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A Nomad Safari, Tanzania 2025, Part 2 April 17, 2025

The Serengeti Safari Camp

After a long, but interesting drive through spellbindingly beautiful scenery, we turned around a few yellow barked acacia trees and arrived in camp. Again, in true Nomad style, it was lovely to be greeted by a friendly team, led by Good Day and Nicko. On arrival, we were handed a cold flannel – even though it was a good kind of dirt!

The tented camp before us was incredible. Providing this level of comfort in such a remote setting is an amazing achievement. Hot water could be summoned for our showers, and ice for our gin and tonics, served around an open ‘bush TV’ fire. These camps are taken down and moved every six months.

 

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No matter what condition Joel’s Land Crusier was in when we stepped out at the end of the day, it was always immaculate when we got back in the next morning, a miracle considering the thick layer of black cotton soil we inevitably brought with us. Equally impressive was his ability to drive through it – mostly sideways.

At 5:15am the next morning, we set off for a well organised Serengeti Balloon Safari. It was quite a windy take off which was exciting! Our pilot Jonathan was brilliant and after a few bounces we floated peacefully for around 40km. It was incredible to see the ground from above as the sun rose. We landed a few hundred meters beyond a largish heard of migrating wildebeest. Such an amazing sight! It was definitely a great way to get an idea of the 14,763km2 of African savannah below. It made me appreciate how well Joel had done to find the cheetah the previous day. This really is an overwhelmingly vast landscape.

Heading back to camp for a well needed siesta, we passed an abandoned or lost wildebeest calf, its umbilical cord still attached. That night, heavy rain freshened the air. Early the next morning, Toto, the askari, told us it was taken by the four lion brothers from the Mastki pride we had heard roaring close by. I wondered about the calf’s fate.

Lamai

At 5:45am, we set off in our once again immaculately clean Landcrusier for our last camp, Lamai, in the northern Serengeti. It was a 10-hour drive to the north east. Despite being in a National Park, there were so few vehicles which made it feel even more special. It was such an interesting drive.

Lions roll in elephant dung to mask their smell; this reminded me of a man I met in the Ardenne who advised me to cover myself in horse manure if I wanted to get close to wild boar. I wasn’t sure if he was joking, but he might have been on to something! The lions were fat and there was no sign of the wildebeest calf …

Halfway there, we stopped under a tree for another of Nomad’s beautifully-wrapped delicious picnic lunches. An elephant cow wandered from the river to the road with purpose. It knew the cars would make fine dust for removing flies. What else did this elephant know about us?

We drove on to the town of Tugumu to refuel and continued northeast for two hours. The further we drove, the smokier the area became. We could see smoke rising in the far distance, making it seem like the whole place was on fire.  The air was thick, hard to breathe, as if the oxygen had been burning away. Entering the northern Serengeti, we realised the fire controlled grass growth, making way for fresh young grass shoots to feed the imminent arrival of the wildebeest migration. The new grass absorbs nutrients from as deep as 15 feet below the rich volcanic soil, strengthening the newly-born calves via their mother’s milk.

I am still unsure about the pros and cons of this conservation activity. It benefits Tanzanian wildlife conservation via tourism revenue, especially the influx of photographers, but it comes at a cost to the smaller animals and insects, and of course with pollution. From my point of view as a sculptor, one benefit was being able to see whole animals, their feet no longer hidden in long grass. These were the details I needed to see. The visual impact of photography shot against a sooty background was also striking; some of the land was still smouldering. Burning also brings rain, which thankfully arrived later, clearing the smoke near the Mara River.

Lamai

Nomad camps are all completely different with a sympathetic variety of architectural styles to fit the varying landscapes. Lamai, designed by Michalis Boyd, blends effortlessly into the Kogakuria Kopjes. The friendly staff, led by James and Laurence, again welcomed us so warmly. Lamai has a wonderful view stretching all the way to the Kenyan boarder. It was great to sit in the bar and discuss the ins and outs of bush life with the guides.

The waitress, Lucy, had the most radiant smile. Nomad had employed her as a young girl, after she had escaped from FGM to a charity refuge called Hope for Girls and Women, in the northern Serengeti region. Nomad works closely with the Hope Centre to provide vocational experience for young girls in their northern Serengeti camps. During the low season, Lucy returns to Hope to teach the young girls about tourism, conservation, and wildlife. The next day, we planned to visit and learn more about this deeply-moving charity. You can read about it in this separate blog – Visiting the Hope Centre for Girls and Women Tanzania.

We met a lovely American mother and daughter on safari together, whom we joined for supper. It was great to debrief on what we had seen during the day, although I did get Nikkor lens envy!  The mother, a keen 76 year old photographer, gave me a great tip to put a piece of double-sided tape inside a lens cap to catch the dust.

We also briefly followed the life of a female leopard with cubs. The first evening, we saw her heading back to where she had hidden her cubs, as they do, for the day. It was wonderful to watch her move about her daily business. Leopards are one of my favourite subjects. The next evening, we found her up a tree with a freshly killed Oribi. Joel positioned the Landcruiser, knowing at some point she would come down. When she did, it inspired a whole series of sculptures in my head! It was incredible to watch the agility of this stealthy predator as she descended the tree. She successfully fed her remaining cub. As we left at dusk, we could hear the nearby whooping of hyenas.

The next morning, we had to leave this amazing place. I was really sad to be going. On the way to the airstrip, we apprehensively checked up on the fate of the remaining leopard cub. To our relief we found her again. I seldom name animals, but this one had to be called Tick. You can see why if you look at her eye in the image.

On our final morning, we had hoped to get the chance to see a hippo out on the water. However, we missed them despite lots of fresh tracks – they were already back in the river. That is the nature of working with animals, nothing is predictable. I had arrived in Tanzania with an idea of the subjects I wanted to research, and hippos were definitely on my list. But the beauty of a research trip is to see what inspires, and it’s always good to travel with an open and flexible mind. The hippo can wait for another day, another trip.

As we came towards the end of this incredible journey, my brain was bursting with inspiration, including animals I’d never seen before such as the Klipspringer and topi. My memory of Tick’s mother climbing down the tree has really stayed with me, and I can’t wait to sculpt it. That was such an inspiring moment, one that I had dreamt of seeing with my own eyes.

As an artist, my inspiration is almost limitless. These plein air research trips fuel my creativity in ways that no book or photography ever could. It is not only the living which inspires me, but the cycle of life – an ancient ebony root which had survived many fires; an ostrich egg fragment washed out of a riverbed; a bleached white hippo skull; a shed puff adder skin; pink quartz. Prim spoke of finding obsidian tools in these areas. Then there was a giraffe leg bone with machete marks, a struggling hippo with both its Achilles tendons cut … so much to think about.

I write this, as we fly back to Kilimanjaro leaving the Serengeti behind us. From above, it is starkly clear how many of us are encroaching on these last few wildernesses. My next thought is of the month-old leopard cub honing its skills as it ‘hunted’ its mother’s swishing tail. The cub dropped its stick, and I could almost hear its thoughts as it weighed up whether to collect it or not. Was it safe? The next moment, it was frozen mid-climb in a bush, nearly invisible. It had also heard the hyenas. The night before, it had also had a sibling …

As an artist I feel privileged to have visited these wild, untouched places which through the efforts of conservation must be protected for future generations. It is rightly forbidden to collect anything. We leave only footprints, carrying home only the memories.

The UK is a busy place of constant motion, with very few undeveloped areas. Wherever we go we are always connected through technology, it’s like a super-advanced termite mound, we are always busy and not necessarily in the right way.

While emotionally overwhelmed by the beauty of what’s below, as I fly back over the Ngorongoro Crater, I think to myself how lucky I have been to visit theses truly wild places to which I feel a strong internal attachment. It is, after all, where we all came from. The word Nomad means “wandering shepherd”. As artists, I hope our wandering serves conservation by spreading awareness, if nothing else.

I’m super excited about the memories in my head. My Nikon z8 will help hone the details. I look forward to getting back into my studio and get sculpting. Some people write, I hope to sculpt some of what inspired me in Tanzania’s untouched wilderness.

Nomad looked after us so well that we had to be told to get out of the small plane at Kilimanjaro airport, not Arusha. We had no idea where the day hotel was, a friendly airport handler phoned the Nomad office who quickly advised, and a car arrived shortly afterwards. The lovely thing about Tanzania is the Tanzanians are so friendly and helpful – we felt completely relaxed wherever we travelled.

I’m a visual person, and I love the non-stop interest being on the ground. I felt very emotional leaving. I love the animals, landscapes, sounds and smells of Africa, and of course its people. As they say, Africa really gets under the skin. Finding a massive elephant footprint on the way for a final bush pee before boarding, did it for me. I was going to miss the colours, the tones, the termite mounds, the tracks, and the cycles of life. Everywhere you look from your feet to the horizon, there’s always something going on.

Nomad were totally fantastic – our safari has been brilliant from start to finish. A very big thank you to their teams, many who remain behind the scenes ensuring such a memorable, comfortable and well-run safari. Also, thank you to Laura is who such a great travel companion and never seems to get frustrated, even when I spend hours studying a burnt piece of ebony …

I will be back.

nomad-tanzania.com

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