Meet our Driver Guides
A truly outstanding safari company is a reflection of a strong sense of teamwork between sales, office operations and the bush experience. The policies and vision of the tour operator will dictate the approach and experience in the bush. For example, if you travel with Unique Safaris, which has unlimited daily mileage in the bush, the driver guide is free to explore all areas of the national parks, despite the distances, to find the most interesting and secluded areas for game viewing. If you select a company that has a mileage limit, the best driver guide will still be limited in terms of where he can drive to and what you might experience.
At Unique Safaris we pride ourselves on our focus and commitment to education and conservation. All of our driver guides have a passion for wildlife and conservation management and thoroughly enjoy the opportunity to not only find wildlife, but impart their knowledge and wisdom about how each element comes together for the vibrancy of an eco-system. Unique Safaris is a native-owned safari company and all employees feel equal pride in the culture and history of Tanzania. Our driver guides equally enjoy sharing information about all aspects of their country, hoping each guest returns home with a love and appreciation for this unique country in Africa.
Meet three of our driver guides each quarter!
David Chando
David is a member of the Bena tribe, from the southern Highlands of Tanzania, near the large town of Iringa. This is a sub-tribe of Hehe, one of the largest tribes in Tanzania. David originally traveled to Arusha to complete veterinary school near Arusha. He specialized in domestic animals (goat, sheep and cattle). He worked as a government vet, doing artificial insemination for cattle, upgrading local cows with more exotic breeds for increased milk production. Although the job sounds good, it was actually a poor paying job at that time and he first had to work in national service to repay his debt for the government education as a vet. He was stationed near Arusha and it was here that he lived in the bush and around the wildlife and he discovered how much he enjoyed learning about the wild animals, as opposed to domestic animals. He became a driver guide in 1990 and specialized in the northern Serengeti. He joined Unique Safaris in 2003. David attended Mweka College of Wildlife and received his wildlife certification.
“I have seen many things on safari, but one of the most amazing things was watching hyena hunt and kill a baby giraffe killed in the Serengeti. The mother was trying to defend the baby even while it was being eaten by the hyena. She stayed about one full day after the baby was killed trying to get the baby to stand again. I actually thought this might have been her first baby and she tried in vain to protect her first baby. She guarded the baby and wouldn’t let the hyena eat for one day, but then she finally gave up and left and the hyena ate. Sometimes what we see is at first sad, but this is the cycle of life.” I have also seen a kill right behind my vehicle when a lion killed a wildebeest crossing a valley near Ndutu (in the Serengeti). People like to say that lions kill when it is cool (mostly at night), but this was a the heat of the day. Animals kill when they are hungry and when they think they can be successful. The interesting thing about safari is that you never know when something amazing might happen right in front of you. |
 Joshua W. Monah
I am a Maasai and I was born and raised on the southern Maasai steppe (Arusha Region). I started seeing my first wild creatures around my home place, particularly while I was with livestock away from home, taking them for grazing far from home passing through thick and dense vegetations, where lots of wildlife i.e. Dik diks, gazelles and African hare are abundant. Gradually this aroused my interest for wild animals and nature since childhood.
After my secondary education was completed in 1993, I underwent several trainings on wildlife and allied studies, tourism as a whole. I joined the tourism industry as a guide in 1999 with one of Arusha’s large company but didn’t attain my ambition of exploring deeply into aspects of nature. I learned that Unique Safaris valued a comprehensive guide who wanted to educate people about all aspects of an Eco-system so I made my way to Unique so as to reach my goal.
Wildlife in their natural habitat is so interesting to watch especially when you’re patient. There’s a lot to learn from their behavior and activities during the time when are active. For example, one time while carefully observing ostriches with their chicks I noticed how fiercely they defend their young in that within the same area there was a rhinoceros with its calf feeding. After approaching closer to the ostriches, all the ostriches stopped and circled the chicks, one of the females ran in a full speed to the rhinoceros and due to the rhino being poor in sight, she did not easily recognize the offender and ran away from it – a rhino running from an ostrich!
As a naturalist, I am trying all I can to make sure that any sort of nature is protected so as to conserve it for the current and future generation to benefit. |
 Pokea Nnko
Pokea is a member of the WaMeru tribe and grew up in Arusha town. Pokea has been a driver guide since 1993 and joined Unique Safaris in 1995. Pokea holds a wildlife certificate from the Arusha College and a special training program that is offered through the Tanzania Tour Operators Association (TATO). Pokea is an excellent birder and has the patience and great eyes required for spotting many different species.
Pokea’s favorite animal to watch is the cheetah. He especially likes to watch the cheetah hunt, not only because it is so fast, but because the cheetah hunts so gracefully and kills so respectfully.
The most amazing thing that Pokea saw in the bush happened in Ngorongoro Crater when he found a large pride of lions and the clients started taking pictures. Shortly, one male lion jumped on his vehicle’s bonnet and lay down to sleep on the hood of the vehicle. Pokea knows that a lion can sleep for hours, so he was anxious to get the lion to move and not settle in for a long nap. Pokea started to turn the vehicle engine on and off, but the lion would not lift his head even. So, Pokea had no choice but to start to drive very slowly with the lion on top of the hood. It took almost a full 5 minutes, but finally the lion dropped down off the car!
Pokea also recounts a story when they were at one of our mobile camps in the Serengeti National Park and a pride lion with cubs came in to the camp looking for water. There was water in the mobile camp, but inside of large cans by the mess tent, so they kept biting into the cans to drink the water and then they left after being satisfied. |
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