I was born in 1968, raised in the Middle East and spent seven years in the British Army before a series of fortuitous events led me to the Okavango Delta in Botswana. Elephant Back Safaris was to be my home for the next seven years and it was there that I qualified as a professional safari guide while developing a deep passion for and understanding of elephants. Those years with the elephants remain some of my most treasured memories.
But change is always good for growth and in 2001 I swapped elephant in the Okavango for chimpanzee in the Mahale Mountains of Tanzania. These were happy days, living in a camp on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, each day spent in the forest with the chimps, guiding and learning the intricacies of great ape behaviour. The journey continued east in 2003 to the vast Selous Game Reserve, Africa’s largest protected wilderness and home to some of the most real walking safaris I have ever led.
A professional guide since 1993, I now lead private custom made safaris to Kenya, Tanzania, Botswana, Uganda, Rwanda, Namibia, Zambia, South Africa and Ethiopia. Exciting, original safaris, into remote areas require knowledge in the planning, expertise in the execution and an experienced support system in backup. My job is to provide all three elements and my partnership in two of the top safari outfitters in East and Southern Africa today ensures this. They are:
www.kerdowneysafaris.com and www.passagetoafrica.com
My odyssey has taken me the length and breadth of the Continent. Personally I have been fortunate enough to track mountain gorillas, climb Kilimanjaro, get a private pilot’s license and drive from the Cape to Cairo and back, but professionally, the opportunity to help guests get to Africa, awaken their senses and to discover life in the bush continues to be wonderfully rewarding. It is those ‘real’ moments that retain the passion for me; walking off the beaten path, tracking big game on foot or sitting silently by a waterhole. Exhilarating, humbling and inspiring, this is what going on safari is all about. Now is always the right time to visit this awesome Continent. From your first zebra sighting to riding elephants; tracking gorillas or chimpanzees to swimming with dolphins; canoeing big rivers, climbing big hills and walking through pristine wilderness; Africa is so diverse you can spend your life seeing it and like all good things it needs to be shared.
Sandor Carter