Meet Abdallah and Raphael – Albatros East Africa

With offices in both Arusha, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya, Albatros East Africa operates as a true regional DMC. Their offices are small, making your clients a name, not just a number. You and your travelers can expect personalized service as well as impressive reach and buying power. These attributes translate in to truly special, high-value safaris for guests. Albatros operates exceptional FIT/custom safaris as well as high-quality, high­-value scheduled group departures. They offer both driving safaris – they own their own vehicles and have talented, passionate guides on staff – and fly-in safaris in both Tanzania and Kenya. The team’s focus is on designing unique safaris featuring a variety of properties, often a combination of independently owned camps/lodges, along with those from property groups, giving your travelers a chance to see the very best of East Africa customized to their interests and preferences.

Get to know two of Albatros’ excellent guides here. Abdallah Waziri Msemo from Tanzania and Raphael Shieni from Kenya introduce themselves below.

Abdallah Waziri Msemo is a guide for Albatros East Africa in Tanzania

My name is Abdallah Waziri Msemo, born in the Pare mountains adjacent to Kilimanjaro Mountain, where I was brought up and completed my education.

I have been working in the tourism industry for the past twenty years. At the start of my career in 2002, I worked for Stanford University as the organizer for their ‘Home Stay for Students’ project. This was great opportunity for students to stay with local people in their homes, which was a unique experience for the students. During that time, I also had a chance to host large groups of students that came in cruise ships from the US.

Since 2004, I have been working as a driver guide with lots of passion and enjoying my work. The most beautiful place I like to take my clients is the Serengeti National Park. It’s one of my favorite places because the area provides high ecological niches, offering varying habitats which means it can accommodate many animal species. It is arguably Africa’s premier park in terms of animal density and animal variety, as well as having incredible scenery and differing terrain. It is always great to visit this park with our guests as it never disappoints our clients making it a great ambassador for Tanzania.

I have been working with Albatros since 2008 and feel the above story could not have happened without Albatros East Africa. Albatros is not only a workplace but also a training college as the company has been offering and conducting training to its staff – in doing so it provides the guides knowledge and confidence in service delivery. Albatros also recognizes health as a key thing in service delivery that the workers and their families have access to better medical services.

I look forward to hosting more clients in Tanzania and showing them this special country that is my home.

Raphael Shieni guides for Albatros East Africa in Kenya

I was born in Ololulung’a village in Narok County in 1976. I started primary school very close to my home where I walked every day. As a boy I looked after my family’s livestock which was a lot of fun. Back then wild animals roamed freely close to our village and I had a lot of interest in their behaviour.

After high school, I trained as a driver/guide in Governors’ Camp in Masai Mara where I did my bronze level exam. Afterwards I passed my silver level exam and have exceptional knowledge our national parks, wildlife, birds, and some common trees and flowers of Kenya.

Naturally the Masai Mara is my home and therefore love this park and it is a place that never disappoints. However, since joining Albatros, I have had the opportunity to visit all the other parks that Kenya has to offer. What has been particularly exciting has been to get to know the Laikipia area of Kenya. I have to say that it is quite incredible how these conservancies work so hard to preserve the farming and wildlife interaction and try and work in harmony. This area is so varied and the scenery is quite incredible.

I have done a lot of family, group and photography safaris in our parks and reserves and strive  to make every safari a dream come true, filled with a lifetime of great memories. Through my guiding work I am actively involved in encouraging local communities to mitigate human-wildlife conflict by improving their livestock management practices such as planting live fences such as “Kei-apples and acacia trees” which are good in preventing soil erosion and are very beautiful.

I am married with three beautiful daughters.