Africa Safari Blog

Week 9 & 10 (5th to 18th of April)

Garden Route, ostrich riding, volcanic ash and more…. This is what I have been up to since my last blog 3 weeks ago. I had a great time travelling with my dad (he was down from Germany visiting me) and we experienced and saw a lot. Therefore this blog is only about the first two weeks of our holiday and next week you can read about the third week…

It started with my dad arriving on 8th of April at Cape Town International Airport. The first four days we spent in Cape Town visiting all (or at least most of) the city’s attractions like Table Mountain, V&A Waterfront, Winelands, Cape Point, the wonderful beaches, Green Point Stadium and so much more.

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Source: Sea Rescue Autumn 2010

Wendy Maritz finds out what made Riaan Manser give up the life he knew in exchange for solo adventures into unknown territory, first on bike then a kayak.

On 8 July 2009, Riaan Manser paddled into Tamatave harbour, 11 months after setting out from the same spot on an epic journey to circumnavigate Madagascar alone and unaided on his kayak. Riaan made history that day, achieving the second of two world firsts, and completing another major personal challenge. (The first was cycling around Africa.)

It takes a great deal of tenacity to give up the life you know and embark on an expedition that will take you into a completely unfamiliar world. But, as Riaan will readily admit, it was a life he wasn’t particularly satisfied with – long-time girlfriend Vast and beloved pet aside, of course.
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Safaris clients become real explorers with nature & animals on safaris… finding what they think are new animals & bugs and coming up with stories of why these animals/bugs are behaving in some strange way – sometimes all they are doing is simply sleeping but there is always a story behind that sleep from our clients!

On a recent tour of Botswana a group of enthusiastic German clients and myself (Andree the guide!) stopped for a lunch break at a stunning camp site in the Khwai River area.

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The Daily Star claims that a civil war in South Africa could threaten our World Cup, but the truth is that the most serious threat to our World Cup is inaccurate propaganda, dressed up as factual reporting, that frightens away tourists in their thousands,” Mazibuko said.

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Week 8 (29th of March to 4th of April)

“Great event”, “tough”, “now I know what a trail run is” and “should have done some training” are only some of the comments one could hear and read after the Old Mutual Two Oceans Trail Run on Good Friday. Nevertheless…We all survived the trail run!!! Congrats to everyone who finished it!

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For the past few months we have been featuring questions and answers about Zimbabwe, this week we have some more! Don’t forget if you have any specific questions about Zimbabwe comment on our blog!

What environmental credentials does your company have – and how would your safaris to Zimbabwe benefit both wildlife & environment and the local communities?

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During the week of 22 to 26 February I was fortunate enough to attend the Jenman Safaris workshop. We had our first one last year and it was a great success. Naturally Jenman decided to repeat the process this year and outdo themselves. Cliff Turk was our astronomy expert this year and he definitely awoke a new passion for the subject in all of us. Even though the Cape Town weather did not allow for too much stargazing, the course was interesting and we saw some amazing photographs taken from space. As soon as I get into the desert I am pulling out my star maps and enjoying the splendour.
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Jenman African Safaris held its second “Guide training course” from 22nd to 26th February 2010 at Llandudno’s Apostle-battery near Cape Town. 22 more or less experienced Tour Guides – most of them from Zimbabwe – gathered at one of the most scenic spots at the Cape Peninsula but not for sunbathing at the beach! The next 5 days at the former Navy-camp was packed with information about the internal workings at Jenman Safaris as well as astronomy lessons (and star gazing) and 4×4 driving tests in the coastal dunes near Atlantis. This was my first time joining the undaunted tour-leaders, bush chefs and gravel & mud-road hero’s!!!

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