The African bush ignites all of your senses – a feeling that words fail to describe and has to be experienced.
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Prior to university I spent time in northern Namibia volunteering at a rural school, which sparked an interest in the continent and all it has to offer. A few years later I was back, but this time with four wheels (and a couple of spares) to undertake a rather bumpy Land Rover expedition across Botswana and the Okavango delta. It was this journey that really kindled my passion for the African bush, and I soon began plotting my next African adventure.
Luckily, the wait wouldn’t be too long; after a year or so back at work in central London, I made the decision to pack everything up and return to Africa. My husband and I purchased a 4x4 and spent a wonderful 6 months overlanding 32,000km from South Africa to Tanzania and back again, covering nine countries and visiting as many national parks en-route as possible.
All good things must come to an end, and although I was sad to leave the bush behind, I was absolutely ecstatic to start working for Expert Africa - I still get to talk about safaris all day! I am on the East Africa team here, and have spent the last seven years learning and exploring all that Tanzania, Kenya and Rwanda have to offer; three wonderfully varied countries with breathtaking landscapes, warm, hospitable people and wildlife in abundance!
Jessica's most recent Africa trips
Tanzania
It was excellent to return to Tanzania's famous 'northern circuit', visiting a few old haunts and some new properties that had opened since my last visit. Starting in the beautiful Arusha National Park where we drove up to the old fig arch and watched curious colobus monkeys, then onto the Randelin concession just outside Tarangire which was looking as beautiful as ever. Onwards to the Ngorongoro Crater; always impressive, before heading into the Serengeti where we covered a lot of ground. Spotting a cheetah chase a wildcat (!) and spending time watching lion cubs playing on the rocky kopjes in the east of the park was a treat. We then got to explore the western plains by foot, just as the migratory herds were arriving was a real highlight.
Tanzania
I was very excited to finally visit the private Fanjove Island, and return to one of my favourite parks in East Africa; Ruaha. At Fanjove we enjoyed the tranquil beach, went snorkelling over colourful coral reefs and spotted dolphins from the boat. A little slice of paradise! With a quick stop in Dar es Salaam for the night we then travelled further east to Ruaha. The highlight here for me was spending two nights at Usangu Expedition Camp, hidden in a beautiful but very remote wetland area of the national park. We bounced along with the wind in our hair and constant smile on our faces! It is quite a long journey to reach the camp, but well worth the drive. We saw a spectacular number of reedbuck, multiple superb sightings of roan, sable and eland. Setting up camera traps was fun and recording aardvark walking past in the middle of the night was a nice surprise! In the shadow of a giant baobab, dancing and singing around the camp fire on our final evening, with all of the wonderful staff, will be a treasured memory.
- I visited
- Fanjove Island, Dar es Salaam, Ruaha National Park
Kenya
I was fortunate to head back to Kenya just a few weeks aftter my last trip. For the first half we travelled by road through the Rift Valley visiting Lakes Naivasha, Nakuru and Elmenteita and continuing north to the lesser visited Baringo & Bogoria. With the drop in elevation, their towering red cliffs and geothermal spings, it felt like a different world to the cooler lake side shore of Naivasha! While the flamingo numbers are not what they used to be, it did not detract from the beauty of these areas and we enjoyed the birding, boat rides, walking, as well as biking at Hells Gate NP. After a night back in Nairobi, I flew over to the coast to visit a number of properties in Diani, moving north of Mombasa to the quieter Watamu area.
- I visited
- Rift Valley, Nairobi, Kenya Coast
Jessica's previous Africa research
Reviews from Jessica's latest travellers
