Should you self-drive in Tanzania?

renting our 4X4 vehicle in Arusha

If you are asking the question, the answer is "Probably not ...," but you can decide for yourself.

getting instructions on how to properly use a jack

My husband Vince and I and his best friend Ric from the USA all just returned from our Tanzanian self-drive safari adventure. This was Ric's third visit with us in Africa. It was the second time we spent it almost completely on the road.

Last year we embarked on an EPIC ROAD TRIP starting in Cape Town driving up the entire west coast of South Africa into Namibia and then across Botswana back to Johannesburg. This year we drove through Northern Tanzania. We began and ended in Arusha. Over our two weeks together,  we visited Arusha, Kilimanjaro, Tarangire, and Serengeti National Parks as well as the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and the Ngorongoro Crater.

Over the course of the trip we talked a lot about the differences between the two road trips. (We had a lot of time to chat in the truck!) We concluded that if we had done the self-drive trips in reverse order - Tanzania first, South Africa, Namibia and Botswana second - there never would have been a second trip. We really needed the confidence-building experience last year in order to take on Tanzania this year. And we would have been so sorry if we had missed the opportunity to tour Northern Tanzania this way. We had a blast!

pop-up for safari viewing

Still, Tanzania was a much tougher self-drive experience than South Africa. The roads are much worse, the signage is poor, the roads are under-charted on GPS navigation systems and printed maps, travel information is harder to access on the internet ... and you cannot get ice anywhere!

Maybe its the Voortrekker mentality in South Africa. South African travelers are fiercely independent and I think it is reflected in the country's tourism infrastructure. Self-catering accommodations are plentiful. The roads and signage are pretty good. The 4X4 rentals are better equipped for emergencies. The National Parks are well managed. It was just easier to travel independently in Southern Africa than it was in East Africa.

We came away with the distinct impression that Tanzania is really just not set-up for self-drive. During the entire two week period, we only ran into one other couple who were self-driving around Tanzania. Everyone else was on a guided tour.

we took a helicopter from Juneau to Mendenhall Glacier

It reminded me a lot of our experience traveling through Alaska when Vince and I took our sons there on an independent three-week trip in 1998. Initially, I found it very hard to plan an independent trip to Alaska. The state was just not set up for it. We were told that most people who visit Alaska did so as part of an organized tour and/or cruise and in many ways the infrastructure reflected that. Most of the hotels and transport were outright owned and managed by the major cruise lines - Princess, Holland America, etc. (It may have changed since then, I do not know. I have no one to ask. I have never met anyone else before or since our trip who has traveled to Alaska independently like we did.)

we stayed for a few memorable days in Denali NP
when we took the scenic train from Anchorage to Fairbanks

But packaged tours are not how we roll. I bought a travel book called Milepost Alaska, plotted our desired itinerary and for the most part communicated directly with the hotels, B&B's and National Parks for accommodation and lodging. I booked all of our transport myself - seaplanes, air shuttles, rental car, ferries, small expedition cruise ships and scenic trains.

It definitely ended up costing us quite a lot more to travel this way, but I am convinced that we had a much better experience seeing Alaska independently than we ever would have had on a packaged tour.

we took a boat to Kenai Fjords NP

took another boat up the Inside Passage and into Glacier Bay NP where we also kayaked!

we drove the Dalton Highway up to Prudhoe Bay
but we flew in an air shuttle back to Fairbanks

Alex and our seaplane after we flew from Anchorage to Katmai NP

a well-equipped safari vehicle should include perforated steel plates

Here are some of our tips and observations from our Tanzanian self-drive safari adventure to help you decide for yourself whether self-drive is right for you.

Make sure your vehicle is well-equipped. Ours was woefully not. We discussed this with our rental company Fortes when we dropped off the truck. They are the best in the business and our agent Sarfarez was very open to suggestions on how to improve the vehicles they rent for self-drive safaris. So this is for him as well as for you.

 First, this is what we were given by Fortes:

• a short wave radio (Not a huge help as it turned out.),
• two spare tires and a jack (Thankfully we didn't need them!),
• a spare gas tank (You will need the extra gas storage. Gas stations are few and far between. As an example, there is only one gas station in the entire Serengeti National Park!) 
• a plastic cooler (Not really helpful. We couldn't get or buy ice anywhere outside of Arusha.)
• a tow cable (We needed it!)
• a first aid kit.

This is what else we should also have been given:

• a small generator,
• an air compressor to inflate and deflate the tires,
• at least one shovel, 
• a tool kit which includes a vice grip and a crescent wrench,
• perforated steel plates (We could have used them when we got stuck in the mud.),
• an inverter (We brought our own and used it.),
• a mini-refrigerator (Our South African rental last year came with one and it was nice!),
• a high-powered hand beam for driving at night (The truck headlamps are inadequate.),
• rope, duct tape and cable ties (We brought some and used them.),
• jerry cans, a siphon and a funnel,
• tire chains or crampons for ascending muddy roads,
• a hand ax,
• a welder - only partially kidding. The other self-driving couple we met broke their truck's gear shift while driving in the Northern Serengeti and needed emergency welding to continue.

our elaborate charging station

You should also bring your own work gloves, lots of insect repellent, lots of water, a pocket knife and a lighter, a clothesline and clothespins, your GPS loaded with Tracks4Africa, paper maps, and power converters and power strips to charge all your cell phones and camera batteries, iPads and laptops concurrently. In fact, it would be a good idea to bring spare camera batteries too so you can use your camera while your spare battery is charging. Most of the lodges and tented camps use generators and you are severely limited on available time and electricity for charging.

on the road again

I hope I haven't dissuaded you from taking on a Tanzanian self-drive safari adventure. We are so very glad we did it!

Next year, Turkey, Egypt and Jordan, Ric?

50th Annual Wildlife Photographer of the Year

The 50th annual edition of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition is back in Cape Town after the 49th edition's exhibition last year in Pretoria. Hosted by Iziko Museums of South Africa at the Iziko South African Museum in Cape Town, and owned by the Natural History Museum of London and BBC Worldwide, the exhibition is sponsored in South Africa by National Geographic Channel and features 100 breathtaking images of nature in its most astonishing forms.  

From humble beginnings in 1965 with just 361 entries, the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition has grown into a global phenomenon with almost 42 000 entries from 96 countries around the world. The grainy analogue film photos of yesteryear have transformed into incredible high resolution digital colour images and technological advancement has allowed wildlife photographers to explore further, higher and deeper into the natural world than ever before.

Wildlife Photographer of the Year, Grand Title Winner, Michael Nicols (USA)

Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2014, Grand Title Winner, Carlos Perez Naval (Spain)

The 50th anniversary of the exhibition is is a visual feast of epic proportions, with 17 categories including an exciting new category, the Special Award for TIMElapse photography. Other categories in the exhibition include Mammals, Birds, Amphibians and Reptiles, Plants and Fungi, Underwater Species, Earth’s Environments, Black and White, Natural Design, World in Our Hands, Wildlife Photojournalist, Rising Star Portfolio Award, Portfolio Award, Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year and the Overall Winner, Wildlife Photographer of the Year. The images are displayed on specialized transparency prints that are backlit, making them even more striking.

Last year the Wildlife Photographer of the Year was South African. This year he is American Michael Nicols! Here are the Winners in each category. In some cases I thought some of the Finalists were even better so I posted those as well.  It must have been tough to choose just one winner in each category!

Winner, Mammals, Alexander Badyaev (Russia/USA)

Winner, Birds, Bence Mate (Hungary)

Finalist, Birds, Sam Hobsom (UK)

Winner, Amphibians and Reptiles, Raviprakash SS (India)

Finalist, Amphibians and Reptiles, Ingo Arndt (Germany)

Winner, Invertebrates, Ary Bassous (Brazil)

Finalist, Invertebrates, Herfried Marek (Austria)

I just loved these pond skaters!

Winner, Plants and Fungi, Christian Vizl (Mexico)

Finalist, Plants and Fungi, Minghui Yuan (China)

Winner, Underwater Species, Indra Swari Wonowidjojo (Indonesia)

Finalist, Underwater Species, Adriano Morettin (Italy)

Winner, Earth's Environments, Francisco Negroni (Chile)

Finalist, Earth's Environments, David Clapp (UK)

Finalist, Earth's Environments, Dana Allen (USA)

Finalist, Black and White, Juan Jesus Gonzalez Ahumada (Spain)

I took many photos of this exact tree and dune in Namibia!










Grand Prize Winner Michael Nichols photo of the lions in Tanzania was the overall Winner in the Black and White category but I thought all of the Black and White photographs were winners. This photo of the spider on the leaf skeleton was really cool ...

Winner, Natural Design, Patrik Bartuska (Czech Republic)

There was a New Special Award given for TIMElapse photography. This category was represented in the exhibition as a video as time-lapse photography is a combination of many consecutive still images taken over the course of a specific timeframe and ‘sewn’ together for viewing.  The photographer requires a lot of skill to artfully extract the best time-lapse sequence as the light and condition changes over time.

Finalist, New Special Award: TIMElapse, Will and Burrard Lucas (UK)

The Winner in this category was Paul Klaver of the Netherlands for his decomposing birds, but I liked Will and Matt Burrard-Lucas TIMElapse of wildebeests crossing the Serengeti River.

Winner, World in Our Hands, Bruno D'Amicis (Italy)

Finalist, World in Our Hands, Ian Johnson (South Africa)

This silverback was photographed in Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park. It could be Mr. Special!

Special Award: Photojournalist of the Year, Brent Stirton (South Africa)

Special Award: Rising Star Portfolio, Michel d'Oultremont (Belgium)

From Tim's portfolio, "Heart-stopping Show"

Special Award: Wildlife Photojournalist of the Year was given to Brent Stirton for his stunning photographs depicting the plight of the lions bred to be killed.

Winner, New Special Award: People's Choice, Marsel van Oosten, The Netherlands

Special Award: Rising Star Portfolio was given for emerging photographers aged 18-25, in homage to pioneering photographer Eric Hosking.

Finalist, New Special Award: People's Choice, Hilary O'Leary, Zimbabwe

  
Another New Special Award, this one for a Portfolio of work, was given to Tim Lamn of the USA. Tim photographed the courtship displays of all 39 species of the birds-of-paradise of New Guinea, Australia and the nearby islands. His project lasted 10 years!!! 







One of my favorite categories was the New Special Award: People's Choice. They were all awesome ...









Of course I would have chosen the rhino picture!

Happy Holidays from The Explorers Club

The Explorers Club started a new tradition this year. Headquarters in New York asked Explorers Club Members around the globe to share our experiences with our fellow explorers by contributing photographs for a special holiday gallery which they are sharing on The Explorers Club website.

This is an African photo collage I contributed to the gallery. Rhino darting in Marakele National Park, gorilla trekking in Volcanoes National Park, meeting meerkats in the Kalahari, climbing dunes in Namib-Naukluft National Park, getting wet at Victoria Falls in both Zimbabwe and Zambia and diving in Mozambique.

Happy Holidays from all of us at The Explorers Club! Keep exploring!

A Shared Love of Photography

At a Plein Air photo workshop at

Philip Johnson's Glass House in CT

 

One of the things that connected Vince and I practically from the first moment we met was our love of photography. We both enjoyed going out to the countryside or the beach on the weekends with our Nikon F3's or walking around New York City day and night and just taking pictures. Old cemeteries were some of our favorite haunts! Pun intended.

We started going on photography outings together on the weekends and he even lent me his very expensive Nikon camera lenses when I went on my photo safari to Kenya and Tanzania in 1979. Man, that's trust!

Photographing the Gates in Central Park

From the rooftop at the NYAC

We both came by our love of photography naturally. Vince's father's first civilian job was as a photographer for the Boise (Idaho) Sun. He learned to take photographs in the US Marine Corps during World War II when he was a combat photographer in the Phillipines and the Pacific theater. Many of his photographs can still be found in World War II history books. Coincidentally, my Uncle Ray was a World War II aerial combat photographer too, but with the Army Air Corps in the Aleutian Islands.

Second Place, The "Gilded Cage", GC of Irvington-on-Hudson

Vince inherited his father's darkroom equipment once his dad stopped using it and for a time we had it set up in one of our guest room bathrooms making it an ad hoc dark room. We mostly developed black and white film. He also inherited his father's entire photographic equipment collection. That included a 4X5 Speed Graphic which we actually took with us on trips when we were first married. We have gorgeous photographs of historic buildings in Paris and London and other cities in Germany.

I remember once he set up the Speed Graphic on a tripod in front of the Acropolis in Athens in order to take a picture and a quasi-Communist government official made him take it down and put it away. He had no problem with our 35mm cameras. I am not sure what he was afraid of, but we didn't argue. He looked like a Greek Stalin to me.

judging photography at the Jupiter Island GC in Florida

I turned my photography hobby into a garden photography hobby when I served as a Garden Club of America Photography Judge for five years. Most of the pictures I took during that time were required to include plant material as part of the composition and the photos depicted different prescribed themes or inspirations like "A Sense of Place" or "The Sound of Trees." It was alot of pressure. I am much happier now just taking pictures again for fun!

The potager garden at the Royal Saltworks,

Arc-et-Senans, France

I resisted "going digital" for as long as I could, but the winds were blowing at gale force and I finally succumbed once I found out that one of the benefits of digital photography is that you can change the ISO after every picture! Sold.

But digital cameras are so complicated. The year we bought our Nikon D200, we went to France for two weeks and purposefully went through each and every single button and knob and setting that was annotated in the almost 200 page manual. We were experts for about a week and then ... if you don't use it, you lose it. Anyway, we always bring 'the big camera" - which is what we call our new Nikon digital 35mm camera - and all our lenses, filters, tripods and other paraphernalia when we travel and we spend alot of the time just walking around wherever we are and taking pictures.


Our recent trip was no different ...

 

There are thousands more! The problem with digital is that you snap away with abandon. As opposed to film developing, digital is free and only as limited as your memory card. But when you get home ... hours and hours in front of the monitor looking through your images. Pay now or pay later.