Africa Safari Blog

Just a note before the excitement wears down.  We had an incredible adventure on the trip through Southern Africa. We covered a lot of kilometres but we experienced so much variety. Just when we had a very long hot day in the vehicle, the lodge at the end of the day was delightful.

The lodge staff was always very accommodating. The trip crisscrossing the countries gave us a lot of insight to how people live, what the countryside looks like, wild animals on the side of the road as we see cattle at home. The vehicle was comfortable.

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Jenman African Safaris has extensive knowledge and experience in most African Countries… And throughout the many years we have learnt about a few ‘Do’s and Don’ts’ while travelling in and around Africa. We have therefore developed this list for you to read at your leisure. All tips are not always relevant to all the areas that you travel to – depending on your tour.

Some of these useful tips came from our tour guides and even some of our tips came from our clients that travelled with us on an African Safari! If you have any comments to add about any Safaris you have experienced – feel free to leave a comment!

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On a cold a miserable day in Cape Town a few of the Jenman African Safaris’ Staff ventured out in tiny shorts to show off our bright white and un-tanned legs… Hmmmm okay we tried to avoid doing that, but it gets too hot playing netball in long pants! Anyway, only a few of us had played netball before and the rest had actually no idea what they were doing – so this was guaranteed to be an ‘interesting’ game… But, we discovered that not only are we good at netball but we ‘rocked’ as a team and won our first ever match 14-8! And little did we know what a great stress-reliever netball can be after a long and stressful day…

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Stunning empty beaches, remote villages and dancing lemurs – that’s what I’ve heard about the region of Fort Dauphin and Berentry Reserve – and that’s what I really wanted to go and see!!! Jenman Safaris allowed my colleague and me to venture to this part of Madagascar for 5 days. Our adventure started in Tana where we started to make our way to Fort Dauphin. Fort Dauphin airport is just as chaotic as any other airport in Madagascar – here you have to learn your luggage tag number in French as they call it out to the masses and you have to run to the front to grab your bag – or just do it like we did – spot your bag and grab it from the guy who is shouting something in French.

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Bright and early (6am) my husband and I left Cape Town and headed along the Route 62 to Oudtshoorn as I was requested to recci some routes on the Garden Route to get exact distances, source various types of accommodation and also find/source places of interest… En route we stopped at Ronnie’s Sex Shop to have a look what it’s all about. This might sound a bit strange, but Ronnie’s is actually just a café and pub along the route. Apparently, a few years back the pub was only called “Ronnie’s” and some of Ronnie’s friends played a joke on him and wrote the words “sex shop” next to his name in bright red letters on the wall… and since then it has stuck!

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Basically, WE LOVED IT! The climb up Kilimanjaro was an incredible, once-in-a-lifetime experience. We all made the summit and even on Matthew’s 27th birthday – how special – so we sang Happy Birthday to him on the rooftop of Africa. Our guides – Bruno and Christopher – were excellent and really encouraging when we needed it most. I cannot say enough nice things about them. However, the team of porters was also wonderful – very supportive, very nice. As we were a small group, we got to know them fairly well and had a couple of really nice sessions of singing and dancing together, especially on the last morning. The porters and cook, etc. also sang to Matthew. Seeing their smiling faces every day, even when carrying the heavy loads, was amazing.

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After weeks of planning and preparation, the Getaway Show, which was held at the Coca Cola Dome adjacent to the North Gate Shopping Centre in Johannesburg has finally come and gone … after 5 days, Becks and I returned to Cape Town with broken fingernails, sore feet, dry skin and were completely talked out! Those of you who work at consumer shows will understand … OK… I’m exaggerating a little and although we had a hectic and tiring time, it was a great learning curve and good experience.
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As you know I suffer from Parkinson’s disease, which I don’t think, impacted on any aspect of the tour and didn’t cause any problems for me. I want to express my deep gratitude to Jenman for allowing me to participate in the tour. The fact that somebody has a disability should not bar them from participating in this type of tour and I applaud Jenman’s enlightened policy in this regard. It was particularly satisfying for me when at the end of the tour Mike shook my hand and told me that he would have me back on tour any time. This means so much to me that I am writing these lines with tears in my eyes.

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