africa

Sometimes things don’t go as planned – and those moments often make for the best stories. Tripping columns offer readers a chance to share their wild adventures from the road.

The first stop on our African road trip is Pilanesberg National Park, a two hour drive north of Johannesburg. On the advice of a tour-guide cousin, we opt for a DIY-safari. Pilanesberg claims to be two-wheel-drive friendly, but our rental car turns out to be a glorified Smart car. Still, we take our chances. Once we leave the main paved road, we bounce in our seats as the tiny vehicle hits ruts and we swerve to avoid jagged rocks. For this subcompact, 30 kilometres an hour seems suicidal.

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As the sun rises above the surrounding ring of hills, a menagerie of wildlife greets us: giraffes, zebras, white rhinos, impala and countless wildebeest. Alone in the bushveld, we embrace a silence broken only by the distinctive call of the grey lourie bird: go-away, go-away. It doesn’t occur to us this could be an omen.

While we rattle along a side road, I notice a massive lump in the distance. Pilanesberg is tucked in the crater of an extinct volcano, and I’ve already been tricked by enough hefty boulders to know not to get my hopes up. But as we approach, I glimpse a flash of ivory, and the lump begins to move.

We park the car and turn off the engine as the elephant comes nearer. He’s a huge, old bull, well-endowed with a drooping belly and a trunk that dangles along the dusty road. The bull is the largest that we’ll see on our entire trip. When he’s 20 metres away, he stops to chew on the acacia trees. I snap photos. When I lower my lens, he turns to stare.

The moment our eyes connect he takes another step. He heads to the road behind us. I spin to look out the rear window. As he steps onto the gravel, he turns to face our car.

“What do we do?” I ask my brother. “Turn on the car – drive!”

“It’s too late; we’ll startle him.”

Four tons of weight, but barely a sound as he trudges forward. His eyes don’t leave mine until he towers over us. He stops. Rubs against the passenger side – we’ve just become his scratching post. His bulk makes the car groan. Machete tusks graze the passenger window.

I lock my door.

“How’s that going to stop him?”

The elephant lifts his trunk and feather-dusts my window, leaving smudges of red dirt. My heartbeat takes on the grey lourie shriek. Go-away, go-away. He leans sideways. I hear the scrape of rough skin on metal. My mind flashes to the article my mother so kindly sent me before I left: “Two Tourists Gravely Injured after Elephant Attacks Car.” I glance down at my camera but my hands are paralyzed. Besides, I wouldn’t want to witness my end through a lens.

Go-away, go-away.

When the bull’s curiosity is finally sated, he obeys my silent plea. He continues on to another tree, blocking our path so we dare not proceed. We sit and wait until he retreats to the bush.

Special to The Globe and Mail

Share your 500-word travel adventure with us. Please send it to travel@globeandmail.com.

By
Sandra Howard

PUBLISHED:

07:16 EST, 13 October 2013

|

UPDATED:

07:16 EST, 13 October 2013

A Zulu custom, still practised today, demands that a man pay a tabola of 11 cows to the parents of his prospective bride. It is a sort of dowry in reverse, and since the same rule applies for any subsequent wives, Zulu men have to be rich to practise polygamy. An American tourist during our trip was heard commenting that his luck was in, considering how many cattle he had on his ranch.

In the 19th Century, the payment of a tabola wasn’t enough. Young Zulu men had to ‘wash their spears’ before being allowed to marry. It was a powerful incentive. They clamoured for a chance to draw blood, and when the British misguidedly invaded Zululand and pitched tents at Isandlwana, the Zulus attacked with fearsome might.

Soaking up the sun: Sandra relaxes during her stay at the Thonga Beach Lodge

Our army suffered one of the greatest defeats of its colonial history at Isandlwana on January 22, 1879. It was a momentous, disastrous day, yet extraordinarily it was also to become one of triumph. At Rorke’s Drift just hours later, 100 British soldiers defeated 4,000 Zulu warriors.

They received 11 Victoria Crosses, the greatest number ever awarded for a single battle.

Africa is in my blood after spending a couple of childhood years here. To be on holiday with my husband in KwaZulu Natal, smelling the warm, intoxicating air again, and driving over the majestic plains to visit the Zulu battlefields … well, I felt emotional from the start.

We stayed first at Fugitives’ Drift Lodge, previously run by David and Nicky Rattray and now by their son Andrew. David pioneered the idea of tours to the battlefields. He believed that the stories of Isandlwana and Rorke’s Drift, tales of incredible endurance and courage, should be told and seen from both sides.

He died at the hands of a gunman, but was a friend to the Zulus and one of South Africa’s great heroes. With Andrew taking over, his legacy lives on.

Service with a smile: A member of staff at the Phinda Lodge brings refreshments

Our room with views over the historic estate was comfortable and colonial to its core – from the Thermos of chilled water to the meltingly light shortbread, and a cosy over the teapot. The lodge’s large swimming pool was a treat, and a marvellous new library building overlooking the dramatic Buffalo River Gorge has been added.

Arriving in the evening, we found the other guests settled with their drinks around an outdoor fire, while a full moon lit up the beautiful garden behind them. We all sat together at dinner too, which was home cooking at its best, in a magnificent dining room – the walls were laden with paintings, spears, original flags and fascinating historical documents.

A big happy girl called Grace presided over the dining room and kept us entertained. At breakfast one morning, after I asked how she had slept, she replied: ‘Like a log, but I didn’t end up in the fireplace!’ From my seat at the breakfast table, the arresting peak of Isandlwana was perfectly framed between two immense shady fig trees.

Later, when we were there on the battlefield, standing where the men had fallen and seeing the simple piles of whitewashed stones that mark the mass graves, we stayed silent.

More than 1,300 soldiers in their redcoats were felled at Isandlwana, despite their firepower. They were disembowelled (to release their spirits) and left to rot in the baking summer sun. Only a handful of others survived.

To add to the terrible poignancy, there was an eclipse that day, meaning the battle was fought in an eerie half-light.

It was hard to comprehend the extent of the blunders made by the commander, Lord Chelmsford. Our guide, Mphuwa, a Zulu, told the story vividly and emotionally, yet always even-handedly.

That evening he took us to see the memorial to Lieutenants Melvill and Coghill, who lost their lives trying to save the Queen’s Colour for their regiment. They received the first two posthumous Victoria Crosses in history for their incredible bravery.

Heroes: Michael Caine and Stanley Baker starred in the 1964 film Zulu

Mphuwa’s great-grandfather and grandfather had fought at Isandlwana, he told us, and he went on to describe bringing Lord Chelmsford’s great-grandson to see the memorial.

‘He looked at it for a long while,’ Mphuwa said. ‘Then he came down the steps, held me in his arms and we both had a cry.’ The next day we went to Rorke’s Drift. The buildings are still there, and seeing the site at sunset while hearing the unbelievable tale was a strange, stirring experience.

Before coming to Africa, we had watched the film Zulu again. Michael Caine, in his first major role, plays Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead who, together with Lieutenant John Chard, had been in command at Rorke’s Drift. They had been dismissed as a pair of dullards by their superiors, yet their brilliance in battle has become the stuff of legend.

For the next part of our stay, we headed to the Thonga Beach Lodge, close to the border with Mozambique, where a little relaxation was planned.

It was a five-hour drive across the lofty plains of Natal, but with the sculptural vastness of the landscape, the small towns, colourful markets and clatter, the hours simply flew by.

Simple memorial: The battlefield
at Isandlwana where 1,300 British
soldiers were killed in 1879

We said goodbye to our cheerful driver Wendy at the Cashew Nut Factory, the handover point for Thonga Beach. It meant swapping her comfortable car for a rough old 4X4 that bounced us along dusty tracks bordered by pole-straight blue gum trees.

Our new driver, Ashley, knew his birds – he pointed out trumpeter hornbills and gorgeous little beeeaters, and even had a birdsong app on his phone to draw various species closer.

Thonga Beach Lodge nestles under the lee of sand dunes within a vast wetland reserve, a world heritage site. It is ten miles from any other resort and is situated on a beach that stretches 18 miles in one direction to Mozambique, and 30 miles in the other. You could walk all the way on pale, firm sand in perfect isolation, lulled by the sound of breaking waves.

Thonga Beach Lodge aims to ‘clear the mind, nourish the body and soothe the soul’. It does all three. It has nature walks, wondrous marine activities, a butterfly alley and a fantastic chef called Carl.

He was unusually shy and never came to take a bow, but he cooked delectably fresh fish, steaks and ostrich to perfection. Even guilty gooey puddings had the lightness of a master’s touch.

The rooms at the resort are detached cottages, well equipped and built using appealing natural materials.

And Thonga has a marine centre, run by Donna and Clive, with all the kit for scuba-diving and snorkelling, which is fabulous. Venture out into the ocean and you’ll see honeycomb moray, devil firefish, friendly little octopus and more.

If it’s not the season for swimming with bottle-nosed dolphins, the couple will take you out in a boat to look for whales.

We were between seasons, but went out in the boat and saw a family of humpback whales. Donna had an underwater camera with her, and she dropped into the sea off the side of the boat to capture some images. Afterwards she confessed that she was terrified at being so close to 20-ton whales, but the pictures she took were amazing – mother, father and baby in a single frame.

It was a wrench to leave the soothing otherworldliness of Thonga Beach. But our last couple of days were on safari at Phinda Mountain Lodge. We were off to see big game.

Phinda Lodge is on a 64,000-acre protected estate where the wildlife is free to roam – we saw families of warthogs and zebra even as we turned in off the road.

The rooms, all private cottages, are dotted about the hilly slopes of the estate, and just in case of a hungry lion turning up, a guard kindly escorted us to and from the main building after dark.

Phinda is a Zulu word meaning ‘the
return’, and the Lodge is part of a group that has been actively
involved in the reintroduction of big game, especially endangered
species such as black rhino. It has been a huge success, of immense
value in the fight against poaching and extinction. It seemed a perfect
example of how conservation can be sustained by business, with both
flourishing to the benefit of all.

Getting back to nature: A shaded deck at the Thonga Beach Lodge

I’m now past the age of roughing it in a tent, so to sink into an emperor-sized bed in air-conditioned, sophisticated splendour, to have a private plunge pool and loungers on a sunny deck, seemed as moulded to my needs as a double-width airline seat is to an overweight person who might otherwise overflow the sides.

Not that we had lazy mornings to enjoy such wonders. Staying at Phinda Lodge meant wake-up calls at 5.30am, a quick cuppa and a cookie before being taken off with our guide and tracker into the early mist.

We were with two other couples in an open truck – honeymooners from Texas and an older couple from Hampshire. My camera was the smallest by a yard and my bird knowledge embarrassingly limited, but after an African childhood I knew about treating wild animals with the respect they deserve.

You don’t mess with rhino, elephant, leopard, black buffalo, or a lion stalking her prey; walk backwards if you happen to meet one, and never turn and run. I also know that rhinos are very short-sighted – jump aside nimbly if one charges because he’s unlikely to swerve.

We saw a sleek cheetah with her young, and four of the Big Five on our short stay thanks to our marvellous guide Paul, and tracker Sisyla. Their knowledge and quick-sightedness during our various forays were awesome; depending on the time of day, they produced coffee and flapjacks, or sundowners with nibbles, erecting a table and laying it with a neat cloth.

We had a terrific late breakfast to look forward to after our final four hours in the wild. Then, after lazing in the sun (terrible, I know, but irresistible), it was time for lunch and a dip in the pool.

It’s such a pity that I’m now back at my desk, looking out at the steady rain.

Sandra Howard’s new novel, Tell The Girl, will be published by Simon Schuster shortly.

Getting there

Africa Travel (africatravel.co.uk, 020 7843 3500) offers a ten-day trip to KwaZulu Natal from £3,440 per person. This includes three nights each at Fugitives’ Drift Lodge, Thonga Beach Lodge and Phinda Mountain Lodge, return British Airways flights, car hire, all meals, battlefield tours and some activities at Phinda and Thonga Beach.

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Gaborone – Looking up from my pillow I can see stars twinkling through the branches of a giant mashatu tree that’s our guardian for the night. There were monkeys up there earlier and I do hope they’ve moved off – I fear for my crisp white linen…

Who says sleeping out in the bush needs to be rough?

Whether it’s at the lodge or camping in the wild, Mashatu Game Reserve, in Botswana’s Tuli area in the south-east, adds a layer of luxury to everything it does. But that’s not what this story is about.

If you absolutely loathe (but also if you love) going to the gym, Mashatu offers an alternative that doesn’t involve treadmills and loud pumping music.

The “circuit” includes game-viewing bush walks, back-to-nature mountain biking and free-spirited horse riding. And instead of a trainer barking orders, the thought of lions provides all the motivation you need to keep moving.

 

A baby African elephant spotted among the huge herd.

SUPPLIED

The walking safari

“Breeding herds of elephants may respond in a… non-positive manner,” said guide Stuart Quinn, whose joy at his job can’t be dimmed by the threat of a lethal pachyderm. “But we have the upper hand, due to the surprise elephant, I mean element!”

Stuart’s safety briefing was reassuring, but I resolved to keep my eye out for the surprise elephant anyway, just in case.

Ahead were two days and nights of walking through Mashatu’s diverse terrain, guided by Stuart and tracker Johannes Moshaba who, at 76, had more energy – and knowledge – than the rest of us combined.

Our first afternoon’s walk broke us in gently. I love a game drive, but actually being on foot, hearing the birds or the thudding hooves of a herd of eland – instead of an engine – delivers a powerful sense of connection. “When we’re out walking, it’s about therapy,” said Stuart. “It’s about smelling it, feeling it.”

Later, as the sun sank behind a ridge, we ambled into a copse of trees to find an angel, offering gins and tonic. A circle of chairs around a large campfire, a table set for dinner, the promise of a hot bucket shower to ease that delicious feeling of well-earned fatigue – those are the ingredients Stuart’s wife, Annelien, brings to the safari.

Paths lit with romantic paraffin lamps led to a loo-with-a-view and our private tents, and we slept to a soundtrack of distant trumpeting elephants.

Our walk over the following days threaded together a string of brilliant experiences. A gentle climb through rocky gullies gave us a brief glimpse of a shaggy brown hyena before we stumbled upon its boneyard. The cave entrance was strewn with skulls, horns and all manner of bones brought to feed the pups inside.

Eventually we emerged on top of a massive buttress overlooking the wide, almost dry bed of the Motloutse River, where single-file dots below became zebras and wildebeest heading for pools of water.

The walk down took in overhangs with rock art and pottery fragments, even grinding stones, but an even more impressive hint at earlier residents was to come later.

At one point Johannes picked up lion spoor. As adrenaline surged through the group, he and Stuart slipped instantly into stealth mode, creeping forward and communicating only with hand gestures and quiet clicks.

We didn’t find the lions, but I suspect only because we ran out of time.

 

Massive herds

The elephants of surprise had so far also been elusive, but at last we saw them – a massive herd of around 80 gathered in the river bed, jostling for position in the pools.

We watched comfortably from the bank, camouflaged in the shade of a tree as this real-life, big-screen documentary unfolded before us.

Smaller herds still streamed out of the trees on the opposite bank, the youngsters sprinting across the sand to join what looked like an immense family reunion.

Then one group splintered off to our other side. Outflanked, we withdrew quietly, finally surprised.

Walking with purpose from camp to camp – instead of wandering around and then back to your base – gives you a sense of achievement.

 

Giant mashatu

Annalien’s magic of great food, piping-hot showers and soft white bedding this time was served at the kgotla, a circle of protective leadwood stumps, within which we slept on cots under the stars and a giant mashatu tree.

If that didn’t sufficiently up the wow factor, our final night’s sundowners did.

Racing against the sun, we climbed another rock buttress to reach Mmamagwe Ruins, a 900 CE site linked to South Africa’s Mapungubwe kingdom.

An unlikely baobab clings to the rocks right at the top, presiding over MMBA – “miles and miles of bloody Africa” – as they say at Mashatu.

Here’s where ancient and colonial histories merge: rocky walls built by Stone Age people, and Cecil John Rhodes’s initials carved into the baobab, on his quest for a Cape to Cairo thoroughfare.

While we sat there, imagining the busyness these hills had seen, Africa did what it’s done for all time – presented yet another beautiful sunset silhouetting the magnificent baobab.

Even if it was arguably improved by a human-made glass of chilled chardonnay.

 

The mountain biking

Those canters with Mercury were my undoing. After not riding for years, two hours aboard Mercury left my rear issuing a decree: no more saddles.

So although I was scheduled for a mountain bike ride in the morning, the plan changed to a game drive (with padded seats, thank goodness).

 

Mercury was the slightly alarming name of my horse, when I was hoping for a more plodding Pluto perhaps. After gearing up with chaps and a riding hat, and a short getting-to-know-you trot around a paddock, we ambled out into the reserve, the late afternoon sun making long shadows on the veld.

We got very close to giraffe and wildebeest, which were watchful, but not alarmed. Instead of running, as they might have if we’d been in a vehicle or on foot, they were happy to stare as curiously as we stared at them. It was gentle – it felt like we were all sharing their wild space, rather than intruding upon it.

It’s beautiful there – a bushy landscape punctuated with massive mashatu trees, and the occasional marshy area, quite dry at this time of year. In between are open areas that beg for a gallop. With guides West Manoko and David Cheno, we had exhilarating races across the veld, tearing past thorn bushes and trees. Mercury graciously gave me control when I felt he was going too fast, even though we both knew who was actually in control. – Saturday Star

Mashatu Game Reserve, 011 442 2267 or 0861 SAFARI, or e-mail reservations@malamala.com

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Travelers can serve as a veterinarian’s assistant by helping notch a rhino’s ears.

I had to get out. Parked in a Land Rover on safari in South Africa, sitting less than the length of my office away from a two-ton white rhino, I felt trapped. Not literally — we were not backed into a corner, and he was not contemplating a charge. He was minding his business and paying me no mind. But I was trapped by the confines of the vehicle, frustrated and fidgety. I had vowed to return to Africa — not to bear passive witness but to explore hands-on. Which is precisely how I found myself, 13 years after that first trip, in the wilds of southern Africa clutching the horn of a live rhino.

One of the hottest trends in tourism these days is so-called experiential travel, trips that allow travelers to place themselves in increasingly unique situations, sometimes helping do a greater good in the process. The opportunity to get up close and personal with a living, breathing rhino is the latest evolution of tourism-driven conservation. One of the Big Five animals that are a must-see for safari-goers (along with the lion, elephant, leopard, and water buffalo), the rhino is an icon of Africa, as symbolic as America’s eagle. But it is also one of the world’s most endangered species. More precious than gold, rhino horns sell on the black market for upwards of $30,000 a pound, fueled by demand from the Far East, where the horn is coveted as an aphrodisiac, a hangover remedy, and a cure for cancer, despite the fact that it possesses no medicinal value. South Africa is home to about 80% of the world’s remaining rhino population, which totals just over 20,000, but its dwindling numbers shock: Between 2000 and 2007 an average of 15 rhinos a year were lost to poaching, but by 2010 that had jumped to 333. In 2011, 448. Last year, 668. This year poachers are on pace to slaughter as many as 1,000 rhinos.

• 

BR Director of Private Travel Brad Crockett earned the title “Safari Specialist” the hard way.

“It’s an incredible community and I’m honoured to be mentioned.” – Brad Crockett

Toronto, Ontario (PRWEB) October 09, 2013

Departures magazine has named Butterfield Robinson Director of Private Travel Brad Crockett a Safari Specialist in the magazine’s October 2013 Africa Now issue.

Having first travelled to Africa as a backpacker in 1989, Brad returned 10 years later as a guide in the continent’s south, spending the better part of a decade guiding trips. Now Butterfield Robinson’s Director of Private Travel, he specializes in unique, unusual and active experiences in southern Africa.

“It’s a thrill to get the nod by a magazine like Departures, as they cover not only the best in travel but also food, culture and lifestyle—key ingredients to travel,” Brad says. “Most of the lodges and guides listed are people and places that I’ve looked up to and have worked with during my time in Africa. It is an incredible community and I’m honoured to be mentioned in the same pages as them.”

In addition to his South Africa Family Private, South Africa Culinary Private and South Africa Active Private itineraries, Brad’s Africa portfolio has recently expanded to include Tanzania Biking Private, Tanzania Walking Private and Tanzania Family Private Ready-to-Book trips, along with Bespoke trips to Botswana and Namibia.

Butterfield Robinson—the world’s premier active travel company—designs incredible journeys to the world’s most amazing places. Crafted from the finest ingredients (exceptional lodgings, incomparable access, stellar wines and food, experienced guides and more than a few secrets), BR trips combine adventure with unparalleled cultural immersion in the world’s greatest destinations.

For more information on this trip and more visit http://www.butterfield.com.

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Michael Buerk, the presenter of Inside The National Trust, visits six locations, including Northumbria’s Cragside, built by Victorian inventor Lord Armstrong and the first house to be lit by hydroelectricity.

Travelling west to Cumbria, he discovers more about Georgian life at 18th century Wordsworth House, Cockermouth, and visits Sizergh Castle, near Kendal.

Other highlights include the wildlife on the Farne Islands off Northumberland and 17th century Wimpole Hall in Cambridgeshire.

Follow in Buerk’s footsteps by staying in one of the Trust’s properties such as Garden Cottage in Cragside (0844 800 2070/ nationaltrustcottages.co.uk) where a two-night break costs from £307, self-catering.

FASHIONABLE FEET A favourite of the fashionable crowd, Hunter wellies (0131 240 3672/hunterboot.com) area stylish addition for this time of year. Wear on countryside yomps or gentle strolls through the autumn leaves.

Now a new boot with a buckle feature combining iconic black with a bright top is the latest musthave for Hunter enthusiasts. Choose from black on brick, crimson, dark ruby, feather blue, moss green or sovereign purple to brighten up even the dampest of days. £95.

SAFARI CHIC Keep your eyes peeled for the “Big Five” on safari in Zambia.

This time of year is known as the Emerald Season when there is a higher chance of rain but it is still a good time to take a wildlife spotting boat trip.

Watch elephants along the riverbank and hippos and crocodiles as you cruise along the Luangwa River.

Norman Carr Safaris’ new Chinzombo Camp (normancarrsafaris.com) is the ideal place to explore the wilds and waterways of Africa in style.

Set within 60 acres of private land it has access to the richest game area of the South Luangwa National Park which boast more than 60 animal species and over 400 types of bird.

Six private villas each with their own pool blend effortlessly into the surrounding wilderness with canvas walls and rustic decor. Expert Africa (0208 232 9777/expertafrica.com) offers eight nights at Chinzombo from £3,535pp (two sharing), all-inclusive. Price includes return flights from London with South African Airways, internal flights, transfers and safari activities.

Langkawi Beach in Malaysia.
Source: Supplied

ENJOY beach bliss in Malaysia, drive Route 66, live it up with five-star romance in Bali or go wild with black rhinos and cheetahs in Africa.

Malaysia deals

SAVE 20 per cent on selected Malaysia and Borneo trips with Intrepid Travel. For example, book the 10-day Classic Malaysia trip from $1748 a person (was $2185) and journey from Singapore to old-world Melaka, Kuala Lumpur, colonial Penang, finishing on the beaches of Pulau Langkawi. Price includes accommodation, breakfast daily, two lunches and two dinners, a cooking class and moreother activities. Must Book by November 15 forand travel before March 31 next year, 2014.

Ph 1300 018 871 or see intrepidtravel.com/malaysia-sale and use the promo code “10111”.

Self drive through Monument Valley, US.
Source: Supplied

Take an iconic US road trip

HIT the road in the US with an eight-day self-drive package that will take you along iconic Route 66 and through the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas from $847 a person, twin share – that’s a little more than $100 a day. Start at Las Vegas and drive out through some of America’s most beautiful natural landmarks such as Monument Valley, Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park. The price includes eight-day Hertz group B car hire (including GPS) plus accommodation along the way. Offer valid for travel from October 20-December 14 and from March 1-20 next year, 2014.

Ph 13 13 98 or see travelscene.net.au

Berry Armour Villas in Seminyak, Bali.
Source: Supplied

Romantic Bali

TAKE more than 50 per cent off your next Bali holiday when you stay at the 5-star adults-only Berry Amour Romantic Villas in Seminyak. A one-bedroom private pool villa is available from $227 a night including daily breakfast, welcome drinks, daily tropical fruit, daily afternoon tea, 24-hour butler service, transport service to Seminyak centre, free Wi-Fi and finger food on arrival. Offer Valid for sale until October 31 and valid for travel until June 30 next year, 2014 with some blackout periods.

Ph 1300 859 565 or see cantikbalivillas.com

Phinda Forest Lodge in South Africa.
Source: Supplied

Special Africa

STAY three nights or more at Phinda Mountain Lodge or Phinda Forest Lodge in South Africa and receive free return transport from Johannesburg, via Richards Bay or Durban. That’s a saving of more than $300 when you book by October 31. The lodges are renowned for cheetah and black rhino sightings as well as herds of elephants, lions and leopards. Three-night packages start from $1917 a person and include accommodation, all meals, house beverages and twice-daily game drives.

See andbeyond.com

Explore Europe with STA.
Source: Supplied

Taste of Europe

TAKE off on the European Explorer, the ultimate 31-night adventure through the continent, from $6739 a person, twin share, a saving of $1000. Make your way through 17 countries visiting cities such as Paris, Barcelona, Florence, Rome and Amsterdam and, as well as lesser-known destinations through Albania, Croatia, Montenegro and Bosnia. Also includes four days beachside on the Greek island of Mykonos. Departure dates are July 6, 13, 27 and August 10 next year, 2014. Includes breakfast daily and 16 three-course dinners.

Ph 13 47 82.

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Many people like to feel they’re more traveller than tourist but in Africa you’re more likely to end up in a group and then more likely to travel better and see more.

Below are some tour choices:

• TRAVEL DIRECTORS *

Travel Directors, based in Cambridge Street, West Leederville, has many itineraries that include travel in Africa, and certainly director Tony Evans, who conceives, researches and models the tours, specialises in Africa.

Probably the two of its tours to look at are Southern African Magic and African Dawn. Both fully escorted small-group tours are all inclusive of flights, accommodation, most meals, tour director and local guides.

The 19-day Southern African Magic starts and finishes in Johannesburg, with time in Hwange game park in Zimbabwe, Chobe National Park and Okavango Delta, both in Botswana, and South Africa’s Cape Peninsula. It is from $13,597 per person, twin share.

Over 28 days, African Dawn includes Uganda, Ethiopia and Rwanda, and particularly the mountain gorillas. In Ethiopia, there’s the Timkat Festival, celebrating the baptism of Christ, and the ancient cities of Gondar, Bahir Dar, Axum and Lalibela. In Uganda the group goes to a source of the Nile on Lake Victoria and a Pygmy colony on an island in Lake Bunyoni. The trip is from $17,890 per person, twin share.

Travel Directors also has a 28-day The Three Ms tour in Malawi, Mozambique and Madagascar.

• WILDLIFE SAFARI *

Wildlife Safari has tours which include travel in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, Mozambique and Madagascar (and, in better times, Egypt). If you want to go to Africa, it goes there.

This is a company with more than 40 years of history. Director Trevor Fernandes is based in Subiaco and Trevor’s father Tom, who started the company in Nairobi more than 40 years ago, is still involved on a daily basis. It’s a family affair and many of its guides in Kenya have been with it for decades – part of that extended family.

It concentrates on top-quality accommodation and experiences, and owns its own fleet of specially designed safari vehicles, with more space and better viewing than many. Hotels include the Nairobi Serena Hotel (which has boom gates and metal detectors, and guests and luggage screening on arrival), Fairmont hotels such as the Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club and top safari lodges at Amboseli, Samburu and the Masai Mara.

For 2014, these are Wildlife Safari’s top three Signature safaris:

The Savanna Safari comes top, covering four of the finest wildlife sanctuaries in Africa – Amboseli, Ngorongoro Crater, Serengeti and Masai Mara. There is unlimited game viewing during this 13-day trip, with first and last nights at the luxury Nairobi Serena Hotel. There are twice-monthly departures throughout next year, with prices from $7700-$10,000 per person, twin share, depending on the month.

The Mountain Gorilla Trek is a four- day gorilla trip in Rwanda or Uganda, with the first night in Kigali or Entebbe, then two nights at a luxury safari lodge in the heart of the rainforest. It is from $3000 per person – plus $US750 ($801) for the gorilla permit in Rwanda or $US600 in Uganda.

Wings Over Botswana is its most popular safari in this country, visiting Okavango Delta, wildlife-rich Moremi Wildlife Reserve and the Savute Channel, known for its “big cats”. It includes four flights between camps within Botswana and is from $4250 per person, twin share (from $6500 July to October).

Prices are inclusive of ground content. Full details will be available soon in Wildlife Safari’s 2014 Africa brochure.

• BENCH INTERNATIONAL *

Bench International has also been running tours in Africa for more than 40 years. Trips range all over the continent but, as examples, its Luxury South Africa has three days in Cape Town (staying at Cape Cadogan Hotel for three nights), then two nights at Cascades Hotel in Sun City and three days in the Sabi Sands Game Reserve. Accommodation is five star and it is from $3210 per person, twin share, for the eight nights of accommodation, breakfasts, tours, road transfers and all meals at the Lion Sands River Lodge in Sabi Sands.

Its seven-day Victoria Falls and Safari tour stays in four-star accommodation, with three nights at the Victoria Falls Safari Lodge and three at The Hide in Hwange National Park, the biggest game reserve in Zimbabwe. It is from $2285 per person, twin share, for the six nights of accommodation, all meals, drinks and laundry while on safari, excursions and light aircraft transfers from Victoria Falls and game activities.

Over 15 days, its Southern Africa Adventure concentrates on the national parks and reserves of Botswana and Namibia, with a group maximum of 14, mostly with comfortable camping, and from $2525 per person, twin share.

• WORLD EXPEDITIONS AND PEREGRINE ADVENTURES *

World Expeditions and Peregrine Adventures offer small-group, adventure-style touring in Africa.

One of World Expeditions’ popular trips includes climbing Mt Kilimanjaro by the Kilimanjaro-Shira route or Kilimanjaro-Rongai route. There are also trekking and walking adventures – Kenya on Foot and Tanzania on Foot walking safaris, where travellers walk with local people and experience Africa close up. For example, the 16-day Tanzania on Foot combines vehicle safaris in the Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Crater with trekking ascents of Mt Kilimanjaro (5895m) and Mt Meru (4566m), and is from $5390 per person, twin share.

One of Peregrine Adventures’ most popular trips in southern Africa is Delta, Dunes and Falls which, in 19 days, visits Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa. It is from $5610 per person, twin share. It includes time at Victoria Falls and in Chobe, Mudumu and Etosha national parks, before travelling on to Etosha, a Himba village (to stay at a guest farm or similar), to the prehistoric watercourses and grasslands of Damaraland and on to the Namib Desert.

• OTHER OPERATORS *

Other independent companies and individuals offer itineraries, such as Traveljoy’s small-group safaris. This Busselton travel company specialises in Africa travel, with trips ranging from a 15 and 22-day South Africa Safari to the 15- day Namibia, Botswana and Zambia Safari.

As an example, the 15-day South Africa Safari includes Cape Town and Table Mountain, Johannesburg and Kruger National Park, and Blyde River Canyon and is from $6860 per person, twin share, including airfares from Perth.

• MOROCCO OPTIONS *

Major tour companies are taking significant numbers of travellers to Morocco, though they have stopped travelling into Egypt.

Trafalgar has a range of tours in Morocco but let’s look at Best of Morocco 2014, which is from $1885 per person, twin share. This coach tour starts in Casablanca, spends two nights in Fez then goes through Erfoud, Tinghir, Ouarzazate for two nights in Marrakesh before returning to Casablanca. The price includes transport, accommodation and many meals

Insight Vacations’ Morocco 2014 is premium touring from $2150 per person, twin share, for nine days. It is designed to have a comfortable, balanced pace, with two-night stays in Fez and Marrakesh, and all in a coach with plenty of leg room, with a knowledgeable tour director. The southern Saharan towns of Erfoud and Ouarzazate are overnight stops and there is plenty of time for sightseeing.

• fact file *

·Travel Directors: traveldirectors.com.au and 1300 856 4200.

·Wildlife Safari: wildlifesafari.com.au and 1800 998 558.

·Bench International: benchinternational.com.au and 1300 237 422.

·World Expeditions: worldexpeditions.com.au and 9486 9899.

·Peregrine Adventures: peregrineadventures.com and 9321 1259.

·Traveljoy: traveljoy.com.au and 9753 2100.

·Trafalgar: Travel agents, trafalgar.com/aus and 1300 663 043.

·Insight Vacations: Travel agents, insightvacations.com/au and 1300 237 886.

The deadliest attack by Islamist
militants in 15 years in Kenya is threatening tourism, the
nation’s second-biggest source of foreign income, as the
industry battles to rebound from a series of setbacks this year.

The four-day raid by militants linked to al-Qaeda at an
upmarket shopping complex in the capital, Nairobi, left at least
67 civilians and security personnel dead. Armed with automatic
machine guns, as many as 15 gunmen of the Somali Islamist group,
al-Shabaab, rushed into the mall on Sept. 21, spraying bullets
and lobbing grenades as they moved through the building.

“Some of the images that have come out of Kenya are really
harrowing and it’s going to affect the perceptions in quite a
negative way,” Shilan Shah, an economist at Capital Economics
in London, said in a phone interview yesterday. “The length of
time it went on, the live coverage, the severity of the attack;
it’s definitely affecting perceptions.”

Tourism is the biggest foreign-currency earner in East
Africa’s largest economy after tea exports, with visitors
flocking to Kenya’s wildlife reserves, such as the Masaai Mara
park where millions of wildebeest can be viewed in an annual
migration, and Indian Ocean beach resorts at Mombasa, the
country’s second-biggest city. The industry accounts for about
10 percent of gross domestic product, generating more than $1
billion a year and attracting about 1.8 million holidaymakers,
according to the government.

Hotel Chains

Favored by affluent Kenyans and foreigners working in
Nairobi, the Westgate Mall also drew many tourists, hosting a
weekly market offering African souvenirs and trendy coffee shops
with Internet access. Victims of the attack, which was the
deadliest since al-Qaeda bombed the U.S. embassy in Nairobi in
1998, included 57 Kenyans and citizens from France, Canada,
South Africa, China and Ghana, the government said.

The violence will probably reduce tourism revenue by $160
million this year, restricting economic growth in the $41
billion economy to 5 percent, compared with an earlier estimate
of 5.6 percent, Charles Robertson, global chief economist at
Renaissance Capital in London, said in an e-mailed report on
Oct. 2.

Shares of TPS Eastern Africa, the Kenyan holding company of
the Serena Hotel chain, have dropped 4 percent since the
violence to 46 shillings ($0.53) at yesterday’s close in
Nairobi.

The U.S. State Department on Sept. 28 reissued an earlier
advisory telling American tourists to be wary of the “threats
from terrorism” in Kenya. The move was “unnecessary and
unfriendly,” Kenyan Interior Secretary Joseph Ole Lenku said
two days later.

Tourism Target

Tourism has already been dented this year as visitors held
back on trips before elections in March and after a fire at the
country’s main airport in Nairobi in August gutted the
international arrivals hall. The number of tourists dropped 12
percent in the first half to 495,978, compared with a year
earlier, according to the government, which has delayed its
target to attract 3 million visitors to 2017 from 2015.

The attack occurred at a time when Kenya’s government is
seeking to accelerate investment in roads and railways to boost
economic growth. The International Monetary Fund hosted a
conference on Kenya’s rising economic prospects last month, in
which Treasury Secretary Henry Rotich forecast 5.6 percent
expansion this year, compared with 4.6 percent in 2012. The
target is to reach at least 10 percent annual growth by 2017.

‘Bounce Back’

While tourism may suffer, the economy is resilient and
investors taking a long-term view won’t be deterred, Shah said.

“The country has shown it has the capacity to bounce back
previously,” he said.

Clashes between ethnic groups after disputed elections in
December 2007 led to the deaths of more than 1,100 people and
displaced thousands, causing economic growth to slow to 1.5
percent in 2008. A year later, the economy expanded 2.6 percent,
while tourist arrivals surged 24 percent, according to the Kenya
National Bureau of Statistics.

The al-Shabaab attack won’t dissuade Marriott International
Inc. (MAR) from proceeding with the construction of two new hotels in
Nairobi, Alex Kyriakidis, the hotel chain’s president for Middle
East and Africa, said in an interview on Sept. 25. This was an
“isolated incident” and it’s unlikely to have a long-term
effect on Kenya’s tourism industry, he said.

The Kenyan shilling has strengthened 1.8 percent against
the dollar since the shopping mall attack and was trading as
high as 86.25 in Nairobi yesterday. The FTSE Kenya NSE 25 Index
has climbed 4 percent to 171.34 in the same period. That
compares with a 3.3 percent increase in the FTSE/JSE All Africa
Index of 30 companies on the continent, excluding South Africa,
monitored by the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

Eurobond Sale

“We were immediately worried but we’re seeing now,
happily, that the impact may not be as big as we thought,”
Mohammed Hersi, chief executive officer of Nairobi-based
Heritage Hotels Kenya, a chain of seven hotels and safari
lodges, said in a phone interview yesterday.

The government is sticking to plans it made before the
shopping-mall attack to sell a debut Eurobond of at least $1.5
billion by December after several delays since since 2007.

Moody’s said on Sept. 26 the terrorist attack may curb
government revenue, mostly from tourism, and is negative for the
country’s B1 credit rating. That’s four levels below investment
grade and on par with Zambia and Cape Verde.

Oil Production

Nairobi, which accounts for about 60 percent of Kenya’s
economic output, is the regional headquarters for companies
including Google Inc. and Toyota Motor Corp. (7203) The nation is set
to start pumping its first oil next year and may export crude as
early as 2016.

Al-Shabaab had threatened attacks in Kenya after the
country sent troops to Somalia in October 2011 to oust the
militia group. Kenya deployed its army to the neighboring
country after blaming al-Shabaab for kidnapping at least four
foreigners and murdering a British tourist at a luxury coastal
resort.

“Terrorism is a very global problem and it’s not just
something that happens to Kenya or a developing country,” Hersi
said. “As long as high commissions and embassies haven’t told
their citizens specifically not to travel here, people will
come.”

To contact the reporter on this story:
Sarah McGregor in Nairobi at
smcgregor5@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Nasreen Seria at
nseria@bloomberg.net

Enlarge image

Kenyan Mall Siege

Kenyan Presidential Press Service via Getty Images

In this handout photo provided by the Kenyan Presidential Press Service, the remains of cars and other debris is seen from the rooftop of the parking lot outside the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya, on September 26, 2013.

In this handout photo provided by the Kenyan Presidential Press Service, the remains of cars and other debris is seen from the rooftop of the parking lot outside the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya, on September 26, 2013. Source: Kenyan Presidential Press Service via Getty Images

(CNN) — At the risk of propagating a dodgy cliché, Africa remains one of the last frontiers of travel.

Non-air-conditioned travel, that is, i.e. the kind where you risk stubbing your toe occasionally or getting genuinely lost.

From gorilla sighting in the Ugandan highlands to skiing — yes, skiing — in Morocco, it promises untold travel wonders.

But new Africa hands should worry less about stocking up on viral jabs and safari suits than ditching their preconceptions.

For a start …

Africa can be very cold indeed

It might straddle the equator but not everywhere in Africa is scorching.

Mt Kilimanjaro (Tanzania) and Mt Kenya both have glaciers and nights can be dangerously chilly in the desert, with temperatures dropping to as low as -10C.

It snows in places, too.

You can go skiing in the Atlas Mountains in Morocco, the Maloti Mountains, Lesotho and in the Eastern Cape Highlands, South Africa.

Alongside desert, there are mountains and rainforests

Africa does have vast swathes of desert and flat savanna but also mountainous and exceptionally green parts.

There are the sprawling rainforests of Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire) and the soft green hill country of Senegal, Guinea and Tanzania.

For more cultivated greenness, South Africa’s garden route, on the south-east coast, is so-named because of its lush vegetation and lakes.

And not every desert is a stretch of barren wilderness.

The Kalahari is known for its spring flowers, while the Namib, the oldest desert in the world, is home to desert-adapted elephant, rhino, giraffe and lion.

More on CNN: Touring Nelson Mandela’s South Africa

Hippos are the big killers

You should worry less about lions and Nile crocodiles and instead keep an eye out for hippos.

They’re the biggest people-killers on the continent.

Found in sub-Saharan Africa, the animal is aggressive, unpredictable and can charge at 28kph.

If you’re in a boat (where many people will encounter them) hit the sides to signal your position.

If on foot, keep your distance and never get between a mother and her calf.

Hippos are most aggressive in the dry season when water levels are low and food supplies limited.

Listen out for oxpeckers since the birds issue warning calls if hippo are around.

You won’t need every shot in the book

Your childhood vaccines should be up to date for an Africa trip but you don’t need prevention against every disease going.

A rabies shot is advisable — but plan it in advance as it’s a series of jabs — along with injections against hepatitis A, meningococcal meningitis and typhoid.

You may need yellow fever vaccination, too. For some countries, such as South Africa, it’s an entry requirement.

Consult with your doctor about your specific travel plans and medical history. Find out more about virus protection while traveling at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention website.

French is useful — African French even better

Africa’s countless ethnic groups mean there are several hundred languages, many with distinct dialects, you could come across.

Former colonial languages — English, French and Portuguese — are common, but English may not be as widely spoken as you think.

French is almost essential in West or Central Africa and will probably come in useful in Algeria, Burundi, Djibouti, Rwanda and Tunisia.

African French, however, is very different from what you were probably taught at school — while you should be able to make yourself understood, you might find it harder understanding others.

The informal “tu” is used much more frequently in Africa than it would be in France, but if you’re dealing with officials it’s perhaps safer to stick with “vous.”

More on CNN: 10 of the best golf courses in Africa

You don’t need countless visas ...

If you’re traveling in West Africa, consider getting a Visa Touristique Entente (VTE) which covers Benin, Burkina Faso, Niger, Togo and Cote d’Ivoire all in the one document.

It costs around $50, is valid for up to two consecutive months and should save you time and money.

Embassies of Benin seem to issue these with the least amount of hassle, although theoretically they’re available from any of the countries’ embassies.

… But your car will need papers

If you plan to drive a hire car through Africa you may well need a carnet de passage or a triptyque (the former is for entry to multiple countries, the latter to one), although neither is required for Morocca, Algeria and Tunisia.

Carnets are issued by national motoring organizations and act as a guarantee that import duties will be paid if a vehicle is taken into a country and remains there.

Hire companies won’t issue you with a carnet unless they have proof you can afford any duties, so you’ll need insurance to cover this.

Some southern African countries don’t demand a carnet, although they’ll insist you buy a Temporary Import Permit at the border.

Find out more about vehicle documentation at the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile website (page in English).

Karen Bowerman is a travel writer and former BBC broadcaster who specializes in conservation issues and adventure travel.

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Close encounters: Wildlife can be readily caught by the eager snapper. Photo: Theo Allofs/Corbis

It’s game on for an unforgettable adventure, writes Katrina Lobley in this first-timers’ safari guide.

The urge to go on safari strikes me suddenly and unexpectedly, in the way some people fall head over heels in love. Out of the blue – maybe it’s a mid-40s thing – I want to see Africa’s animals roaming the land under huge skies instead of behind bars in a zoo.

Almost as soon as I think it, I’m booked on a Botswana safari. I borrow Alexander McCall Smith novels from the library, hoping to understand Botswana, but I’m just delaying what’s really stopped me going to Africa all these years: vaccinations. For I have a needle phobia bigger than a herd of African elephants.

Zebras on the move in Chobe National Park, Botswana. Photo: Corbis

THE JABS

No vaccinations are compulsory for Botswana but, because I’m detouring into Zambia post-safari, I need a yellow fever shot to re-enter South Africa on the way home. Damn. For this, not all medical centres are equal – you need one that’s yellow fever-accredited.

The doctor reels off a recommended vaccination schedule – the possible diseases blur into one as blood drains from my face. The doctor jokes, “Why do you want to travel to Africa anyway?”

Park here: A giraffe crosses the road. Photo: Corbis

At this point, I can’t remember.

I take tetanus along with yellow fever – the tetanus shot hurts, yellow fever doesn’t.

I’m also prescribed the anti-malarial Malarone (my fellow safari-goers from England and Canada are taking these tablets too). The doc warns they’re expensive but I still reel when the pharmacist announces 24 tablets will cost $128. This safari better be worth it.

THE EQUIPMENT

This once-in-a-lifetime trip prompts a reassessment of my camera. I’m unhappy with its 5x zoom and search, “best zoom on a point-and-shoot”. The Canon SX50HS, with a 50x zoom, induces zoom-envy from fellow safari-goers: it’s particularly brilliant for capturing birds in far-off branches. A few days after visiting the camera store, I return for a spare battery because I’m unsure if our remote camps can recharge them (turns out they can but it’s reassuring to have the spare).

THE OUTFIT

There’s a certain type of safari-goer who kits him or herself out in top-to-toe khaki – the only thing missing is the pith helmet. At the other end of the scale, backpackers happily tour Chobe National Park looking like they’ve bounced straight from a nightclub: they’re not too worried about scaring animals with their fluorescent sunglasses and skimpy threads. Remember you’ll be sitting for many hours in a safari vehicle rather than walking around (which is dangerous), so running shoes are fine. Pack loose, comfortable clothes, including a long-sleeved shirt and wide-brimmed hat to fend off harsh rays angling in from the side of the vehicle.

THE ITINERARY

AndBeyond’s 10-day Explorer Expedition safari starts in Maun, Botswana, near the wildlife-rich Okavango Delta – an inland delta that sprawls over 16,000 square kilometres as it empties into the Kalahari Desert. Safari-goers continue to Chobe National Park in the country’s north-eastern corner before finishing in neighbouring Zimbabwe. I’m doing a potted highlights bespoke itinerary – two nights in the delta and two in the national park.

THE SEASONS

Dry winter months – from May to August – are considered Botswana’s best game-viewing months, along with September and October, when animals congregate near water. We head to the delta at the end of summer when the grass is long and lush and animal-spotting is supposedly difficult.

Within an hour of arriving, we’re tracking lion prints on a sandy road. Soon, furry ears pop above the grass. It’s all we can do to not squeal like schoolkids. It’s not only a surreal sight but a total adrenalin rush.

We calm down and park just metres from the pride of six lions lazing in the shade of a feverberry tree. A smear of blood on a cheek tells us they’ve just eaten. They laze with full stomachs, rolling on their backs like super-sized domestic kitties.

“This is one of the top experiences, to see them like this,” whispers our guide, Chief Marota.

We realise life in Africa is gloriously unpredictable and wonder what could top this.

OKAVANGO DELTA

While Chief drives, tracker Kux Mobe keeps his eyes peeled for animals and birds from a seat precariously perched above a headlight. In the delta, vehicles can go off-road so we veer off over grasslands to pull closer to a dazzle of zebras and a journey of giraffes. I adore these collective nouns and the thrill of spotting something new. Field guides in the vehicle tell us more about these exotic creatures. One of my favourite sights is two adorable spotted hyena cubs playing near their den while mum is off finding dinner.

The birds – a pretty lilac-breasted roller perched in a leadwood tree, a woodland kingfisher flitting from a sausage tree and a large saddle-billed stork high-stepping through a marsh – are enthralling.

Tall termite mounds play a pivotal role in the delta, attracting animals whose droppings contain seeds that then sprout, helping to form small islands. “If we didn’t have termite mounds, the delta would be a very big lake,” says Chief.

CHOBE NATIONAL PARK

Unlike the delta, Chobe National Park is a strictly on-road experience – but that doesn’t detract from game-viewing. The park, divided from neighbouring Namibia by the Chobe River, is so packed with wildlife that there’s always another thrilling encounter just around the corner.

The world’s largest elephant herd – estimated to number more than 120,000 – roams northern Botswana including Chobe (billboards around Kasane, the nearest town, describe the park as “the land of giants”). You may even – gasp – grow tired of the sight of elephant and impala, our most oft-spotted species. Our safari includes a river cruise past elephants frolicking in the water.

Back on land, we’re riveted by more giraffes, a lone hyena and a pair of industrious dung beetles rolling a dung ball – many times bigger than them – along the road.

THE WATERWAYS

In the delta, we board a flat-bottomed boat to cruise into a maze of narrow, papyrus-shaded channels that’s all very Indiana Jones and take morning tea among the waterlilies.

“If you follow this channel, you get to Angola,” says Kux.

Chief scoops up the water in a bottle to show its clarity – it looks perfect, but foreigners of course can’t drink it. Later, we’re poled along in canoes known as makoro and sit riveted, listening to grunts, hoots and calls as the day darkens.

At Chobe National Park, cruising the hippo-laden river separating Botswana from Namibia is a highlight. Along the riverbank herds of elephant are at play, spraying mud and water, drinking and swimming. Crocodiles bask in the sunshine.

LIFE AT CAMP

At the Nxabega delta camp, the camp cook, Priscillah, welcomes us with ululations so thrilling I wish I’d recorded them so I could channel Africa on demand. The unfenced camp overlooks a marsh favoured by red lechwe – an antelope that has adapted to live in swamps.

One afternoon I emerge from my tent to startle something just metres away. I’m left wondering what scampered off into the grass – a warthog, maybe?

Because anything could wander through the campsite, we’re fetched from our tents for dinner even though it’s only a short walk to the lantern-ringed table.

We might be in the middle of nowhere but the menu is gourmet: chickpea soup, roasted bream fillet with baby potatoes, carrots and beans for mains and panna cotta to finish. Another day we lunch on eggplant and spinach bake, rice, beef with almonds and capsicum salad and bread.

Tents contain a full-size bed and side tables holding an emergency horn, lamps and two types of insect repellent. Between the sleeping and toilet tents is an open-air bathroom – staff fill the bucket shower with warm water in the morning (their arrival doubles as a wake-up call). There’s also a dressing table with a mirror, toiletries, tub and some detergent.

TOILETS

For those worried about such things, here’s the lowdown on toilets. At the camps, each sleeping tent is paired to a toilet tent with a flushable porcelain loo that wouldn’t disappoint the most high-maintenance safari-goer. If the urge strikes on a game drive, you may have to go behind a bush (once a guide has checked for lurking lions) or behind the vehicle. Believe me, no one cares.

WHAT I’D PACK NEXT TIME

All that sitting and bouncing around in the Toyota can induce a condition known as “LandRover back”. Next time, I’d take a yoga mat to do some serious stretching at camp between game drives.

WHAT I TELL FRIENDS

Wildlife tourism is big in Botswana’s economy, so not surprisingly the safari is like a well-oiled machine. The only thing to worry about is what amazing sight is next. I can’t wait to return, even if it means more jabs.

The writer was a guest of safari provider andBeyond.

 

TRIP NOTES

GETTING THERE

South African Airways flies daily from Sydney to Johannesburg, South Africa. From Johannesburg, it connects to Maun, Botswana, and Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. See flysaa.com.

SIGNING UP

AndBeyond’s safaris have a minimum age of 12 years; those aged 70 to 75 must be certified fit to travel. The 10-day Explorer Expedition safari starts in Maun and ends in Victoria Falls. It costs $US5960 ($6400) a person twin-share until October 31, dropping to $US5255 a person twin-share from November 1 until December 31.

See andbeyond.com.

MORE INFORMATION

botswanatourism.co.bw.

ABOUT THE WRITER

Katrina Lobley grew up among a menagerie on the outskirts of Brisbane. Even with all that animal experience, the freelance arts and travel writer found Botswana’s wildlife astounding.

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The uncertainty over India’s tour of South Africa grew further when the New Zealand Cricket announced their itinerary on Monday a day after the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s Working Committee meeting approved the proposal of a West Indies tour to the sub-continent.

The tour to the land of Kiwis, which was supposed to begin in February according to the International Cricket Council’s Futures Tour and Program, has been advanced to January leaving a small window for Cricket South Africa to host India.

The New Zealand tour is supposed to begin mid-January with the first of the five ODIs being played on 19th.

Meanwhile, the number Test matches have been reduced from three to two.

Going by the current scenario, the window to accommodate a South Africa series is small. Australia’s tour of India will end in the first week of November, with the last ODI being played on November 2 while the New Zealand tour begins with an ODI on January 19. And between these two dates, India will have to accommodate two big series.

West Indies are likely to play two Tests and five ODIs that could take at least a month leaving little time for South Africa.

Some officials in the BCCI say they are not sure how the tour of South Africa would be accommodated, while some feel that it could be pruned from three to two Tests. The Indian cricket board has still not communicated with the CSA about their plans who are keenly waiting for their counterparts to reveal them of their intentions.

“We have kept a proper window for the South Africa tour between the West Indies and New Zealand series. Although it’s a small window, South Africa will have to accommodate by reducing the number of games — including the Tests and ODIs. It is unlikely that we will play a practice game there,” said a top BCCI official.

A top BCCI official revealed that the West Indies tour is more of a money-making exercise. “We wanted a short series against South Africa and we had a window to accommodate a series that would help us financially.” It is likely that India might play two Tests, three ODIs and two T20Is.

Meanwhile, the New Zealand Cricket is keen to host India as it will give them a major boost financially. NZC’s chief executive David White said he was happy that the summer programme of the Indian team visiting their country was finally confirmed.

“It’s brilliant that the Black Caps will be playing five ODIs against the world’s top one day side given the proximity of Cricket World Cup in 2015,” he said adding that the venues for the tour will be announced next week.

Tendulkar to take it one match at a time
Sachin Tendulkar has rubbished the reports of his retirement after the West Indies series where he will achieve the 200 Tests landmark. He told a news channel that he didn’t want to comment on it and is rather keen on taking it one match at a time. “No reactions now…will take it match-by-match,” he said.

Meanwhile, a top BCCI official on condition of anonymity, said that the hurriedly-planned visit by West Indies was about garnering revenue and is not organised as a farewell series for Tendulkar.  “As far as Tendulkar’s retirement is concerned, it is up to him when he wants to quit the game,” official said.

Catch all the sporting action at www.dnaindia.com/sport and http://www.dnaindia.com/sport/archives

{ story.summary|safe|escape }

• Casting off: Matt Shipway has been selected to tour South Africa with the Country firsts team. Pic:?NEWCASTLE?HERALD

FORMER Port Macquarie
Sharks player Matt Shipway has been granted selection in the Country firsts
side to tour South Africa.

Shipway steered the Sharks to grand final
victory as captain in 2006.

Two years later the backrower found himself in Newcastle.

His move didn’t start to well with the team he
initially signed with, the Central
Coast’s Entrance, folded
before he played a single game.

In 2008 he was picked up by the Macquarie
Scorpians where he played two years.

Following that Shipway made the move to South Newcastle where he has played since.

He even signed on as captain coach for a couple
of seasons.

But Shipway credits his selection in the
representative team to his decision to give up the coaching role and
concentrate on his game this year.

“I think I still played pretty good footy as the
captain coach,” he said.

“But the move allowed me to concentrate more on
my game and the biggest thing was not having to worry about anyone else.

“As the captain coach I’d have to turn up and
watch the first two games and talk to the other coaches then go in the sheds
and try and get everyone else ready for the game as well.”

The Country team will take on the South African
National team – The Rhinos – as well as an academy side and the 28-year-old
Shipway is excited at the strength of his squad.

“It looks to be a very strong team,” he said. “I’m excited to be a part of it. There’s a few
ex-NRL players in there.

“When there’s that quality of players in the
team it helps you play better footy too.”

Shipway will head to Sydney on Friday where he will join a
three-day camp before heading overseas.

The Country team will play the Rhinos on October
18.

SEATTLE, WA, September, 2013 – African Safari Company (http://www.africansafarico.com/) are masters at seeking out off-the-beaten-track, diamonds in the rough on the world’s second largest continent, Africa. They send clients to a number of hidden and overlooked destinations where wildlife, history, culture and opportunities for multi-sport activities abound — without the usual crowds.

African Safari Company’s Director of Sales Marketing Julia Nesbitt offers this sampling of often-overlooked African destinations and lodges carefully vetted by their team of experts.

Botswana’s Mashatu Game Reserve sits at the confluence of the Limpopo and Shashe rivers in the ecologically diverse Northern Tuli Game Reserve in southeastern Botswana. The reserve defines the Africa of vast, open space with star-filled skies, a quiet so loud it thrums with life, and unexpected adventures with horseback and cycling safaris, walks in the wild and visits to archaeological and San rock art sites. There are just two camps to choose from in this open wilderness: the luxury of Mashatu Main Camp or the rustic appeal of Mashatu Tent Camp.

 

This destination is easily included in South African and Northern Botswana safari itineraries. For an example of a Botswana safari see: http://www.africansafarico.com/safari/conservation-safari/.

 

South Africa’s Tswalu Kalahari Private Game Reserve on the semi-arid Northern Cape is the country’s largest private game reserve and it’s also the most exclusive, with only 30 guests at a time to discover what may well be South Africa’s last great wilderness. This region has diverse cultures of frontier history and brave missionaries and boasts countless challenges for adrenaline junkies, hikers, mountain bikers, horseback riders and 4×4 adventurers. Explosive displays of wild flowers occur from late July to November and are fantastic when viewed by hot air balloon. Walks to ancient archaeological sites reveal rock carvings created by the Bushmen up to 380,000 years ago. The diversity of habitat (and climate) has resulted in an extremely diverse animal population – a surprise to many given the perception of the desolate Kalahari. The Motse is the only lodge on the reserve with just eight suites; however small groups have the opportunity to stay at the Oppenheimer family’s personal home, Tarkuni.

 

Tswalu combines perfectly with any other luxury destination in Southern Africa and is accessed by private place from Johannesburg or Cape Town. Please see http://www.africansafarico.com/safari/extension-southern-africa/

and http://www.africansafarico.com/safari/best-of-cape-to-kruger-8-days/.

 

Western Tanzania’s Katavi National Park is the heart of a large and rich wildlife area so remote that only about 300 foreign visitors experience it annually. The immense floodplains are host to wide variety of mammals and birds while the crisscrossing seasonal rivers become crammed with hippos and crocodiles as the water recedes in the dry season. This is perfect walking territory and is best explored on a safari which includes fly camping under the African stars. ASC’s favorite camp is Chada Katavi with just six East African safari tents on the edge of the Chada Plain. Katavi is accessed by light air on twice weekly scheduled flights and is best combined with other East African destinations. For Tanzania safari ideas visit http://www.africansafarico.com/destination/tanzania-safari/

 

Tanzania’s Sadaani National Park combines bush with beach and then some at this little-known park in the center of the historic triangle of Bagamoyo, Pangani and Zanzibar. The coastal climate is hot and humid, fostering marine and mainland biodiversity. About 30 species of larger mammals are present as well as numerous reptiles and birds. Besides many species of fish, Green turtles, Humpback whales (nyangumi) and dolphins (pomboo) also occur in the ocean, just steps from Saadani Safari Lodge. Activities include game drives, river safaris, walking, beach picnics, birding, snorkeling and visits to the local villages.

 

Saadani is accessed by light air from Dares Salaam and combines well with any East Africa safari. Saadani Safari Lodge has six eco-friendly suites offering views of the Indian Ocean in front and African bush behind. For a sample itinerary which includes Saadani and the Serengeti, visit http://www.africansafarico.com/safari/lux-tanzania-special/

 

Kenya’s Meru National Park is most famous as the home of Joy and George Adamson and Elsa the lioness of “Born Free”. The park has enormous diversity of habitat and wildlife, from cool forests at 3,400 feet to the west, dropping down to 1,000 foot semi-desert plains with giant baobab and commiphora trees. It has 13 clear spring-fed rivers lined with palms and riverine forest and home to basking hippo. This is lion and elephant country, but also Meru has many rare species including caracal, the beautiful Lesser Kudu, aardwolf, and over 400 species of birds. The park also has an 84-square-mile rhino sanctuary housing over 60 black and white rhino. The area is so large that finding the rhino can still be a game driving challenge.

 

The park is best accessed by light aircraft. Elsa’s Kopje is the place to stay, nestled into the hillside and overlooking vast plains. Accommodations are open-fronted cottages, unique in design and with an elegant safari style. This lodge is in ASC’s Best of Kenya Safari: http://www.africansafarico.com/safari/best-of-kenya-safari/

For a full listing of Kenya safari ideas see: http://www.africansafarico.com/destination/kenya-safari/

About African Safari Company Small Ship Safaris

Mike Nesbitt, a native of South Africa, and daughter Julia bring an intimate knowledge of wildlife migrations, climate variables and cultural opportunities to the African Safari Company that he founded in 1998. Specializing in small group travel and custom safaris for the independent and inquisitive adventurer, the company carefully vets each lodge, camp and safari partner they work with in Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda Rwanda, South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and Namibia.

A new division launched in 2013, Small Ship Safaris features a similar exotic adventure experience – on water instead of land. Expedition ships for between 16 and 210 guests transport wildlife and nature enthusiasts to remote areas of Alaska, Amazon, Arctic, Baja Sea of Cortez, Galapagos and Patagonia.

For more information, itineraries, availability and reservations please call: 1.800.414.3090 or 206.284.7682; or visit: http://www.africansafarico.com/ or http://www.smallshipsafaris.com

September 24, 2013
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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Sep. 27, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — South African Airways Vacations® (SAAV) has launched new website enhancements that now highlight its popular Honeymoon and Family Safari air-inclusive package collections. The improvements are meant to quickly draw interested travellers into vacation packages that focus on these fast-growing niche markets. Once on the respective package collection pages, travellers will learn about the diverse and customizable vacation options offered by SAA Vacations, and the ability to book luxury packages at unbeatable values.  Also on the website, SAA Vacations has optimized its lauded “virtual itineraries” for the iPad. Envisioning the dream vacation step-by-step on a mobile device will allow the traveller to immerse themselves in the promise of their dream vacation ahead of time, allowing them to plan the perfect holiday that only an African vacation can offer.  

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100622/FL24751LOGO )

SAA Vacations’ already value-priced luxury packages are available at a discount of $125* per person (restrictions apply) through Oct. 15^th. To take advantage of the fall vacation package sale, call 855-FLY-SAAV (359-7228).  To explore the new website enhancements and virtual itinerary options, visit www.flysaavacations.com. The Honeymoon and Family Safari collections can be viewed directly on the homepage, while the virtual itineraries are viewable for each package on their respective pages.

“With travellers and travel professionals alike increasingly doing their travel research online, we feel it is important to continuously enhance the SAA Vacations website. These new improvements make it easier to peruse through our growing Honeymoon and Family Safari collections,” said Terry von Guilleaume, president of SAA Vacations®. “Optimizing the virtual itinerary for viewing on the iPad ensures that anyone can envision every step of their vacation from anywhere. That perfect vacation is now available at a discount, so we encourage travellers to act quickly and take advantage of the current fall package sale.”

About SAA Vacations^®

A division of South African Airways (SAA), the national airline of South Africa and Africa’s most awarded airline, SAA Vacations^® is highly regarded for its wide array of affordable luxury packages to Africa, and uses SAA’s extensive route network to create packages for travel throughout South Africa, Botswana, Victoria Falls, Namibia, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and East Africa. The program is managed and fulfilled by Destination Southern Africa (DSA), which was founded in 2001 and offers an extensive portfolio of tour programs with a variety of hotels, game lodges and safari companies throughout Southern Africa.  DSA was one of three tour operators in the U.S. that was officially appointed by MATCH to develop and sell travel packages for soccer fans visiting South Africa for the FIFA 2010 World Cup, making it a partner with extensive knowledge and know-how in planning the perfect African vacation.

Terms Conditions

$125 off applies to new bookings only. Subject to flight availability. Not available Dec. 10, 2013 – through Jan 9, 2014.

Contact:     Elizabeth Ninomiya, South African Airways; Tel: 954-769-5120;
                 elizabethninomiya@flysaa.com

                 Terry von Guilleaume, South African Airways Vacations; Tel: 520-882-3600;
                 terry@flysaavacations.com
 

SOURCE South African Airways Vacations

RELATED LINKS
http://www.flysaavacations.com

DELRAY BEACH, FL, Sept. 26, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Exceptional South Africa is an
unforgettable five-star safari vacation. Walk with the majestic
elephants, indulge in wine and olive oil tastings, and experience
the breathtaking beauty of South Africa on this once-in-a-lifetime
journey. All taxes and surcharges are included in the $3,499*
price, saving guests more than $1,600 when compared to competing
packages. 
 

Spend four nights at the gorgeous five-star Table Bay Hotel,
conveniently situated in the heart of the Victoria and Alfred
Waterfront and positioned against the stunning backdrop of Table
Mountain and the Atlantic Ocean. Complete your magnificent South
African vacation with three nights at the luxurious and
contemporary five-star Marataba Safari Lodge, where the vast plains
touch the dramatic Waterberg Mountains, offering an exceptional
game experience and an unparalleled scenic adventure.

This deal from Lion World Travel
includes:

• Round-trip, international economy airfare from 26 major US
  cities** via Washington, D.C. or New York to Cape Town and back via
  Johannesburg

• South Africa domestic flights: Johannesburg/Cape
  Town/Johannesburg

• Four nights in ultimate luxury at the five-star Table
  Bay Hotel in Cape Town – a 2013 Condé Nast Gold
  List winner

• Three nights at the exclusively well-appointed five-star
  Marataba Safari Lodge, discovering its
  breathtaking beauty and spectacular wildlife

• 14 meals, including one dinner at the Atlantic Grill in the
  Table Bay Hotel

• Wine tour and olive oil tasting in Franschhoek

• High tea at the Lounge at the Table Bay Hotel

• Once-in-a-lifetime elephant interaction experience at
  The Elephant Sanctuary, where you walk
  trunk-in-hand with the elephants

• Five open vehicle game drives to see the diversity of wildlife
  in the exceptional reserve

• Lion World Travel representative Meet-and-Greet upon
  arrival

This 10-day vacation and safari
is being offered by Lion World Travel for travel on specific dates
in February, March, September and October 2014 for $3,499* based on
double occupancy and an additional $100* for travel on specific
dates in May and August 2014, based on double occupancy.

THE SINGLE SUPPLEMENT FEE IS $750.

*Prices are in US Dollars and are per
person based on double occupancy accommodations and include fuel
surcharges, Government taxes, departure fees and September 11th
Security Fee.

**INCLUDES: US domestic flights from the following
26 cities: Atlanta, Boston, Buffalo, Charleston, Charlotte,
Chicago, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Las Vegas,
Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, New Orleans, New York, Orlando,
Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland, Raleigh, St. Louis,
San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C.

OPTIONAL VICTORIA FALLS EXTENSION: Starting from
US $1,599* per person sharing accommodations. Straddling the
borders of Zimbabwe and Zambia, the Victoria Falls captivates
visitors from all over the world. The grandeur and beauty of this
extraordinary natural phenomenon must be seen to be believed. This
region has recently been described as the Adventure Capital of the
World.

To book this travel deal, call Lion World Travel at
1-800-387-2706 from the USA or visit www.lionworldtravel.com”www.lionworldtravel.com.

Winner of the South African Tourism
Ubuntu Awards “Top Producing Tour Operator for
North America” for 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013

Winner of the South African Airways “Award of
Excellence in Travel and Tourism for
North America” for 2012

Winner of Travelzoo Award for “Best Overall Provider of
Vacation Package Deals to
Warm Weather Destinations” for 2012

About Lion World Travel

Lion World Travel specializes in group and
individual tours to Southern and East Africa, and is a member of
the renowned Travel Corporation, which also includes Trafalgar
Tours, Contiki, Brendan Vacations, Insight Vacations, The Red
Carnation Hotel Collection, and Uniworld Boutique River Cruise
Collection. In its 49th year, clients continue to benefit from Lion
World Travels’ destination knowledge, expertise, and emphasis on
customer service. With their safari specialists all having
first-hand knowledge of Africa, Lion World Travel can confidently
assist clients in creating an African adventure that fits their
specific interests as well as their budget. Extraordinary service,
affordable luxury and value for money are what keep clients coming
back to Lion World Travel.

About The TreadRight Foundation

The TreadRight Foundation is a not-for-profit organization
established in 2008 by The Travel Corporation
(TTC) to undertake conservation work and foster sustainability in
the tourism industry. Collectively funded by TTC’s family of
brands, TreadRight supports projects that fall under the themes of
water, biodiversity, leadership and community, and which drive the
foundation’s vision to preserve the earth’s unique environments and
diversity for future generations.

To date, TreadRight has donated more than US $2 million to
sustainable tourism projects around the world, in addition to
supporting the World Travel Tourism Council’s
‘Tourism for Tomorrow’ awards. To find out more about the
foundation visit: www.TreadRight.org.

Contact: Arnelle Kendall
Vice President of Public Relations, The Travel Corporation USA
Telephone: (561) 330-0850
Email: 

Contact: Sara Verk 
Marketing, Lion World Travel
Telephone: 1-416-920-5466
Email:

Wildlife safari guides are given the fright of their lives – as a territorial elephant charges and rams into their vehicle.

Professional guide Johann Lombard was leading a South African safari when their group encountered a herd of elephants at the Kruger National Park.

Two of the elephants begin to charge towards the vehicle before stopping in their tracks.

But a third, female elephant emerges from the back of the herd and smashes head first into the truck carrying terrified guides.

The group who filmed the charge insisted the elephants had not been provoked and the situation had not been set up in any way.

The elephant emerges from the back of the herd and makes tracks for the vehicle. (Newsflare)
The enraged animals heads straight towards the safari guide. (Newsflare)Guides are sent ducking for cover as the elephant smashes into the truck. (Newsflare)Luckily noone was injured by the charging, and the elephant eventually walked away unharmed.

Johann and his team had taken all necessary precautions before the trip, but the video shows that sometimes animals can act out without any provocation.

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September 22, 2013

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Close encounters: Wildlife can be readily caught by the eager snapper. Photo: Theo Allofs/Corbis

It’s game on for an unforgettable adventure, writes Katrina Lobley in this first-timers’ safari guide.

The urge to go on safari strikes me suddenly and unexpectedly, in the way some people fall head over heels in love. Out of the blue – maybe it’s a mid-40s thing – I want to see Africa’s animals roaming the land under huge skies instead of behind bars in a zoo.

Almost as soon as I think it, I’m booked on a Botswana safari. I borrow Alexander McCall Smith novels from the library, hoping to understand Botswana, but I’m just delaying what’s really stopped me going to Africa all these years: vaccinations. For I have a needle phobia bigger than a herd of African elephants.

Zebras on the move in Chobe National Park, Botswana. Photo: Corbis

THE JABS

No vaccinations are compulsory for Botswana but, because I’m detouring into Zambia post-safari, I need a yellow fever shot to re-enter South Africa on the way home. Damn. For this, not all medical centres are equal – you need one that’s yellow fever-accredited.

The doctor reels off a recommended vaccination schedule – the possible diseases blur into one as blood drains from my face. The doctor jokes, “Why do you want to travel to Africa anyway?”

Park here: A giraffe crosses the road. Photo: Corbis

At this point, I can’t remember.

I take tetanus along with yellow fever – the tetanus shot hurts, yellow fever doesn’t.

I’m also prescribed the anti-malarial Malarone (my fellow safari-goers from England and Canada are taking these tablets too). The doc warns they’re expensive but I still reel when the pharmacist announces 24 tablets will cost $128. This safari better be worth it.

THE EQUIPMENT

This once-in-a-lifetime trip prompts a reassessment of my camera. I’m unhappy with its 5x zoom and search, “best zoom on a point-and-shoot”. The Canon SX50HS, with a 50x zoom, induces zoom-envy from fellow safari-goers: it’s particularly brilliant for capturing birds in far-off branches. A few days after visiting the camera store, I return for a spare battery because I’m unsure if our remote camps can recharge them (turns out they can but it’s reassuring to have the spare).

THE OUTFIT

There’s a certain type of safari-goer who kits him or herself out in top-to-toe khaki – the only thing missing is the pith helmet. At the other end of the scale, backpackers happily tour Chobe National Park looking like they’ve bounced straight from a nightclub: they’re not too worried about scaring animals with their fluorescent sunglasses and skimpy threads. Remember you’ll be sitting for many hours in a safari vehicle rather than walking around (which is dangerous), so running shoes are fine. Pack loose, comfortable clothes, including a long-sleeved shirt and wide-brimmed hat to fend off harsh rays angling in from the side of the vehicle.

THE ITINERARY

AndBeyond’s 10-day Explorer Expedition safari starts in Maun, Botswana, near the wildlife-rich Okavango Delta – an inland delta that sprawls over 16,000 square kilometres as it empties into the Kalahari Desert. Safari-goers continue to Chobe National Park in the country’s north-eastern corner before finishing in neighbouring Zimbabwe. I’m doing a potted highlights bespoke itinerary – two nights in the delta and two in the national park.

THE SEASONS

Dry winter months – from May to August – are considered Botswana’s best game-viewing months, along with September and October, when animals congregate near water. We head to the delta at the end of summer when the grass is long and lush and animal-spotting is supposedly difficult.

Within an hour of arriving, we’re tracking lion prints on a sandy road. Soon, furry ears pop above the grass. It’s all we can do to not squeal like schoolkids. It’s not only a surreal sight but a total adrenalin rush.

We calm down and park just metres from the pride of six lions lazing in the shade of a feverberry tree. A smear of blood on a cheek tells us they’ve just eaten. They laze with full stomachs, rolling on their backs like super-sized domestic kitties.

“This is one of the top experiences, to see them like this,” whispers our guide, Chief Marota.

We realise life in Africa is gloriously unpredictable and wonder what could top this.

OKAVANGO DELTA

While Chief drives, tracker Kux Mobe keeps his eyes peeled for animals and birds from a seat precariously perched above a headlight. In the delta, vehicles can go off-road so we veer off over grasslands to pull closer to a dazzle of zebras and a journey of giraffes. I adore these collective nouns and the thrill of spotting something new. Field guides in the vehicle tell us more about these exotic creatures. One of my favourite sights is two adorable spotted hyena cubs playing near their den while mum is off finding dinner.

The birds – a pretty lilac-breasted roller perched in a leadwood tree, a woodland kingfisher flitting from a sausage tree and a large saddle-billed stork high-stepping through a marsh – are enthralling.

Tall termite mounds play a pivotal role in the delta, attracting animals whose droppings contain seeds that then sprout, helping to form small islands. “If we didn’t have termite mounds, the delta would be a very big lake,” says Chief.

CHOBE NATIONAL PARK

Unlike the delta, Chobe National Park is a strictly on-road experience – but that doesn’t detract from game-viewing. The park, divided from neighbouring Namibia by the Chobe River, is so packed with wildlife that there’s always another thrilling encounter just around the corner.

The world’s largest elephant herd – estimated to number more than 120,000 – roams northern Botswana including Chobe (billboards around Kasane, the nearest town, describe the park as “the land of giants”). You may even – gasp – grow tired of the sight of elephant and impala, our most oft-spotted species. Our safari includes a river cruise past elephants frolicking in the water.

Back on land, we’re riveted by more giraffes, a lone hyena and a pair of industrious dung beetles rolling a dung ball – many times bigger than them – along the road.

THE WATERWAYS

In the delta, we board a flat-bottomed boat to cruise into a maze of narrow, papyrus-shaded channels that’s all very Indiana Jones and take morning tea among the waterlilies.

“If you follow this channel, you get to Angola,” says Kux.

Chief scoops up the water in a bottle to show its clarity – it looks perfect, but foreigners of course can’t drink it. Later, we’re poled along in canoes known as makoro and sit riveted, listening to grunts, hoots and calls as the day darkens.

At Chobe National Park, cruising the hippo-laden river separating Botswana from Namibia is a highlight. Along the riverbank herds of elephant are at play, spraying mud and water, drinking and swimming. Crocodiles bask in the sunshine.

LIFE AT CAMP

At the Nxabega delta camp, the camp cook, Priscillah, welcomes us with ululations so thrilling I wish I’d recorded them so I could channel Africa on demand. The unfenced camp overlooks a marsh favoured by red lechwe – an antelope that has adapted to live in swamps.

One afternoon I emerge from my tent to startle something just metres away. I’m left wondering what scampered off into the grass – a warthog, maybe?

Because anything could wander through the campsite, we’re fetched from our tents for dinner even though it’s only a short walk to the lantern-ringed table.

We might be in the middle of nowhere but the menu is gourmet: chickpea soup, roasted bream fillet with baby potatoes, carrots and beans for mains and panna cotta to finish. Another day we lunch on eggplant and spinach bake, rice, beef with almonds and capsicum salad and bread.

Tents contain a full-size bed and side tables holding an emergency horn, lamps and two types of insect repellent. Between the sleeping and toilet tents is an open-air bathroom – staff fill the bucket shower with warm water in the morning (their arrival doubles as a wake-up call). There’s also a dressing table with a mirror, toiletries, tub and some detergent.

TOILETS

For those worried about such things, here’s the lowdown on toilets. At the camps, each sleeping tent is paired to a toilet tent with a flushable porcelain loo that wouldn’t disappoint the most high-maintenance safari-goer. If the urge strikes on a game drive, you may have to go behind a bush (once a guide has checked for lurking lions) or behind the vehicle. Believe me, no one cares.

WHAT I’D PACK NEXT TIME

All that sitting and bouncing around in the Toyota can induce a condition known as “LandRover back”. Next time, I’d take a yoga mat to do some serious stretching at camp between game drives.

WHAT I TELL FRIENDS

Wildlife tourism is big in Botswana’s economy, so not surprisingly the safari is like a well-oiled machine. The only thing to worry about is what amazing sight is next. I can’t wait to return, even if it means more jabs.

The writer was a guest of safari provider andBeyond.

 

TRIP NOTES

GETTING THERE

South African Airways flies daily from Sydney to Johannesburg, South Africa. From Johannesburg, it connects to Maun, Botswana, and Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. See flysaa.com.

SIGNING UP

AndBeyond’s safaris have a minimum age of 12 years; those aged 70 to 75 must be certified fit to travel. The 10-day Explorer Expedition safari starts in Maun and ends in Victoria Falls. It costs $US5960 ($6400) a person twin-share until October 31, dropping to $US5255 a person twin-share from November 1 until December 31.

See andbeyond.com.

MORE INFORMATION

botswanatourism.co.bw.

ABOUT THE WRITER

Katrina Lobley grew up among a menagerie on the outskirts of Brisbane. Even with all that animal experience, the freelance arts and travel writer found Botswana’s wildlife astounding.

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Local Hunters Experienced African Safari

Kittanning Native Tom Kunst shot his approximately-350 pound lion the first day of an African game safari at the beginning of August near the Botswana border.

by Jonathan Weaver

Two Kittanning-native hunters went on their own hunting adventure overseas during the summer.

Tom Kunst and Ed Bearer – the latter still living in Kittanning Borough – went on a Lions and Plains Game Safari July 31-August 8 in South Africa.

The good friends “as long as I can remember,” according to Bearer, explained the pair weren’t supposed to attend for another year.

“We were talking about going this summer – Summer of 2014 – so I thought ‘That’s great – now I’ll have time to plan,’ but they had a last-minute cancellation so we bumped it up a year and knew about 4-6 months in advance,” Bearer said. “We decided ‘Let’s do it.’”

Their first stop required nearly 40 hours of travel time – beginning in Pittsburgh – to the Botswana border – seven hours north of the main hunting lodge in the Kalahari Desert of South Africa. Kunst had a permit for lion, and explained the strategy was to drive the sand-covered dirt roads until finding lion tracks and then to track the lion on foot using two of the local native trackers.

The two trackers spotted the lioness in thick brush shortly after tracking on foot. However after pursuit for about 300 yards, the lion became agitated and was ready to charge. Kunst had to use two Ultra mag shots in the shoulders before two follow-up shots at close range to finish the deal.

The lion was estimated to be 9-10 years old and weighted between 350 and 400 pounds.

After the lion hunt, the pair traveled back to the border. On the second day, Kunst shot a warthog and then on the third day, shot a gemsbok – a large antelope – and a wildebeest from 300-plus yards.

That same day, Bearer had his first kill with his own gemsbok and a blesbok – another breed of antelope.

Leechburg Area School District Teacher Ed Bearer was proud of killing a spiral-horned kudu – a woodland antelope referred to as the ‘grey ghost of Africa’ because of its ability to blend in to surroundings.

At a water hole the fourth day, each shot impalas – Bearer with two and Kunst with one.

Neither hunter had any luck the fifth day. On the sixth, Bearer shot a spiral-horned kudu and Kunst a springbok.

Bearer – a 5th grade teacher at David Leech Elementary in the Leechburg Area School District- finished his safari package the seventh day by tagging a large wildebeest and a springbok while Tom was able to shoot his own kudu.

With all the tags filled, the eighth and final day was spent doing some wing shooting for Sand Grouse and doves.

In total, the Safari produced a pair of Kudus, Wildebeests, Gemsboks, Impalas and Springboks for both – plus Tom’s Lion Warthog and Ed’s Blesbok.

“It was a pretty intense hunt,” Bearer said.

Both men ate meat from several of the animals, with Bearer most enjoying the impala.

Several of the animals were mounted in South Africa, but Bearer is unsure what they will do with them. It could take up to a year before they arrive in the United States when they decide.

Bearer already has some mounts at his campsite in Benezette (Elk County), Pa.

The trip cost $6,400, with a third of that going toward airfare. Weapons had to be secured through the Department of Homeland Security and the airlines before transport – which is something Bearer said was discouraging enough that he might consider renting guns next time.

Both are already talking about returning to South Africa. Though Kunst wants to go next year, Bearer imagines returning in 3-5 years.

“We had a good time – I’d recommend it,” Bearer said.

He said he didn’t teach his students about the hunt and that they won’t learn about world geography this school year.

The men will next hunt together with muzzleloaders after Christmas.

 

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