TANZANIA: Faded Mountains & Mew Memories

I’m sharing my experience hunting in Northern Tanzania earlier this year, hoping it may provide useful tips or insights for others considering just such a trip. Over the last twenty five years, I’ve been fortunate enough to hunt six different concession areas in Northern Tanzania (whether they be game reserves or game conservation areas etc), which helps me provide both some context of what each area has to offer, as well as how they have changed over time. I planned one trip across two outfitters this year, which turned into two trips due to the weather. Rather than attempt to provide a day by day narrative (I’m doubtful I write well enough to keep that interesting), I’ll lean into some contextual and summary points, and more photographs.

By the numbers:
Late May - Short, five day hunt
Outfitter: Adam Clements
Area: Lake Natron East (north east)
PH: Blake Wilhelmi (exceptional PH)
Game hunted: Buffalo, Bushbuck
Game taken: none
Animals seen: Lesser kudu, Giraffe, Zebra, Wildebeest, Cheetah, Gerenuk, Eland, Imapala, Grants Gazelle, and frankly lots of Masai cattle, goats and donkeys.

Late November - Ten day hunt
Outfitter: Bushman Safaris Trackers
Area: Maswa Game Reserve
PH: Mike Fell
Game hunted: Buffalo, Bushbuck and what the bush provided
Game taken: Buffalo (x4), Bushbuck, Zebra, Topi, Warthog, Thompsons Gazelle
Animals seen: Literally hundreds of elephant bulls, lions and most everything else you see on a PBS documentary about the Serengeti

For a little context, I first hunted in Tanzania in 2000 with Wengert Windrose, hunting Kisigo/Muhesi in the south with Ian Lennox, and hunting Natron in the north with Rolf Trappe. It remains one of my very best trips.

Lake Natron is a fascinating place. The lake itself is a large, caustic soda lake with vibrant colors, ringed by sulfur springs and home to most of the world’s lesser flamingo population. On the west side is the great rift valley wall with a number slot canyon waterfalls, Oldonyo Lengai, an active volcano the Masai call the “mountain of God”, and the Serengeti further beyond that. The south side of the lake has fossilized footprints of both humans and eland they were tracking. How cool is that? To the north is Kenya.

In 2000, the Natron concession went all the way around the lake, and we focused on hunting the very best area within it, the top of Mount Gelai on the central east side. At just short of 10,000 feet, the top of Mount Gelai is a thickly vegetated cloud forest, teeming with bushbuck, and at the time, ample buffalo, a stark contrast to the plains below.

In 2020, I planned to return to Natron and the mountains of Nothern Tanzania, this time with my wife. Life intervened and I made the trip with a good friend. The east side with Mount Gelai was in private hands, so we hunted the west side and Longido with Michele Mantheakis.

A few photos from my 2020 trip:

The area down low near the lake is dry, dramatic and generally has good numbers of gazelles, zebra and wildebeest.

A view to the south, with the outer rim of Ngorongoro crater in the far distance.

On the west side of the lake, the rift valley wall has slot canyons and waterfalls that are fun to “explore”.

There are fossilized human footprints on the south side of the lake, with fossilized eland tracks nearby. Some speculate that it’s actually footprints of hunters stalking the eland.

The buffalo I took on the side of Pinyini. You really work for them here.

Part way up Longido, the environment is dramatically different. It looks like you could find Yoda in here is you hunt hard enough!

The view from the top of Longido, with Kenya is the distance.

It’s always nice to stay in a tented camp.

Sunset from the Longido camp, with Mt Kilimanjaro in the distance.

Wow!!! What an awesome experience!!! Congratulations!!!

Trip of a lifetime right there!

What dreams are made of.

Five years later, and I’m still keen to get back to Mount Gelai. The top of Mount Gelai is privately held with no real marketing or generally publicly available hunts. Adam Clements now has the concession with the northern slopes of the mountain, up to about 8,500 feet. I booked a short hunt there, choosing to focus on buffalo and bushbuck, followed by a little longer hunt in Maswa.

I was fortunate to have an outstanding PH in Natron, Blake Wilhelmi. Blake pre-scouted for buffalo, and we looked high and low whilst there, but frankly there are no buffalo on Adam’s concession in Natron. There are more Maasai, cattle, goats and donkeys every year. The slopes of Mount Gelai, right up the to protected forest zone, have been cut bare and converted to bomas. We also hunted the much smaller Matale mountains in the eastern portion of the concession. It was once a haven for buffalo, but is sadly the domain of cattle, goats and donkeys today.

Adam has a beautiful camp in Natron, with a view of the rift valley wall and Mount Gelai, and a great camp staff. His area still has exceptional lesser kudu and ample gerenuk, but that was the only thing that really stood out to me in terms of game.

The long rains went late and heavy this year is Maswa, and we had to postpone that portion of the trip until last month. We finished our first visit with a trip to the crater and Arusha National park. If you are ever in northern Tanzania, you really owe it to yourself the see the crater. To my eyes, it tops the list of wonders in Africa that includes Vic Falls and Sossuslvei.

Some photos from earlier this year:

The Masaai are a friendly people and live a difficult life, but they have done a poor job of conserving their land. Their pastoral culture and wildlife do not mix well.

We fly camped on the side of Gelai at about 8,000’ to get the best chances at a buffalo. You can see the lake and Kenya to the north in the distance. It’s great place to watch the thunderstorms roll through.

The slopes of Gelai still have their spectacular vista of Oldonyo Lengai, the rift valley wall, and the Serengeti in the far distance. The pictures don’t really do it justice.

I’m convinced Blake and his team can drive that truck anywhere short of the moon. Look how far the front wheel is off the ground.

We looked high and low, just no buffalo. These at the Matale mountains that held buffalo years ago.

There is still thick vegetation, but just too many Maasai goats, cattle and donkeys.

The north east side of the lake has some interesting granite ravines.


It’s “good sport” navigating up and down them at times.

Great write up. I was southeast of there this May. Interesting, the government wants to move the Maasai out of Lake Natron and make it a game reserve for hunting only. More pressure on the surrounding area with the Maasai.

If you are in Northern Tanzania, you really owe it to yourself to visit the crater. Your spouse won’t be offended either.

Buffalo at the end of the rainbow

Arusha national park is worth a visit. It was the Trappe family farm, and the headquarters for the “Hatari” movie.

It’s famous for it’s Colobus monkeys:


The waterfall at Mt Meru is worth a visit too.

Ultimately, this was the only buffalo I saw on Adam’s Natron concession.

wesheltonj said:

Great write up. I was southeast of there this May. Interesting, the government wants to move the Maasai out of Lake Natron and make it a game reserve for hunting only. More pressure on the surrounding area with the Maasai.

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I really hope that is true. I’ve heard that for over five years now, and year by year there are only more Maasai. Many are coming over from Kenya.

This has been a wonderful write-up so far. Please keep it coming.

Wonderful experience and beautiful scenery!

Great images and thanks for sharing the adventure.

Nice buffalo, but the lion got to this one first.

Travel to the far side of the Serengeti and things are very different. Maswa is a truly special place: I think it’s as close to going back to the golden age of East African safaris as one can do today. There are vast herds of zebra, wildebeest and topi, and great numbers of elephants, lions and hyaena etc.

The game is so abundant that there is actually not much challenge in finding it.

The first buffalo we took was this ancient brute.


His front hoofs were squared off, and most of his body bare. The trackers called him the “babu” or grandfather. Mzee indeed.


His right ear was almost cut in half.

The next buffalo was a double lung shot late in the day.

The third buffalo had the biggest bosses.

The fourth and last buffalo we pulled out of the thicker stuff.

Thank You for sharing!

These topi could just as easily be called “giant bontebok”. They have striking coloration, similar to a bontebok, but are just a good bit larger.


On the other hand, the Grant’s zebra there are a bit smaller than a Burchell’s zebra.

I always enjoy hunting bushbuck as well. In the mountains of northern Tanzania they are sometimes almost jet black. Here they were a more typical chestnut brown.

The team seemed most excited by this warthog. It turns out they wanted him for the pot.

Lastly, it doesn’t seem to be a complete trip to east Africa unless you take at least one gazelle. This was a really old Tommie.

The sunsets always seem so beautiful in Africa wherever you go.

The poaching pressure is constant, and counter efforts resolute. We removed a pretty long snare line, with hundreds of snares in total.

There is also grazing pressure from illegal herdsmen that are apprehended. To get their cattle back they have to spend one night in jail and pay a fine per head of cattle. We found these cattle at about 4pm, and the anti-poaching team drove them until 2am to get them to their confinement boma.

With these efforts, the wildlife you see is really amazing.



Maswa even has its own “pride rock”.

To sum things up a little:
- The west side of Natron is likely the best place to hunt the East African gazelles, with Grants, Thompsons and Robert’s all being on the same concession.
- The east side of Natron is great for lesser kudu, and to some extent gerenuk and eland, with even more gerenuk and eland further east in Longido.
- The Masai have done a poor job conserving their land. While it was once legendary, there are few buffalo in northern Masailand today, and the populations in the mountains are so few and isolated that sadly it’s questionable whether they should still be hunted.
- If you are in Northern Tanzania, you really owe it to yourself to see the Crater and other parks such as Arusha National Park.
- Reading some of the history of the Trappe family and early settlers will give you more context of the area you are visiting.
- Maswa on the far side of the Serengeti remains a haven for all manner of game.
- My wife and I prefer to stay at RiverTrees in Usa River on the way in and out. It’s much nicer than Mt Meru Game Lodge or Green Hills of Africa Lodge, is close to the airport, and feels a little more like a safari camp than a hotel.

Happy hunting.

318AE said:

These topi could just as easily be called “giant bontebok”. They have striking coloration, similar to a bontebok, but are just a good bit larger.

View attachment 736206
On the other hand, the Grant’s zebra there are a bit smaller than a Burchell’s zebra.
View attachment 736207
I always enjoy hunting bushbuck as well. In the mountains of northern Tanzania they are sometimes almost jet black. Here they were a more typical chestnut brown.
View attachment 736209
The team seemed most excited by this warthog. It turns out they wanted him for the pot.
View attachment 736210
Lastly, it doesn’t seem to be a complete trip to east Africa unless you take at least one gazelle. This was a really old Tommie.
View attachment 736211
The sunsets always seem so beautiful in Africa wherever you go.
View attachment 736212

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Great report and congrats on your animals! Your report brings back great memories of my 2017 trip to Massailand, the crater and Serengeti NP as well as my November 2023 trip with Mike Fell in Maswa North Game Reserve. I was just texting with Mike earlier today.

How were the rains during your Maswa safari?

Scott CWO said:

Great report and congrats on your animals! Your report brings back great memories of my 2017 trip to Massailand, the crater and Serengeti NP as well as my November 2023 trip with Mike Fell in Maswa North Game Reserve. I was just texting with Mike earlier today.

How were the rains during your Maswa safari?

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It’s a great part of the world.

When we went in May, the long rains had gone late and heavy, and we postponed our trip to Maswa on Mike’s advice, until late November, as Maswa was flooded.

When we returned in November, the short rains had basically failed, and Mike said repeatedly that it was the driest he had seen it in 14 years, as we went without rain day by day.