This Months Highlight:

LONGITO

PENINJ CAMP

NEW DESTINATION SINYA

BIRDING IN NORTHERN TANZANIA

December 2000
September 2000
August 2000
June 2000
Kibo Builds School House

Dear All,

Just in the middle of our busiest High Season ever, we get in touch again with our clients and friends to update them about Kibo activities.

Northern Tanzania like the rest of East Africa has been affected by severe drought as the long rains of the "Masika" in April and May failed this year, turning the landscape into yellow earlier than usual. These dry years following wet ones occur periodically in East Africa and have immediate effect in the people and wildlife.

The first to feel the lack of rain were the crops of maize, staple diet of the majority of the Tanzanians that began to dry up by the beginning of the dry season in June, just when the plants were not even more than 30 cm. tall, situation that can force the country to import big amounts of the commodity in the coming months.

The Maasai and other pastoralist tribes began their search for grazing land earlier than ever and saw their lands invaded by herds arriving from neighbour Kenya where the situation is really serious. Amazingly, these Kenyan Maasai have been welcome by the local Maasai that regard them more as brothers in trouble rather than competitors for scarce resources.

However, in the same land where domestic livestock suffers the effect of the drought the wild animals prosper apparently unaffected and zebras, gazelle and other wild herbivores look in healthy condition close to skinny herds of cattle. Their adaptation to a harsh environment capable of offering periods of plenty and scarcity make them less vulnerable to the lack of grass and water.

In Serengeti the big herds of wildebeest and zebra began to march west and northwards at the beginning of May crossing the Grumeti River at the end of the month, to reach the Sand River into Maasai Mara early in June. Scattered showers in Lobo, Northern Serengeti, have attracted a big amount of wildlife, just to the area where we have set most of our mobile camps of the season.

In Tarangire the concentration of wildlife along the Tarangire River is higher than in previous years with huge families of elephants with babies chewing the bark of every Baobab in search of minerals and big herds of wildebeest and zebra that do not venture too far from water, giving excellent opportunities to the resident lions to make their day. Game viewing during the season in Tarangire has been excellent with continuous sightings of leopard and even wild dogs.

One evening, thirsty elephants decided that our water was of better quality that the salty one from the river and visited our Camp to finish one by one the water left in the showers while our clients where enjoying dinner in the mess tent. The event was followed by a race to take the best pictures and the elephants posed like Movie Stars dazzled by the flashes of the reporters without showing any sign of disturbance.

The situation in Southern Tanzania, however, is absolutely different, not experiencing the same drought than in the North, as early this year was affected at a certain extent by the torrential rains that hit the South of the African Continent.

The demand for Southern Tanzania is increasing and Kibo will be soon ready to develop a Medium Camp Special Departure including the jewels of the South, Ruaha, Mikumi Selous and the Udzungwa Mountains .

LONGIDO
In our support to the Local Communities Kibo has continued visiting areas like Longido. Just in the north of Tanzania, about 15 kms from Namanga, Kenya border, the local Maasai have started a Cultural Program to attract foreign visitors and generate revenue that could help them to improve their life conditions. The activities include the climbing of the Longido Peak, bird watching and the visits to "Bomas" always escorted by local Maasai guides who lecture about culture, the birds, the animals and the traditional medicinal use of trees and plants.

Memories of a life time will come to the minds of a group of our clients that was invited to the celebration of the arrival of the new warriors at Kimokouwa and spent the whole day singing and dancing with them in a ceremony that lasted until late in the night.

PENINJ CAMP
At Kibo we are always ready to accept challenges. And setting a Luxury Camp at Peninj for a team of Spanish Archaeologists and 13 international volunteers funded by Earth Watch was more than that.

During more than 3 weeks we run a camp in a remote and logistically difficult area, at a distance of about 300 km. from Arusha, only reachable by 4WD vehicles after along drive of more 10 hours on a rough and dusty road.

For those not familiarized with the Geography of Tanzania, The Peninj Delta is situated on the shores of Lake Natron, just down the escarpment of the Great Rift Valley and only a few kilometers from the Kenya border. Featuring an spectacular landscape dominated by huge extinct volcanos: Ol Doinyo Sambu, Shombole, Gelai, Kerimasi or the still active Ol Doinyo L' Engai (The Mountain of God for the Maasai that inhabit the area), the archeological importance of Peninj was first discovered by Richard Leakey when a jaw of Australopithecus Boisei was found in 1.964.

But the site was soon abandoned until in 1994 a multidisciplinary team from 2 Universities of Madrid and Barcelona led by Dr. M. Dominguez, reopened the site. Since then and with the logistical support of Kibo Safaris the young archeologists have been excavating the unique Humbu Formation, between 2 and 1'5 million years, which contains fossils of animals, stone tools and the evidence of the hunting activities of the hominids that roamed the area in prehistoric times.

Keeping the Camp running in such a harsh environment was a task that only a few are able to undertake and we at Kibo are feeling very proud of our contribution to the success of the Campaign Peninj 2000 that will bring, without doubt, a crucial advance in the knowledge of the evolution of our species.

NEW DESTINATION SINYA
Always ready to offer new African Experiences to our clients Kibo is targeting a new destination:
Sinya. Just in front of the snow capped Kilimanjaro there is an area of outstanding beauty, that the Maasai call Embussel and has remained virtually unknown until today.

Flood plains, hills, acacia woodland and a memorable landscape of Mt. Meru and Longido Peaks give life to one of the most beautiful, pristine, wild areas of Northern Tanzania. Africa "Par Excellence" always presided with the colossal Kilimanjaro showing the Western Breach, the Shira Plateau and the sharp ridges of the Mawenzi It is an arid land that elephants used to migrate to and with the stopping of hunting in the area the elephants are visiting and lingering.

The African Wildlife foundation is involved with this project to try to keep the hunters out and for a change to help tourism work for the benefit of the local people. Kibo is making this ecotourism project work for the animals, local people and of course our clients. Activities include walking safaris, game drives in open 4 x 4 vehicles and cultural activities with the local Maasai that are delighted with our presence and always ready to invite our clients to their "bomas" and celebrations.

We will offer luxury or medium camping here anytime as a pre safari on our regular departure safaris or for custom safaris for those who want the privacy and wildness that Sinya provides. At the moment we have 3 excellent sites available for the exclusive use of Kibo and further plans to build a Luxury Tented Camp with huge tents and an attractive design are on their way.

We will keep our clients updated about our progress.

BIRDING IN NORTHERN TANZANIA
Northern Tanzania is known all over the World for its outstanding beauty, its spectacular landscapes and the most famous National Parks of the African Continent together with the greatest concentration of large mammals in our Planet.

Places like Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro Crater or Kilimanjaro are evocative to anyone of incredible numbers of animals. But when advertising the attractions of Northern Tanzania many forget to mention the rich bird life that hosts which could be enough to attract visitors and not only an addition to any Safari.

Tanzania boasts a bird species list of 1038, the third biggest in Africa. Eight of the 10 families endemic to mainland Africa are present: Raptors, plovers, parrots, turacos. bee-eaters, barbets, starlings, weavers, pipits and sun birds are well represented. Kibo Safaris is offering 2 Special Departures in March and November 2001 for those mainly interested in the Ornithological wealth of Tanzania.

Led by Arnold Makinda and Kevin Mlay, excellent Kibo guides specialised in ornythology, our safari will visit some of the most interesting areas in the country focusing into different habitats and ecosystems. This is a safari for keen naturalists, for people interested in something more than viewing wildlife from the comfort of their vehicle.

Apart of the usual game drives in 4WD we will walk with our binoculars in the Acacia woodland and plains of Sinya, the Mountain Forests of Arusha National Park and Ngorongoro, the Baobab country in Tarangire Nat. Park and the Rift Valley Escarpment at Lake Manyara in search of the most interesting bird species.

See you soon,

Your friends at Kibo