We have done a number of trips to Africa since our first trip with you several years ago and have always enjoyed very good guides and experiences.  There is something more special, however, about traveling with you.  I think much of it being special to us relates to your depth of experience and knowledge, patience and humour, your knowledge of the photographic aspects, and the fit of our personalities and expectations for the trip with yours…you know we are there to enjoy every aspect of the trip, not just checking off the list of big animals and moving quickly onward. You are willing, even excited, to spend longer days and cover more kilometers with us than any other group in the camp.  You have such great skills in animal and bird identification, behaviour and tracking, and you know that we are willing to spend the time with you to figure out the story and to sit on a sighting, animal or bird, to get the most of the experience.  So, this trip had a number of memorable happenings and sightings that were combinations of your knowledge and experience, long days and distances in the vehicle, interest and investigation, patience, and, yes, that touch of luck that favours those prepared and determined to get the most out of a trip.

Among the memorable happenings, I think of the tracking down of the lioness and her two cubs over a couple of hours of tracking and observing the behaviour of birds, monkey and antelopes. I think of your spotting of the big leopard in the tree and us waiting to see what would happen (actually us dozing while you watched and woke us in time), and your excitement when the puku wandered under the tree and the leopard got ready to jump on it. First time I have seen a guide get so excited he tried to climb on top of a canvas roof vehicle for a better view. I think of us teasing you about finding a Pel’s fishing owl and much later us randomly picking a sausage tree to get out to photograph the flowers on the ground and a Pel’s bursting out of an adjacent tree with you yelling “Pel’s!, Pel’s!” Followed by a cackle of joy and satisfaction at the sighting.  I think of the sighting of wild dogs on the road when they hadn’t been seen in the area in a long, long time.  Not only wild dogs, but the beginnings of a hunt with adults to the sides and young dogs playing in front of us on the road as they tagged along and we tagged along for several hundred meters.  What a great sighting of behaviour’s and pack life!

I think of the standing elephant and other unique elephant behaviour encounters including the “great chase,” where an elephant was quite determined to kill us if she could.  Your knowledge and calm in reacting to that very real threat was very important in getting us safely away.  I could continue with more recollections, but I’ll end with a related event that I think illustrates another aspect of your sensitivity to our overall experience.  Flash forward a few days after the great chase.  Elephants in the road and on both sides at dusk.  We wait for them to clear with the motor and lights off.  It gets dark, really, really dark in Africa.  Elephants in front, on both sides and, now, behind crunching and moving in the brush all around us.  Darkness and silence except for them moving closely around.   You thinking to quietly ask “Is everyone okay?” Barbara admitted she was getting very anxious, perhaps thinking back to the threat of the great chase, but you quietly reassuring her and explaining why it was okay now and that they would move along soon.  Another memorable moment.  What a great trip!  Barbara and I are ready to go to Africa again and, especially, to go with you.  We’ll have to make that happen soon.

– Steve & Barbara Tomasovic

I’ve just finished looking at your e-Book of our trip for about the fifth or sixth time.  I absolutely love it!  The pictures are spectacular, and the spot-on stories of our sightings bring back such fond memories…I was wowed by the pictures of the tiny lion cubs at Londolozi.  Those are some of your best baby pictures ever.  The e-Book really highlighted the great diversity of wildlife we saw on this safari.  That was a super picture of the southern ground hornbill in the tree, and I also want to thank you for including that lovely picture of a saddle-billed stork, my favourite African bird.  

I smile every time I think about our bird identification contest at Duba Plains, and our winning membership into the exclusive “111 Club”.  That hat will be my prized possession forever :).   As you know, leopards are my favourites of all the cats.  We couldn’t have asked for better leopard sightings.  It’s hard to pick a favourite when there were so many great sightings.  Pula and her cub at Mombo will always be dear to my heart, but I also loved the brief glimpses we got of the mother with her two small cubs at Londolozi, the mating leopards so close to the vehicle, the mother and cub playing at Vumbura, and the big male leopard with the lechwe at Duba.  LEOPARD SIGHTINGS AT ALL FOUR CAMPS!!  WOW!  I think the most spectacular of your lion pictures were the ones taken at Vumbura of the pride near the water.

The reflections are so clear, and the pictures are outstanding.  I could go on and on.  Trips like these are the reason I keep coming back to Africa.  Thank you again, Lee, for a fabulous experience.  I truly appreciate the effort and attention you put into each trip.  Looking forward to seeing you in October as we begin a new adventure into Kenya.

– Barbara

Thank you so much for the wonderful photo!  I worked with a lovely young woman at Londolozi in the photo lab to “airbrush” and perfect some of my favourite photos and have them printed on canvas.  As I mentioned to Lee, the adventure from beginning to end was quite splendid!  I loved every moment and felt so well taken care of and safe.  The camps I visited were all unique as you know, and all spectacular.

I loved the people who worked there and the wonderful staff… I felt as if I was with my family!  So loving, caring attentive and warm… I was so enchanted and delighted by my experiences.  Londolozi was such a perfect end to the trip! …I thought I had died and gone to heaven… Thank you all SO much and especially to Lee, who was so patient and attentive in guiding me towards what was truly the  most amazing experience of my lifetime (in the travel domain)!  I am not exaggerating when I say that I dreamt of lions, elephants, leopards and all of the other wonderful creatures on the savannah, almost every night for a couple of weeks.  Now, I look at my photos and relish in the wonderful memories of a magnificent time.  I feel so blessed to have had that opportunity.

– Diana Smith

Thank you so much for this absolutely beautiful e-Book.  I am so impressed with everything in it.  It was good to see what I missed on those days when Steve and I stayed behind.  That shot of Dawn and Susan standing by the humongous boulder was pretty impressive.   My favourite shot from the trip has to be the mother cheetah on the kopje at Lamai Serengeti.  What an experience!

Lee, I want to especially thank you for your help and kind consideration of Steve when he was ill.  It truly made the situation so much more bearable for us.  Also, thank you for sharing your pictures with all of us.  You both put a lot of effort into making these trips memorable and life-changing adventures, which we deeply appreciate.

I am so looking forward to the next great adventure you offer to us.

– Barbara