Claire Scott

Having grown up in South Africa it’s in my blood, whether I am visiting the Cape or Kenya, it feels like coming home!

Specialist countries: Namibia, Zambia, Tanzania, Malawi, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zanzibar, Kenya

Claire is in the UK and usually available:

UK time: 10:00-18:30 Mon-Fri, and occasional Saturdays.
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More about Claire...

Having grown up in South Africa it seemed the right thing to get into the African safari industry when I moved to the UK with my husband in 1990. I worked for various tour operators in London over an 11-year period selling South Africa as well as Zimbabwe. This allowed me to go "home" and get my Africa fix whenever I could! I then started at Sunvil Africa, as it was then known, in 2001 – and have been here ever since!

I cover most areas of the Expert Africa programme, having travelled and researched extensively throughout Namibia, the Cape, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania and Kenya. I currently focus on selling Zimbabwe, Zambia, South Africa, Namibia and Malawi and also help the East Africa team with Tanzania and Kenya enquiries.

My most memorable offbeat trips were In 2008 when I travelled with a colleague to the remote Lake Eyasi and Lake Natron areas in Tanzania, and in 2011, we travelled to the rarely visited parts of northern Zambia, visiting Kasanka, Shoebill and Shiwa Ng'andu. More recently I have been back to Northern Tanzania visiting the Ngorongoro Crater and Serengeti. It was great being back in Africa following the pandemic.

My passion is Africa, you can smell it as soon as you step off the plane - especially after the rains!

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Claire's most recent Africa trips

Tanzania

Jun 23 14 nights

This was my first trip to Northern Tanzania in 10 years and it was lovely to be back. This time we visited some new camps as well as visiting some old familiar ones. After a night in Arusha at the beginning of the trip we spent a night near Karatu, and then headed up to the Crater for a few days. Following a very successful morning trip into the crater, including seeing 3 rhino in the distance as well as lions and elephant, we headed into the central Serengeti. After a few nights here we headed to the quieter eastern Serengeti and finished up to the northern Serengeti. We were too early to experience the migration along the Mara River, but it wasn't far behind. We had some rain, both around the Crater and also in the northern Serengeti. It was great being here without the crowds and the game did not disappoint. We finished off our trip with a balloon flight floating above pods of hippo in the Mara River and even saw three cheetah from the air!

I visited: Arusha, Ngorongoro Crater, Serengeti Migration Area

Kenya

Oct 19 12 nights

This was my third trip to Kenya in 2.5 years and first time to Amboseli National Park. It was surprisingly wet for the few days we were there but the bird life was amazing and we still got to see quite a few elephants. Mount Kilimanjaro (Kili) also made a brief appearance on the morning we were leaving! From here we went back to the Maasai Mara to visit a few new camps as well as some in the quieter south-eastern corner of the park we hadn't visited before. The game never disappoints here. From here we headed to the coast and spend a few days at Lamu Island and then down to Diani to see whats on offer there. Lamu was definitely the highlight of the trip - it's so unspoilt and has loads of character

I visited: Nairobi, Amboseli and the Chyulu Hills, Maasai Mara Conservancies, Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya Coast

Kenya

Nov 18 13 nights

Following my first trip to Kenya in June 2017 I visited again in November 2018 travelling this time with my colleague Olivia. We spent a day in Nairobi visiting the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage as well as the Giraffe Centre. We then flew up to Samburu and visited a selection of camps here, including tracking black rhino from Saruni Rhino Camp. We then flew to northern Laikipia starting in the Liosaba Conservancy and worked our way south finishing at Solio and had a lovely morning in the Aberdare National Park.

I visited: Nairobi, Northern Kenya, Samburu National Reserve, Laikipia

Claire's previous Africa research

Country	Arrived	Length of stay	Areas visited
Kenya	June 2017	14 nights	Nairobi, Laikipia, Maasai Mara Conservancies, Maasai Mara National Reserve
Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe	December 2016	16 nights	Windhoek, Etosha National Park, Caprivi Strip, North-west Kalahari & Panhandle, Chobe National Park, Victoria Falls, Hwange National Park
Namibia	May 2016	13 nights	Windhoek, Swakopmund & Walvis Bay, Namib-Naukluft National Park, NamibRand Nature Reserve
Namibia	November 2015	13 nights	Windhoek, Central Highlands, Damaraland, Etosha National Park, Okonjima Nature Reserve
South Africa	May 2014	13 nights	Cape Town, Hermanus, Grootbos Private Nature Reserve, Swellendam, Knysna \| Garden Route, Wilderness \| Garden Route National Park, Plettenberg Bay \| Garden Route, Tsitsikamma \| Garden Route National Park
Malawi, Mozambique	November 2013	15 nights	Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve, Shore of Lake Malawi, Majete Wildlife Reserve, Malawi Interior, Liwonde National Park, Manda Wilderness, Likoma Island, Lilongwe
Tanzania	July 2013	13 nights	Tarangire National Park, Lake Manyara National Park, Ngorongoro Crater, Serengeti Migration Area, Arusha
Zambia	September 2012	13 nights	South Luangwa National Park, North Luangwa National Park
Zimbabwe	June 2011	13 nights	Mana Pools National Park, Matusadona National Park, Bulawayo, Matobo National Park
Zambia	April 2011	15 nights	Northern Zambia, South Luangwa National Park, Lusaka area
Zimbabwe, Zambia	August 2010	9 nights	Kafue National Park, Victoria Falls, Hwange National Park
Tanzania	June 2008	10 nights	Arusha, Lake Natron, Serengeti Migration Area, Ngorongoro Crater
Zanzibar, Mozambique	May 2008	10 nights	South-west Zanzibar, Quirimbas Archipelago, East Coast Zanzibar, Northern Zanzibar, Stone Town
Zambia	May 2007	10 nights	Lower Zambezi National Park, South Luangwa National Park
Tanzania	October 2006	11 nights	Tarangire National Park, Lake Manyara National Park, Ngorongoro Crater, Serengeti Migration Area
Malawi, Mozambique	September 2005	13 nights	Nyika Plateau, Shore of Lake Malawi, Liwonde National Park, Likoma Island, Manda Wilderness, Lilongwe
Malawi, Mozambique	September 2005	13 nights	Nyika Plateau, Shore of Lake Malawi, Liwonde National Park, Likoma Island, Manda Wilderness, Lilongwe
Zambia	July 2004	12 nights	South Luangwa National Park, Lower Zambezi National Park, Livingstone & Victoria Falls
Zanzibar, Tanzania	October 2003	6 nights	Nyerere National Park, Pemba Island, Northern Zanzibar, East Coast Zanzibar, Michamvi Peninsula, Stone Town
Namibia, South Africa	May 2003	8 nights	Southern Namibia, Luderitz, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Fish River Canyon
Zambia	October 2002	8 nights	Kafue National Park, South Luangwa National Park
Namibia	April 2002	14 nights	Windhoek, Skeleton Coast & Kaokoland, Central Highlands, Damaraland, Etosha National Park, Bushmanland

Zambia

Contributor 5th edition 2012

In April 2011 an Expert Africa colleague and I helped update the Lusaka section of the Zambia guide. We spent a day visitng guest houses and hotels and It was great to get a deeper insight to this interesting African city.