In this issue:

• Kafue’s Rivers and Plains safari offers value for money
• A visit to Mashatu Game Reserve, Botswana
• Mana Canoe Trail still going strong
• November to March best time to visit Maasai Mara, Kenya

‘Kafue’s Rivers and Plains’ safari offers excellent value

Our associates Wilderness Safaris recently introduced a new small-group (max. group size 8) Zambia safari which is very diverse (land and water activities), and which combines well with a few days in the South Luangwa National Park, at the end of the trip.   On the 'Kafue's Rivers & Plains' safari, you will be traveling in 'Discoverer' style at 'Adventurer' prices.

The Kafue region of Zambia is a lot like Botswana was 15 years or so ago, with very few other travelers and just a handful of camps.    It is truly remote and you are not likely to see anybody else on safari, other than the few persons in your group, and perhaps a few other visitors at Lufupa and Lunga.  Game-viewing in this area is excellent in the dry season. Any time from August through October is an excellent time of the year to visit Zambia for wildlife.

Kafue's Rivers & Plains

• This 7-night Discoverer Exploration replaces The Great Zambia Journey and provides an superb all-round northern Kafue experience with excellent game viewing and a wide diversity of activities.
• The price for the 7-night 'Discoverer' category safari is $2,772.00 per person sharing.
• This is a Discoverer trip at Adventurer prices!
• There are monthly & sometimes twice-monthly departures.
• Space available for Fall of 2007 so please call or write for detailed itinerary.

Mashatu Game Reserve

Mashatu Game Reserve, in the Tuli Block of Botswana, is a relatively little-known area which has been generating some rave reviews from several of our clients lately.  I have been recommending it as a good area to spend several days (in fact I would recommend up to a week total), specifically for big cats.  Practically without exception, our clients report multiple leopard sightings, and good general game-viewing, often spotting species rarely seen in Northern Botswana & the Okavango Delta.

Recently, Lyndon Duplessis spent a couple of days at Mashatu, with his brother  Jason – both of them are interns at Fish Eagle Safaris this summer.  On their first day they saw 4 cheetahs (good close up views) and on their 2nd day they saw 7 different leopards.  One of the leopards had a kill (jackal) up in a tree.  They also had a large herd of elephants all around their vehicle, quite a lot of elephant interaction and good general game-viewing.  Lyndon and Jason liked Mashatu Main Camp better than any of the other camps they stayed at.

Here are Lyndon’s impressions:

"There are certain things that people expect when they go on an African Safari.  More than any other camp I visited Mashatu Main Camp exceeded these expectations."

The camp itself is surrounded by a stone wall.  The accommodations are enclosed and climate controlled which was nice.  Meals were delicious and the staff was very attentive.

What really made Mashatu so special, however, was the game viewing.  Upon arrival I talked to some of the guests who had been there for a few days already and they couldn’t stop gushing about the animals they had seen.  Seeing predators is always a highlight for me and hearing about the recent leopard and cheetah sightings got me excited.  Before this stop I hadn’t seen either and the stories this guest told me sounded too good to be true.

The first day’s evening drive couldn’t come fast enough.  Immediately I was impressed by the fact that the guide had a spotter in the back totally focused on looking for game.  This was nice because not only was it an extra pair of eyes but trained eyes.  This guy was good.  He could spot game literally a mile away and after driving with him for a while I began to wonder how much game I had missed before getting to this camp and how much would elude me after I left.

I couldn’t help but think there was no way my luck would be as good as the guest’s I had spoken with earlier.  One drive and four cheetahs later I knew there was something special about this place.

The next day was, unfortunately, my last at Mashatu and I desperately wanted to see a leopard.  After driving around for a while we came up on some other vehicles in a dry river valley looking up on a large, rocky hill.  Naturally the spotter was the first to see it and my brother quickly found it with his binoculars.  I frantically asked for a landmark to get my bearings so I could see it and just as I spotted the first leopard of my trip it got up and walked out of sight.  It had been spotted at quite some distance and I didn’t have a chance to see it with binoculars so I was a little depressed.  I mean who knows when I might get another opportunity to see one?

Well, about 20 minutes later, farther down the riverbed and my prayers were answered.  One nice large leopard sun-bathing out in the open.  Seeing it was exhilarating and quite a relief knowing my only glimpse of a leopard wouldn’t be its tail as it took off out of sight.  Moments later our spotter, big surprise, noticed something in a tree nearby.  Sure enough there was leopard number three with a jackal it had just killed.  On previous game drives my brother and I would kid around with the guides about finding a nice leopard in a tree with a fresh kill because we knew we had a better chance of winning the lottery.  And yet here it was before our own eyes.

By the time the evening drive came I thought there would be nothing to compare with what we had already seen.  It was a fairly quiet drive as the sun went down and the spotter pulled out his spotlight.  Within minutes he had found us leopard number four which we were able to follow through some thick brush for quite some time.  Not much longer and we came upon three more moving together.  That made seven different leopard in one day and I figure I could go the rest of my life and never see that many again much less all in one day.

Mana Canoe Trail Still Going Strong

Despite Zimbabwe’s political and economic woes, a small group of dedicated safari operators are continuing to offer visitors a variety of exciting, rewarding and safe safari options, in areas such as Hwange, Lake Kariba and Mana Pools.  Over the years, the Mana Canoe and Walking Trail has acquired a near-legendary reputation as one of the most amazing African safari experiences of any.  Lyndon Duplessis (who traveled to the area in June this year) found it to be every bit as adventurous as advertised.

Before embarking on our Mana Canoe Trail we had been in Africa five days.  During this time we had heard stories about the canoe trips of others, how adventurous it could be and how rewarding the trip was.  Needless to say we were anxious to create a story all our own.

The two immediately preceding days had been spent at Rukomechi camp, the base of departure for all the Mana Canoe trips.  Knowing that we would be traveling down the river for 3 days we avoided most of the numerous activities available at the camp that had to do with the Zambezi itself.  The night before we left, however, we decided it might be a good idea to go out on one of the camp’s large motor boats to get an idea of what we were up against.  We had seen hippo before but by the time our activity of the night was over we understood a bit better why we could hear hippo from the camp at any time of the day and well into the night.  They were everywhere.

On the morning of the trip we met with the other canoeists that would be joining us and our guides for the mandatory safety briefing.  Seeing the guide packing a rifle and a handgun that would have made Dirty Harry proud both comforted me and made me realize we were about to step into someone else’s backyard and they did not necessarily enjoy our company.  I mean it’s not like we could reason with some angry hippo and say “hey, we’re just passing through buddy, don’t mind us.”  No one was going to tell the hippo we were paying for this trip and to not get any crazy ideas about flipping our canoe.  Still, our guide had 20 years experience on the river and he was still alive and kicking so we put our trust in him and off we went.

My brother and I were both athletes in high school and through college but rowing had never been on the radar.  Our ideal first day on the river would have been a nice, easy float while we took in the beautiful scenery and learned the nuances of paddling and steering.  A few minutes out of camp and the river already had other ideas for us.

I would say, on average for our trip, there were one, maybe two instances each day where a hippo would get uncomfortably close.  I mean they were everywhere so they were always close but only rarely would they get too close.  As our luck had it one of these moments happened day 1 about 20 minutes in.  As we dodged a few large pods of hippo and stayed tight on the right bank we passed a little inlet.  Suddenly we were on top of a small pod that had been hiding around the bend.  We surprised them and as they turned around at us they dove into the water towards us.  Adrenaline pumped.  I’m still shaky on the steering so I don’t know exactly where we are headed; I just know I want to be away from where I am now.  Eventually you become accustomed to seeing all the hippo and confident in your rowing but any time one of them gets within a couple feet it’s definitely a rush.

The camps offer a bastion of relaxation after each day’s effort.  Just about everything except laundry is taken care of for you.  The meals were fantastic and the sites are very scenic.  Sitting around the campfire at night listening to the guide’s stories about his experiences in the bush was something I looked forward to every night.  By the time the next day rolled around my batteries were charge and ready to log some more kilometers on the river.  By the time our trip was finished my brother and I would be the ones telling everyone how adventurous our trip down the Zambezi had been.

November To March Best Time To Visit Maasai Mara, Kenya

On the topic of timing a visit to East Africa, Steve Turner, the MD of Origins Safaris, wrote as follows a few weeks ago:

"November to March is BY FAR the best time in Mara. Most travel agents are so pre-occupied with "the migration" as a marketing gimmick that they fail to see what it actually best. This is actually Africa's best kept secret. Some reasons:

1. the long straw grass was all eaten away by the migration in September & October. So it's now short, and with some rain in Nov/Dec it has flushed bright green. It is like a golf course - green grass 2-4 inches high. Not straw 2-4 feet high like you have in June-August
2. Because of this short green nutritious grass all the herbivores give birth. Everybody gets so pre-occupied with the wildebeest giving birth in the Southern Serengeti. But the reality is that the other 30 species of animals do not migrate, but instead stay in the Mara and give birth there. The predators also give birth in Mara in Oct-Dec,  so Jan-March is a fabulous time for cubs. Predators cannot migrate - they have territories to defend - if you leave you will never get it back!

Weather - The Mara is a wet place. That way the grass can support such a massive population of herbivores. 50+ inches of rain per year - and it comes almost all year. There is a risk of rain in November & December and early January. But that does not concern us too much - we have 4x4 vehicles. It is usually beautiful spring like in mornings, building up with spectacular black thunder clouds in the afternoon, rain in the evening, and clear again by next morning. So in Nov-Jan afternoon photography can be interrupted, Feb & March are usually pretty dry - and real nice."

Origins Safaris’ 'Rift Valley Classic Camps’ 12-day program is a great safari and really by far the best value trip that we are able to offer.  The Rift Valley Classic Camps program is offered on ‘fixed departure’ dates at various times throughout the year; it can also be done for any start date of your choice but then the cost is 8% higher.

Nowhere in the world can offer comparable diversity of habitats, and variety of wildlife as this Kenyan safari. In only 12 days you will see over 35 big mammal species, 350 bird species, 3 distinct traditional tribal groups, and much much more. And all this while, accompanied by your own private, custom built, four wheel drive Land Rover vehicle, guided and driven by one of the few guides who have attained the Silver level certification of the Kenya Professional Safari Guides Association (there are only 100 in the whole of East Africa).

Please call or e-mail for 2008 dates and prices and for an Origins Safaris brochure.

For more information, please contact:

Bert Duplessis
Fish Eagle Safaris
11152 Westheimer #150
Houston, TX 77042
Tel 800 513-5222
Tel 713 467-5222
Fax 713 467-3208
E-mail: exafrica@aol.com
Email: duplessis.jason@gmail.com
E-mail: bert.duplessis@comcast.net
Website: www.fisheaglesafaris.com
Pictures courtesy of Jason Duplessis, Mike Myers, Mashatu Game Reserve.

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