Claude Shitindi

Claude is from the southern part of Tanzania, an area called Mbeya and he is from the Nyiha tribe. This tribe is known for being warriors and elephant hunters and they also extend into the country of Zambia. Claude has been a professional driver guide since 2003, starting out by conducting walking safaris and night drives at a camp in southern Tanzania.

In Claude’s own words, "Since I was a little boy, I was so in love with nature and even today I am really passionate and I approach my job with great enthusiasm. I would like my guests to know that East Africa is a huge region consisting of five independent countries. If there is a problem in one country, people should not think it is a problem in Tanzania. We are a very peaceful country filled with kind and proud people."

Claude has three favorite animals all for different reasons. He loves termites, giraffe and elephants. Termites are one of the most well organized creatures on earth and Claude finds their social teamwork amazing. He loves the grace and elegance of the giraffe and elephants are dear to his tribe’s history and culture. Elephants are active all day long, so there is always something to watch and understand.

One of the most unusual things Claude experienced occurred in the northern Serengeti. While on a game drive, he came across a Giant Eagle Owl, the largest owl in Africa, also called the Verreaux’s Eagle Owl. The owl was in a tree with a kill of a giant rat, which weighed about 1 kilo (2.2 pounds). The kill appeared to be too large and too heavy for the owl to consume, but they stayed to watch it consume the entire rat.

In Tarangire, Claude came upon a small white bird that had the call of a Rattling Cisticola, but it was totally the wrong color and clearly the sound was coming from this particular bird. After checking his bird books, he came to realize they were seeing a very rare albino rattling Cisticola!

One of the most amusing things he witnessed occurred in the Crater. While watching hippos in one of the pools in the Crater, they saw a wildebeest running wildly toward them, with his mouth open and breathing very heavily. About 30 feet from the vehicle, the wildebeest collapsed to the ground, alive but obviously exhausted. Shortly, they noticed a lone hyena running and walking toward the wildebeest, clearly just as tired as the wildebeest. About 5 feet from the wildebeest, the hyena dropped to the ground as well, to rest before finishing his chase and kill. But, while the hyena was resting, the wildebeest jumped up and ran “like a plane taking off on the runway”, going faster and faster. When the hyena realized his prey was gone, it was too late to chase successfully and this was another case of a predator not having a successful hunt!

Raphael Mollel

Raphael is a Maasai from Arusha town, what we refer to as an Urban Maasai. He has been a professional driver guide since 2006, completing certificate courses for Advanced Training at the Mount Meru Tour Guide program.

Raphael’s favorite animal is the honey badger. The honey badger is an unusually aggressive and fearless carnivore. Raphael appreciates the honey badger because it will back down from nothing and is known to invade beehives, attack cobras and even are able to eat tortoise by penetrating their shell with their strong teeth. In fact, they are even known to attack vehicle tires if they feel threatened by cars. Although primarily nocturnal, the honey badger can be seen at dusk and dawn. The honey badger has a reversible anal pouch (like the hyena) and can emit a horrendous odor, which is thought to actually calm bees when they are attacking a hive. But, it interests Raphael equally that one of the first perfumes that cost a lot of money in Ethiopia was made from the glands of honey badgers!

One of the most unusual and exciting things Raphael witnessed was a fight for dominance between two bull rhino in the northern Serengeti. His clients watched for more than 30 minutes as the two bulls fought each other, with the larger bull winning in the end.

Vincent Liechy

Vincent is from the Luo tribe in Musoma. He has been working as a professional driver guide for more than 10 years and holds a diploma from the Professional Tour Guide College in Arusha. Vincent has additional training from the Advanced Course held at Ndarakwai Ranch. Vincent loves the night sky and the noises from animals at night; he refers to these sounds as the music of nature. He is passionate about showing his guests the best Tanzania has to offer, not only by spotting the most interesting wildlife, but also by discussing all aspects of his country and listening to his interests and perspectives from his guests as well.

Vincent’s favorite animal is the bat-eared fox because of its unique hunting technique. Their enormous ears serve a purpose and they are able to locate underground sounds of various insects, spiders and beetles – their primary food source. Vincent loves to watch the bat-eared fox hunt, swiveling its large cupped ears, like radar.

One of the most exciting things Vincent saw occurred in the Serengeti near the Grumeti River. There he saw a lion and a crocodile pulling on each side of a zebra kill; one trying to pull it into the water and the other trying to pull it out of the water. The winner? The crocodile, who was able to not only pull the carcass, but the lion with it into the water. The lion ran quickly from the water and into the bush.

Another exciting siting was in Tarangire National Park, when Vincent saw wild dogs hunting for the first time in his professional life. There is a pack of wild dog that frequent Tarangire when they are denning, but they are very rare to see. On this occasion, he watched with his clients as 10 wild dogs hunted a wildebeest.

One of the funniest things he saw was a pride of lions working together to kill a buffalo. Before they were able to bring down the female, a large group of the herd turned to chase the lions. They chased all 6 lions up into an acacia tree and continued to graze nearby, forcing the lions to stay in the tree likely for a few hours!