Newsletter 3- Spring 2010

Living out here in Tanzania it’s hard not to take the wildlife and natural beauty for granted ... last weekend the family went out to Tarangire NP for the weekend and it reawakened in us an appreciation for the splendour and magnificence of the flora and fauna.

It’s not just about the ‘big stuff’ – although we did see some magnificent elephants – for me a lot of the enjoyment was in watching the birds picking the ticks off the back of a giraffe, seeing hundreds of butterflies gathered in a damp hollow collecting moisture or the endlessly energetic mongooses playing in an old termite mound.

This is what the African bush is about ... I am glad I have rediscovered it.

Birds grooming a giraffe

Mysigio Camp - Ngorongoro

Our seasonal camp at Ngorongoro continues to go from strength to strength. For this season we have upgraded the lounge and mess area as well as introducing new fabrics and decoration to the sleeping tents. More area lighting has meant the Massai dancing can carry on a little longer into the dusk. The cultural exchange programme at camp continues to go from strength to strength and offers a great insight into contemporary Massai life. An amazing experience away from the hustle and bustle of the crater rim with stunning views south over Lake Eyasi.

Breakfast at Mysigio

Kili News

Kili continues to be busy with more and more operators choosing to work through an outfitter that pays real attention to safety and has a proven track record of ethical treatment of its porters. Wes Krause – one of the Directors of African Environments was invited to join the board of the Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project. We continue to be an ardent advocator for the ethical treatment of porters. If you would like to know more about our initiatives just let us know, we also encourage clients to bring donations for the local communities - books, clothing etc which we will help to distribute. We were chosen to run a couple of climbs recently for high profile clients, more and more of the discerning travel companies both in Tanzania and abroad have approached us recently as quality and ethical and environmental responsibilities become more of an issue.

We have continued to invest heavily in training for our guides with police firearms courses, time on the firing range and the guides spending time with a hunting company perfecting their tracking skills and practicing approaching dangerous game. Walks have been getting longer as well ... we recently ran our first seven night walk that traversed the entire wilderness zone We are now offering 2 and 3 night standalone walking packages – if you would like a copy of the itinerary & prices just let us know!

Nearly at the top!

Walking Safaris ... in the Serengeti NP

Our Serengeti walking safaris have continued to expand – this is a tremendously exclusive experience. Many find it awe-inspiring to have a vast swath of the Serengeti set aside for their exclusive use during the walk – the solitude and opportunity to not see another soul throughout the walk is truly a rare privilege. We have been expanding the areas we walk in with a reconnaissance of another Serengeti wilderness area – beautiful countryside and great game viewing – it will be a spectacular spot to walk in when the migration sweeps through.

Rifle training

Student Groups

We continue to arrange trips for student groups. A recent 2 week trip form Lawrenceville School in the USA involved both time on safari during which the students carried out independent research projects and a significant chunk of Community Service time based around a secondary school near to Arusha. These experiences are invaluable for both the visiting students and the Tanzanian schoolchildren they interact with. The students of Lawrenceville managed to raise $4500 to roof one of the school classrooms and to make some desks.

Two students - Two cultures

Filming

It’s been a busy season on the filming front with crews from National Geographic, the BBC and for the first time a crew from China. We invested in a new filming car which proved a big hit with the cameramen with multiple camera mounting options. We have a number of other projects lined up in the coming months including one for a major Hollywood production company that’s still top secret!

Filming from the camera car

Giving back...

We continue to take great care to make sure we put a lot back into Tanzania. On an internal level this philosophy stretches from our ethical treatment of porters to our policy of promoting from within and of sourcing as many supplies as possible locally. We also work with the communities around our Arusha base and in the bush. Over the past year or so we have built a library for a school near to our seasonal camp at Ngorongoro. We recently shipped a lot of books over from the UK to continue expanding the resources there. We encourage all our clients to bring books to donate as they pass through the area.

Donating books to the Library

Wilderness First Responder Training

African Environments are once again teaming up with wilderness medicine experts Aerie Backcountry Medicine of the USA to offer Wilderness First Responder (WFR) training in Arusha, Tanzania. This certification is a ‘must have’ for all serious professional guides and is rapidly being regarded as the world standard in outdoor medical care. Aerie will be flying over a hugely experienced instructor to run this course to the same exacting standards as their US course. We remain committed to raising the standard of guiding – not just for ourselves but we also offer this course to other companies. We will run the next course in April 2011 and hope to expand the options with ‘Crisis and Resource Management’ courses aimed at Camp Managers in remote areas, operations manager and company owners.

WFR-training-practical

Staff Trip

One of the problems (if you can call it that!) with working as a guide or member of our safari camp crew is that whilst you see a lot of the parks and all the great wildlife ... that is all you see! So this year the staff decided they would like to go somewhere different for their anual trip and headed to the pristine Tanzanian coast near Pangani for some well earned R&R. They camped on a deserted beach, swam, went out on boats, explored caves and generally had a whale of a time!

Landing from the ferry
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