Sounds like an interesting project, thanks for the link!
I did not spent much time in Dar Es Salaam when I visited Tanzania, as I don't like much big cities so I've to admit that I don't know about them.
Nevertheless the project sounds interesting: Tanzania needs some good gemological education facilities as it is a country with a great gem resources.
Regarding the field project in Umba, it looks very nice. More information about the mine in Umba and the gems found there would be a great add-on but things looks already to go in the right direction!
I cannot sadly tell much about the Umba sapphire mine even if I've spend 6 days there in 2005, On these 6 days there I was able to spend only one at the mines as for the rest I was half dead with a bad malaria...
When I came back to life, we drove to the mines but we were sadly not allowed to enter despite the fact that the mine owner agreed to welcome us.
"Un plan Umba" as we say... Meaning a great deception in our language.
Read more about Umba and Tanzania visiting our 2005 expedition report:
http://www.fieldgemology.org/gemology%20tanzania%202005.php
Our contact just forgot to tell his miners about our arrival or more probably changed his mind as he was suddenly impossible to join by phone. Hopefully we met some interesting people in the nearby village and we visited some other mining operations around but not the main sapphire mine. We could also get some stones from the main mine from the local villagers.
Anyway, the project sounds very interesting and looks to be a great occasion to spend some time in an African sapphire mine.
I would personally love to be able to finally visit one day the Umba sapphire mine.
The views expressed here are V. Pardieu’s opinions and do not necessarily reflect those of GIA Laboratory Bangkok (http://www.giathai.net)where he is an employee since Dec 2008.
Joined: Fri Jan 04, 2008 1:47 am Posts: 455 Location: Las Vegas
Thanks for your input Vincent, I almost just PM'd you the question since I figured if anyone had been there on this forum it would be you. I'm just as envious as everyone else when it comes to your travels. I really want to go to some of the mines but I have to sell it to my better half who really wants to go look at African wildlife. I sent some questions to the operators of the project to see if they offer wildlife tours etc. during the rest days. I'm a little naive due to having no knowledge of this area and am concerned about travelers safety. Do you know if "bad" things happen to travelers (esp Americans) in those parts of Africa?
Joined: Thu Jun 07, 2007 10:42 am Posts: 65 Location: Tanzania - Paris
Dear SinCity,
I don't mean to be opportunist by replying to your post. The fact is that we've been recently asked again to organize another gem safari.
We've done it a few times in the past for AGF (Association Francaise de Gemmologie - 2 times 30 people), for the ICA (50 people) etc. However, we've never organized gem safaris for smaller groups. FYI, cost would go down greatly if the 4x4 was shared (let's say 5 people in a car instead of just 2).
Joined: Wed Apr 26, 2006 12:44 am Posts: 2056 Location: San Francisco
Wow eric, that's really great.. would we get to "prospect" at your mine??
Gemstone safari's are the kind of vacation I really want to do.. this from the guy that when he got married, spent 6 weeks gold hunting honeymoon from mariposa california to downieville! (No it wasn't the reason she's the ex ). . Learned if I wanted anything more than flecks, I needed a dredge
Anyway sounds like a lot of fun.. Looks like the 2009 safari ends right as tucson gem show starts, so you may be able to sell your finds on the spot and break even!
_________________ Custom Gemstone Cutting and various other activities!
Joined: Thu Jun 07, 2007 10:42 am Posts: 65 Location: Tanzania - Paris
You could certainly prospect our mine. I'm not sure to what extent we would allow you to keep the pieces you find To be determined
A gem safari could be organized any time of the year. The only period to avoid would be the rainy seasons (april/may + october). Unfortunately, as we've seen recently, rains can have catastrophic effects...
A combination mine visits/animal safari/seeing some rough/visiting a couple of workshops could be interesting.
We've done it a few times in the past for AGF (Association Francaise de Gemmologie - 2 times 30 people), for the ICA (50 people) etc. However, we've never organized gem safaris for smaller groups. FYI, cost would go down greatly if the 4x4 was shared (let's say 5 people in a car instead of just 2).
Dear Eric,
That's not really true as you have been very helpful to help me to organize the 2 expeditions I lead to Tanzania in 2005 and 2007: Thanks to your help, we had good cars, great drivers, knowledgeable local guides and reliable information to visit the areas we were willing to visit. That was extremely useful. Of course you were not taking care about our menus and about the wake up time, but well without your help it would have been much more difficult and less convenient to visit all the areas we visited in Tanzania recently.
The views expressed here are V. Pardieu’s opinions and do not necessarily reflect those of GIA Laboratory Bangkok (http://www.giathai.net)where he is an employee since Dec 2008.
Joined: Fri Jan 04, 2008 1:47 am Posts: 455 Location: Las Vegas
Thanks Eric for the offer. The 10k prices I quoted for two people were including the 6k in airfare. The price per person for the mining was $1790 and that included a 4-5 day lapidary class. I do have to say that I don't think I would be able to mine all day then give back what I found I could just imagine finding that flawless 20 carat Tsavorite then handing it back. One of the advantages to the safari (per their website) is that you get to keep whatever you find. On your trips you offer do they include the chance to buy rough from several locations? Thanks again for giving me another option!
Joined: Thu Jun 07, 2007 10:42 am Posts: 65 Location: Tanzania - Paris
Vincent: thanks for your comments!
Precision + others: you would be welcome anytime.
Justin: we wouldn't make any money on anybody's trip. You would handle your airfare and I would have a safari company organize the trip and take care of the logistics. You would then pay the safari company.
I have plenty of friends who own their company and are very professional about it. FYI, I asked my friend Aziz to handle the ICA group : http://www.tandala.net.
You could obviously buy gems from whoever. Our company has a wide variety of rough and cut gems to offer but if you find something that you like elsewhere, I would certainly not stop you. Tanzania produces a very extensive range of gems and trust me, there's plenty for everybody
Hi All,
My son would be interested in a trip like this with the proviso that it would include seeing the wild life. The trip Sun City is looking at is 17 days which seems pretty nice.
Somewhere I thought I read that you started your trip in Dubai, where my son would like to visit for several days as well.
Please keep me in mind if people are serious about such a trip.
Thanks,
Suling
Its sounds very exciting.
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