We went with Matt Lloyd-Sim, owner and operator of Far and Away Safaris.
The powers that be say that the best time to visit Masailand, Ngorongoro Crater, the Serengeti Plains, and one of the most famous places of all, the old Divide Gorge, “The Cradle of all Mankind,” begins in December and runs into January and February. This is because of all the great migrations that occur each year with the vast numbers of wildlife moving during their migrations to greener pastures and larger waterholes. How true it is…as long as the rains come early!
In December Niki and I decided to go to Masailand and hunt for some of the giant Cape buffalo that come off of the mountains and out of the National Parks. Normally there are not a lot of buffalo in general but the buffalo that are found are huge old duggaboys that can have spreads up to 50 inches and beyond. In addition to these great Cape buffalo there are also wonderful East African plains game animals like Lesser Kudu, Gerenuk, Fringed-eared Oryx, Thompson’s Gazelle, Grant’s Gazelle, East African Impala, Zebra, White Beard Wildebeest, Ostrich, Waterbuck, Reedbuck, Lions, Leopard, and many other species.
This trip was special in itself but really what placed the crown on this trip is the fact that my parents Jack Sr. and Mary Claire Atcheson were our special guests on this trip to beautiful Masailand. My parents brought me to Africa for the first time in 1976 and since that time I have been fortunate enough to visit the dark continent many times, this being my 25th chance to make footprints on the African Continent.
Along with my parents was another special friend of mine, Jack Drew from Lewistown, Montana, who has come to Africa with us many times as well. These folks are all in their mid 70’s and they were all concerned about the arduous travel it takes to just get to Tanzania, not considering the mountainous terrain of Masailand in general.
We are very proud of how they all did on this incredible trip and thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it. There is nothing more important than the value of family and the attribute equivalent to my parents being such great supporters to all of us is the power of a very humble and gracious reciprocation that they greatly deserve. A visit to Masailand is more than a hunting trip. It is an experience in the culture of the Masai people who have survived here with very little change in all this time. We hope you enjoy the pictures posted below as we traveled throughout Masailand in mid December of 2006. If you have a dream pursue it – time waits for no one and by the time you decide to go with your family and loved ones it may be too late. As Jack Atcheson Sr. so wisely said many years ago “Go now while you are physically able!”
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