“Meet Esther Mahlango, a Celebrity Artist from South Africa, painting in the Ndebele style. On a safari to South Africa, you’ll be able to recognize the colorful Ndebele Houses, painted in the style made famous by Esther Mahlango, after watching this video of Esther and learning about her impressive accomplishments as an artist.

“Safari Jim.”

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Zambia safaris, two Kings, a Scout and a Knight; how did King Msiri, King Leopold II, Frederick Russell Burnham, and Sir Alfred Chester Beatty, “King of Copper”, all play a part in the development of Zambia?

Sir Alfred

While today, most Americans are unfamiliar with the geography of Africa, back in the early 1900s, Africa was the new frontier to adventurous Americans.

Map of Zambia

One very famous American, Theodore Roosevelt, led a year-long expedition to East Africa. It’s purpose was to collect specimens for the Smithsonian Institution, today known as the National Museum of Natural History.

A little earlier, another American, albeit of Welsh descent, explored Central Africa; Henry Morton Stanley went to Africa with the New York Herald, in search of the British missionary and explorer, Dr David Livingstone. Most of us will be more familiar with Stanley’s greeting on finding Livingstone; “Dr Livingstone, I presume?”

Two more Americans found fame and fortune in Africa; Frederick Russell Burnham and Sir Alfred Chester Beatty, the “King of Copper”.

King Msiri

But before we tell their story let me bring in King Msiri.

Looking at a map of Zambia, you’ll see the country is shaped like a butterfly in flight. The shape is due to the Congo Pedicle, a slender piece of neighboring Congo, which almost bisects Zambia in two. It was King Msiri, who, instead of signing a treaty with the British, represented by Cecil Rhodes, instead signed a deal with the King of Belgium, King Leopold II, granting Leopold mineral rights to his Kingdom.

King Leopold II of Belgium

Enter Frederick Russell Burnham! With his tracking and hunting skills, learned growing up on a Sioux Indian Reservation in Dakota, Burnham became Head of Scouts to Cecil Rhodes. While leading an expedition into today’s Zambia, not far from the Congo Pedicle, Burnham noticed copper deposits, which he recognized from his time in Arizona, working on copper mines.

Frederick Russell Burnham

It wasn’t long before along came Sir Alfred Chester Beatty, an acknowledged expert on copper mining in Utah and Arizona. With American finance and expertise, the copper mines of Zambia and Congo are amongst the largest producers of copper in the world today.

Thankfully the copper deposits are restricted to the area around the Congo Pedicle. For not far away, in Zambia, is one of the world’s foremost wetland systems, the Bangweulu Wetlands, teeming with birdlife, and home to Black Lechwe, an antelope with lyre shaped horns, endemic to Zambia.

Black Lechwe, Zambia

The Bangweulu Wetland is also one of the few places one can still see the prehistoric looking Shoebill Stork.

Shoebill stork, Bangweulu Swamp

But if you decide to visit the Bangweulu Wetlands, you can thank Two Kings, a Scout and a Knight, that it’ll take you twice as long to get there, as you’ll have to circumnavigate the Congo Pedicle.

Congo pedicle

It would have been much quicker if King Msiri had granted the mineral rights to Cecil Rhodes and not King Leopold II.

Can you think of any other Americans who’ve been prominent in the early exploration and development of Africa? Leave your comments below and I’ll make sure to reply.

Thanks.

Jim Holden

Safari Jim (Musings on Africa).

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Have you ever wondered how many States there are in Africa?

Four more than the USA!

The USA has 50 and Africa has 54.

Of course in Africa, States are actually individual countries, with their own forms of Government, language and customs.

As with the determination of State boundaries in the USA, so the same issues occurred with the formation of boundaries between countries in Africa.

The simplest demarcation of a state boundary is geographical, in the way for example, that the Colorado river separates California from Arizona.

Similarly in Africa, anyone who’s visited the Victoria Falls, will know that the Zambezi River separates Zambia from Zimbabwe.

Victoria Falls

But then there are the more contentious issues that have led to the determination of State boundaries, such as the wars between America and Mexico, over the boundaries between Mexico and California and Texas. “Remember the Alamo!”

In an effort to prevent war over boundaries in Africa, a conference was organized in Berlin in 1885, attended by the major powers of Europe at the time, to agree on borders.

Conference of Berlin

And so, just as with some of the boundaries between States in the USA, many of the country boundaries in Africa are straight lines, and do not follow any geographical feature, such as a river or mountain range.

Without regard to the people living in the area, some of these straight lines cut through the middle of villages and tribes. Without knowing it, the Masai living in East Africa were suddenly split between Germany in today’s Tanzania and British in Kenya. Of course to the Masai, the border was invisible as no fences or markers were erected.

But to the Kaiser of Germany, the exact positioning of the border between Tanzania and Kenya was very important. The story goes that Queen Victoria gave her cousin, the Kaiser, Mt Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain, as a birthday present!  As a result, the boundary between Tanzania and Kenya is a straight line, other than when it does a loop around Mt Kilimanjaro, positioning the mountain in Tanzania.

Kilimanjaro, Amboseli area

Queen Victoria could afford to be generous as she had Africa’s second highest mountain, Mt Kenya, situated in the middle of Kenya.

Do you know of any similar bargaining in the USA that has given rise to a State boundary? If you do, let us know on Facebook and on our website at www.HoldenSafaris.com.

Jim Holden

Safari Jim (Musings on Africa)

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Ever Wondered Where the Expression a Tower of Giraffes comes from?

Clients are often surprised by some of the collective nouns used to describe groups of animals on safari.

For example, a Tower of Giraffes. That might be more obvious than other collective nouns with the giraffe’s long neck.

How about a crash of rhino? Obvious again when the safari guide explains that rhinos have poor eyesight, and like the saying, shoot before asking questions, charge before trying to determine if the threat is real.

The English language, spoken so widely around the world, is evolving all the time, adding new words and changing old ones. All this happens with no umpire or adjudicator determining what is right or wrong. It happens as words are adopted by custom and use, or fall out of use, as new ones come into fashion.

The English I used at my high school in Zimbabwe, back in the age of the Beatles, is mostly understood today only by those of my generation from Zimbabwe. Today’s school children in Zimbabwe use a very different English vocabulary to the one we used all those years ago.

And the same with collective nouns for animals. All of which makes for a great game on safari when traveling with kids; who can come up with the most descriptive name for a group of animals seen on safari.

As there is no right or wrong answer, there’s no need to feel bound by whatever the accepted group name is supposed to be at the time.

Just go onto google and type in, “Collective Names for Groups of Safari Animals” and you’ll see that most groups of animals have more than one collective noun.

a parade of elephants

Here are some alternatives to illustrate the point: a parade of elephant rather than a herd; a gang of buffalo rather than a herd; a stand of flamingoes rather than a flock.

A stand of flamingos

And here are some examples of more imaginative collective nouns: a parliament of owls, presumably as they look so wise! A prickle of porcupines! No I didn’t just invent it, you’ll find it on google. A stench of skunks! A Zeal of Zebras; not too sure of that one. I prefer a dazzle of zebras.

What names can you come up with for different groups of safari animals? Share with us your most imaginative collective noun for a particular group of safari animals.

Jim Holden loves to read your comments in the section below. He always replies.

Safari Jim (Musings on Africa)

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We Travel with a Purpose trip to Maasai Mara with the African Child Foundation

We Travel with a Purpose to the giraffe center in Nairobi

As with most things in life, when one is in tune with one’s surroundings, or feeling the rhythm of something, whatever it is becomes much more meaningful.

Take jazz for example; until one understands the tempo and rhythm of different types of jazz music, it often sounds like a discordant band tuning up before a show!

The same is true, to some extent, of safaris. Being at one with the rhythm of a safari makes it that much more meaningful.

So what are the rhythms of safari? I use the plural as a safari has many rhythms.

The first common rhythm is the one set by the wildlife itself. Most safari game drives take place early in the morning, as the sun comes up; and similarly late in the afternoon, as the sun goes down.

Sundowners in the Masai Mara with We travel with a Purpose, with Holden Safaris small group Safaris.

This is the rhythm that most of the animals in the wild in Africa follow. Up early to find water and food, before the heat of the day saps their energy. And after a long siesta during the middle of the day, another forage before finding somewhere safe to spend the night.

You might ask therefore, if there is any point in going out on a game drive late morning or midday. The answer will usually be negative. But in some parks, where tourist numbers have swelled, animals are being forced to change their natural behavior patterns to avoid human interference.

Cheetahs with a kill

The cheetah is a good example. Cheetahs natural hunting time is during daylight, preferably early morning or late evening, to avoid the heat of the day and loss of energy. But with increasing numbers of tourist vehicles hampering the cheetah’s hunt at those times, cheetahs have learned to hunt when tourists have returned to their lodges for lunch!

And what about going out on a safari at nightfall or when it’s dark? At night, safari goes into a totally different rhythm, with Africa’s nightlife coming out to hunt. The foremost example of nightlife is the leopard, with specially adapted eyesight to see clearly in the dark. To have the best chance of seeing a leopard therefore, find a safari rhythm where night game drives are allowed.

Other rarely seen night wildlife on safari is the strange looking aardvark and the even rarer pangolin, now tragically threatened with extinction, due to poaching for its scales, seen as having the same properties as rhino horn. Of course a pangolin’s scales are the same as the rhino horn and no different to our finger nails.

Lions in the shade

And when might you see a lion on safari? During the day one usually finds the King of the Beasts lolling about in the shade of a tree, waiting for whatever he ate the night before to digest. As dusk settles in, the lion pride begins to take an interest in their surroundings, looking for the next meal. Again, if on safari in a location that does not permit night game drives, the ensuing lion chase and kill will have to be abandoned, as night falls and all safari vehicles have to return to their respective lodges.What about the ubiquitous hippopotamus? When might you see him? Like the lion, during the day, most hippos are resting, wallowing in water or mud. It’s at night that hippos come out of the water onto river banks to feed on –  what? – grass not fish! But beware of the apparently slow plodding hippo at night, for those little legs enable the hippo to outrun a human being, clocked at something like 19 miles per hour at full gallop!

An usual sighting some of our safari guests had midday, when driving from one lodge to another in a National Park in Zambia, was an enormous python, lying still under a bush. On examination, it transpired that the python had just swallowed a large antelope. I’m told the python lay there for several more days before it was able to crawl away from under the bush!

So when choosing a safari, think of the different rhythms of safari and where you might find them. Almost all safaris have the early morning, late afternoon rhythm. The private wildlife concessions are most likely to have the night rhythms. Water borne safaris are also best done mornings and afternoons, when temperatures are not too hot.

Midday rhythms are usually reserved for non-wildlife pursuits. This is a time for writing in one’s journal, reading up about wildlife that was seen on the morning game drive. Or for those that still want to be active, a swim in the lodge swimming pool, a visit to the local village to learn about local village life, or a curio market or local school. It’s also a time for that rare wildlife sighting, where the wildlife ranger knows where some exotic species is lying up for the day and there is a good chance of being able to see it. Keen birders might be able to see the elusive Pels Fishing Owl during the day, if the local Ranger knows where one might be roosting. Otherwise it will be on the night game drive when the Pel’s owl is out hunting.

Pels Fishing owl- Photo credit Wilderness Safaris

Another rare midday sighting, in a National Park in Zimbabwe, was of a den of wild dogs. At one time almost extinct, wild dogs have made something of a come-back, in part due to the research being done by conservation organizations, such as the one based at the lodge where our guests were staying in Zimbabwe. Our guests were taken out by the Rangers at midday, to sit quietly and observe wild dog puppies at play around the den, while their parents rested before the evening hunt.

Pangolin- Photo credit Jane Goodall

You’ll know now, that safaris come with many different rhythms. To get the most out of a safari, plan to be in rhythm with each aspect of a safari. The morning and late afternoon rhythms are the times to see most of the different species of wildlife in the area. The middle of the day is when to slow down and relax, as most of the wildlife is doing, catching up on some reading, or writing, or just taking a nap. And the night rhythm is for sightings of rare animals not seen during the day, when those guests with good eyesight at night, will be rewarded with maybe the sight of a civet or genet cat, a bush baby, a night jar, a caracal, a porcupine with its quiver of quills, or even an aardvark or pangolin.

Safari Njema (have a good safari)

    – Musings on Africa

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In my forty odd years in the safari business, I can’t recall a time when a client asked about a safari guide, when planning a safari. And yet a safari guide is key to a transformative and fulfilling safari.

Mokoro with guide in Botswana

Most clients ask about the accommodation and wildlife. They want to know how to get to Africa, when is the best time to go, where is the best place to visit etc. They may sometimes ask if the safari is guided, referring to the guide as a tour leader or tour director, the same description of someone who leads a group of tourists on vacation in America or to Europe.

With  a group on safari there may well be a tour leader leading the group, making sure the group gets from one place to another, gets to airports on time to catch flights, ensure the group keeps to schedule and no-one gets lost.

That is not who I’m referring to when I say a safari guide is key to a transformative and fulfilling safari. The person I’m referring to is a highly trained and skilled safari guide, with as many as seven years training in the behavior of wild animals, tracking wild animals, and taking clients into the African wilderness. A Safari guide is a specialist in making clients feel comfortable on a photographic safari. More importantly, a safari guide interprets for the client what is being observed, and transforms the experience from one of simply observing an elephant, to one of understanding the elephant’s habits and behavior.

As with any profession, there are many different categories of safari guide. There is the tourist guide, mainly operating in cities such as Cape Town, taking tourists to visit the different attractions around the city, and explaining the history and culture of the area. These guides are also highly trained and certified for their knowledge of the particular city or attraction.

Then there are safari guides based at the different safari lodges. And here there can be huge differences in the level of training and knowledge, based on the particular lodges’ employment criteria. Some lodges simply want a guide who can drive a safari vehicle, be pleasant with clients, know how to navigate the different safari roads in the area but has little training or knowledge about wildlife. Other lodges insist their guides go through a rigorous training program, in all aspects of being a professional safari guide. The training can be spread over many years and include interacting with clients in the lodge, being able to cater to client comfort in the lodge, as well as knowing about the wildlife in the area, and ensuring client safety when out on game drives, seeing Africa’s varied and unique wildlife.

At the top of the safari guide tree is the professional safari guide, with certification verifying his or her knowledge of Africa’s flora and fauna. Professional safari guides are certified to take clients into the bush and keep them safe, conduct walking safaris armed with a rifle for safety, take clients on canoe safaris on some of Africa’s magnificent rivers, such as the Zambezi river, and at the same time, be raconteurs, entertaining clients with stories of Africa and its wildlife.

In Kenya, the body certifying safari guides is the Kenya Professional Safari Guides Association, with its Gold, Silver and Bronze qualifications. Gold requires six years of field experience along with written exams.

Zimbabwe has the Zimbabwe Professional Hunters and Guides Association, with its demanding guides course, producing some of Africa’s best trained safari guides.

And in South Africa, the Field Guides Association of South Africa, offers training courses to become a professional safari guide.

When planning a safari, therefore, ask about the qualifications and experience of the safari guide, or guides, at the destination or safari lodge where you will be staying. You’ll want to know the level of guide training and how many years of experience.

The difference between being on safari with an enthusiastic but poorly trained guide, versus being on safari with a highly trained and knowledgeable guide, will be the difference between a ho hum safari and a life-changing experience.

The enthusiastic guide will give you a fun time but the knowledgeable guide will fill you with wonder and awe at Africa’s majestic variety of wildlife and landscape.

 – Musings on Africa

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David Bowie and Iman

Africa is an ideal destination for anyone who thinks that they’ve seen it all.

I recall an around the world private jet group, when I was based in Africa, managing a safari operation.

The group had chartered Concord, the world’s first supersonic airliner (this was back in the 90s) for an around the world trip.

Concord-Photo credit Airplanepictures.net

They set off from the USA going west, with the first stop Hong Kong, followed by Australia and then Madras, India.

By the time the group got to Madras, things weren’t going too well. The group had “seen it all” and were somewhat jaded travelers.

However much the tour operator tried to impress the group, putting them in the best hotels in Hong Kong, Australia and Madras, it wasn’t enough.

The mood of the group had become so bad they were threatening to mutiny and charter their own planes home, abandoning the rest of the trip.

A frantic message came through to us in Africa, the Groups’ next stop, asking us to “pull out all stops” to impress and get the trip back on keel.

We were unconcerned; you might call us arrogant but we knew how Africa takes most people’s breath away. And with a little bit of theatre, no-one can resist Africa’s charm and allure.

So when Concord arrived, breaking the sound barrier with supersonic flight across the Indian Ocean, landing in its own impressive way, similar to an eagle or raptor plunging down to catch its prey, talons stretched out and body at an angle to assist with braking speed, we were all on hand to welcome the group of now very disgruntled clients.

Quick as we could, we cleared them all through Immigration and customs, and then walked them out onto the airport tarmac, to a squadron of small aircraft we call bush planes. These are the planes that fly clients into the remote camps and lodges in the wildlife areas.

Photo credit Okavangoexplorers

Separating the group between the different planes, some taking no more than six passengers, some eight or ten, we soon had our squadron loaded with all seventy clients, with engines revving for take-off.

It was a glorious sight, watching as many as ten small bush planes, taxing and taking off to their different wildlife lodge destinations. Reminiscent of the Battle of Britain days, when the Royal Air Force would “scramble” to intercept incoming German fighter planes.

We were similarly on hand to welcome the squadron back. As the clients disembarked, not one of them mentioned going home! For nowhere else on earth is the experience of safari what it is in Africa. Each day is different, with maybe a lion kill, a giraffe giving birth, where the hapless baby falls as much as six foot for a rude entry into the world, or a herd of elephant, slowly and deliberately making their way across the savanna, with the horizon stretching away to infinity and other herds of wildlife all about them.

Saying no two days are the same on safari, may sound like a cliché. Clients wonder how safari guides can take them out on safari, day after day, and not get bored. It is because, being on safari, is like going to the theatre and seeing a different play enacted each day.

To end our jaded Concord groups’ visit to Africa, we put on an African fashion show, with statuesque African models and music, and fashions from different parts of Africa. The local company that put on the Fashion show is the same company that “found” Iman, the late David Bowie’s wife and super model from Africa.

So be prepared, when you go to Africa on safari, chances are you’ll want to go back again and again, because it is so different to the rest of the world, even for the most jaded traveler.

  Musings on Africa.

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Migration

So often, when someone is thinking of going on safari they’ll ask, “When is the best time to go?”

With a chuckle I always answer, “The time that best suits you!”

No-one likes that answer. They think I’m being frivolous and avoiding the question, when in fact I’m being dead serious.

I then go on to explain, that the parts of Africa offering safaris, stretch from north of the equator to south of the Tropic of Capricorn, a distance of some 3,500 miles in a straight line. From Los Angeles to New York is 2,500 miles.

So, “what is the best time” to visit America?! You get the point.

As with a visit to America, you can go on safari at any time of the year; what is important, is to go to the safari area that best suits what you are looking for, at the time you can be away from demands at home.

Again, just as with America, the places to go on safari in Africa have major differences in climate, geological formations and topography, and wildlife.

The countries of East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda) have two rainy seasons, while from Zambia, neighboring Tanzania, to South Africa, at the tip of the African continent, there is only one.

But it gets more complicated! Some people might like to be on safari in the rainy season! And then you have to chose a safari destination where the roads are passable during the rainy season.

At one time, many years ago, safari lodges in East Africa would close down during the so-called long rains, from March to May. Now they stay open, due to all weather roads.

What is commonly referred to as “High Season” for safari Africa, is June to October. But this has little to do with what’s going on in Africa; it’s dictated by school holidays!

The famous wildebeest migration, goes on 365 days of the year, in a circular, clock wise direction, between Tanzania and Kenya. So for those asking “when is the best time” to see the migration, the question should rather be, “Where might the migration be when I am able to go on safari?” You won’t want to be on safari in the south of the Serengeti in Tanzania, when the migration has crossed the border from Tanzania into Kenya!

And so, as with vacations to anywhere else in the world, planning is key to taking a successful safari. Evaluate all the options, weather, distance, wildlife, festivals and ceremonies, and make an informed choice, one that best suits your interests and schedule; and then you won’t be worrying whether your business will still be going when you get home, as you’ll have chosen the right time to be away, when your business can do without you for a few weeks.

“Musings on Africa”

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“The question I get asked most often by anyone thinking of going on safari is, “Is it dangerous?”

Americans are mostly unfamiliar with Africa, as other than Liberia, America doesn’t have much of an historical colonial connection with Africa, unlike say the UK, which colonized large swathes of Africa.

The stories out of Africa that Americans hear, tend to be those of the early hunters and explorers, people like Teddy Roosevelt, who with his son Kermit, spent eighteen months in East Africa, collecting animal specimens for the Smithsonian Institute. And these stories are of encounters with charging rhinos and elephants that Teddy was endeavoring to shoot. All in all Teddy shot well over 10,000 animals including birds.

The first point to make clear is that we’re talking today about photographic safaris and not hunting safaris. Hunting is increasingly being banned in Africa, with the hunting areas turned over to photographic safaris.

If it’s not hunting stories about Africa, it’s documentaries from National Geographic and David Attenborough, with pictures of wildlife in sometimes inhospitable surroundings.

I interpret the question, “Is it dangerous?”, mostly as a fear of the unknown. No different to finding oneself in an unfamiliar part of town and being unsure if it’s safe to be there.

I find that once I’ve explained the process and rhythm of safari, the fear factor is replaced with a fascination, and an even greater desire to visit Africa, and to go on safari.

It’s when I explain, that on a photographic safari, animals are not harassed. We’re not hunting them with rifles or trying to capture them. Instead, we’re very aware that we are visitors in their domain and we must respect that they have the “right of way”. So we don’t push past elephants if they are standing in the way of our vehicle. We wait patiently until they move off the road.

And this is where the safari guide comes into his own, for while we are waiting, the guide quietly tells us stories of elephants, explains their habits, and most likely, will have stories about the particular elephants standing on the road, as to their ages, family relationships and history, having studied and researched the wildlife in his area.

So no, wildlife in Africa is not dangerous, if you are with a professional safari guide, conducting a photographic safari in a responsible manner.

And then there are Africa’s people; might they be dangerous?

Again the stories out of Africa, historically, have been of fierce warriors, brandishing spears and shields, looking very frightening.

Today, the indigenous people of Africa, are amongst the most welcoming of hosts you can find around the world. They are as fascinated and interested in us as we are in them!

While some of them, like the Masai, still cling to their customs and traditions, their warlike attire, spears and shields, today, are mostly used in traditional ceremonies, which visitors  are privileged to witness.

We find at Holden Safaris, that most people thinking of going on safari, are first attracted by wanting to see Africa’s wildlife, such as the Big Five, elephant, rhino, leopard, buffalo, and lion, but invariably return home, enchanted by Africa’s people.

Arriving in Africa is a bit like a film star arriving on the red carpet at the Oscars! You are the star of the show. All the time on safari, the staff at all the lodges make you feel special, with genuine warmth, sometimes missing in destinations where visitors are commonplace and the staff somewhat jaded.

So if you are asking, “Is it dangerous?”, should you be thinking of taking a safari, realize that it is probably simply fear of the unknown. Once the whole glamor and romance of safari is explained, you won’t feel nervous. Instead, you’ll want to immediately cancel all your appointments, and head for Africa!”

Safari Jim, “Musings on Africa”

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