This is a copy of our weekly email newsletter. Subscribe here to receive the newsletter.
Exploring Richtersveld + virgin crocodiles + birding Uganda
I am currently taking a week to recharge the batteries after an intense behind-the-scenes period with teamAG building the new portal for our upcoming partnership with African Parks (stand by for more news on that exciting project).
In the meantime, this delightfully enlightened quote by the poet and naturalist Jarod K. Anderson has been occupying my mind:
“Bats can hear shapes. Plants can eat light. Bees can dance maps. We can hold all these ideas at once and feel both heavy and weightless with the absurd beauty of it all.”
Did you guess the lodge in our featured image? It’s the stunning Chilo Gorge Safari Lodge – Gonarezhou, Zimbabwe. That view is to die for, as was the view from my room along the Save River to the horizon. To all of our clients soon to be embarking on their 2023 safari season adventures, and to you all (our future clients 😉), safari njema!
Keep the passion
Simon Espley – CEO, Africa Geographic
TRAVEL DESK UPDATES:
Time to travel! Play your part in rhino conservation whilst on safari in South Africa, or take advantage of a honeymoon offer in Botswana’s Makgadikgadi Salt Pans with these fantastic opportunities:
Rhino conservation safari – malaria-free – 4days – from R58,075 pps
Book 3 nights/4 days at Marataba Explorers or Founders Camp & take part in a hands-on rhino experience. Join the experts in Marataba in the heart of the magnificent Waterberg as they go about darting, notching and collecting DNA from their precious charges. Spaces are limited for this exceptional seasonal experience, so don’t delay.
Stay at Jack’s Camp
Jack’s Camp is located in Botswana’s Makgadikgadi Salt Pans – the remnants of an enormous super-lake. It’s a landscape of space and remoteness and otherworldly vistas dotted with unique desert wildlife. Spend your honeymoon at Jack’s Camp and your partner will stay for 50% off! Get in touch with our safari experts at travel@africageographic.com and let’s start planning.
From our Editor – Taryn van Jaarsveld
teamAG was recently challenged by photographer Col Roberts to create a month-long safari in the birding utopia of Uganda. Uganda’s afro-montane rain forests, wooded landscapes, grassland savannahs, marshes and papyrus swamps offer fantastic birding opportunities. Col returned from his odyssey with dozens of epic sightings of rare and wonderful birds, including papyrus gonalek, dusky crimsonwing, and the much-coveted shoebill. Check out the smorgasbord of birding specials spotted by Col in our second story below.
The dreamy desert landscape that is the |Ai|-Ais Richtersveld Transfrontier Park offers a motley assortment of cliffs piercing the sky, scandalous-looking succulents, heaps of granite boulders masquerading as mountains, and strange plants forming apparitions of ancestors long forgotten. We’ve put together an extensive guide on this rugged territory and geological masterpiece – a place where your soul will find rest. See our first story.
On a personal note, I’m thrilled to be back on board at AG after taking maternity leave. Many thanks to teamAG for steering the ship while I’ve been immersed in the world of my tiny human.
Story 1
https://africageographic.com/stories/ai-ais-richtersveld-transfrontier-park/
|AI|-AIS RICHTERSVELD
|Ai|-Ais Richtersveld is a wilderness paradise for adventurers – a place to lose phone signal and find peace…
Story 2
https://africageographic.com/stories/uganda-birding-bonanza/
BIRDING UGANDA
A Uganda birding safari offers bucket-list sightings. Col Roberts visited Uganda on an AG safari – read about his trip
From our Scientific Editor – Jamie Paterson
“Life finds a way,” as Ian Malcolm (most famously embodied by Jeff Goldblum in a fabulous leather jacket) once warned the creators of Jurassic Park. And if we did happen to genetically engineer and fill a theme park with all-female dinosaurs, he would probably have been right.
Did you know we can now add crocodiles to the list of animals capable of parthenogenesis – a “virgin birth”? A female American crocodile in Costa Rica recently laid a clutch of eggs, seven containing foetuses. She had been isolated for 16 years, and genetic testing of the young (none of which survived to hatching) showed that they were entirely their mother’s children, so to speak.
So if we know that birds do it, reptiles do it, and even (educated?) crocodiles do it, then the dinosaurs (and pterosaurs) could probably do it too.
ONCE UPON A TIME
In our forum this week: Celebrate visual storytelling & wildlife photography with Photographer of the Year finalist Hannes Lochner’s new book, Once upon a time. Hannes’s book offers intimate insight and a playful perspective on wildlife. Read more about Hannes’s wildlife photography pursuits, and on how to get your hands on his new book, on our forum.
WATCH: Meet Ndondondo Bienvenu, hunter-turned-protector of Chinko’s last remaining elephants (06:31). Click here to watch
To comment on this story: Login (or sign up) to our app here - it's a troll-free safe place 🙂.
HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF AFRICA GEOGRAPHIC:
- Travel with us. Travel in Africa is about knowing when and where to go, and with whom. A few weeks too early / late and a few kilometres off course and you could miss the greatest show on Earth. And wouldn’t that be a pity? Browse our famous packages for experience-based safaris, search for our current special offers and check out our camps & lodges for the best prices.
- Subscribe to our FREE newsletter / download our FREE app to enjoy the following benefits.
