Eclipse News from 2009

Just a quick message now we are back in Hangzhou after a very challenging eclipse! Lots of rain, clouds and thunderstorms in this part of China but the rain stopped and the cloud thinned enough for us to enjoy a spectacular total eclipse that lasted for nearly 6 minutes. The corona was quite limited in extent by the clouds as you can see from the attached pic. I had chosen a site at a small farm near Daixi at the foot of the Mogan Shan Mountains and the other pic shows the family and the team from the UK.

Everyone had a great time and particularly enjoyed the farm and meeting the people and animals. As far as I can tell very few other people managed to see the eclipse but I had worked hard accumulating weather observations for several years and selected a good area - maybe I still have some of the old magic!!

John Parkinson, July 2009

Customer Comment: Rachel Fryer in Botswana

"I just wanted to say thank you very much for all your work in organising our trip to Zambia and Botswana as we had a wonderful time! We’ve received your standard feedback form which I will complete but thought I’d pass on a few more comments in case they are useful for you in future.

The high water levels in the delta also seemed to be affecting Victoria Falls as they were very full when we arrived and as we managed to arrange a helicopter flight the views were beautiful and it made a great start to the trip. I know you had some concerns about Camp Moremi as the area is not as exclusive as the private concessions but we had a great time. As it was our first camp in Botswana and our previous experience is East Africa and India the area didn’t seem too busy with other visitors, there were some but not that many.

The camp itself was great, the management and staff couldn’t have been more welcoming or helpful and the accommodation was very good, it was all much better than we were expecting with a really good atmosphere. Most importantly we also had some stunning sightings of a lion pride, a pair of mating lions and an absolutely gorgeous male leopard so I’ve attached some photos (below).

Duma Tau as you know is a lovely camp and as we expected more luxurious than the others. As far as sightings went we really benefitted from the higher water levels as the Savuti Channel is flowing and this lead to a great sighting of a group of elephants crossing the channel, and lots of hippos. They also managed to find a group of wild dogs which we were so pleased to see as we’ve never seen them before, and some beautiful male lions, as well as all the usual antelopes, zebras, and giraffes.

We were also incredibly lucky at Duma Tau as we had one of the Wilderness Safari's most senior guides, Ant (Anthony), who trains the other guides. He was amazing and we not only had some great sightings but also learnt so much, you of course know how much that adds to the experience. The only slightly odd thing that we noticed is that the food and service at dinner was not as good as the other two camps but I think they are in the process of appointing new managers, we met the couple who might be taking it on and I’m sure that will be sorted very soon.

Pom Pom, was last but by no means least. Again the sightings were great with more mating lions, another leopard, elephants, though not as much wildlife as the other camps, possibly because they have less area available to them…

We saw so much across the three camps there was almost a risk of becoming blasé! The managers Sue and Brian were so friendly and again there was a really good relaxed atmosphere in the camp as well as some brilliant food, the best that we had. We did discover just how cold it can be during the winter in Botswana! Though the temperatures probably didn’t drop much below what your information suggested it took so much longer to warm up during the day that it seems much colder than it really is so it might be useful to other clients to highlight just how cold, the blankets and hot water bottles on the morning game drives were a life saver at Duma Tau. We also found out that Sefofane have a maximum luggage allowance on the internal light aircraft flights up to 20kg total luggage per person though of course it still has to be in soft cases.

This was definitely our best wildlife experience and we’ll want to return, though we’ll probably have to wait for a few years... Thank you again for all your help."

Rachel Fryer. July 2009.

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Customer Comments: Jill & Stephen in Zambia

"Just to say we had the most wonderful time in Zambia and thanks for advice , organising etc etc Everything was perfect , The SLNP (South Luangwa National Park) really is beautiful , now appreciate why David Shepherd loves it so much.

All the guides were great , some been there years and worked for Norman Carr who died in 1997. A few remember Chris (Breen) and wish to be remembered , Levi , Lawrence to name but a few. The camps were great , fav was Mchenja , service excellent.

Saw some magical sights , one day to remember was at 9 am I spotted a lion with a snare round his neck , asked if I could go with the vet from the AWDC to watch , lasted until 7 pm !!! (You can see the images below).

I was told everything about the whole thing as only his 2nd lion , as now moving into Lions following 10 years of monitoring the wild dogs. So the male lion now with a radio collar , a fascinating time and saved a lion which if had not been sighted may have died with that awful snare.

Already planning next holiday !!!"

Jill & Stephen, Zambia, July 2009

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