, mattresses, linen, shower, loo all there. We had the thrills of camping, without the chores! The trail this year is somewhere between our 3 and 4 "Paw" standards. Next year, we will have slightly larger tents etc. and it will be a 4 Paw trail!

The fire was burning, the wine was served, the beer was cold!! Life was great. We all slept so well that night.

The next morning we opted for an early morning walk. James was a fountain of information - and he had us eating baobab bark and making rope; spotting the flocks of Lilian's lovebirds; tracking different animals by their spoor....and later returned to camp for a cooked hot breakfast and then into the canoes.

Surprisingly, we were not stiff from the previous days paddling. We paddled downstream for about two hours and stopped off under some wonderful trees for lunch. Behind us there were elephants and a small herd of eland - and down in front of us in the river was a huge pod of hippo and then on an island in front of us - a herd of buffalo. One of the many advantages to canoeing on the Zimbabwe side of the river is that you are always looking at the backdrop of the mountains in Zambia. From the Zambian side, you are tucked up against the mountains and you are just about always looking towards the flatter Zimbabwean side. Those mountains form the backdrop for just about every photo - and combined with the blue of the waters of the river and the bright green from the grasses of the islands - make for superb photography. I shot 27 rolls in 5 days!!

The eland at our lunch stop were so relaxed that we managed to get to about 20m away from them on foot. We tracked the elephant - one of those relaxed Mana bulls and watched him shake the Albidas for their pods, no more than 30 paces in front of us - and then watched him quietly eat his meal. The Albida seed pods contain about 17% protein and is one of the best sources of food in the valley at this time of year. So while all else is barren and bleak, the Albidas save the day for many species of animal at this time of year. He gave us a shake of his ears to let us know who was boss and then quietly went on his way. This was a wonderful elephant sighting, but the best was yet to come.

We drifted past herds of elephants as they came down to drink - even breeding herds, past hippos, impala, waterbuck - more hippos and crocs - and then came across one of the best elephant sightings of my life. An enormous Mana bull was quietly chomping the grass on the edge of an island in the middle of the Zambezi. It was about 4pm, we had that wonderful afternoon light with the sun behind us; there were about 500 carmine bee-eaters breeding in the bank of the river just behind the bull and we were able to slowly drift down to him as he calmly went on about his business. We were 20m away, then 15, 10 and he didn't even flinch. He was the most relaxed elephant I have ever had the pleasure of observing. He could not give a hoot about us as he enjoyed the cool water lapping up against his tummy - while he chewed on the fresh green grasses. 45 minutes later, we had to move on to get to camp before dark....and we drifted within 5 meters of him on our way past. We did not even get a shake of his ears. ... and people want to shoot them? Beats me! Our group had all lived in Africa all our lives - except for the gent from Australia who had done the Trail six times. He had had similar experiences with bull elephants and this is what kept him coming back and back. None of the guests who had lived in Africa all their lives had ever had such a wonderful elephant experience.

On the way down to camp we passed more elephant, a lot of buffalo were up really close, who were content to watch you drift by. It is quite a different feeling to be on the water and be so close to buffalo - and yet feel safe. The buffalo only get aggressive if you touch the islands they were on - so we kept 5 meters away and drifted on by! And then about half an hour before sunset, we drifted into camp. The camp staff had taken down the entire camp at Vundu and erected it at Chessa Camp - about 22km downstream, and had dinner just about ready, along with hot water for showers. The setting sun, the evening colors, lots of great story swapping around the camp fire and then off to bed.

The next day was another great 22km day.....with lots of game, lots of fun and a bit more of the "Zambezi leg-over"......where the canoes all interlock by putting ones feet into the next canoe....allowing lots of time for banter and stories. We arrived at Ilala Camp - a new canoeing camp which is situated a couple of kilometres upstream from Chikwenya Camp. This is where the canoeing trail stops. Guests then normally enjoy a last morning’s walk before being driven to the airstrip to fly out at mid-morning. We then went on to Chikwenya for a quick camp inspection before flying home.

What a trip. I have to rate it as one of my top 5 African all time great experiences! We have already booked to go again next year. A group of us staff members from Wilderness are going back - same time, same trail.....

CHIKWENYA
This camp has really settled in well and the feel of the new camp has really worked. This, plus its exclusive location really make Chikwenya one of my favorite areas. What a place, what game viewing and what staff. I have to rate this as one of Wilderness Safaris’ best camps anywhere. We all had to fly out unfortunately - except for the Australian who still had a week to go on safari. We had the opportunity to meet up with Brian Worsley who was guiding a group there - and with Troy our manager for the Mana Pools area. Joyce and her crew have done a wonderful job at Chikwenya. Becks and Paul are the main "pro" guides there and do a wonderful job as well. That night, the Aussie had a lion experience to remember for a long time. He was sitting around the campfire with Brian chatting away when a pride of lions started attacking a lone old buffalo meters in front of the camp. The buffalo's bellowing alerted the other old buffaloes who hang out around the camp who came to their mate's rescue. There was an almighty scrap - ending up with the lions getting nothing and the old dagga boys survived another night. At one point the lions were 5 meters away from Brian and our Aussie! The next morning, they went out and found the buffalo - and one was missing his tail as a ‘momento’ from the night before.

The rooms at Chikwenya are beautiful with a great combination of comfort and charm. They have bathrooms ensuite and have canvas walls, all under thatch. The rooms are raised off the ground so they get that cool breeze blowing gently through them. The rooms are full of atmosphere and comfort without being over the top. There are also outdoor showers, over and above the indoor showers in all but two of the rooms.

I cannot think of anything better than having a night at Ruckomechi Camp, then doing the Mana Canoe Trail for three nights, followed by two nights at Chikwenya to chill out at the end of the trip!!

OVERALL
This has to be one of the top five experiences in Africa for those who like being closer to nature. The canoeing on the Zimbabwe side of the River is the way to go......one gets the view and those vast flat plains in Mana Pools which are filled with game.

Negatives....if there is one, it was seeing how much development had gone on in Zambia. But one can hide from this by ducking down the side channels for much of the way, which shield you from Zambia.

AGE LIMITS
I think a key issue has to be ages. We won't take anyone 12 or under. Guests between 65 and 70 must have a medical certificate saying that they are fit for this type of trail. Sorry - no one over 70.

The Mana Canoe Trail operates every Monday and Thursday; duration is four days and three nights. Minimum is two guests and maximum is eight. Additional nights can be booked at Ruckomechi and/or Chikwenya Camps, before or after the safari.

VISIT TO THE NORTHERN SKELETON COAST NATIONAL PARK
By Colin Bell of Wilderness Safaris

A typical scene on a game drive near Damaraland Camp in northern Namibia.
A typical scene on a game drive near Damaraland Camp in northern Namibia. Game is not common in this arid, rock-strewn environment but even a few springbok or gemsbok in such a dramatic scene, is breathtaking. Small groups of desert-adapted elephants are often encountered in the Huab River Valley.
"One of the best safaris on the planet!"; "Stunningly beautiful and exciting - an experience and adventure never to be forgotten";

Mike Myers, some friends from within Wilderness and myself decided to head off and spend the first days of 2000 in the most remote location we knew - the northern-most reaches of the Skeleton Coast Park in Namibia. Our aim was to get 2000 off to a great start - as well as to be part of developing the core of our new safari program that starts here in April 2000.

The Skeleton Coast National Park has three zones. The southern half is the public area of the national park focused around Terrace Bay and its accommodation, which is used predominantly on self-drive safaris. The northern zone from Mowe Bay northwards is a totally private concession within the National Park, while the extreme north of the park is the research area. Between Mowe Bay and the research area is about 200,000 hectares of incredible countryside, which is totally isolated and private. This is the area in which we will be operating and where we spent all four nights at the site of our new camp called Skeleton Coast Camp.

Skeleton Coast Canyon Aerial
Aerial view of a canyon inside Skeleton Coast Park, Namibia, where Wilderness Safaris will be operating fly-in safaris starting in April 2000.
The cold Benguela Current travels all the way up from Antarctica and brings plankton rich waters to this coastline - along with massive amounts of fish. The real bonus though, is that this current also moderates the temperatures. We were in the middle of the desert in the height of mid-summer and the temperatures never rose above 28 degrees C. At night we could snuggle into our duvets and sleep soundly and comfortably. This is normal for this time of year! For five days we were cool and comfortable, which makes this is an incredible safari destination........all year round.

The flight into the concession sets the tone for the safari. The further one flies north from Swakopmund, the more isolated the terrain becomes. But it is only after we passed Mowe Bay that we felt completely isolated and our senses really started tingling. Flying low level along the coast gives a wonderful overview of the area and of what was to come. When we reached the Hoarusib River we were greeted with the sight of a river in full flow. Inland, Namibia was having great rains and the countryside was lush and green. This has caused the Hoarusib to flow all the way into the sea. On the one bank of the river were towering sand dunes - over 700 feet tall and on the other massive, arid, rock formations. At their base was the flowing river. The Skeleton Coast rocked us with contrasts all the time.

On arrival in camp, we settled in and then headed off for the coast to Rocky Point by Land Rover. The track travels over wonderful open plains - with the odd gemsbok and springbok dotting the skyline. All is well until a slow moving barchan dune has covered the track and the road disappears. One has no alternative but to drive up and over these dunes.

The focus when driving here is to make sure that the vehicle never leaves the existing track on the solid surfaces, as new tracks can scar the earth for up to 100 years. But once you hit the soft sand, you can just about drive anywhere as the sand will blow over the tracks and covers them very quickly.

Rocky Point is one of the key landmarks on this coastline. Seals frolic offshore and dolphins come swimming close by. We are allowed to go fishing and in no time we landed three 6kg/12 lb. Cape salmon! There is nothing to beat freshly caught fish cooked right on the beach. We returned to camp at sunset marveling at the wonderful changing pastel colors of the sky and desert countryside all the way home.

The next day, we headed for the Hoarusib River and traveled across colorful plains that had tinges of green from a touch of rain the previous week. [The area gets less than an inch of rain a year - so don't worry about being rained out here!]. At every turn, a different scene, different colors and more "oohs and aahs" greeted us! Gemsbok and springbok trotted across the landscape and then another surprise - a cheetah was eyeing the springbok on the open plain. The game in the area is good by desert standards and the sight of just a few gemsbok in this amazing scenery is breath taking. We squeezed the Land Rover through rugged canyons, over rough rocky gorges and down to the Hoarusib River, which was still flowing. Towering clay castles, deposited here millions of years ago dominated the scenery. We looked for desert elephant but had no luck probably due to the rains.

Each day we packed a picnic lunch and drinks and headed off in a different direction after breakfast, to arrive back in camp at sunset. [This will be the routine for most of our guests though it will be flexible.] The scenery is so stunning and varied that the days flew by and sunset arrived all too soon. As the temperatures are cool, none of us felt tired.

The following day we headed up to Cape Frio in the north of the park - to the seal colonies and the salt pans. Again the scenery was completely different from anything we had seen the day before. The track took us to the top of one mountain and we were able to gaze down to the dark floor of the plains. On top of this floor, barchan dunes rolled by in their hundreds creating a fascinating pattern of colors and textures which makes for superb photography. Cape Frio was a blast........ Thousands and thousands of seals live along this coastline and one can get very close to them. Every so often we would be able to get within a foot or two of a sleeping seal to photograph them. Seal skulls and massive whale vertebra are found along the beach giving credence to the area's name. Jackals scavenge off the seals and brown hyena tracks were everywhere. We did not see the "strandwolf", as it is called there - but our guides have seen them regularly.

Our last day took us past the site of the Charles Elliot shipwreck from 1942 and the gravesite. It has an incredible story of heroism and courage in this inhospitable terrain. Imagine being shipwrecked offshore here and sighting land thinking one has been saved....only to find oneself on these shores! Next stop was the massive southern dunes. To get there we had to cross the Hoarusib River. Although it was still flowing the level had dropped to only six inches or so and we crossed easily. Once across, the track took us south alongside the towering dunes. We were at sea level and the tops were 700 feet above us. Mike Myers looked flabbergasted at the thought of having to drive up these 700 feet high sand dunes - but the track took us up and over the top on hard sands and the vehicles coped easily. On the top, we behaved like kids again as we floated between heaven and earth when we drove across the tops of the dunes. The dunes here all "roar" when one slides down them, as the different sized particles rub up against each other and vibrate. The trick is to slide down the steepest face of the highest dune and to get the particles to create the roar. Friction is generated as you slide and the ground vibrates. It sounds as though one is in an ancient cathedral with an organ player playing the deepest notes. Again, we arrived back in camp late - but exhilarated.

We did not see a soul besides our friends and the camp staff. All of us came away having experienced the safari of a lifetime. We were enthralled from the moment we put our feet on the ground till we left. It was wonderful to spend all four nights in one camp and really get to know the area well. This is what we want our guests to experience as well. Each day we traveled out after breakfast and spent the day in a new part of the park. After four nights, there were still massive areas that we had not had the chance to explore. We did not even get out to see the Himbas! We all want to go back and explore the rest and revisit some of our favorite areas.

SAFARI SUMMARY:

Safari Shorts

High flood predicted for 2000

Savuti View through room to waterhole
Looking out from one of the tents at Savuti Camp, over the waterhole
Previous visitors to Northern Botswana will know that the extent of the annual flood which pushes into the Okavango Delta around April or so is the subject of much conjecture and speculation. This year is no exception. By mid-January the feeling in the Delta was that 2000 is going to produce a mammoth flood - possibly bigger than the last really big flood which occurred in 1984.

The flood of 1999 was great....the best for a long, long time. Yet the water level up in the top of the Delta at Shakawe in January 2000 was already only 80cm (30 inches) below the very highest level of last year’s flood. Many of the floodplains are already at last year’s peak and it is pretty safe to say that we are in for a massive flood in 2000. The Delta should be an incredible place this year. The $64,000 question is whether we are going to get water pushing down the Savuti Channel this season...

New camp for Jacana Safari

Jao room interior
On a nice day - and there are many of those in the Okavango Delta - you can open practically the entire front ‘wall’ of your room at Jao Camp, and become one with the riverine forest in which it was built.
From April 2000 participants on Wilderness Safaris’ Jacana Safari will be based at Stanley’s Camp for their Okavango Delta land experience. Stanley’s is a new 8-bedded camp in a concession on the southern tip of Chief's Island to the southwest of Chitabe. It is a massive area with many different habitats.

The southern parts of the concession are not suitable for high quality, low volume game viewing safaris. However, in the northern 35% of this huge 120,000 hectare / 260,000 acre reserve (which is nearly twice the size of the Sabi Sands) there is a secret corner of the Okavango which is a game viewing paradise! This gem of an area, tucked up against the southern tip of Chief's Island, has been one of the best kept game viewing secrets around and has never been hunted.

Wilderness Safaris’ senior Maun staff and guides were astounded at how beautiful the area was and how much game there was to be seen. Lion, leopard, cheetah, elephant and lots of buffalo are plentiful as are the plains game on those open floodplains.

‘Senior’ Safaris

In the past, we have had a problem accommodating over-70’s travelers who are keen to join overland trips (such as the Jacana Safari) but who have been prevented from doing so due to age restrictions imposed on us by the African tour operators. It is our long-held opinion that to use age as a criterion for accepting someone on a tour is ridiculous and insulting. Almost invariably people who consider our tours have traveled enough to know what their own limitations are. If we warn people that a trip can be strenuous it should be up to them to make the correct decision.

There are no age restrictions on fly-in safaris and for as few as two persons traveling together, we can arrange literally any itinerary. However, for single older travelers and for other seniors over 70 who would rather join a small-group trip, we have designed an 11-day Botswana Safari which runs from August 4 to 14 this year, starting in Maun and ending in Victoria Falls. The itinerary includes two nights at the new Stanley’s Camp on Chief’s Island, three nights at Tubu, a mixed-activity camp in the beautiful Jao concession and three nights at the well-known Kings Pool Camp in the Linyanti concession. The safari will be accompanied by one of Wilderness Safaris’ specialist guides. Please call or e-mail for further detail. The safari can be extended with a ‘Best of Namibia Wing Safari’ or a few days at the Skeleton Coast Camp.

Mombo Update

Mombo Game-viewing
Game-viewing at Mombo Camp on Chief’s Island, in the Moremi Wildlife Reserve, Northern Botswana. Mombo offers consistently excellent game-viewing, especially of predators such as leopard, cheetah and lion.
Construction on the new Mombo Camp, being built in a stunning location, is well under way. The new camp which promises to be a truly great tented camp, will open sometime in April 2000. In the mean time, the old Mombo is still operating and producing incredible game viewing. Guests will be switched into the new Mombo as soon as the new camp is finished.

Mombo has to be the predator capital of Africa. Wilderness Safaris’ Mike Myers went into Mombo late in 1999 with a journalist and spent only one night there. They did a morning and afternoon game drive and this is part of what they saw: Lion on wildebeest kill; nine different cheetah in four different sightings; four different leopard - including a group of three which were close up with all sorts of incredible interactions between the three leopard; African wild cat; a herd of 30 plus elephant; lots of buffalo everywhere; a hyena den with five pups... the list goes on and on. They were never out of sight of general game in large numbers too. Wild dogs are regularly seen.

On another occasion in early January 2000 Colin Bell and his party drove just from the Mombo airstrip to the new camp and back again and saw two lionesses with five small cubs; elephant; buffalo; giraffe; impala; warthog; baboon; monkey; lechwe, wildebeest etc. They did not have time to find the leopard, but the people in camp had seen eleven leopard in the last five days.

BOOK YOUR 2000 SAFARI NOW

Sossusvlei Room
The rooms at Sossusvlei Wilderness Camp each have a small plunge pool and a great view of the pro-Namib Desert.
Considering a trip for 2000? There are still plenty of seats on small-group trips for the spring and summer, but they are filling up fast, so call or e-mail to make your reservation. Lodges and tented camps in Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe are likewise quickly booking up for the high season from July through September, so please don't wait much longer, if you want to reserve space at the camps of your choice. Here are some suggestions:

FOR FIRST TIME VISITORS TO AFRICA
Botswana and/or Zimbabwe, with a few days in Cape Town, South Africa at the beginning or end of the trip.

BEST GAME-VIEWING AND EXCELLENT GUIDING & ACCOMMODATIONS
Fly-in safari to Botswana and/or Zimbabwe, also private game reserves at Kruger Park.

Matus Chalets
Two of the four floating chalets at Matusadona Water Lodge, anchored in a secluded bay on Lake Kariba, Zimbabwe.
BEST COMBINATION TRIP (GAME-VIEWING, SCENIC BEAUTY & CULTURE)
Combination of Botswana and Namibia. Botswana for game-viewing, Namibia for desert & dune experience, rugged beauty of Skeleton Coast.

FOR CAMARADERIE & FUN OF SMALL-GROUP TRIP, FULL-TIME GUIDING
Jacana Safari, Botswana (very varied scenery & activities); Rhino Safari, Zimbabwe - also diverse activities, more adventurous as it includes canoeing. Mopane Safari (Botswana) for moderately priced participation camping safari.

For further information on any of the above items please contact:

Fish Eagle Safaris
11152 Westheimer #150
Houston, TX 77042
Tel 1-800-513-5222 (USA and Canada)
Tel 713-467-5222 (from outside North America)
Fax 713/467-3208
E-mail: info@fisheaglesafaris.com


Fly-In Safaris
Information Request Form / Client Testimonials / Home

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Fish Eagle Safaris
11152 Westheimer #150
Houston, TX 77042
Tel 1-800-513-5222 (USA and Canada)
Tel 713-467-5222 (from outside North America)
Fax 713/467-3208
E-mail: info@fisheaglesafaris.com
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