VICTOR NYAKIRIGA
Victor was born in the Serengeti district where the amazing Serengeti National Park lies. Coming from the hunting tribe of Zanaki/Kurya, his grandpa was a hunter and explorer so he took Victor with him to explore the wildness. Since then Victor got the passion for spending time in the wildness. When he was younger he managed to learn all the bush skills and understood all the animal tracks and behaviors from his favorite grandfather. But this wasn’t enough for him, he went on to join the Wildlife College to learn more about natural history and science, camp management, outdoor leadership, ecology, birds, and guiding skills in a professional tour guide school for two years.
After getting his diploma, he joined a very big hunting company called Bundu Safaris, guiding the hunters on safari after they were done with hunting activities. But Victor was not satisfied with this because it was not what he wanted most. So after one year, he joined a renowned safari company in Arusha where he received intensive training on savannah ecology, birds, geology, botany, first aid, psychology, and guiding skills whereby he became one of the “top guides” of the company.
Victor truly loves nature so he decided to spend most of his time in the Serengeti guiding. The way of guiding in Arusha is that the majority of safaris begins in Arusha, move on to the national park and then back to Arusha. Victor didn’t like this, and instead he decided to live in the national parks where he could explore more wildlife. He managed to follow so many prides of lions in the Serengeti and keep track of them everyday. He tracked cheetahs, leopards, elephants and the rare rhino by naming them, which made him understand more of their unique animal behaviors and life strategies. This helped him to work with top photographers and big safari groups including The National Geographic Society.
Wishing to share his knowledge with visitors from all over the world, he became one of the directors of Topguide Safaris. Here he leads safari trips by himself and with his co-owner Nasseb.
Victor believes that “Serengeti shall never die and everyone deserves to see it.”