Micato Musings

Posts Tagged ‘holiday’

The Hottest Travel Tip of 2012 – No Tips at All!

  • January 26th 2012

Picture it.

You’re lying on a chaise lounge on your tent’s private veranda, without a care in the world. Spread before you is the Maasai Mara, a green landscape that undulates into infinity. A herd of giraffe nibble on acacia trees in the middle distance. Elephants are silhouetted against the sinking sun. Hippos chortle and bubble in the waters of the Mara River below.

A waiter comes to bring a bucket of champagne. You thank him with a smile. And you didn’t have to move from your chaise lounge to find your wallet…

Earlier that day you said goodbye to your driver guide in another game park—that “thank you” was said with a hug and an exchange of emails. You’ve promised to send him the video you took of him dancing and singing a song in Swahili.

You sip from your chilled glass, sigh and stretch to the last rays of sun warming your face. You haven’t had this few worries since childhood.

And your wallet? That’s been tucked away in a series of room safes since you arrived in Africa—you haven’t had to use it once.

Sounds too good to be true? It is… unless you’re on safari with Micato. This year, in a practically unprecedented move, absolutely every tip is covered on your safari.

Yes, we’re covering ALL tips, even those to your Micato safari directors, drivers, and guides—something virtually no other tour company in the world does. Also included are gratuities to the Micato concierges as well as the staff you’ll meet at every lodge, camp, and hotel during your safari. 

So imagine it. Throughout your safari, every “thank you” will be said not with cash, but with a handshake or a hug. In other words, friendship—the best thanks of all and with Micato, the only thanks necessary.

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Safari Holiday Gift Guide

  • December 22nd 2011

The Micato offices are buzzing with holiday cheer. From New York to Cape Town, Nairobi to New Delhi, everyone is talking about the best gifts for their loved ones and each other, and the highest item on the list is always safari gear.

We don’t mind admitting it: we’re a bit obsessed with safari life. Khaki clothes, Bushnell binoculars, lightning-fast cameras and Africa-themed books are usually the things that we end up exchanging during the holiday season. Red Maasai shukas (cloth wraps) also go over well –the color is festive as could be.

Fortunately we have the Micato Safari Store, which stocks everything from multi-pocketed photographer’s vests to head-lamps to Teva sandals. But there are other presents we love to give too, including handy convertible pants and cozy fleece vests, camera filters and lenses for the shutterbugs in the family, travel games, maps and even safari-handy apps for technophiles.

Our gifting lists have grown by leaps and bounds. We had just hunkered down to organize our lists and share them with you. Then we heard the news: BBC Travel had beaten us to the punch, crafting a superb gift list with a piece de resistance of a hot-air balloon safari with Micato.

As BBC says: Best. Gift. Ever. Well, it’s hard to argue with that.

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Micato’s Africa, Through the Eyes of Three Journalists

  • July 28th 2011

In the flurry of activity that surrounded our eighth Travel+Leisure “World’s Best” win, we were remiss in sharing some truly great recent articles on the Micato Safaris experience. Here are a select few that highlighted for us some of the rare and precious glories of safari:

  • Great, great, great, great migrations. The pure pleasures of an African safari are legion, but Sarah Gold focused in on one in particular in her article on the World’s Great Animal Migrations for Travel+Leisure – the magnificent wildlife. The Wildebeest and Zebra Migration that she highlights is one of the most spectacular sights on the planet:, whether you’re witnessing thundering herds galloping across the plains or hundreds of creatures pausing for a morning snack on the savannah. Being there for this timeless journey from August through September makes visiting Kenya and Tanzania an automatic line on anyone’s bucket list.

 

  • Love on an exotic holiday. Luxury and the romance it yields is the focus of Rick Shively’s piece on Africa as a honeymoon destination for Recommend. The timeless romance of Africa has been well documented, from “The African Queen” to “Out of Africa,” but even without cinematic proof few would argue the point after waking beneath an ethereal canopy to coffee delivered on fine china and a view of the sun rising over Ngorongoro Crater, or from behind Mt. Kilimanjaro.

 

  • Friends in a foreign land. When Becca Hensley went on a Micato bespoke safari for San Antonio Magazine she found what she expected – wildlife in abundance and unbridled luxury. But she was surprised and thrilled to discover that it was the people of Africa that made her trip glow, especially her ever-present guides, who became friends. More than just unparalleled game spotters, her guides were also founts of information on topics ranging from photography to poaching, stars to social systems, and their conversation was as refreshing as the cocktails they mixed. In Hensley’s own words:

“They are everyman’s gateway to transformative African adventure. In short, they give us the gift of the bush. And that’s something worth squealing about.”

 

And there you have a trifecta of safari delight, brought to you by three lovely writers. Thank you Gold, Shively and Hensley for bringing the joys of safari to life with your words – we look forward to seeing your readers out in the bush for the real thing!

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Micato’s Top Ten Africa-Inspired Beach Reads

  • June 9th 2011

“Until the lion has his own storyteller, the hunter will always have the best part of the story.” – African Proverb

The hot sun on the pavement reminds us that long summer days of lounging on the beach are fast approaching. When it comes time to pack our Micato duffel bags for a weekend of surf, sun, and seafood, we always remember to include sunscreen, a hat, a towel, and of course, our favorite beach books.

A good beach read is evocative of exotic lands, all the better to get you into the vacation spirit. Our favorites, naturally, are Africa-centric – not only is it our beloved home, but Africa is also a land of nearly endless summer weather and boundless adventure, which recalls the excitement of the summer vacations of childhood.

Whether you are bound by luxury train for the ethereal beauty of Namibia’s Skeleton Coast, flying in an elegantly appointed private jet to the golden and turquoise glory of Zanzibar, or simply taking the jitney up to the Hamptons, the following books will get you in the proper summer spirit – a time of year when anything can happen!

Out of Africa

Isak Dinesen

This best-selling classic is even better than the movie, although admittedly lacking the draw of Robert Redford. The tale of a naïve young woman who leaves Denmark to start a coffee plantation in East Africa, Out of Africa is a moving love story inspired by affection for Kenya and its people.

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West with the Night

Beryl Markham

Markham describes her childhood in Kenya and her experiences as a bush pilot in the 1930s with rich and vivid detail. West with the Night is a stylish and engrossing story of a unique life well lived.

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The Flame Trees of Thika

Elsbeth Huxley

Her parents were pioneers in Thika, Kenya, and Huxley was along for the ride. This tale of creating a home in the wild is lavishly and lovingly drawn.

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The Tree Where Man Was Born

Peter Matthieseen

Reading Matthieseen’s travels is almost as good as travelling yourself. As he journeys through the Africa of 1972, we join him in Maasailand, Ngorongoro Carter, and the Kenyan Highlands. Crouch in the bush with him and bear witness to the majestic animals living out age-old dramas mere feet away – just remember to look up from the book and check on the kids from time to time.

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The Collector of Treasure

Bessie Head

Head is widely hailed as one of Africa’s great writers, and this collection of stories is further proof of her power with the pen. Her eloquent vignettes of village life in Botswana revolve around themes of family, prejudice, and power.

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Africa, A Biography of the Continent

John Reader

This one is a must-read for the history buffs in the family, but Reader is so talented that anyone could enjoy this book. He masterfully weaves a lively tale of the continent, from the most ancient cultures right up to modern times.

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North of South, An African Journey

Shiva Naipaul

Nobel Prize winner Naipaul paints a sharp portrait of Africa as it was in 1979. As a brilliant and provocative observer, he meditates on the various peoples he encounters in Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia. This is hands-down the best, most insightful book we’ve read about race relations in Africa.

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The Green Hills of Africa

Ernest Hemingway

A wonderfully readable tale of hunting in the Lake Manyara area of Tanzania. An account of the classic safari experience from one of the original safari aficionados, The Green Hills of Africa also contains some of the best writing about the land itself.

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Heinemann Book of Contemporary African Short Stories

Chinua Achebe & Lynn Innes

Short stories, with their requirement of a limited attention span, are perfect for a family vacation. This single-volume introduction to the vast literature of Africa is our favorite collection, containing stories spanning the last 37 years.

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The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency

Alexander McCall Smith

This one meets all the quintessential beach book requirements: funny, well-written, and evocative of both relaxation and adventure. This is the first of twelve books in Smith’s female detective series of the same name, so if his delightful descriptions of the culture of Botswana appeal to you, snap up the next book, Tears of the Giraffe.

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