Business lesson from my Tanzanian safari

Sometimes it pays to hire an expert, even when you could do things more cheaply yourself. An expert can get you to your destination more quickly–and with less hassle–than if you travel by yourself.

My family could have reserved hotels and done a drive-yourself excursion on our recent safari through northern Tanzania, but I hate to think of all the yelling and screaming that would have resulted as we fought over “Which way shall we go?” and “Is that a lion over there?” Instead, we landed a great guide. He navigated unpaved roads with panache while spotting wildlife that was barely a speck on the horizon when I first looked in the direction he pointed. He also shared his in-depth knowledge about the animals. I got very lucky and spotted one leopard before the guide, but even that freak sighting wouldn’t have happened without him because he knew where the leopards hung out in Ndutu.

Think about your strengths and weaknesses before you decide whether to do a project yourself or hire a consultant. The boost in your productivity and pleasure could make the consulting fee worthwhile.

Highlights of my Tanzanian safari

This next section is an un-businesslike recap of the highlights of my safari. Stop reading now, if you’re looking for business insights.

Arusha National Park

An enormous flock of lesser flamingos was the highlight of this park. It sounded like rain when they took off. Animals that I saw in Arusha, but not elsewhere included colobus monkeys and blue monkeys.

In the city of Arusha, there’s a clock tower that represents the center of Africa, if you measure from north to south. There was an election-related demonstration around this tower while I was on vacation, although I wasn’t around then. Apparently the ruling party offered big bucks for a concession by the local winner from the opposition. People gathered around the tower saying “No, you can’t steal our vote.”

On the road to the next park, I saw many Masai people carrying water jugs because of a water shortage. If they weren’t carrying plastic jugs, they were carrying sticks and driving cattle.

Tarangire National Park

This is where I first saw wildebeest and zebra walking and running single file. Apparently they think this is the safest way to proceed, so that only one member of the group is exposed to danger.

The cheetah is a beautiful animal. It has a black teardrop will help you tell it apart from leopards.

I saw my first baobab–also known as an upside-down tree–outside the entrance to Tarangire National Park, not far from where my husband bought me a Masai beaded necklace.

From the Tarangire Safari Lodge, there’s a great view of a river where many animals, especially elephants, gather.

Lake Manyara National Park

Lake Manyara is where I saw my first hippos and water buffalo. If you look quickly, you’d think the hippos were big rocks sticking out of the water. The park supposedly has lions that sleep in trees, but I didn’t see any.

From Lake Manyara, I went to Ksima Ngeda Tented Camp, which is located at the end of a rocky, dusty road. One of the owners joked that it was too bad that the president had visited the region by helicopter because the road would have been improved if he’d come by car. I experienced a trip highlight at the camp. I asked if they could stick a candle on a plate for my uncle’s birthday. Boy, was I surprised when the entire staff brought out a specially baked cake and then danced around our table singing “Happy Birthday” in English and Swahili.

Not far from the camp we visited a tribe of hunter-gatherers. It’s a tough life. The women dig tubers with pointed sticks and gather berries that taste like radishes. The men are lucky if they bring down some small game. They hunt with bows and arrows, as you see in the photo where our guide is trying his luck.

Ngorogoro Crater

The crater is massive. This is where I saw six hyenas unsuccessfully try to steal a kill from two lions. This was also the closest we got to spotting a rhino. Our guide pointed to a pin prick that might have been a rhino, but we weren’t able to track it down. Later on, I heard another guide say that he prefers Americans to Europeans because Europeans will ask for a refund if they don’t see a rhino.

En route to Serengeti, a few boys with white patterns painted on their faces ran up to our Land Rover and hung on yelling “pikcha, pikcha,” asking for money for a photo. Apparently they were coming from a circumcision ceremony.

At Ndutu Lodge that evening, I enjoyed sitting by a campfire while some of the staffers fed an acacia mouse. The stars are very clear when viewed from the African bush.

The next morning, we saw lots of impala. Our guide said, “If you see impala, that means there must be some cats.” Within 10 minutes I spotted my young leopard lying in front of a log.

Serengeti National Park

We saw lots of lions in Serengeti. Most interesting was watching a pride of about 14 lions in various stages of feeding on a buffalo.

More photos


RIAs, are you ready for plain language in your Form ADV “brochure”?

Registered investment advisors, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) wants you to communicate more clearly with your clients and prospects.

The way you write and share your Form ADV Part 2, commonly known as the “brochure,” will change under a new proposal by the SEC.

Here’s the part of greatest interest to advocates of better writing, as described in the SEC fact sheet:

“Under the new rules, advisers will have to provide new and prospective clients with narrative brochures that are organized in a consistent, uniform manner and that include plain English disclosures of the adviser’s business practices, fees, conflicts of interest, and disciplinary information.”

You can learn more of the details at “SEC Approves Disclosure Form Changes to Provide Investors Greater Information About Their Investment Advisers” on the SEC website.

Thank you, Philip Lawton of Stonehouse Consulting for bringing this to my attention!

What a difference eight months makes!

Loomis Sayles bond manager Dan Fuss spoke about “The 50-Year Opportunity in Bonds” just after Thanksgiving 2008. He liked corporate bonds.


This morning I read “U.S. corporate debt outpaced Treasuries for a fourth consecutive month and have now outperformed by 14% year to date” in the Morningstar Bond Market Commentary (August 2009).


Things sure have changed.

Off-topic post: My trip to China

I recently spent almost three weeks in China. It was quite an experience.

Yakety-yak
Empty your cup of yak butter tea, if you don’t want a refill. Flick three drops of beer into the air before you drink–one for the Buddha, the next for the ancestors, and the third for guests. Take off your hat and sunglasses in Buddhist places of worship. These are bits of etiquette I learned in Lhasa, Tibet.

Yak butter tea was a bit salty for my taste, so I sucked it down to avoid a refill. Home-brewed barley beer was more to my liking. Barley is a staple in Tibet. Locals say that one bowl of barley is worth two of rice. A snack that looked similar to popcorn, served in the home of a middle-class Tibetan family, turned out to be popped barley. By the way, despite the middle-class designation, the house was modest. The grandmother would sleep in the kitchen during the winter for warmth.

The most fascinating aspect of Lhasa was seeing Tibetan Buddhism in action. I was there during a holiday, so more people than usual were circling the pilgrimage sites and prostrating themselves, lying flat on the ground. Some of the people prostrating had pieces of plastic strapped to their hands to smooth their way as they raised and lowered themselves. I also saw monks debating. The closest I came to participating in religious activity myself was giving a heavy metal prayer wheel a spin as I walked by.

The smell of incense and melting yak butter will always remind me of the Potala Palace and other pilgrimage sites in Lhasa. At the palace, our group snaked through dark, narrow corridors viewing Buddhist paintings and statues, thrones, boxes filled with books inked in gold or silver, and especially magnificent tombs studded with turquoise, coral, pearls, and other precious gems. The ancient Buddhist observances contrasted with the modernity of armed men stationed on downtown streets. The tour guide warned our group not to photograph the army men or demonstrations.

By the way, if you ever go to Tibet, be prepared for altitude sickness. Also, watch out for the steep stairs in the Potala Palace. One member of my group fell down the stairs and broke his wrist.

Highlights
In addition to Lhasa, highlights of my trip included a Yangtse River cruise, where I saw misty mountain scenery reminiscent of the Chinese paintings I studied in my college art history class. Of course, the views look different since the Three Gorges dam raised the water level dramatically. The government plans to build 12 more dams upstream.

I also enjoyed Shanghai, where the number and diversity of skyscrapers–and the incredibly smooth ride to the 94th floor of the World Financial Center–contrasted with the serene beauty of the Ming-era Yu Yuan Garden.

As a long-time, though lapsed, student of the Japanese language, I was interested to see how the Chinese had simplified old-fashioned characters differently than the Japanese. For example, the den in denki, which means “electric” in Japanese looks different in both languages. I had fun trying to figure out the Chinese subtitles on English-language TV shows. But my ability to puzzle out some words on storefronts and menus didn’t help me with spoken Chinese. 

Economic notes
China’s tourist economy is hurting. This year my guide is getting five tours from Viking River Cruises. Two years ago he got 10.  Also, Viking is only running one Yangtse River boat instead of two Of course, this may reflect U.S. conditions more than Chinese. However, I also heard that many of the cranes I saw had been idled. On the stock market front, my tour guide said that most Chinese believe their market will rebound because of China’s economic strength. 

Censorship
The state-run China Daily newspaper skirted discussion of what many call the Tiananmen Square massacre in “China slams Clinton’s June 4 comments“(June 5). It led with “China Thursday expressed deep dissatisfaction and resolute opposition to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s remarks on the 20th anniversary of the events of June 4.” But the paper didn’t quote Clinton’s remarks. Presumably they were too subversive.

On a related note, I wasn’t able to access my blog–or any URL containing Blogger.com or Blogspot.com–because those addresses were blocked. I met other bloggers who had similar experiences.

"Social Media in Plain English"

Why all the fuss about blogs and other social media?

The video at “Social Media in Plain English” shows how tapping the wisdom of crowds using social media can benefit a company. It conveys ideas at a “big picture” level. There’s no road map to applying the ideas. It doesn’t even get into the specifics of any of the social media tools.