MEET OUR SAFARI DRIVER GUIDE: Abisai Zablon Mbasha
ABOUT ABISAI
I realized that I wanted to become a guide in 1998 by taking biology as a subject in secondary school. The subject taught me about living organisms and included sections on botany and zoology. I then set my target that I would study more about wildlife and distribute my knowledge to other people.
After I completed school, I went to tour guiding college for two years and learned about customer care, wildlife management, geography, historical sites, national parks, game-controlled areas, game reserves, tour guiding ethics, and first aid. After that, I joined a driving and mechanics college and secured my certificate. To digest what I learnt in college, I did my field study around all the parks of the northern circuit like Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Serengeti, and the Ngorongoro Crater for the next two years.
My knowledge and experience about ecosystems improved once I became a driver guide – I acquired a deep understanding of the different routes, locations of accommodations, animal behaviors and movements, customer service, and driving skills.
My favorite thing about being a guide is that I always get to go the extra mile to make sure my clients are satisfied, and their expectations are met. I love to answer their questions, taking good care of them and exposing them to our country’s wildlife and culture. In the end, I really appreciate when my clients acknowledge that my effort has met their expectations. However, it can be difficult to meet some of their expectations based on the season they come. Driving in either the dry or the wet seasons each have their pros and cons, so expectations have to be changed based on when they choose to visit Tanzania.
I chose to work with Easy Travel because they are a company that actively listens to their staff and their customers. They truly want to do the best job, so they constantly make sure they are communicating properly, and they are well-organized, and supportive of the community.
People in my community have described me as a good and cooperative person. I think it is because I participate in community duties and I’m always helpful to anyone who needs it. I’m married to my beautiful wife, and we are blessed to have four children. We are thankful to have 19 years of marriage and are living in Sakina, northwest of Arusha.
Favorite Park in Tanzania
My favorite is Serengeti National Park. Serengeti is more than 14,763 km2 and is very famous for the Great Migration of the Wildebeest, as well as an abundance of big cats. All of these facets make this park the most popular park in Africa.
Favorite ANIMAL
The lion is my favorite because they are the kings of the savannah. Lions play an important role in the wilderness because through their hunting, they allow other scavenging animals like the hyena to survive.
Favorite Food
My favorite food is Ugali / Polenta. This is a kind of African food that is made up of maize flour. I like Ugali best with green vegetables and yoghurt.
Favorite Hobby
Driving is my hobby and I like to drive different kinds of cars. I developed this interest during my childhood. My uncle would take me from our village into town and taught me how to drive his car.
Favorite TV Show
I like to watch the news on local channels. Through the news, I get to know information and events that are happening in our country in economic, social, and political aspects.
Favorite Singer / band
I like gospel songs, and Rose Mhando is my favorite singer. Nibebe is my favorite song from her.
10 Questions with ABISAI
Tanzania is a country that encourages and implements heritage and environmental protections for all stakeholders so that people can have a genuine experience when visiting. There is a large emphasis on the protection of the environment and sustainability of our incredible natural resources – both landscape and wildlife. An experience of a lifetime is ensured in Tanzania and therefore it must be on any client’s bucket list for holiday getaways.
I recall one moment that I saw in Serengeti where a pack of hyenas ambushed a zebra and killed it by crowding it. Normally, hyenas don’t suffocate the prey when hunting, they hunt by ambush with no specific formula on how to make a kill. Often, they don’t make kills at all and rather scavenge their food from larger predators who make kills, like lions.
Day 2: Drive to Manyara National Park for a game drive and overnight stay.
Day 3: Drive to Serengeti National Park for a game drive and overnight.
Day 4: Full-day game drive in Serengeti and overnight.
Day 5: Half-day game drive in Serengeti then drive to Ngorongoro for overnight.
Day 6: Half-day game drive in the Crater and drive to Tarangire.
Day 7: Game drive Tarangire then drive to Airport for departure flight.
This is my favorite tour because Manyara is a very small national park which is good to start with and followed by the bigger parks for a greater experience of spotting wildlife.
Easy Travel is the best choice for guests because they truly listen to customers’ needs and act accordingly. They make sure that each trip is right for the people who are going on it and provide professional service the whole way through. They have lots of experience doing safaris and are amongst the best-organized tour companies in the country.
From June to March is the period that I prefer because during this time, all the roads in the parks are accessible and I can drive routes without difficulty. Within this period is the Great Wildebeest Migration in the western corridor of Grumeti. The Mara River crossing in Northern Serengeti can be experienced from late July to October too.
My favorite part is Mara River crossing in Northern Serengeti because I can see how nature works by revealing a huge display of the ecosystem and ecology in action. The process of the wildebeests exchanging their ecosystems between Serengeti in Tanzania and Masai Mara game reserve in Kenya is an outstanding natural event that only happens in one place.
Many clients think our wild animals are stationary or located in a certain area in such a way if clients want to see a specific animal, there is a singular route to take. But when they arrive, they find our wild animals have no specific location or movement schedule and they live in the natural environment where there are no fences.
My favorite culture part of Tanzanian culture is the Maasai tribe because they have interesting practices that can’t be compared to any other tribe. For instance, they don’t have a formal religion, but rather worship natural landmarks like trees, caves, and mountains. They also have ancient practices like polygamy, coming-of-age ceremonies, and jumping competitions.
Jambo wote – Hello to all!
Habari gani – How are you?
Hakuna matata – No worries!
Our guests will be surprised to learn about my secret talent of comedy. I am a comedian, and I’m constantly making jokes on our trips. Not sorry!
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