The Dry Season has just about ended in Tanzania and I had the privilege of doing my favourite Southern Tanzanian safari - Ruaha, Selous and Katavi National Parks.

Katavi
You know my love for Katavi! Serengeti is my main love, but Katavi is certainly my mistress! Chada Camp was as wonderful as ever and I believe is the most perfect camp in Africa. As usual the dry season viewing was outrageous. Hippos and crocs up to their usual anti-social aggression and endless fights, great bird watching, Elephants and good leopard. But this year was all about Lions. Also sorts of fascinating behaviour, kills and it seems every lion in Katavi has decided that the place to hang out is trees. Made for many interesting and slightly odd photos.

Ruaha
Ruaha continues to impress with its massive variety of antelope, enormous elephant population very good cheetah viewing (including tiny cubs) which is always a nice surprise. The variety of game is amazing and just sitting by a water hole watching the procession of animals coming and going is priceless.

Selous
The often overlooked Selous also proved to be a special experience. Spending time on the lakes and Rufiji River adds a completely different dimension to a land based adventure. I don't know anywhere in Africa when you can get better close-up bird viewing as you can often drift in quietly to within meters of even the tiniest king fisher. Add elephants swimming in the lake, lions munching on Gnus and Wild Dogs and you can imagine we were very happy campers!

10% Discount
Nomad (Chada, Sand River and Mahale Camps) have just offered a 10% discount for any 2011 safari if booked by Jan 31st. As well as a 40% discount on internal flights so there is no better time to book.

With the rains on the way we're all preparing for our Green Season safaris so I get back to Serengeti.

Summer has arrived early in New Zealand and we're having the most stunning, photographically beautiful weather.

Viv and I have just returned from the most fantastic 2 week NZ safari with so many highlights which gives you a great idea of what a wonderful experience a tour of NZ will be.

Golden Bay
Over the Takaka Hill Golden Bay continues to thrill. Endless seals returning to all their breeding grounds ready to drop their pups and then start the whole exciting breeding process again! 3700 breeding pairs of gannets with chicks at the far end of Farewell spit. Add another 8 – 10,000 waders flying in from the Arctic Circle and you've got an incredible eco tour of the spit.

Kaikoura
Meanwhile Kaikoura was at its very best. We took over Kincaid Lodge, backed by the snow-capped Kaikoura Mountain Range and looking out to the Pacific Ocean, where we were superbly looked after by Jessica & Greg Frost. Our Kaikoura adventures included a fantastic sperm whale sighting, unbelievable Albatross viewing, seeing 7 species including 3 types of Wandering, Salvin's and even a Royal. The highlight of our time would have to be swimming with dolphins. We managed to get in the water with over 380 dusky dolphins, most of them mums with young. It was a stunning sunny day with incredible visibility and the dolphins were very playful. One of my best days ever with dolphins.

Kiwi Culture
To add variety we also visited several vineyards, weird and wacky cafes, and the exceptional Omaka Aviation Museum (www.omaka.org.nz) while staying in out of the way boutique accommodation throughout. Kiwi viewing and the best blue cod and chips on Stewart Island made for a perfect safari!

Extended Offer
After such a good time with NZ's wildlife we've decided to extend our wildlife offer until March 31st. Book a minimum of 10 days fully guided or self drive holiday with us and we give you $ 600 worth of free activities – Whale and dolphin watching and the Farewell Spit Eco tour.

A reminder that the Rugby World Cup is only 280 days away, so a good time to book as accommodation is disappearing fast and we still have tickets available to a few games. Let us know how we can help.

Don't forget to join us on Face Book where we are constantly updating all our news and adding many exciting photos of our NZ tours and African safaris.

Looking forward to seeing you all on safari soon.