Deborah and Lynette, USA

We heartily recommend Kwetu tours led by Dennis Lyamuya

We have taken week-long nature courses in the U.S. led by staff with wildlife expertise and  have been on many short nature trips in the U.S. with knowledgeable leaders. 

 

Dennis has a deeper and broader knowledge about animals and plants than any tour leader  we have experienced previously, knowledge based on what he learned growing up and then  built on and expanded acquiring a four-year college degree in an intensive program in wildlife conservation management (in his year, 27 students started the program; only 5 including Dennis completed it). 

 

Dennis does not just know how to spot and identify wildlife; he knows the animal’s gestation period, how it gives birth, and many other details of its life cycle.  He knows about the healing properties of dozens of local plants, including many that he has used personally.  He even knows what many of the animals taste like (“eland is especially delicious”) since his college degree program included training to identify meat being eaten by poachers.  Dennis shared his amazing knowledge in a low-key, unassuming way, calibrated to our interests and what we could reasonably take in, given all the new information.  If you are interested, he will tell you the scientific name of a plant or animal you are looking at, including the many species of spectacular birds. Or you can just stand in awe, watching thousands of wildebeest thunder through the Serengeti on their majestic migration. 

 

Other highlights of the trip for us included seeing the East Africa Rift, and particularly Oldupai Gorge where human ancestors left footprints three million years ago. We also liked the two nights’ camping, made particularly special by the parade of elephants feeding near our tent and the star-studded night sky. 

 

We confess that our reactions to the two cultural excursions are complicated.  On the one hand we appreciated the knowledge, openness and generosity of spirit of the local guides and the local people to whom they introduced us; we find ourselves talking about those visits as much as about the spectacular wildlife; and we know that the villagers derive financial and other benefits from tourists.  On the other hand we felt intrusive and awkward. Having come to Africa in part to see wildlife that is not caged in a zoo, it sometimes felt as if we were looking at people, who – though not caged – were being presented to us for whatever entertainment or edification we chose to derive.  Perhaps there is no way out of this dilemma when visiting a country challenged by the tension between preserving indigenous cultures and addressing widespread poverty.  The cultural tours were certainly informative and we recommend them despite our discomfort. 

 

Thank you, Dennis, for making this an extraordinary experience for us.  Also thanks to Athuman, our driver, for his quiet competence, and to Gabriel, our cook, for producing traditional African dishes that made the camping part of the trip even more special.

 

Deborah and Lynette