African Safari Update: June 2022

From the Editor's Desk

Is it time to look for your passport, pack your binoculars, charge your camera batteries and head back to Africa for a relaxing safari holiday?  We think so.   Now that the US Government has dropped the requirement for pre-testing to re-enter the USA, international travel is starting to feel a lot like 2019.  Fully vaccinated travelers can enter and depart from all the major safari destinations such as Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Namibia, without testing.  Just be sure to have your Covid-19 vaccine certificate at hand, in both hard copy and digital format with a QR code. 

Just in time for the busiest season of travel, the CDC has approved vaccines from both Pfizer and Moderna for children under the age of 5.  Parents and caregivers planning summer travel will be able to do so with the knowledge that even their youngest children will be protected. 

There’s some good news on the airline front as well.  United Airlines is expanding its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner service between Newark and Cape Town to operate year-round and they are hoping to add a new non-stop route between Washington Dulles International (IAD) and Cape Town in November this year.  

Delta Air Lines has doubled the frequency on its Atlanta-Johannesburg nonstop route from three to six flights per week. The Delta flights are operated using Airbus A350-900 aircraft with 306 seats. Delta Air Lines also has an application pending to operate non-stop flights between Atlanta and Cape Town.

A few of our key African partners have offered us some short-term flash offers for travel in the prime safari season between July and October 2022. While their camps are pretty full across the board, there are pockets of space that they are keen to fill at attractive rates. If you are able to take advantage of this ‘last minute’ offer, please call or email us for details.  There is no telling how busy 2023 will be, so to have some discounted space available for the high season this year, is a rare opportunity. 

For example, you can save as much as $3,000 per person on a 10-day luxury customized Botswana and Zambia fly-in safari combining Victoria Falls, the  Okavango Delta and Chobe.  At the best time of the year.  

There is also some space in Southern Tanzania in July and August. This is an extraordinary time to be in Ruaha and Nyerere (formerly Selous) with warm days, sensational wildlife and an easy connection to the coast.

Ngulia Rhino Sanctuary, Tsavo

Our long-time Kenya partners Origins Safaris - who have been heavily involved with the Tsavo Trust's "Super Tusker Project" since its inception - are now getting involved in a new project to secure prime Tsavo West black rhino habitat. The goal is to provide space for an additional thousand black rhinos over the next 25 years, likely the most significant conservation initiative for the species on the African continent.

This presents a fantastic opportunity for US travelers to visit Tsavo to learn about the Super Tusker Project, and to have an opportunity to spend a night in a custom built blind (hide), overlooking a known black rhino hotspot.

In a Netflix documentary about Tsavo, narrated by Barack Obama,  in the "Our Greatest National Parks” series, viewers are treated to simply awesome black rhino footage, taken from the Ngulia rhino viewing platform. It is almost unbelievable to see so many black rhinos together in one spot.  Here is a link:   Our Greatest National Parks Tsavo.

How can you contribute and participate in the project?  By coming to Kenya and spending a night on a raised, secure platform overlooking a waterhole which is active all night long.  Let it be noted that you will likely have trouble sleeping amidst the drama of jostling rhinos, large buffalo herds and elephants all trying to get a drink. The rhino viewing platform at Ngulia is probably the only place in Africa where you may see as many as 30 different black rhinos come to water in one night. 

If you’re thinking about a trip to Kenya, be sure to include Tsavo and a night or two at this waterhole.  The best time to visit is in the dry season from July to early October.  You will enjoy a rare and  exclusive opportunity to view black rhino close up against the  backdrop of the  impressive Ngulia cliffs.

The raised platform has a toilet, shower and wash basin with running water. It is available on an exclusive use basis only.  The optimal group size is four, plus your private guide.  Our destination management company Origins Safaris will provide the guide, bedding, toiletries and towels, and will handle the catering - everything to make your stay on the platform as comfortable as possible. 

Origins Safaris will also supply a thermal imaging telescope which can display and record live images at night and an infrared trails camera to make sure you don't miss any of the nighttime action.  Of course your own camera equipment will work during pre-dusk, and post dawn time-frame. Please call or email Bert for more information. 

News from Imvelo Safaris, Zimbabwe

In partnership with the Malilangwe Trust, Imvelo Safaris has just completed a historic rhino translocation into a new community-owned rhino reserve bordering Hwange - the Imvelo Ngamo Wildlife Sanctuary - making Hwange a Big 5 destination once again!  Guests staying at Bomani Tented Lodge or Camelthorn Lodge can visit the sanctuary to see the rhinos by paying a conservation and community fee of $180 per person, 100% of which goes into conservation/community and is split between the rhino sanctuary and the local communities. 

Mack Air is now flying from Victoria Falls to Imvelo's airstrips in Hwange, with affordable seat in plane’ rates to Nehimba, Bomani and Jozibanini. Fastjet is now flying twice per day from Johannesburg to Vic Falls and soon will be flying daily from Nelspruit (MQP) to Victoria Falls.  This will make it easy and seamless to combine a safari in the Kruger Park area with time spent in Vic Falls, Hwange and elsewhere in Zimbabwe.  Fastjet have also launched a Victoria Falls to Maun flight, four times per week, starting on 30 June 2022.  Will it be easier to combine Zimbabwe with South Africa and Botswana?  Absolutely. 

The Fish Eagle Safaris team have always been strong proponents of Zimbabwe as a first-class safari destination, offering arguably the best value of any African destination, at present.  By way of example, a 10-day fully inclusive safari (from and back to Victoria Falls with all flights, road transfers, meals, drinks, a rhino sanctuary visit and twice daily guided activities included) in peak season - now through the end of October 2022 - is priced at about $600 per person per day.  The trip includes two nights at Nehimba, three nights at Bomani and three nights at Jozibanini.   This itinerary is all about slowing down and spending more time exploring Zimbabwe's hidden gem - Hwange - and everything it has to offer.  Five thousand square miles of exclusivity, privacy, Imvelo’s small, intimate camps, incredible game viewing, diversity of landscapes and wildlife and superb range of safari activities. 

We can also do a green season option of this safari, for travel from November through the end of April.  The price for a fully inclusive 8-day safari featuring 3 nights at Nehimba and 4 nights at Bomani Tented Lodge starts at about $500 per person per day. This includes two free nights on Imvelo’s ‘Stay 3/Pay 2’ special and kids 16 and under stay free and just pay for transfers and park fees. Plus there is no single supplement in the green season. 

Late breaking news:  Imvelo is offering a Stay 4/Pay 3 special at Camelthorn for peak season this year, July 1st through November.  Stay at this beautiful property tucked into a natural forest, spend some time at the sunken hide to see the elephants drinking just meters away, see the new rhino and support the Community  Rhino Conservation Initiative.

Wildlife and Water Levels in Botswana

Contemplating a last minute trip to Northern Botswana?  There’s some space available at a few of our partners' Wilderness Safaris’ properties and conditions could not be better for the remainder of the season.  Excellent late summer rains have drenched much of Northern Botswana so the animals are in top condition and game-viewing later this season will be as good as ever!

As of mid-June 2022, the water levels in the Okavango Delta are up with mokoro excursions and boating on offer. Great lion, leopard, wild dog and general wildlife sightings are being reported from various camps in N. Botswana.  In the Jao Concession the water level is high and still rising. Fishing, boating, mokoro, day and night drives are all available.  General wildlife viewing is good with lots of lechwe, tsessebe, impala and kudu.  On the always reliable Hunda Island zebra, wildebeest, buffalo, giraffe and herds of elephants are being seen, and there have been regular leopard sightings as well.

Conditions are good in the Chobe-Linyanti area as well.   At Dumatau there have been regular lion and leopard sightings and many elephants are currently moving through the concession. Kings Pool has likewise reported sightings of elephant, lion, giraffe, leopard and hyena. Floodwaters have not reached the camp yet but good rainfall means the barge cruises have continued.  

Nomad Safaris Tanzania - The Way Ahead

Fish Eagle Safaris and Nomad Tanzania make a formidable team in Tanzania.  Bert, Kathy and Jason have all spent time at several of the Nomad Tanzania properties recently and are brimming with ideas for Tanzania trips.  So we were thrilled to hear from Nomad recently about their plans for 2023, which promise to deliver even more value to our guests.  

The Nomad way of running a camp is also the way we like to see it done.  Simple, with no unnecessary bells and whistles, respectful and sympathetic to the surroundings and offering a very high quality of camp service and guiding, with enthusiasm and humility. 

A couple of enhancements will make the Nomad way even better in future.  From 2023 every Nomad booking will get a private guide and vehicle included, at no additional cost. Nomad is  hugely proud of their guides and they’ve always said that a privately guided safari is the best safari experience you can have.  Now they are delivering on that promise. 

All trips inclusive of five nights or more with Nomad will qualify for their special circuit rate, unlocking incredible value and at the same time providing the most fabulous Nomad safari experience.  For Nomad, all the pieces are coming together.  With more than 25 years in the bush and many happy guests spending time in their award-winning camps, they are clearly on the right track.  If a Tanzania safari is on your wish list, please give us a call or send us an email.  We can help you put together a combination of properties to suit any bush buccaneer, to make the most of Nomad’s new 5+ special circuit rate. 

Great Plains Conservation Rewilding SAPI Project

Harking back to Zimbabwe’s Operation Noah from the late 1950’s when some 6,000 animals were rescued from the rising waters of Lake Kariba and relocated to Matusadona National Park, the Great Plains Foundation is about to embark on another epic wildlife relocation.  Over the next three years, working with an array of local and international stakeholders, scientists and environmental specialists, the Foundation will be relocating more than 3,000 animals from Zimbabwe’s Savé Valley Conservancy into the Sapi Reserve.  The consignment of animals includes 400 elephants and iconic species like lions, buffalo, impala, zebras, painted dogs, eland, and more.  Once released in the Sapi Reserve, the animals will be free to roam into the wider 1.6 million acres of the UNESCO site, rewilding, restoring and protecting the entire ecosystem.