Living on the African continent, we have a vast array of protected areas to visit. Those of us with a travel-addiction and passion for wildlife endeavour to visit them all – the Okavango, Maasai Mara and Serengeti to mention just a few. However, we sometimes overlook what we have right on our doorstep, such as […]
Category Archives: Travel & Lifestyle
Namib Desert marathon: Going beyond the extreme for wildlife rangers
The Namib Desert is one of the most hostile places on Earth – a barren wasteland continually scorched by the unforgiving sun. It is also the location of the Beyond the Ultimate’s Desert Ultra Marathon: a 250km race across a 55-million-year-old landscape.
Travel: Exploring southern Lake Malawi
Dubbed “The Lake of Stars” by David Livingstone – due to the way the light dances across the deep blue water during the day, and then reflects the twinkling stars and fishermen’s lamps during the night – Lake Malawi should be on every Africa-travel nut’s bucket list.
Vic Falls Marathon donates to ELE Fence project
A cheque totalling $4,319 was recently handed over to the Victoria Falls Green Fund. This money will go towards the ELE Fence project in Victoria Falls.
Travel: Discovering the Okavango Delta
The Okavango Delta comprises more than 15,000 km² of watery paradise – a lush wilderness of papyrus, impenetrable reed beds, grassy floodplains, tree-covered islands and a complex network of water channels of varying depths, which are engineered and maintained by hippos and elephants – a place that should definitely be on your bucket list!
Riding in lion country
Equestrian types tend to come with a few traits that, while charming to fellow horsey folk, are unbearably irritating to those not of a horsey nature. One such quirk is the devout belief that having ridden one way, you probably know – better than most – how to ride another. We also have an unwavering […]
Expedition survives Somalia in another world-first
Kingsley Holgate expedition team successfully reached the most easterly point of the African continent.
Safari tips: 10 safety points about wild animals
Here are 10 important pieces of information to keep in mind about wild animals when on safari in Africa.
Africa Through My Eyes
Dr Vikram Ghanekar’s journey into the world of wildlife photography began almost a decade ago. His first venture into Africa took place in 2008, and he immediately learned a fundamental reality: you may have the best equipment, but you need to know how to use it properly. Needless to say, after a few workshops and […]
Safari tips: What weather to expect in Africa
While on an African safari, the weather will play a significant role in what you are likely to see (and what you’ll pack). So, here is a broad outline of sub-Saharan African climates.
Why the green season is the time to visit Botswana
Botswana’s green season, the months of November to March, is known by locals as the “secret season” – when you will have game drives to yourself, and enjoy amazing sighting
Safari tips: What to pack for your African safari
So, what exactly should you take on safari? The rule of thumb is to pack light, and to make use of the laundry facilities at your lodges and hotels. That said, there are some essentials that you should never be without. After many years of exploring every nook and cranny of Africa, our travel team has drilled down their list of essentials.
Quirimbas: A Diver’s Paradise
“You won’t believe its beauty,” I heard our pilot Chris say, crackling and popping into the headset, over the whirring and grinding of the helicopter blades as we rose beating into the air. I was relieved to be making a welcome retreat from the dry heat and dusty red-sand streets of Pemba, northern Mozambique. “Ho-hum”, […]
Christmas safari in Africa
Switch out snow and sleet, for sunshine and savannahs by spending your Christmas on safari in Southern Africa!
South Africa’s top tourist attractions
If there was a checklist for the perfect travel destination, South Africa would tick most of the boxes. Famed for its amazing wildlife and landscapes, superb local cuisine, warm hospitality and great weather, (plus the added bonus that its affordable) it’s easy to understand why tourism is so big in South Africa.
Safari tips: Tipping while on safari
The simple act of tipping can be an anxious moment for many people while on safari, and the subject of much discussion and seeking of advice.
Capturing South Luangwa
Late September is a stunning time in South Luangwa National Park in Zambia, with very little standing water beyond the boundaries of the drying river. This concentrates game along the remaining waterways, often causing interactions and social compression between animals that we do not see at other times of the year. It’s the perfect recipe […]
A guides’ guide to operating a 4×4 safari vehicle
Having spent many hours behind the wheel of a 4×4 safari game drive vehicle, along with experiences that have taught me how best to operate a vehicle, hopefully this will help the reader achieve a similar if not better level of confidence and expertise.
Travel: November safari in Africa
November is a great time in Africa, and the ideal time to go on safari thanks to lower prices at lodges and fewer tourists.
Namibia: By nature, a country of contrasts
Vast open spaces. Spectacular scenery. Magnificent wildlife. Beautiful contrasts. Welcome to Namibia!
Safari tips: Cell phones on safari
Communication with the outside world is possible in some form from most tourism areas in Africa, and we all need to set boundaries – but for most a safari is time to detox, unplug, switch off.
Kwaai Khwai
My toothbrush clattered to the wooden deck and evicted its foam cargo as I processed what had just happened. It all started out as a typical safari day at a tented lodge – early morning coffee on the wooden deck of my Meru-style luxury tent, dreamily gazing across the Khwai River channel into Botswana’s Moremi […]
Safari tips: Understanding accommodation types
When it comes to going on a safari in Africa, you will soon discover that the selection of accommodation options is vast. From straw huts and mobile camps, to ultra-luxury hotels and lodges, your choice of where you’ll unload your bags will be influenced mainly by your needs and budget.
My ‘Delta Detox’ mobile safari experience
A tented mobile safari in the Okavango Delta, Botswana, offers guests incredible wildlife encounters and exclusive tailor-made excursions.
Kilimanjaro: Place of myth, legend, and conservation
This wasn’t my first time up Kilimanjaro and it won’t be my last; but it was the first time I had climbed with a team so passionate about a cause: climbing to raise funds for elephant conservation.
Magnificent Madikwe
Madikwe Game Reserve is an extraordinary place. It was established in 1991 on a tract of mismanaged farmland, where the land had been depleted of nearly all of its natural resources. Approximately 10,000 animals were relocated to the area in a project known as Operation Phoenix, over seven years. At the time, Operation Phoenix was […]
The advantages of choosing a shorter safari
Explore the advantages of going on a shorter African safari, where fly-in safaris can deliver you right into the thick of the action without wasting time on overland journeys and lengthy internal transfers.
Cape Town + bush safari combos
How does one exactly combine Cape Town’s summer splendours with a wild Big 5 bushveld safari? We provide four fantastic summer/autumn combos!
Get your “Feet on Safari” photos published
Your Africa Geographic Feature (#YourAGfeature) is for you, our wonderful audience, to have the chance to share your photographs and stories with our worldwide community – the largest passionate bunch of Africa-loving fanatics on the planet!
Free access for National Parks Week in South Africa
From the 18th to 22nd September, 2017, South African National Parks (SANParks) will be offering free access to most of the 21 national park in South Africa for day visitors.
Tracking the Silent Giants of Africa
I have had the great fortune of having travelled in many parts of the world and have experienced many things. This was my third trip to Africa, and second to South Africa. I can say, without a scintilla of doubt, this was the most memorable, impactful, emotional and life-altering trip of my life. My wife, […]
The Zambezi River, nature’s seasonal roller coaster
If rivers are the earth’s renegades, then the Zambezi River is leading the revolution, defying gravity and singing the earth’s song.
The best places to see wild lions in Africa
Aptly named the ‘King of Beasts’, lions are an iconic African wildlife species and are often high up on many travellers’ list of things to see when visiting Africa.
Is Madikwe the best malaria-free Big 5 safari experience?
The malaria-free Madikwe Game Reserve in northern South Africa, is favored by those who want a Big 5 safari – but without the crowds sometimes associated with larger, more popular reserves. The reserve does not permit day trippers or self-drive game drives, ensuring the ultimate private safari experience.
The pink lake: A rose-coloured spectacle
Located only one mile across the dunes from the ocean, the closeness to the seawater and its subsequent evaporation causes Lake Retba or Lac Rose (meaning Pink Lake) to have a high salt content. As I walk over the snow-like landscape of the salt mounds to the edge of the lake, I am amazed that the water really is pink!
Decisions and disasters: Materials for your Art Safari
Disasters involving art materials are nothing new to me after years of travelling and sketching in southern Africa.
Running the Lewa Marathon with ForRangers
The annual Lewa Safaricom Marathon is one of the most anticipated events in East Africa. Organised by Tusk Trust it takes place in one of the most dramatic settings on the continent: Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in northern Kenya, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and home to some of Africa’s most endangered wildlife.
Magical Mahale: Meetings with Chimps
The turquoise water teemed with tropical fish, palm trees swayed, and warm waves lapped at our toes on the sandy beach. We could easily have been on a beach in the Indian Ocean. But we were at Greystoke Mahale. This lodge, inside Mahale Mountains National Park, Tanzania, is on the shores of Lake Tanganyika. It’s […]
How to survive a walking safari
I’ve spent a good amount of time in the bush conducting walking safaris. The general aim is to get closer to the bush and really appreciate the smaller things. But it also allows you to approach dangerous game, which is something that gives me an incredible kick.
A journey to success: Transfrontier parks and communities
Each Transfrontier Parks Destinations (TFPD) managed lodge is a holistic entity, providing essential work and local economic activity in an area of great natural beauty.
Trekking the beautiful Bale Mountains in Ethiopia
This was an amazing opportunity to visit Ethiopia’s most important biodiversity hotspot and see some of the rarest creatures in the world.
Kids go wild on a South Luangwa family safari
When it comes to unforgettable family holidays, it’s hard to beat a safari in South Luangwa. For parents, a safari is a chance to reconnect with nature. For children, it’s a chance to get to know it.
NEW weekly video series: Escape to Africa with Robin Pope Safaris
For those moments when you just can’t get out of the office and into a game vehicle, Robin Pope Safaris launched a YouTube video series: Safari Diaries. Every Monday, a new 60-second video is released and takes you on a virtual safari through the Zambian, Zimbabwean and Malawian wilderness.
Kruger- lodges vs self drive
The Kruger National Park is South Africa’s flagship national park. Wherever you are in the world, if you’re even remotely interested in the safari experience in Africa, you’ve likely heard of the Kruger. It offers a wilderness safari experience that is right up there with the best that Africa has to offer. There’s so much […]
Up in the air on a sky safari
Soaring and drifting. Flying and floating. A safari in the sky is both magical and memorable, and should definitely be on your next African itinerary.
Video: sibling’s thrilling African adventure
What happens when two adventure-loving siblings get together and embark on a spontaneous 8-week road trip across Africa? A whole lot of fun and crazy according to Shelton and Angel Du Preez.
Madikwe safari delivers exciting predator encounters
The Madikwe Africa Geographic photographic trip is always a highlight for me as Madikwe is a special place with such a high diversity of animals and one just never knows what is in store for the photography group.
Bush harmony – a classical concert in the Kruger
The Sunset Serenade concert, held at Kruger’s Mopani camp and surrounds, is a three day cultural and wildlife experience in support of anti-poaching
Jurassic Niassa
“Are we seriously landing there?” The Cessna Caravan was heading towards a massive rocky dome, and what appeared to be a short dirt track in a dense sea of woodland. But, as we skimmed over a wide sandy riverbed, the track morphed into a landing strip. We bumped down and taxied to a halt. Paradise […]
Big 5 malaria-free safaris in South Africa
Mozzies are a nuisance. But in a malaria-area they can be more than that – a serious health threat for travellers. Avoid the worry at these malaria-free safari destinations in South Africa.
Hiking Réunion’s Cirque de Mafate
We stood on the rim of the caldera, the immense volcanic amphitheatre of the Cirque de Mafate, on the French island of Réunion. As far as the eye could see sheer walls of lush green vegetation encircled the seemingly endless and mythical world before us.
Tips on tipping on safari
While not a compulsory practice, tipping is firmly entrenched in the tourism industry in Africa. It helps to ensure that those working in the service industry are receiving a decent living wage.
Réunion Island: Trekking to the ‘Peak of the Furnace’
Located within the Réunion National Park (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), Piton de la Fournaise, also known as ‘The Peak of the Furnace’ or le Volcan (the Volcano) by the locals, has had more than 150 recorded eruptions since the 17th century, with the most recent eruption beginning on 31 January 2017. At 2,631 metres in height and about 530,000 years old, this volcano is one of Réunion Island’s most popular tourist attraction.
Sustainable tourism: the fairest Cape’s fair-traders
Visitors to South Africa are spoilt for choice when it comes to sustainable tourism destinations in and around Cape Town. Indeed, the Western Cape is widely regarded as “Fair Trade Tourism Central” with easily the highest concentration of certified establishments and activities on the sub-continent.
Kosi Bay: boats, birds and paradise!
The haunting cry of a fish eagle resonates across the lake as we pull up at Kosi Bay Lodge. The powder soft sand, raphia palms and Umdoni (Water Berry) trees create a tropical, African welcome. With beads of perspiration on our brows, we are anxious to unpack and seek replenishment at the Nhlanga pub to soak in a stunning view of the largest and third lake of the Kosi Bay system. It is here that we plan the next few days of our boating photographic expedition.
Top 10: Why Luangwa Safari House is the coolest castle in Africa!
Although castles most commonly fill the pages of our favourite storybooks, these remarkable dwellings do exist in real life. Would you believe us if we told you there’s one in the middle of the African bush?
6 Tips to sketch a cheetah hunt
Alison Nicholls shares tips for sketching hunting cheetahs.
Embark on a journey with purpose through Africa
In July, 2017, the Journeys With Purpose expedition will make its way through remote parts of South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia, taking a limited number of people to some extraordinary places and conservation projects.
On Foot in North Luangwa
Brent, our guide, and Lazarus, our scout, took the lead. Special, our tea bearer and the extra set of sharp eyes, brought up the rear. With final instructions ringing in our ears – “No loud noises, pay attention, DO NOT wander off!” – we set out in single file. I’ve been going on safari in Africa […]
3 unique romantic experiences in Africa
Whether you’re popping the question, planning a honeymoon, or just treating your loved one to a well-deserved getaway; it’s hard to beat the romance of Africa.
