Phinda Game Reserve
Phinda reaches the pinnacle of excellence when it comes to guiding. The &Beyond company have always considered this a priority (also under its previous name CCAfrica) and I can’t fault it. Good guiding is so often lacking, so it’s such a pleasure to get guides that not only know their stuff (anyone can regurgitate facts)...
Swaziland Safari
I wanted to share this beautiful lion I encountered at Hlane Game Reserve in Swaziland. Take a look at his expression – he’s cross! He took offence at the maintenance guys on the back of a truck and was stalking them. We, on the other hand, were in a safari vehicle with netted sides, so the lion didn’t see...
Safari Tart on KZN & Swaziland Safari Road Trip
As you read this, I’m on the Ultimate Safari Road Trip in KwaZulu Natal and Swaziland. Both these areas are strongly influenced by their cultures; the proud and beautiful Zulu’s of KZN and the gentle Swazi Kingdom full of tradition and tribal customs. You’ll be able to read my reviews of reserves and accommodation very...
DERECK & BEVERLY JOUBERT’S FILM ‘THE LAST LIONS’ WINS 4 SAFTA AWARDS (March 2013)
I watched Dereck and Beverly Joubert’s amazing film ‘The Last Lions’ at a trade showing last year and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house – certainly not mine! I write about African safari but didn’t know that lions are endangered in the wild. Their extraordinary film shot in Botswana showed otherwise. Best Director of...
Green Season in Zambia’s Luangwa Valley
“There is no game in the green season…….!” This is a phrase used about Zambia’s Luangwa Game Reserves in the green season, but “It’s simply is not true!” says Christina Carr of Norman Carr Safaris. The Green Season covers the months from January to March, when the summer rains turn everything green, the bush it at...
Wilderness Safaris Launches African Residents Loyalty Programme
At last! Wilderness Safaris, who own or run around 50 safari lodges in Botswana, Namibia, Malawi, Zambia, Kenya, South Africa and now even Congo, plus luxurious North Island in the Seychelles, have realized that the domestic market is worth courting. To rectify this long-standing policy of pretty much ignoring the locals, they threw an enormous party for...
Camping & Glamping is big in 2013
Are you a Camper or Glamper? The former is you, your tent and whatever you bring along to make things more comfortable. The latter is you pretending you’re camping but really someone else has pitched the tent for you (or it is semi-permanent luxury room that happens to have canvas walls in the case of...
Top 5 weird, wonderful, and just plain kooky hotel requests in 2012
This is a the Top 5 strangest requests made on Protea Hotel’s staff in 2012. A burly guest insisted on being sung to as it was the only sure cure for his insomnia. It worked! A Cape Town GM had to go out at 8pm in search of goldfish for a guest who insisted she...
Cape Grace Hotel No 2 in World – Trip Advisor Traveler’s Choice
Congratulations to Cape Grace in Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront for gaining Number 2 Best Hotel in the World 2013 as voted by Trip Advisor Travellers. I have vested interest because I write the blog for Cape Grace. Take a look…. it’s about anything to do with Cape Town, food, wine, events, local artists, places to...
Accommodation/Lodges / Botswana / Eastern Cape / Kariba / Kenya / Kruger region / Madikwe / Malawi / Masai Mara / Mozambique / Namibia / Okavango Delta / Safari snippets / South Africa / Tanzania / Waterberg / Western Cape / Zimbabwe
Eco Safari Lodges in Africa
What qualifies a safari establishment to call itself eco-friendly? Can it just be one thing or should it be an ethos that runs to all aspects of the facility, including: recycling of waste conservation touching the earth lightly using local build materials sourcing local food enviro-friendly sewerage treatment ...
Footprint Quiz
Who made this print in the wet sand at Phinda Private Game Reserve in KZN? That’s what the Head Ranger at Forest Lodge asked me after he heard I had been to more than 200 safari lodges? He reckoned I must have been on enough game drives to be able to identify any spoor (spoor...
World Rhino Day 22 Sept 2012 – what you can do from where you sit
There are many ways to help save the rhino from where you sit right now; the simplest is to donate to an organisation doing something tangible in Africa to save this ancient species that has been around for can you believe it 14.2 millions years! Can we, the civilized people of the 21st century let something that...