Matt_from_England

Eben, can I trouble you for some details of this area west of Kili? I've seen your slide show which interested me alot. What kind of wildlife other than the obvious elephants are present? Any lions or leopards? Do you know of a website which deals with this park? I really like the idea of no-one else being around. Can anybody else chip in? Seems this is somewhat of a low traffic area.

Thanks in advance,

Matt

Patty

I've been in the West Kili area but not as far north as Kambi ya Tembo. West Kili is not one park but rather a series of private ranches and concessions. We camped and did a horseback safari on Ndarakwai Ranch (organized through Makoa Farm). You can find my pics here - http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=...&y=-dle0fg

A partial list of species we encountered on Ndarakwai - elephant, giraffe, wildebeest, zebra, impala, eland, waterbuck, baboon, vervet monkey, spring hare, various species of mongoose. I don't think there are many lions, if any, on Ndarakwai. We were told there are leopards though we didn't see any.

You can find some info on www.kiliconservancy.com

Patty

Sorry, that should be www.kiliconservancy.ORG

Matt_from_England

Hi there Patty,

Many thanks for your swift reply. That really looks like something, especially the horse riding. I climbed Kili in 2005 and visited Northern Circuit parks but should I return this year I want something different (aside from staying with my Maasai friends in Manyara).

Did you find that it was value for money? And likewise would you recommend staying there?

The views from the horse riding put me in mind of Hemingway's "The Snows of Kilimanjaro." And the orphaned elephant like something from John Wayne's "Hitari!"

Matt

Matt_from_England

Another Q Patty,

What level is your riding skill? The assesment form at Makoa farm seems very daunting. I've ridden previously but not to the level of having my own kit. I can manage a trot okay Worth taking a few lessons in advance would you say?

Thankyou,

Matt

Patty

I would say we're low intermediate riders according to their descriptions. Are you traveling solo or with others? If you have 2 or more, you can organize a private horseback safari like we did. That way we could have the length and pace of rides tailored for us. What we did was basically the 4 day wilderness ride with an additional night on the farm at the end. Most of the time spent activing game viewing is at a walking pace.

If you're interested, I'd write to Elisabeth at Makoa Farm with a detailed description of your riding abilities and she would be able to tell you better than I can what would be suitable. Lessons or just some trail riding in general would be a great idea if you don't ride regularly. We spent about 5 weekends prior to our trip riding at a nearby ranch. Also because this allowed our muscles to get somewhat conditioned to riding, we were not sore at all after riding for 4 days in Tanzania.

It was a great experience and totally different than viewing game from a vehicle or even on foot. It was also incredibly private. The days we spent on Ndarakwai, we didn't encounter any other visitors.

Hope this helps.