Let’s go to Chad in 2023 (with Zarek Cockar)

A Scheduled Trip to Chad

Highlights

About this Safari

Dear Adventurers and Explorers:

Chalo Africa is delighted to be sending yet another small-group expedition to the African nation of Chad in February 2023! This will be our fifth year of sending adventure-minded guests to Chad, and with each ensuing year, we get to know this little-known country a little bit better and make the safari a little bit better. We have solid infrastructure on the ground, and we have personally visited each of the places you will see on this trip.

For those of you looking for an adventure, few places could match the wonders of Chad.
 Firstly, almost no one, outside of hard-core safari enthusiasts even knows that Chad offers a first-class traditional wildlife safari experience. In fact, the number of people who visit Zakouma National Park are a few 1000 – compared to the few 100,000s who visit the popular safari parks of sub-Saharan Africa
 Chad offers an otherworldly combination of incredible wildlife with mind-boggling desert scenery – think of the US Southwest on steroids! When we were here in March 2022, we were a grand total of 12 visitors (guests + crew combined) in a park of 60,000 sq. kms! Is it possible to ask for a more privileged safari destination?

 Last but not least, we are living in a different era now, where people are more thoughtful, more curious, more informed – and the vast majority of you want us to design more experiential holidays, and you would like to know that your travel will contribute to the greater good of our planet. This safari does all that and so much more.

This trip will be led by our favorite Pan-African wildlife guide, Zarek Cockar. Zarek is an accomplished and erudite Kenyan guide, with deep experience in Zakouma. His insights into the flora and fauna of the park will raise your safari experience to another level altogether. Here are a few of his comments from his previous trips to the country that has him “smitten” (Zarek’s own words!):

– Every drive that continued after dark was absolutely superb, and we were able to find a wide variety of species from Greyish Eagle Owl to Striped Hyena, and so many Genets and Civets that we stopped counting.

– Tinga camp is the perfect base for an experiential, down-to-earth safari that focuses on unpretentious, high quality wildlife-viewing.

– African Parks’ operations in Zakouma are very impressive, and their conservation successes and community relations are to be highly commended.

– Our experience with the elephants, watching approx. 300 cross a river over the course of almost an hour, was nothing short of surreal. It was one of the most emotional, beautiful wildlife experiences I’ve ever had as a guide, as the elephants’ clear caution and anxiety slowly drifted away and turned to elation and joy as they played in the water. Even the old bulls couldn’t help but trumpet and spray water with complete abandon into the air. . . As we all watched, utterly rapt, not a word was spoken, and a few tears were shed as we thought of Chad’s tumultuous history and the extent of suffering these elephants had endured over the last 4 decades. Their behavior and social structure was not something we often see in the historical conservation fortress parks of East Africa, and I, for one, was completely absorbed in that moment. The buzz stayed with me for days afterward.”

We do hope that you decide to join Zarek on this extraordinary adventure.

Zarek, Sangeeta and Team Chalo Africa!

Price – 12,960 Euro per person.
Dates of Safari – 19 February to 6 March, 2023

We have negotiated the same rates for this safari in 2024 as well, so we encourage you to book early and make your plans well in time. The dates for this trip in 2024 are still TBD, but will be similar to the 2023 trip.

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