2022: A Year in Review
2022 has been an exciting year for us. With travel restrictions dropping across most of the world there has been a real surge of intrepid friends wanting to get back on the road again, all of whom eager to make up for lost time.
As much as we wish not to dwell on the Pandemic it has given us time to reflect on how we wish to operate as a company and what we and our guests value as an experience.
There has been a notable rise in the number of people wanting to travel with purpose. Be it striving to tick something off their bucket list, work on an exciting image portfolio or take an active interest in the conservation of the wildlife they have travelled to see. All of this we find immensely encouraging.
As ever we have blended group and private trips this year, while the bookings arm of Armstrong Fortescue is starting to see real uptake.
Svalbard; swiftly becoming one of our favourite destinations
Our year started in Svalbard spending eight nights aboard expedition vessel MV Villa, our home for Arctic exploration. For Matt it was a return to the region and for Will a debut voyage, but both of us were equally blown away by the experience. From sailing through the archipelago’s varied, stunning fjords, either aboard MV Villa or out on small zodiacs, to the numerous Arctic fox, seal and reindeer sightings and ultimately the polar bear sighting of a lifetime (our third in 24 hours).
Leaving Svalbard on a high Will headed on to Amboseli in Kenya (via 12 hours in London) where he swapped ice and polar bears for dust and one of our private, off road elephant photography safaris.
With a small two person group, doors whipped off the land rover (so we could photograph from as low as possible) and the ability to leave the crowds behind and spend hours with the various herds and famous bull elephants of Amboseli it was one of the highlights of Will’s year.
Photo by Silke Hillman (Germany) on our private Amboseli Safari
Matt meanwhile was preparing for a season in Zambia and Zimbabwe, the area he first started his guiding career almost a decade ago.
Over the course of three months he and his various groups enjoyed unrivalled wild dog encounters in Mana Pools, lion and leopard sightings on a daily basis in Luangwa and his birding took on new levels of enjoyment everywhere he and his guests ventured.
There was no rest for the wicked though and having spent three months in Southern Africa we allowed him a fortnight back home in England before it was off to Tanzania in October for his final safari of the year.
Here he took a family trip to Mahale to see chimpanzees, the Serengeti for a hugely successful big cat safari and plenty in between. With an age range of 75 years between the youngest and oldest members of the group across three generations this was as wholesome a trip as can be remembered and a wonderful way to round off Matt’s exciting year.
Kutali Camp in Zambia, a new destination for 2024
On a personal level 2022 has seen big changes in both our lives. In July this year Matt and his partner Emily tied the knot in Zambia, a country that has shaped their lives together since they first met. In front of their closest family they said their vows on the banks of the Kafue on their daughter, Freyja’s first birthday.
For Will the second half of the year has seen him launch his first coffee table book, The Last Stand and debut solo exhibition The Art of Survival at Red Eight Gallery in London. Both have been received wonderfully well and we can happily report exhibition sales have taken him past his target of raising £100,000 for conservation by Christmas 2022.
Matt and Emily with their daughter, Freyja, at their Zambian wedding.
Will greeting guests at his exhibition, The Art of Survival
Looking ahead to 2023 there is plenty for us to be excited about here at Armstrong Fortescue. Matt heads to South Africa in early January before the boys will be in India for most of February and March. Matt has a private tiger safari before we meet up in Ledakh to spend eight days in search of the holy grail of wildlife, the snow leopard. Matt will then head back to the U.K. while Will spends three weeks in search of tigers in India’s ancient forests before heading to Tanaznia to photograph lions and explore a new itinerary.
May will see us return to the Arctic with a group of 10 travellers braced for the cold and excited to search for their first polar bears before a summer season back in East Africa; migration in Kenya, gorillas in Uganda and lions in Tanzania is capped off with trips to Zambia and the Seychelles in October.
It is with great excitement therefore that we head in to 2023 ready for a bonkers year and we look forward to sharing it with you all here and on our Instagram page.
Wishing all of you the happiest Christmas,
Warmest wishes,
Matt and Will