Hapana Nyoka

Totally awesome. Brilliant. Amazing. NASCAR-worthy. Cunning. Eagle-eyed. Compassionate. Attentive to detail. Adventurous. Great sense of humor. I don’t know if I can come up with enough adjectives to adequately describe Fulgence’s performance. He has an amazing ability to get you to the absolute perfect viewing spot, somehow maneuvering so that you can see the animals better than anyone else. And when you are ready to move on, he knows to wait just a little longer and, sure enough, that sleeping lion with stand up, stretch, and walk away or the leopard will decide to come down out of the tree. His NASCAR-style driving got us to the African wild dogs right before they disappeared and got me to the wildebeest river crossing just in time. I know that everyone says their guide is the best at finding animals but I am convinced that his ability to spot animals is unparalleled. He would see animals that I had a hard time finding even with the binoculars.

In regards to going above and beyond: We discovered, as we were leaving Arusha, that we had left the plug adaptor for our converter strip in the outlet at the hotel. We resigned ourselves to it being lost permanently but Fulgence contacted the hotel and arranged for the adaptor to be brought to us. Asante sana.

And, finally, his sense of humor. When you spend 10-11 hours a day in a vehicle with someone, it certainly helps if you have a similar sense of humor. Ours meshed completely and, although I am not 100% sure I want to be remembered as Mama Nyoka, just hearing that will immediately remind me of what a wonderful time we had.