Peter Comley Thirty years ago Peter Comley made an inspiring lifestyle choice. He could have continued along the path of becoming the city lawyer that he had trained to be or he could make a radical change and follow his passion for the wild. Despite the long years of study invested to obtain degrees in economics and law he did not hesitate to choose to spend a life leading safaris through the remotest regions of Africa.
Over the past three decades, with hundreds of safaris safely under his belt, he has become acknowledged as one of Africa’s leading guides and is particularly recognised for his pioneering spirit and flair for innovation.
Among his accomplishments in his native Botswana is that he has personally poled a mokoro from the top to the bottom of the Delta in the first ever trans Okavango expedition (and remains the only white man to have done so according to the locals), he has conducted a charity down the length of the Okavango, initiated the first canoe safaris in the Delta, hunted with bushmen and regularly traversed the remotest parts of the Kalahari.
Beyond Botswana he has climbed Kilimanjaro, trekked mountain gorillas in all three countries where they occur, explored the untraveled remote reaches of western Zambia and the even more remote Kaokaveld of Namibia, been charged by forest elephants in Ruanda, led the maiden chimp walk on Ngamba Island in the Ugandan section of Lake Victoria, witnessed the great migration in the Serengeti, shared a drink of milk and blood with the Masai in the Mara in Kenya, ambushed a group of mandrills in Gabon with his camera and marvelled as the sardine run hit the coast of KwaZulu Natal.
When he is not guiding he writes and, with his late wife, has three published books – The Traveller’s Guide to Botswana, Mammals of Botswana & Mammals of Namibia -to his credit. Peter, in his first book that portrays a part of his own life, has combined the tapestries of frontier town life and the bush characters and experiences into a tale based on a remarkable dog who shared many adventures with him. He has also written numerous articles for wildlife and travel magazines and contributes regular newspaper columns. Peter’s poetry has appeared in a number of anthologies and he is a photographic contributor to the Times of London as well as other publications. His photographic work can also be found in a host of postcards, calendars, books, websites and brochures.
He currently lives in Kazungula near the Chobe and is an invited member of the exclusive Great Guides Organisation.
Peter designs and leads expeditions that sing to his heart and you can join him on one of his dream safaris or you can stay as you are for the rest of your life. The choice is yours.
References available upon request.
Peter Comley had authored five books. The most recent two “A Field Guide to the Mammals of Botswana’ and ‘Django: The Small Dog with the Big Heart’ are available both on line and in hard copies.
‘A Field Guide to Mammals of Namibia’ is available in hard copy.
Please visit our publishing website, JPC Media, if you would like to order your copy!
