Cherri and Richard at North Island

Conde Nast Traveler announced their 2012 Gold List and Africa, as usual, is well represented.  Check out their favorites (and ours too!):

South Africa

• Cape Grace, Cape Town
• Mount Nelson Hotel, Cape Town
• Bushman’s Kloof, Cederberg Mountains, Western Cape
• The Saxon, Johannesburg
• Londolozi, Sabi Sand Game Reserve

East Africa

• Singita Grumeti, Tanzania
• Shompole, Kenya
• Azura at Gabriel’s, Mozambique

Northern Africa

• La Mamounia, Marrakesh, Morocco
• Mena House Oberoi, Cairo, Egypt

Seychelles

• North Island
• Maia

Working together to help African Elephants in the Samburu National Reserve in northern Kenya

March 2011~

“We’ve had 7 poached elephants in the last month which has been devastating – so much poaching happening now and it all seems to be around the access route of this new road. Wilson is now riding transects up and down the road three times a week recording all the dead animals being killed on the road and he is now our chief informer for what is going on with poaching and bush meat incidents.”
Dr Lucy King, MSc, DPhil.
Chief Operations Officer
Save the Elephants

World Bank announces support of the Serengeti Bypass! 

UPDATE:  As of February 3, Kenya halted plans for the road through the Northern Serengeti.  Read full story.

INFORMATION FROM CDC.GOV:

Yellow fever can be prevented by vaccination. Travelers should also take precautions against mosquito bites when in areas with yellow fever transmission. Travelers should get vaccinated for yellow fever before visiting areas where yellow fever is found. Note: the vaccine is to be given 10 days before travel to an endemic area. If you continue to live or travel in yellow fever-endemic areas, you should receive a booster dose of yellow fever vaccine after 10 years.

In the United States, the vaccine is given only at designated yellow fever vaccination centers. International regulations require proof of yellow fever vaccination for travel to and from certain countries. People who get vaccinated should be given an International Certificate of Vaccination.

Moments like these are so special that Abdul, the head guide at Sanctuary Olonana in the Masai Mara, just had to share this story…

“One unforgettable incident was where a mother wildebeest and her calf struggled across the river. With the strong current the mother got separated from her calf and watched helplessly as her baby was swept away. A female hippo was watching nearby, and to everyone’s amazement, she came to the calf’s rescue and pushed it gently to the river bank. The young gnu was reunited with its mother, who was waiting anxiously at the bank.  Maternal love can be so strong it even surpasses species boundaries!”

Infant Wildebeest Rescued by a Hippo!

The state of conservation of Serengeti National Park was examined at the 34th Session of the World Heritage Committee meeting in Brasilia, in July 2010, and the Committee expressed its utmost concern about a proposed highway in the northern wilderness area of the Serengeti National Park. This proposed highway is a part of Tanzania’s Transport Sector Improvement Program (2002-2012). The North Road would be a part of the 452 km Natta-Mugumu-Taboro ‘B’-Kleins-Loliondo-Mto wa Mbu tarmac road, and would likely become a major transit route between Rwanda, Burundi and Eastern Congo. When finished, the road would dissect 53 km of the northern wilderness area of the Serengeti.

Along with the expressed concern, the World Heritage Committee has also asked Tanzania to consider one of the feasible and less environmentally damaging alternatives to the road. In terms of potential environmental deterioration, the damage to the park by the north road could be severe enough as to prompt inscription of the site on the List of World Heritage in Danger. Because of this, the Committee decided to send a monitoring mission by the World Heritage Center and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to the site, in order to assess the potential threats and discuss alternatives with national authorities. There was also a request from the Committee to have a report submitted by the State party by 1 February, 2011, which should include the status of the North Road proposal.

The concern of the potentially irreversible damage has spread throughout the international community, and has received a great deal of attention from conservationists, international organizations and the public alike. The UNESCO World Heritage Centre has received many petitions in response to Tanzania’s North Road plan, and is continuing to reassure those concerned parties of UNESCO’s commitment to finding a solution to the issue.

-Cherri Briggs

President, EXPLORE, Inc.

Trekking through the lush, cloud shrouded tropical jungles of central Africa in search of a family of gorillas is quickly becoming a popular adventure and a great way to make a contribution towards helping save the species.  For the greater part of the last 30 years the mountain gorillas’ habitat has been in war zones and as a result the gorillas have been affected by massive habitat loss, poaching and disease.  As peace spreads through the area conservation has become a top priority.

Money from tourism has become one of the most important sources of income in the fight to save the gorillas.  Tourist dollars pay for the rangers who protect the gorillas and provides a financial incentive to countries to make saving the gorillas a priority.  However, great strides are taken to ensure that visitors do not have a harmful effect on the animals by allowing only a small group of visitors a short period of time to see the gorillas each day.

The Parc National des Volcans in Rwanda is likely the best place in the world to see mountain gorillas, with nearly half of the total population living in this area, and now is easier to get to than ever!  Spending 3-4 nights in Rwanda and 2 days trekking with gorillas is a fantastic trip to combine with an incredible safari watching the “big five” in Kenya or Tanzania.

Animal numbers saw heavy declines during the drought, especially plains game.  Last year alone at least 70 elephants died while the rivers dried up and grasses turned brown.  So far this year the rains have been consistent and the wildlife is beginning to look much healthier.  Although it will take two to three years for most of the wildlife to recover completely, if the rains continue, numbers may begin recovering by next year.

Slowly the plains have begun soaking up this moisture and bringing much needed sustenance to the animals.  Although things are still tough for many people, things for wildlife have drastically improved.  The animals are starting to fatten up and new babies are being born to make up for the losses during the drought.

Witness the action in spectacular Kenya where all of the “big five” can be seen, you can relax on shores of the Indian Ocean, see primates swinging through jungle trees, climb mountains, tour a traditional Maasai village and much more.

Email us if you’d like more information -  info@exploreafrica.net – we’d love to help you plan your holiday!

THE GREAT MIGRATION

Have you always wanted to see Africa’s Great Migration, one of the greatest spectacles of the natural world?  The time to go is in December, January and February, but because so many people want to see this mass movement of over 2 million animals, lodges are beginning to fill up already.

From the vast Serengeti plains in Tanzania to the champagne-colored hills of Kenya’s Maasai Mara, over 1.4 million wildebeest and 200,000 zebra and gazelle migrate in a clockwise fashion over 1,800 miles each year in search of rain-ripened grass. It is truly a staggering experience!  Encounter the vast herds of the wildebeest migration as they fan out in a seemingly un-endless blanket across the landscape.

The thundering hooves of the herds and the enormous clouds of fine red dust they leave in their wake have become an icon of East African safari. Filled with dramatic encounters, this incredible journey takes the herds across fast-flowing rivers inhabited by some of Africa’s largest crocodiles and plains filled with predators.

HOLIDAY TIME  IN CAPE TOWN

Thinking of traveling to warmer climates around Christmas time?  Cape Town is a great option, but unless you book early it is almost impossible to find a room.

Cape Town is a city where old and new harmoniously converge in history, architecture, cultural pursuits and the essence of its people.  It is dominated by a towering, table-shaped mountain, set on a peninsula of soaring, rocky heights and lush valleys, where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet.

The fast pace and bright lights of the city meld effortlessly with a choice of white sandy beaches, magnificent green areas with rivers, vleis and dams and a floral kingdom that is wholly unique to the Cape.  There are also plenty of must-sees to check off your list like Robben Island, Cape Point and the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront.  All of this combined with the spectacular warm climate make Cape Town a fantastic destination.