Peter Baxter: Profile

Referrals, comments & endorsements from past clients

I started out as a pro mountain guide in the late 1980s when moves towards South African independence prompted a surge of interest in the region, and as a consequence Zimbabwe, my home nation, was flooded with venture travelers looking for new angles and new destinations.

Chimanimani

I had always been a passionate recreational climber in the Chimanimani Mountains, a range that straddles the frontier between Mozambique and Zimbabwe, and as a general mountain bum hanging around the bar at the famous Heaven Lodge in Chimanimani Village, it was not long before, for the price of a few beers, I could be talked into showing a few travelers the routes.

In due course I diverted my interests from more general field and overland guiding and began to concentrate my efforts towards building up a good and professional basis for guiding in Chimanimani. The region is of specific interest for its extraordinarily diverse ecology, and the fact that its location coincides with several ecological zones. This means that, although not a huge area, Chimanimani is made up of several distinct biomes, each presenting a unique guiding challenge. Since, for a guide to be effective, he or she must have a good working knowledge of the entire ecology of a region, and in an area like Chimanimani where experts and specialist can consume a lifetime studying a single factor, this is a very tall order.

Chimanimani Bushwalking Co

The Chimanimani Bushwalking Co was formed when I met and married a native of Portland Oregon who turned a rather field orientated and haphazard business into an organization that at its peak trained and employed up to ten guides. In cooperation with the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management and the local Outward Bound Association Chimanimani Bushwalking Company was instrumental in devising a specific field training program for Chimanimani that would, had political crisis not overtaken Zimbabwe, in due course have been incorporated into the national guiding syllabus.

Things, however, did fall critically apart in Zimbabwe at the turn of the millennium. One of many effects of the highly publicized political implosion that followed was the crippling of the local tour industry. Also, with confusion surrounding land tenure in the country, the Chimanimani region fell victim to land invasions and illegal gold panning which has created one of the most controversial conservation crisis currently underway in the region.

Regional Guiding & Writing

In the interim I have guided as far afield as the Drakensberg in South Africa and the Rwenzori, and of course Kilimanjaro.

In recent years I have turned to writing as a means of creative expression, and as an outlet for a deep interest in African history and politics. As a consequence I am anticipating the publication of my first full-length book by Galago Press of Johannesburg by Christmas 2009. The project has taken me some five years to complete, and is an extensive and in depth study of the colonial history of Zimbabwe. I am currently working on a follow up exploring the history of the Ndebele people of Zimbabwe, which I anticipate being release in 2010.

BootsnAll & Kilimanjaro

My work with BootsnAll began early in 2008 after my wife and I packed up our lives in Africa, and all three of our children, and opted for the safer climates of the Pacific Northwest. Meeting with the boys at boots n’all was a revelation, and I have been glad to take over the consulation and handling of their Africa program. We are currently building the boots n’all Africa Travel Guide, as well as developing the South Africa program. Through the Kilimanjarologue I hope to learn and to teach, and to involve myself more actively in Kilimanjaro and East African mountaineering generally.

The Big Three

East Africa is the land of the Big Three – Rwenzori, Mount Kenya and Kilimanjaro, so look out for the bootsNall Big Three program that will explode onto the market sometime next year.

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