African Safari Update - August 2024
|
|
FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK
Being on safari in Africa is synonymous with excitement, adventure and action. Extend your safari by a few days on the coast or better yet an island somewhere, and you can take the experience from hard rock to easy listening in a matter of hours. Boots in the morning and flip flops by nightfall. Which is exactly what we did recently; first at Tsara Komba on Nosy Komba in Madagascar and then at Santorini, on the edge of the balmy Mozambique Channel.
In both places we found pretty beaches, awesome scenery, fascinating people. And fresh, expertly prepared and beautifully presented food. Hand in hand with the slower pace? Opportunities for reflection, even introspection. Which is what happened one morning over breakfast at Santorini, overlooking the placid bay stretching out in the direction of Magaruque Island. A profound sense of tranquility seemed to envelop me. Unread emails, unwritten articles, unwatched Olympics events. None of it mattered and nothing was more important than listening to the evocative duet of two black collared barbets while contemplating a second cup of coffee.
|
|
In this issue of our newsletter there's a blog post about exactly that type of experience at the wonderful Tsara Komba in Madagascar. We will get around to blogging about our experiences at Santorini and neighboring AsDunas, in time for the September issue.
Also coming up in September? An article about an impending short trip to Wilderness’ Mokete Camp in the Mababe area of Northern Botswana. Even before Mokete (moh-KEY-tea) had officially opened, we had seen some intriguing footage of lion and buffalo interaction there. And then our colleague Lyndon had a day for the ages on a game drive out of Mokete in May this year. He and a few other tour operators saw more in the way of total biomass of animals, more interaction and more rare species - including three aardvarks - than any of them had ever seen on a single game drive before.
I am hoping that our imminent trip to the camp and the area will live up to advance billing. The forthcoming blog post about Mokete will have all the details. And of course, the photos. I am sure there will be lions involved and buffaloes. And hopefully an aardvark.
|
|
In this issue, more about my and Kathy’s recent trip to Madagascar, this time about the north which was completely new to us. There is also a second blog post from Lyndon about magical Mana Pools in far northeastern Zimbabwe.
In Part 1 of our Madagascar blog - which can be found here - about our June-July 2024 return trip to Madagascar, we dealt with the many things which make it such a special place. Headed up predictably by an entire family of primates, the lemurs, each of the more than 100 species of which is found only in Madagascar, living free.
A good lemur sighting, such as when you see indris or sifakas display truly mind boggling athleticism when moving rapidly through a forest, is something you might never forget. Even if you live to be a hundred years old it is always going to be one of those memories which remain forever fresh and vivid, as colorful and detailed as on the day it was made.
|
|
The river of endemicity runs deep in Madagascar and once you start looking, you will soon realize that most of the natural things around you are only found there. Plants, birds, chameleons, frogs…the list goes on and on.
Read part 2 (below) or directly on our website here to find out how and where we saw all the fantastic lemurs and birds, photographed the chameleons and geckos, enjoyed some fantastic French-inspired foods, gawked at dozens of species of tropical reef fish while snorkeling, hiked some remote forest trails and found ourselves in what looked like an outpost of Mars.
If you’re considering traveling to Africa, Madagascar or India in 2025, particularly in the shoulder and high season months, don’t wait too long to make your plans as there are sure to be availability constraints. Our team members are ready to dig deep into their knowledge base and experience to design the perfect itinerary for you. Get your first or return trip lined up and hopefully you can go home with impressions similar to those expressed by a guest who just got back from visiting Kenya and Tanzania, with her family: “... this safari was the best two weeks of my life. I have wanted this trip since I was a very small girl, and despite 50 years of anticipation the trip exceeded every expectation. The facilities were all incredible. I felt like a princess.”
|
|
|
Even though we will be traveling quite a bit over the next couple of weeks in South Africa and then Kenya en route back to the USA, you can always reach me at bert@fisheaglesafaris.com or by leaving a message with our answering service at 1-800-513-5222 or 713-467-5222.
|
|
|
MADAGASCAR EAST, WEST & NORTH - PART 2
Kathy and I had no idea of what to expect on what turned out to be a fascinating visit of about 10 days to northern Madagascar, visiting places such as the Nosy Be archipelago, Ankarana National Park, Montagne D'Ambre National Park, the extraordinary Miavana island resort and ending with several days at Time & Tide’s Tsara Komba on Nosy Komba island. To us, all of these places had hitherto just been points on a map, ill-conceived mental snapshots, with very little resemblance to the vivid, warm reality which we experienced once we actually made it there. Standouts? The beach at Tsara Komba, snorkeling at Nosy Tanikely, a forest walk at Montagne D’Ambre, a helicopter flight crisscrossing the area. And the food - everywhere.
Learn more about our Madagascar adventures on our blog.
|
|
PROPERTY OF THE MONTH: TSARA KOMBA
By breakfast on day two I was hooked on Time & Tide’s Tsara Komba, an intimate island resort with 8 ocean facing chalets on the beautiful small island of Nosy Komba, in far northwestern Madagascar. All it took was a taste of the most divine ‘pain au chocolat’ followed by a bite of a perfectly executed croissant. Only the French could invent something quite as decadent and delicious as pain au chocolat. However, it takes an exceptionally gifted and dedicated chef like Tina Hary at Tsara Komba to get it just right. Light and airy, perfectly flaky, not at all greasy and with just the right amount of texture and color. A work of art. Does the local chocolate tip it over the edge from breakfast food to sheer indulgence? Bien sur.
Read more about Tsara Komba on our blog.
|
|
LYNDON REVISITS MANA POOLS, ZIMBABWE
Mana Pools is a near-legendary national park which lies along the lower Zambezi River in far northeastern Zimbabwe. Renowned for its game viewing (elephants, big cats, buffalo, plains game & African painted dog), the area is highly atmospheric and for many seasoned safari goers, Mana Pools is the holy grail. Being on the Zambezi and with the Zambian escarpment visible in the background across the river, the setting is very special too. Over the years, all of our team members have traveled to Mana Pools, checking out several of the properties in the area including Ruckomechi and Little Ruckomechi, Chikwenya (in its former and current iteration), John’s Camp, Vundu, Kanga and Nyamatusi. On his recent May trip with Christine, Lyndon visited two relatively new properties in Mana Pools, namely Mana River Camp and Ingwe Pan Camp. He also revisited Ruckomechi.
Visit our blog to see what Lyndon thought of the camps and the wildlife experience in Mana Pools.
|
|
|
All photos by Fish Eagle Safaris except Tsara Komba exterior and snorkeling with turtles - both courtesy Time + Tide
|
|
|
|
|
