Acknowledgements

First of all, I want to thank God for his goodness to provide an opportunity for the inception of Topcats Safaris. Going on safari, meeting new people and making friends, especially from our valued clients is being a lifetime joy.

I must acknowledge the help from my parents, Mrs. Mary Wambui and the late Albert Karanja for their love in raising us to be people of character, inherent passion for nature and more so, to be hardworking. My sincere thanks also go my beloved wife, Regina for her inspiration and crucial role in the management and implementation of our strategic plan. Much abiding joy has also come from our sons, Derek and Alex, a cataclysm of our earthly journey and fruitfulness.

I take this opportunity to heartily appreciate all contributions from our valued clients who have been on Safari with us and whose help during hard times brought by the ubiquitous Covid-19 travel challenge. My sincere thanks go particularly to; Linda Van Wyk & the late Derek Van Wyk (North Carolina, USA), Sandra & Kurt (California, USA), Judy Howlett from the UK, Karen Miller (UK). We still owe Laurie Excell lots of gratitude for her support in facilitating the coming of tour groups on Safari in Kenya, Dr. Ron Suen Overcash (Florida, USA) Jennifer & Craig Bishop (USA), Mr. Patrick Nganga and James Wanjama of Nairobi and Joshua Sonkoyo of Kilgoris, Kenya.

My sincere thanks also goes to George Benson ( California USA) for his generous contributions and support. My heart is filled with gratitude for the Late Luigi Gai for his technical support, may his soul rest in eternal peace, many thanks to his daughter Paula Gai and to my friend Roberto all from Italy. I must thank Zewege Deressa of Ethiopia for his expertise and offering a life changing tour of his country which had exciting experiences right from the Omo valley cultural tours all the way north to the city of Addis Ababa.

I can’t conclude my acknowledgements without a thank you note to a friend and client Alex Waithaka with his lovely family, Carol, Colins and Anastasia for being Loyal customers and even standing with Us in the hard times, please feel appreciated enormously!

Special thank you goes to John Nyoro for his contribution and the head of our international relations in the diaspora. Wesley Karanja has done marvelous work on research and development of international relations leveraging on Kenya tourism. I salute you!

I would never have made to climb Mt. Kenya to its 3rd highest crest at Point Lenana without the support of Mark, Joshua, and Mutua. I consider it to be one of my greatest personal adventure activity and hope to go for Mt. Kilimanjaro too. Kindly accept my sincere gratitude.

I want to thank Helen Spiroporous for organizing a safari to Masai Mara National Reserve with Sir David Attenborough, the great BBC broadcating legend. I must remember Lawrence and Lilian Hill for organizing a short gravitational course on skydive at Eroy Municipal Airport in Arizona, USA, what a thrill it was! Jim too was great as my jump master in a 4 and half minutes of that high adrenaline activity. The words i still remember spoken then were, “there are no too many injuries at Skydive, you either live or die”. Thank God we lived and still do.
Let me thank all the team at BBC Natural History at Bristol, UK, Jonathan Scott and Simon King for their outstanding role and presentation of the Big Cat Diary, ooh and Richard North, a very talented cameraman, Mundy Knight, Andy Milk, Andy Byatt, Natasha, and David Breed. Since it is not possible to mention all the team, I hope that you all accept my sincere thanks for the privilege of working with you and for Flamingo Watch and the Big Cat Live, say all of BBC at that time.

I would like to thank Dr. Bruce Patterson of Field Museum, Chicago USA for his enthusiasm for Lions of Tsavo Scientific Project Under Earthwatch International in collaboration with the Kenya Wildlife Service. It was fun learning about lions behaviors both day and night. Knowledge sharing with fellow volunteers on these noble ventures is still a treasure. My regards also go to Alex Nwazo, Chui and all the staff at Gala camp.

I take this opportunity to pay a tribute to the Late Kabochi, a legend naturalist, a great wildlife guide, botanist, herbalist, and snake handler. It is sincere to name him a walking library from whom many read and learned from. RIP Kabochi.

None of the things we are proud of today could have come out better without the training programs provided by the Kenya Professional Safari Guides Association (KPSGA), Kenya Association of Tour Operators (KATO) as a consortium of registered tour operators, Nature Kenya for their contribution in nature conservation and more so, for providing enriching nature walks, birding walks, succulent plain walks and their media posts on expert observation of wildlife at large. We at Topcats Safaris value the National Museum as a heritage center for the people of Kenya and their culture.

I salute Kenya wildlife service for their great contribution to the protection and care of our wildlife especially their park Rangers who risks their lives safeguarding our wildlife and to the departed heroes and heroines souls Rest In Peace ,a thank you note also goes to the Kenya Forestry service for their steretegic plan to have kenya forest cover rise to 10% from the previous 6.25% in 2010. I appreciate the Government of Kenya for infrastructural development which has directly benefited us in the tourism sector,banning the use of plastic bags, promotion of peace, and cohesion amongst its people.

My good graces go to Pastor Justus Mureithi for his encouragement and prayer support, and to Moses Gachari, for his spirited fight and gifts to people affected by Covid-19. Keep up the good work. Last but not least, to Felix who supports my team and continues to be a valued friend. The legal counsel of Roselyn Kabata is appreciated and her help in drafting documents important to us was a commendable contribution.

Our sincere request is for you continue your support by visiting again, bringing or sending new visitors and helping us to forge partnerships that will keep our heads above the waters