Africa Safari Blog

I got up early (like 4:30am) to get a lift from the shuttle bus…however I hadn’t been given a receipt to show I’d paid my hostel bill, so the security guard wouldn’t let me out!…after waking the girl who couldn’t remember that it was HER I’d paid (!) we eventually sorted it out. Of course now I had to get a Chapas to Inhambane, so an hour and 30mins MORE than was agreed later I arrived at Inhambane where I decided (as I was still quite early for the next bus) to get a Dhow across the estuary to Maxxis (the northern route bus station) I passed captain John (EH!) my bag then waded after him into the dhow – obviously getting my shorts wet in the process…….only THEN did aforesaid captain go back to shore to get more people and CARRY them over so they DIDNT get wet!!!!! Then we ran out of wind half way across and they had to row/punt the boat across! 1.5 hrs later we arrived JUST after the bus had left!
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With stability returning after a protracted civil war, and a few pioneering safari operators entering the mix, Angola is once again a destination of choice for those intrepid souls seeking unique cultural experiences. Here, Mark Stratton rubs shoulders with the people of the Namib Desert in the nations southwest.

Our Toyota Land Cruiser ground to a sudden halt. On the sandy track we had followed through the western Namib Desert stood a group of lean men, each naked from the waist upwards and carrying a heavy wooden staff…

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Recently our latest edition to Jenman Safaris – our very own Marketing intern (Svea) from Germany – decided to take a trip to the Garden Route on a long weekend. She has been asking us lots of questions of ‘where to go’, ‘what to see’, ‘where to eat’…. And she had decided that the Garden route was a must! So after persuading some of her flat mates off she went on a trip to the Garden Route, read what she has to say below: (and yes Svea, we are looking forward to hearing more of your highlights in and around Cape Town )
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Despite the unstable political situation since the beginning of the year, Ian, Marcine, Carolyn, Bunny, Lol and Schalk took advantage of the lull in Madagascar’s tourism to make the most this charming tropical island, discovering a quiet, safe hideaway.

“Bon jour! …Um, how do you say ‘full body massage’ in French?”

Darn, despite our five-week crash course in French we had clearly still not learnt all the important bits. At least we didn’t have to worry about obnoxious tourists, long queues and exorbitant prices. Since the coup that shook Madagascar at the beginning of the year the constant flow of tourists from Italy and France had all but ceased. It is important to note, that at no time did we feel threatened or unsafe- the Malagasy people went out of their way to welcome us and make our stay in their beautiful country a memorable one.  Another great advantage is that no visas are required until December 2009.
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Gill Charlton visits the island that inspired an animated Hollywood Blockbuster – and finds the lemurs ever bit as sassy as their cartoon counterparts.

Source: the Sunday Times, August.

Each day at dusk, the cat and its companion, a brave little mouse lemur, step out of the rainforest shadows to delight a score if visitors who have spent the day traipsing along muddy paths in search of elusive wild lemurs. Today we are doubly fortunate; a real glamourpuss puts in an appearance: The rare red-bellied lemur flings her long tail around her neck like a fur stole and poses round-eyed for our lenses, coping with the whirrs and flashes like an old pro. Bananas are accepted with dignity by hands that look almost human.
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Day 3 of the workshop was to be spent re-introducing all of the guides to all of the managers of the various departments in JAS. Each manager had a presentation for the guides and explained in detail how their department fits into the company and the role that they play in creating successful tours. We had Angela Bryant from HR, Wiebke Priilaid from our Product Department, Bettina Wiederkehr from Sales, Katja Quasdorf from Marketing – who had everybody laughing with her definitions of different marketing strategies – and Rebecca Marshall from the Madagascar and Angola Product Department who had everyone enthralled with the different Angolan and Malagasy destinations. The guides gained valuable insight into how the tours are crafted and molded from start to finish, and the high standards Jenman African Safaris require from all their guides, equipment, departments and staff. One of our Guides, Will Jansen then took the floor and gave a very interesting and informative lecture on Photography, and how to maximize the guests’ chances of capturing and recording the best possible photographs whilst on safari.
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A Jenman African Safaris Guide is a truly multi-faceted individual who is required to drive our guests safely over what can be thousands of kilometers in a single safari (this also frequently involves specialized 4×4 driving). At the same time our guide needs to inform and educate our guests on a wide range of subjects such as fauna, flora, local cultures, history, geography, politics, and a host of other subjects. Our guide has to be constantly aware of the guests’ safety and comfort at all times, whilst still ensuring that nothing detracts from their enjoyment of what should be a trip of a lifetime. He or she has to constantly manage the timings of the safari in order to ensure that the group have frequent breaks and yet still arrive at their destinations with enough time to fully appreciate the local attractions.

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Our consultants FAM TRIP departed on 27 March @1300pm. We left the office and after a quick “diesel stop” we headed off towards the N1 and soon we were on our way to the Cedarberg! As we were a group of ladies we had to have an inevitable toilet break er-route…. Once we got off the main road we traveled for about 1.5 hours on gravel road… So, an important note to anyone planning to travel that way, your car should be able to handle the roads! The 1.5 hours on gravel road felt much longer, the scenery was dry, rocky and bush. Needless to say we were quite happy when we reached Sandrift Campsite, our stop for the night. As this was a “work trip” it had to be run as one of our scheduled safari trips. Jan, who was our guide for the trip quickly, gave us an idea of what “semi participation” is…

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