AFRICA - HARSH BUT BEAUTIFUL

No where else will you find a place so harsh yet so beautiful! Picture the vast desolation of the Namib Desert with its' amazing inhabitants, completely oblivious to the starkness of their environment. Yet amidst this harsh landscape, you can't help but feel an incredible sense of peace and become emotional at the mere wonder of it. The lime green grass of Botswana, the red sands of the Kalahari, the magnificent Kalahari lion roaring deep into the ink black night, making its presence and kingship known to all. The enticing cinnamon sunsets will seduce you forever - a palette of colours strewn across the African sky, leaving you breathless.

The friendly, smiling people of Zambia, the mighty Zambezi River at sunset...African elephants, bodies gently swaying, making their way across the mighty waters. Our rolling mountain ranges, with peaks stretching into the blue skies, warm sandy beaches that seem to stretch on forever and a magnitude of cultures to offer you the experience of a lifetime. This is Africa - this is our land

AFRICA SEDUCES LIKE NO OTHER

MAJETE WILDLIFE RESERVE IN MALAWI - BROUGHT BACK FROM THE DEAD

Majete Wildlife Reserve Malawi, proclaimed in 1955, is situated in the Lower Shire Valley, a section of Africa's Great Rift Valley, covering an area of 700 km². Vegetation is diverse, ranging from moist miombo woodland in the western hills, to dry savannah in the east with prominent thickets along the riverbanks.
Since its proclamation as a protected area in 1955 Majete had been managed by the Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW). However, due to a lack of resources, scouts were poorly equipped to deal with heavily armed poachers. In 1988 there were estimated to be over 200 elephants in Majete but by 1992, all had been exterminated together with buffalo, sable antelope, eland, zebra and hartebeest. Other species that inhabited Majete included hippo, warthog, bush pig, zebra, kudu, bushbuck, waterbuck, grey duiker, klipspringer and spotted hyena. By the early 1990s their numbers too had been greatly reduced through poaching. Small numbers of crocodiles still survived in the Shire River.
Majete was gradually becoming less and less of an asset to the country. When African Parks first arrived, Majete was in a poor state of neglect following years of under-funding. Uncontrolled poaching of animals saw Majete emptied of most of its large mammals by the early 1990s.
Since 2003 already more than 3,000 animals have been introduced. These include black rhino, sable antelope, buffalo, waterbuck, eland, impala, nyala, warthog,zebra, hartebeest and elephants. Restocking will carry on in national parks in Malawi, but many were also purchased from game ranches in Zambia and South Africa. African Parks carried the capture and transport costs. One of the goals is to re-establish Majete as a Big 5 Game Reserve, which means that once there is enough game, the big predators like lion, leopard and cheetah will also be brought back.

Visitors are welcomed at an attractive entrance gate where they can enjoy refreshments at the scenic Heritage Centre. Overnight stays are possible at the Community Campsite or in en-suite Tented Chalets at Thawale Camp. More and more tourists are attracted to the many activities and comfortable accommodation in Majete Wildlife Reserve.

Majete is really worth a visit. Not only because of its beauty, but also to remember what damage we can do to our natural environment. Lucky for Majete, something has been done about it to reverse the damage.

ARE ALL LODGES ECO GREEN?

As we all know corporations are all using the word "green" "We are a green company". And so does most Lodges. "We are an eco-friendly green lodge". But are they really?

Look for the following when you visit a Lodge: Are they?:
1. Using alternative energy for lighting - solar
2. Using alternative energy for water heating - solar
3. Water conservation
4. Water purification - recycling water
5. Using no contaminating chemicals
6. Using eco-friendly building materials - wood is good
7. Waste disposal - what are they doing with their waste?
8. Making sure the environment around the lodge is left unchanged

INVERDOORN CHEETAH REHABILITATION PROGRAMME

Cheetah - The Fastest Living Animal on Earth
Be awed by the grace and magnificence of the Cheetah in their natural environment at Inverdoorn Game and Safari Lodge. Various threats make the cheetah the most endangered large cats in the world. Inverdoorn’s world famous rehabilitation programmes are playing a major part to reverse this trend.
Since 2001, Inverdoorn has operated specialised care programmes specifically for our Cheetahs. Inverdoorn pairs up unrelated animals in order to retain the widest possible range of genetic characteristics color;in our Cheetah gene pool. These programmes are open to overnight guests to learn all about Cheetah genetics and specialised needs from our resident experts. Inverdoorn encourages all visitors to meet the Cheetahs up close and personal through first hand, live viewings on safaris and wild cheetah encounters. We also offer exclusive access to our tame cheetahs. (depending on weather.
Inverdoorn guests also have access to informative presentations by our resident experts on all aspects of these astonishing animals’ lives.
And only at Inverdoorn do visitors get to experience first-hand the acceleration and power of the fastest living animals on Earth - running special exercises at the Inverdoorn Cheetah Rehabilitation Programme.

MARAKELE NATIONAL PARK - BONTLE CAMP SITE

The Marakele National Park in the heart of the Waterberg Mountains, as its Tswana name suggests, has become a 'place of sanctuary' for an impressive variety of animals.
Personally I think this is one of the gems of South African National Parks. However, I do not think that it is as widely visited as the rest of the National Parks. Why this is the case I do not know. This is a beautiful Reserve.
The Reserve with its lush grasslands, specially during this time of the year, with the Waterberg Mountains standing guard over it, is honestly worth visiting.
Even though most people think there are no lions in the park, a recent count has shown a total of 18 healthy lions. The Reserve is basically divided into two sections and the lions only occurr in the one area. So it is not always easy to see them. However, if you are not only interested in seeing the cats as most people are, this is an ideal place to visit.
We have visited Marakele a few times now and I enjoy it each time. Although we previously stayed at the Tented Camp, this time around we camped at Bontle Camp. The campsite is open and spacious and although it had a reasonable number of guests, there were still open sites available. Each site has a power point, with running water. The ablutions, although not top of the range are adequate and clean. But the best for me regarding the camp is its setting. The camp look out over a grassland, with a waterhole and the magnificent mountains in the background. Here the animals congregate right through the day. You do not even have to leave the camp. Ostriches walk through the campsite pecking away. And where else can you get to see healthy Rhinos 7 metres away from where you are sitting having your sundowners? The camp is not fenced which makes it even better.
Call me a romantic, but this campsite honestly reminded me of a typical "Out of Africa" scene.

Afrique Escapades: Zimbabwe Tourism scooped International Award??

Afrique Escapades: Zimbabwe Tourism scooped International Award??: "'Zimbabwe, now ranked Africa's fourth best tourist destination, scooped 'The Best Country Image Promotion Award' at the maiden Guilin Intern..."

Zimbabwe Tourism scooped International Award??

"Zimbabwe, now ranked Africa's fourth best tourist destination, scooped "The Best Country Image Promotion Award" at the maiden Guilin International Tourism Fair held in Guangxi province, China, recently, as the country's tourism and hospitality industry continues with its fairytale recovery.

The award comes at time when Zimbabwe has stepped up its marketing efforts and destination perception management across the globe through celebrity host programmes that have seen world acclaimed artiste perform in the country.

It also comes at a time when Zimbabwe is strengthening its market position in China which is set to become the world's number one tourist wholesaler by 2020 and whose outbound tourism market size will reach an estimated 100 million international departures."

For the death of me I do not know how this happened.  To be honest I wish it could be true.  Zimbabwe has wonderfull places for Tourists and specially the beautiful scenery and wild bush.  Lake Kariba and Vic Falls used to be known as the Riviera of Africa.  But alas, we all know what happened in Zimbabwe and the tourism industry (not to mention everything else) has been damaged by our friend Bob and his dogged stupidity. At the recent Tourism Indaba in Durban, I specifically looked for the Zimbabwe booth, as I really would like to encourage tourism in Zimbabwe.  And I did find them, but sooo little information was available.

Was the "award" given to Bob for his generous nature towards the Chinese Goverment in return for more money into his pocket, in order for the Chinese to set up more little "shops" in the every town you pass, selling the biggest rubbish.  And what about Zimbabwe's natural resources....China would just love getting their hands on that....so yes, I dont think this is a true reflection of the state of the Tourism Industry in Zimbabwe at the moment. 

I absolute adore the bit about "their fairytale recovery" .  Does China even know what is going on in Zimbabwe, or is this now a "make Bob feel better" issue?

KRUGER NATIONAL PARK ACCOMMODATION - MOPANI CAMP

I have always loved Kruger National Park and on my recent trip there, again I had a great time.   My one complaint will be of course the volume of people.  However, as I know Sanparks has to make money, I wont complain to much. 

We stayed at Mopani Camp for the first few nights and as always this is my favourite camp.  The setting is lovely.  Most of the chalets are surrounded by trees (this camp does not really look like the old fashioned style of the Kruger with chalets and rondawels set in a laager).  But of course beloved chose the most beautiful one beforehand, no. 49, set right at the tip and overlooking the lake.  Only two of these and apparently no 49 is the best one.  He of course knows Mopani is my favourite. The chalet has the most stunning views over the lake and you  have a constant flow of animals there.  Always hippos, elephants, waterbuck, etc.  And of course lovely bird viewings. The chalet can sleep 4 comfortably, kitchen and bathroom.  We had lots of  visits from the tree squirrals and dwarf mongoose.  Also lots of birdlife around the chalet.  I also just want to mention, to me, the staff at the reception here are very friendly, with  a great sense of humour.  It was a pleasure dealing with them.

Would have liked to stay longer at Mopani, and in hindsight should have.

Next we moved to Letaba Camp.

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Rhino Poaching in South Africa

As we all know we have been made more aware of Rhino Poaching in South Africa, which has become a real problem for the conservation of Rhino.  So far this year more than 150 Rhinos have been poached. 

A local radio station has started a fund for the prevention of Rhino Poaching and has so far collected more than 1 million rand.  My main concern is where will these funds go to?   And who will keep control over it. 
I totally agree money should be collected for the conservation and preventing of poaching of the Rhino and more people should be made aware of the problem.  Millions and millions of dollars are being given to conservation instances like the Sea Shepard for the Saving of the Whales against mostly the senseless killing by the Japanese. (And I applaud Paul Watson and the Sea Shepard).

Should not the same attention be given to the prevention of the Rhino being poached to extintion.

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