Capturing the Moment

  I never expected to have such a long, intimate encounter with a big, male leopard. Tsavo National Park can provide some real safari magic, and it certainly provided that this morning. The fact the we were the only car with it the whole time just made it even more special.     If you are on your first safari here in Africa, you are often confronted with finding the famous 'Big 5'. The Big 5 consist of elephants, cape buffalo, lions, leopards, and rhino. Some parks have all 5 of the big 5, and will use that in their marketing as a claim to fame. However, it certainly does not mean that you will be lucky enough to see all 5 species. Rhinos are still far and few between and can be quite difficult to locate. But often, it is the leopard that eludes safari goers the most. They are in almost every park, but operate mostly at night, working under the cover of darkness. Still, early morning and late afternoon game drives do provide an opportunity to find one. Today was our lucky...

  We spotted our first group of wild elephants racing their way down to the water hole.     Tsavo West National Park, located in southeastern Kenya, is part of the larger Tsavo ecosystem, one of the country’s oldest and largest wildlife reserves. Covering nearly 9,000 square kilometers, Tsavo West is renowned for its dramatic landscapes, including volcanic hills, dense woodlands, and open plains, which create a diverse habitat for a wide variety of wildlife. It is a very different ecosystem than the other major parks in East Africa, which gives us a chance to see some different creatures. One of our first sightings in the park was a tiny antelope that could fit in your handbag, called a dik dik. After facing death-defying Kenyan truck traffic for the entire morning, the smiles are real for leaving the highway, popping up the safari top, and entering the dirt tracks of Tsavo West National Park!     The park is less crowded compared to some of Kenya's other reserv...

 The Wonders of An African Safari Curated and Led by Dai Mar Tamarack      Africa can be a hard destination for even the most seasoned traveler to wrap their head around. It is so distant and exotic, yet so hard to know what to do, how to travel, distances, and logistics for planning the trip of a lifetime. To have someone like me, with years of local knowledge, contacts, planning, and leading experience can be invaluable in setting up a trip for a destination as big and vast as Africa.       While each trip I lead is different, since they are personalized for each group, I do always plan the trip in order to maximize our time with the animals out in the wilds of Africa. There are several ways to do this. I will sometimes rent a private safari vehicle with a driver so the only time constraints we are under are up to us and the closure times of the parks. I also work with certain lodges and local guides who really prioritize the guests experience. ...