SEE MORE AFRICA
Wildlife ** Culture ** Walking
Tanzania ** Kenya ** Zambia

• I design customized, private safaris for individuals and small groups, bringing to each my insider's knowledge of destinations, which can only come from living in a place and not from simply passing through. As of the end of 2007, I have made over 110 visits to Tanzania's national parks and game reserves.
• Several times a year I offer escorted tours which are perfect for solo travelers of any age. An especially warm welcome to women traveling alone. I became a solo traveler out of necessity, and while I learned that going it alone has its distinct advantages, an African safari usually necessitates joining a group for reasons of cost alone. Please see the escorted tour schedule further down on this page.
• I cater to a range of budgets: my objective is to get you on safari.
• My safaris are ideal for active travelers who seek to experience Africa in a wider context through a diverse mix of wildlife viewing, cultural encounters - people are integral to successful wildlife conservation and should always be included - and explorations on foot. There is no better way to understand Africa then to get out of a vehicle and feel it under your feet.

WHY AFRICA?

• African landscape and wildlife awaken something within us, a kind of spiritual response which we often describe as "magic". Or we compare it to a feeling of home coming. There's truth in that: the last continent where big mammals survive, Africa provides us the best picture of what our world used to look like. Like no continent perhaps, Africa reminds us that we are animals, and out in the wilds where the laws of forgotten nature prevail, not necessarily the brightest or the toughest either.
• "If we were at home, we would not feel the need to journey there," says Malidoma Patrice Some, West African shaman, of the natural world. According to Malidoma, the trees and other plants are the most intelligent species because they don't need to vocalize to communicate. Our fellow animals are the next intelligent species because they use a minimum of language. Man is the least intelligent of the three. Cursed by speech, he is the farthest from "home" or his source. In the African bush, the intrinsic meaning of life seems to hover within grasp. It's in the crackle of the campfire, in the blizzard of stars overhead, and in the shape of a hippo leaving a lake on silent trotters and blending in the night. It's nothing we can put (or should) put into words.
• Travel is first and foremost a journey of self-discovery. By experiencing how we differ from other cultures we learn most about ourselves. In this case, Africa provides one of the richest educations. It strips away the illusions of Western life to present us with life at its most basic, which is helpful because it is humbling. We understand that we aren't as strong as we think we are. We certainly aren't as strong as Africans. We are presented with a paradox in Africa: we remember to be grateful for the many things we possess, while at the same time we realize what we have lost by gaining them. Even though Africa is poor there is a quality of life in its many diverse corners which is increasingly absent in our world, such as someone who is always ready to return your smile. It is difficult to internalize the lessons of Africa well enough. I need to be reminded of them in order to live them, which is why I return as often as I do.

SEE ANOTHER AFRICA
Republic of Congo ** Central African Republic

• Beginning in 2008, I offer tours to Republic of Congo’s Nouabale-Ndoki National Park and Central African Republic’s Dzanga-Ndoki National Park, joining only a handful of operators to do so. The parks are the newest and most adventurous wildlife experience in Africa. Only a few hundred visitors a year make it to these parks to see their families of habituated western lowland gorillas and some of Central Africa’s greatest concentrations of forest elephants. If you come, you can certainly count yourself as among the first. I bring the same insider’s knowledge to my tours of Central Africa that I do to my East African safaris.

BREAK AWAY FROM THE HERD!

• A safari is either an adventure or it isn't. But adventure calls for breaking away from the herd and that begins at the planning stages. The beautiful photos in catalogue safaris are often created with profit in mind and not what is best for you. If they do not vary their itineraries season by season then they are not taking into account wildlife migration patterns which greatly affect the quality of a safari. They may also be more expensive, if you look carefully at all their costs, because they use multiple middlemen. There is a lot of information to sort through and many good operators from which to choose. But not all outfitters do everything equally well. It is rare that anyone returns home disappointed with their safari, but they might not be aware of what they didn't see, how much better it could have been.
• I give you informed and honest advice. I provide you one-on-one support from the early days of safari selection, through the booking process, to your departure day for Africa, to the day you return home.
• You often hear that an African safari is an once-in-a-lifetime experience. You may consider it that too. My hope is that your travels will impact you so greatly that Africa will indeed have the opportunity to welcome you again, and again.

Thank you for coming to Mama Tembo Tours.

Your Safari Begins Here