In 1998, my husband Ben and I went on our first safari to Africa, a custom safari for two organized by a large well-known operator. I had indicated my interest in wildlife photography and we were fortunate to have Jamie as our guide at Mala Mala in South Africa. He had just been to London to receive the Eric Hosking Award in the "BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year" contest. After visiting a number of other camps and African countries, our experience with Jamie stood out as truly special because of his vast knowledge of wildlife (including birds), his photographic skills, his obvious intelligence, and his gregarious personality. Since that first trip to Africa, which was followed by a trip to East Africa, we wanted to return to Southern Africa, and I contacted Jamie to see if he would arrange our trip and travel with us as our photo guide. We have subsequently been on a number of safaris with him. His contacts, knowledge, high standards and communication skills would be hard to match.

Becky Field - Minnesota (www.rebeccafieldphotography.com)

In places that are still untouched by the incursions of man there is a wildness that touches our soul and evokes a desire for a time more simple, less harried and less hurried. Of all the wild places that I have been I feel this most acutely in the still unsettled parts of Africa. It is not a sense of peace but an awareness of a time when man lived within the environment that Nature dictated. An environment that he was powerless to change. It is more a recognition that man is a part of the Natural Order and not the architect of the worlds destiny. Perhaps it is a recognition of the place of our beginning.

Jamie has shown me many of those places, he knows the soul of Southern Africa as only a native son can. His love of wildlife, photography and his experience as a Game Ranger equip him to introduce you to those sacred places. I travel with him in complete confidence that the places he has selected to show me will not only provide great photographic opportunities but will also nourish the soul.

Dr Ken Ford - Austen, Texas

Thanks for the great pictures. We just got home about an hour ago - 16 hours Joburg to Atlanta, 5 hours Atlanta to San Francisco - about 25 hours with layovers. Ruth and I had a wonderful time. It was a joy getting to know you and your lovely wife Kerese.Thank you for making our trip the experience of a lifetime - your knowledge of the bush is amazing and you have a real talent for imparting it to others with enthusiasm. Now I can't wait to tell our friends about our adventure.

Cheers, Brian
Brian J Cantwell, Edward C. Wells Professor
Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Stanford University

I just wanted to drop you a quick note to let you know that we are safely home and the trip was WONDERFUL from start to finish. You planned it perfectly for us and we enjoyed every minute. We are pretty jet-lagged still - the 39 hours of travel to get home took its toll, but when I recover I will write more and maybe send a photo or two. But to give you an example, they started calling us the "lucky Americans" - we saw 7 different leopards at 4 different camps, a rhino from about 10 yards, two lion prides feasting on fresh kills, 3 lion cubs of only a month old (even our guide didn't know there were three, as no one had seen the third one before) and much, much more. The only thing we never saw was a cheetah which we tracked for 2 afternoons and just missed, although the tracking process was fascinating. We fell in love with Botswana, the people were so terrific to us.

Anyway, it was great and we had no problems - a couple of flat tires in the bush and a broken fuel line on one of the planes which necessitated sitting on a log by the airstrip for a while until they sent a rescue plane after us - but those things are expected on a trip like this. Hope all is well with you and the family.

Clare Kogler
Jordan Whitney, Inc.
Tustin, CA 92780