Serengeti`s wildebeest migration entices two American brothers
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Two American brothers have won a global competition dubbed “global
travel superstar’s biggest, baddest and bucket list competition,”
organised by My Destination a global travel resource.
Mark Ayling and Alex Arlying are in
Tanzania to witness the great annual migration of wildebeest and other
tourist destinations. Tanzania is one of 25 countries the two winners
are expected to visit.
The two brothers are also expected to
visit Zimbabwe, South Africa’s Cape Town, Bangkok, Singapore, Bali &
Lombok, and Whitsunday, Melbourne, and New Zealand.
Before reaching Tanzania, they visited
British Columbia, Riviera Maya, Barbados, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Rio de
Janeiro & Recife, Iceland, Edinburgh, London, Istanbul, Kazakhstan,
Dubai and Oman.
On January 28, this year, My Destination launched a competition with a mission to find the next global travel superstar.
Aside from winning life-changing,
all-expenses paid, six-month round the world trip based around their own
bucket list, the lucky candidate would also be acting as an ambassador
and reporter for the brand and their country, earning a sum of US$50,000
for their considerable efforts on completion of their journey.
While in Tanzania the two brothers will
have the opportunity to explore Arusha, Serengeti National Park and a
remote area of Loliondo, which has been most generously sponsored by
Nomad Tanzania.
During their trip Alex and Marko are expected to experience two Nomad camps, Serengeti Safari Camp and Nduara Loliondo.
“The overall success of the visit is also
due to the sponsorships of Machweo Wellness Retreat, Elewana Coffee
Lodge, Rivertrees Country Inn, Shanga River House and Tanganyika Flying
Company.
“After experiencing the unique diversity
of Tanzania’s wildlife and cultures we will say farewell to the brothers
as they make their way to Zimbabwe, for the next leg of their exciting
adventure around the world,” Neil Waller, Co-Founder of My Destination.”
My Destination has over 15million unique
users per year and they cover 80 destinations including Barcelona, Cape
Town, Dubai, Hawaii, Kenya, Kuala Lumpur, London, Mallorca, Malta, Oman,
Orlando, Phuket and Singapore.
While in Tanzania, the two brothers will visit SENAPA and witness the great migration comprising over 1.5million wildebeest.
Every year, wildebeest do migrate between
Serengeti in Tanzania and Kenya’s Maasai Mara National Park, the
situation that attracts many tourists to witness the God’s miracles.
The wildebeest migration follows the
annual rainfall and does a circuit-type migration around the Serengeti.
Even when they head up into Kenya for a few weeks in September - October
there is nearly always a good time to see the migration.
Before getting into competition which
involved over 122 contestants, Mark and Alex were interested in taking
photos and writing about the world’s wonders and post it in social media
including Youtube, and websites like the watchbbbtv.
Both Mark and Alex are no strangers to
life on the road. Both are more than capable of making a feature movie
about their adventures, like Mark’s US$300 Russian motorbike exploration
across Asia or Alex’s dangerous hike across the Kalahari Desert to find
a lost African tribe.
Mark and Alex use the social media to
promote tourist destinations across the world including Tanzania and
they are able to reach-out three million people.
“This is a very important opportunity for us to learn a number of issues including the Maasai culture,” Mark said.
According to Simone Paine, from 6 Degrees
Communications Company, the My Destinations started in March this year
and ended up in May, this year whereby competitors were required to say
things they wanted to do before their death.
Both Mark and Alex expressed their wishes of visiting several places across the world to witness tourist destinations.
Simone urged Tanzanians to use social
media to change their lives. He daid: “There are many issues which are
good in Tanzania that need to be promoted through social media,” Simone
said, commending different stakeholders, who facilitated the travel of
the two Americans.
Nomad Tanzania was the sole facilitator of
the travel arrangements for the winners. Mark and Alex were too excited
with the opportunity to visit SENAPA and witness the annual wildebeest
migration event as well as interacting with Maasai culture.
“We have been seeing wildebeest migration
through television and videos but, now we’re going to see it with our
naked eyes,” Mark said, adding: “We are also going to document this
event and we’ll put much emphasis on culture, wildlife and national
parks.
“We are also going to speak to local
people, who would tell us the secret behind Tanzania’s beauty compared
to other countries,” said Alex.
Welcoming the two Americans in Arusha,
Executive Officer of the Tanzania Association of Tour Operators (TATO),
Sirilli Akko said the decision made by Mark and Alex is vital in
endeavours to promote country’s tourist destinations across the world.
“This will put Tanzania and Serengeti
National Park in particular on the world map as many people would get to
know our tourist attractions,” Akko said, adding: “These two US
nationals have more than three million people, who view their website
and other social media.
“So, our tourist destinations will be
known and this trip will attract more tourists to visit Tanzania,”
calling on other tourism stakeholders to promote Tanzania’s tourist
attractions.