Kipper: Your passion comes thru loud and clear. When you went on you first trip, did you do the circuits of lodges and camps or did you actually start out driving and tenting on your own? Do you have Benson with you on most of your trips or are you and your wife by yourself? I believe I read in one of your posts that Benson was armed?

I looked at the Ngoko Safari website and they do indeed have some very nice places. I was a little shocked by the prices though, particularly the single supplements. Is that because they are deliberately trying to cut down on the number of guests thus making it a special experience or because they are "out of the way" and it's more difficult to get supplies, etc.

How about posting some of the good conservationists you have met there along with their websites so we can all learn about their work and perhaps send them some donations.

Our very first trip was into Botswana, we drove from Johannesburg through into the Kalahari onto the Delta then up to Kasane, Third Bridge, North Gate & Chobe with a SA Guide. Return to Johannesburg via Makgadikgadi Pans. This was a camping / self drive trip.

Our next trip was for Chimps & Gorilla & to see some of rural Africa.
A private trip with a driver over night at lodges
We drove from from Entebbe into the North of the country to the Blue & White Nile junction than followed Escarpment & the lakes down into the southern mountains for Gorilla.

We followed this by a self drive camping trip departing from Arusha to Tarangeri, Lake Manyara, Ngorogoro & into the Serengeti.
We had passes to camp privately & in the two weeks we never met other selfdrivers, unlike Zim & Botwana.
It also bought home to us the need for a driver or guide as spotting, navigating & driving can be very stressful & remember there are few roads or maps!! We would never have found our tent with out a GPS!

Where next?

We had already been in touch previously with Fiona & she suggested Zimbabwe guided by Benson.
The rest is History! Repeated trips to Zimbabwe & Botswana tented camps or self drive Benson as our friend & guide.

Our last trip was something special, no more grubbing in a bucket to wash or a spade for a latrine!
We were guinea pigs for a new luxury tented safari company!
Real beds!
Real showers!
Real toilets!... But not flush!
Drinks waiting on our return to camp!
Sundowners & nibbles!
We would leave camp before sun up, Fresh breakfast was delivered & eaten in the bush.
On the days we moved camp, we would leave before sun up with a picnic lunch then return in the evening to drinks, showers & dinner at our our new site.

A couple of self drivers we met had seen our team of five setting up camp & were totally amazed that all this was just for Lord & Lady Kipper!

Expensive?
Yes I suppose it is against the package trips, Ngoko does cater for the top end of the market & worth every penny. All beers & spitits are included in the price & due to the Distances you have a private Cessna into the bush air strips
At the tented camps we have stayed at we have mostly been the only guests, no more than four other guests.
Even in the permanent camps wildlife is free to wander through.
We have been stuck in our tent due to elephants & Lady Kipper had to spend a few hours waiting for rhino to move on before she could have breakfast! The irony is Benson & I had set out on foot to track Rhino only to return to camp to find mother & calf there!!

If you google Benson Siyawareva you will see that he is listed as one of the top African guides & he is qualified to work any where in Africa. To my knowledge Zimbabwe Guides are the top of their profesion with a five year apprenticeship!
On walking Safaris in Zim the guide must be qualified to guide on foot & must carry a weapon.
Benson is at pains before setting out on foot to inform the pair of us that no animal will be shot! The prewalk briefing also tells us what to do if charged & what he will do in this event.
Elsewhere away from Zimbabwe all he carries are thunder flashes.

(I have sent a private email with further details, Jan)

To add more information to my last post for anyone contemplating a self drive.

You can have a great trip on your own self drive but without a guide you will miss 75 - 90% of all that's going on in the bush.

(Like trying to read a Chinese newspaper with impaired vision & you don't understand Mandarin!)

AND that is no exaggeration!

I have had the honour of meeting and talking about some wonderful safaris that Kipper and his better half have done in the past years.
I must admit it takes a person to enjoy such safaris and I think that you either have it or not - I do not mean any disrespect in anyway to other people who go on safari however Kippers way is very much down the path of what Simba and I did as teenagers (a lot more rough as we were on motorbikes or in some banged up 4th hand car - with little money) but it was what we LOVED -

Everyone has their own way of doing a safari and what matters most is the enjoyemt we all have for the bush and animals.
Jan has become a complete addict and I really cannot think of anyone else who spends as much time as she does on a yearly basis flying out from the US.

Bushdrums - well we have just put ourselves on facebook as well and I will be letting my "friends" - I hate that word on facebook as I really do not have so many friends I call frineds if you know wht I mean.... but anyway - it will be good for getting more people and feed back.

I know Bushdrums is going very slow and I take the full responsibility - however my time is mainly spent on my work. It was Easter - we were booked up and now the guests have gone and after 4 days I can log on again as I have a spare minute; not easy!
I thank you all - for your constant imput-

Jan, what a great idea for a thread. I wanted to post much earlier but ...

Back to your question: what makes me decide to travel also to the Southern African countries.

Mainly curiosity! I agree with Cody who wants an insight of what is happening. Every country, park or place offers different experiences. People in Zambia have different habits or mentalities than people in Uganda. You see different species of animals, different forms of vegetation or plants. Animals behave differently in every park (lions in Uganda's Queen Elizabeth NP for example climb on trees frequently what's rarely seen elsewhere in Africa, the favourite prey for lions in Tanzania's Ruaha NP is giraffe, in Amboseli it is zebra, hippos in Katavi congregate with hundreds of others in pools that are a bit bigger than a Wilderness Safaris swimming pool - something one wouldn't see elsewhere in Africa, elephants in Etosha are generally bigger and have shorter tusks than their East African counterparts, etc.)

Parks in Zambia and Southern Tanzania generally don't seem to be that overrun like in Kenya or Northern Tanzania. I agree with Kipper who points out safari experiences with no other vehicles around and a much easier way of self drive camping and in Southern Africa.

One other reason to visit Southern African parks is: wildlife there is as wonderful as in East Kenya and needs the same support or conservation effort. In July and August me and my girlfriend are going to visit Zimbabwe, a country that's obviously in trouble and wildlife hence struggles with the subsequent problems. You may call me naive but I believe that every visit to a Zimbabwean park helps wildlife to survive. It's the drop and ocean thing Kipper is always talking about. People there like the caretakers in the camps or staff in the lodges benefit from tourism and consider wildlife as something protectable. If tourists stay away it's a question of time when they will lose their jobs, leave I don't want areas like Hwange or Mana Pools be left to their own devices or be ceded to the poachers... Same in Zambia that saw horrible times of poaching in the eighties and nineties and still has big problems in areas like Lower Zambezi and North Luangwa.

Of course I share Jan's opinion concerning wildlife policies and also admire her love for Kenya, her beloved Amboseli and Tsavo but I hope this makes it a bit comprehensible why even the Southern African countries, even if they have inacceptable hunting policies are also worth a visit to me...

Thanks Tobi. I much appreciate your input also. Between Kipper and you, I am starting to think
differently.

Now I just have to find a place to stay where I can see up to 1,000 elephants a day from my
tent/room and just sit and film all day long. If I see other wildlife it would be great, but if I
don't I will have enjoyed watching the interactions between all "my elephants".