Janee McKinney, is Fishabout’s African Safari Specialist and Travel Consultant.

My fascination with Africa began as a young child. Growing up in San Francisco in the 50’s my family and I visited Fleishhacker Zoo many times and the Lion House was my special attraction. To hear the lions chuff and roar during feeding time was a thrill and remains so today to hear them calling to one another on the African plains. Also one of my favorite things to do, way back then, was to accompany my parents to visit the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park, just a short distance from our family home. The building housed the Steinhart Aquarium, the Morrison Planetarium and the Natural History Museum. The latter featured the African Hall which absolutely fascinated me and through my insistence we visited it quite regularly. Here were classic dioramas depicting real places with recognizable landmarks and the African animals within the scene were frozen in time amidst the African landscape. I wanted to step inside the dioramas, and be able to have it all come alive. Some day, I dreamed, I would go to Africa and encounter the actual animals moving serenely around the beautiful, expansive landscapes.

Travel is only the distance between your dreams and the reality of actually being there. A plane ride whisks you away to this distant land and its promise of a new and much awaited memorable experience. And now Africa has become my passion. My first trip to Africa was in October 1989 to Kenya. Now ten trips later, experiencing Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Namibia, the continent still calls me back and I await the next adventure. In the meantime, I plan and customize itineraries for Fishabout clients that also have the dream to envision an African Safari in their future. For most people it’s “The Trip of a Lifetime”, but for many others they just can’t get enough of the experience and they keep going back again and again. Every trip is different, just as every game drive has a new highlight. It gives me great pleasure to hear my clients come back with fulfilling stories about their experiences and how over-whelmed they were with the whole African ambience that I chose for them.

For a sampling of the numerous places to go and things to see in our favorite five African countries may we suggest a few of the best. In East Africa you may visit northern Samburu or the fabled Masai Mara along with Amboseli in Kenya, or in Tanzania see the ancient Baobob trees in Tarangire, Lake Manyara, the legendary Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater.

In Southern Africa there’s the renowned Okavango Delta, northern Linyanti/Savuti Channel area and the Moremi reserve teeming with wildlife and luxurious bush camps in Botswana, along with the exclusive private reserves of Sabi Sand and Mala Mala boasting “Big Five” game viewing in South Africa.

In Namibia, “The Cheetah Capital of the World” you can stop by and visit the Cheetah Conservation Fund near Otjiwarango to experience first hand the remarkable work of founder, Dr. Laurie Marker, chosen as one of Time Magazine’s “Heroes of the Planet,” along with Etosha and the spectaular rock formations of Damaraland where you’ll possibly see the rare and endangered Desert Elephants.