The Conde Nast Traveler 2012 Gold List

Dec 122011
 

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

 

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Jamala Madikwe | Natural Elegance

Nov 152011
 

“Jamala,” means “natural elegance” in Swahili.  According to my recent experience at Jamala it well deserves its name!

Jamala Madikwe’s five freestanding villas blend perfectly into the landscape and combine the feeling of an exotic wilderness refuge with extravagant luxury. The standards for service, accommodation and food are absolutely top notch! You can lounge outdoors in a secluded rim-flow pool or your own open-air shower. Each day I enjoyed relaxing on my private deck while taking in the beautiful views of the savannah and the action at the watering hole always busy with game.

Jamala is tucked within the malaria-free Madikwe Game Reserve, a 185,000-acre prime game-viewing region in South Africa’s North West province, and echoes with the calls of birds and vervet monkeys. The reserve offers a variety of landscapes from vast open plains and dense bushveld to towering rocky peaks. Because the reserve lies within a transition zone between Lowveld bushveld and the Kalahari thornveld, it is home to life from both ecosystems, including more than 300 species of birds and impressive populations of the famous Big Five. Another major attraction is the area’s healthy population of endangered African wild dog. Madikwe is an ancient land where nature abounds and at Jamala travelers have a luxurious front row seat! Highly recommended!

-Cherri Briggs, owner of EXPLORE

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Beautiful Namibia painting or photograph??

Oct 212011
 

Photograph by Frans Lanting

FROM NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC:

While on assignment in Namibia for National Geographic magazine, Frans Lanting captured this surreal landscape image in a location called Dead Vlei.   Read more…

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Road Scholar Traveler Blog: Wild Africa | Botswana and Zambia

Oct 182011
 

Ronya's South Luangwa ElephantsRonya, a recent EXPLORE traveler, kept an insightful and entertaining daily blog during her recent trip to Africa on one of our Botswana and Zambia programs with Road Scholar.  See her note below and check out her packing list and daily blog here!

I recently went on the “Wild Africa: Botswana and Zambia” tour in Sept 2011.  I am retired, have traveled quite a bit, and do occasional contract work to help pay for extra special trips.  This was my first Road Scholar trip.  (I had so much fun that I’m about to sign up for another Road Scholar adventure.)  The blog was started in response to requests from my friends to describe my travels because they wanted to experience my adventures vicariously.  With that in mind, I try to provide a more experiential description than just a dry itinerary.  Please bear in mind, that anything I post on my blog is strictly my own thoughts, which do not necessarily reflect the experience of other travelers.  All my entries about the safari are posted in Sept and Oct 2011.

Enjoy,
Ronya
http://www.willworkforairfare.blogspot.com/

Link for more information on the Wild Africa Road Scholar program or to enroll

 

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Bravo Zambia!

Oct 132011
 

Zambia has proven that democracy thrives in Africa with the recent election of President Michael Sata. I was most fortunate to have the experience of being in Lusaka during the elections. The lack of violence, smooth transition and gracious handing over of power by incumbent Rupiah Banda proves that not only is the democratic process alive and well in Africa’s Southern region, but brings Zambia to the forefront as an example of stability to the region. 

Over the weeks before the election Attny Musa Mwenya, President of the Law Society of Zambia, played a strong role in ensuring that the election was entirely above board and that the law regarding voting prodecures was followed exactingly. When the new President was announced on September 23, there was dancing and celebration in the streets, and a new democratic government was born. 

President Sata’s new government promises to ensure that Zambia’s economy and resources are managed wisely with increasing focus on sustainable development, improving labor conditions and creating opportunity for local people. 

If you are interested in the Patriotic Front’s Manifesto and plans for Zambia, please click here.  Better yet, come to Zambia and experience some of the best Africa has to offer while supporting a democratic, stable country which thrives with wildlife and is home to a friendly, welcoming people!

~Cherri

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Emirates Air introduces new 2012 flights into Lusaka!

Oct 122011
 

We are happy to announce that  Emirates Air will start flying into Lusaka next year as it continues to expand to destinations throughout Africa.  Zambia and Zimbabwe will be linked with five flights in a week from Dubai, starting from February 1, 2012. This makes it very easy for travelers to visit the Seychelles before coming on safari in Zambia or Zimbabwe as there are direct links from Dubai to Mahe, Seychelles. EXPLORE travelers love to fly Emirates because of the extra leg room and easy prices. Yet another great way to get to Africa!

Full press release from Emirates Air

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URGENT: Yellow Fever Vaccination – Zambia | South Africa

May 312011
 

The World Health Organization (WHO) has revised the Yellow Fever vaccination recommendations for Africa. The South African Department of Health has subsequently issued a statement that all travellers from South Africa to Zambia and travelers from Zambia to South Africa will now require proof of yellow fever vaccination.

Previously, this was not required.

All in-transit passengers between the two destinations, irrespective of the time period in transit, will also require proof of yellow fever vaccination.

There seems to be some discrepancy on the date of inception of the above recommendations and we encourage all travelers to treat this as effective immediately until further notice.

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Looking for a place to snow ski this summer? Try Africa!

May 252011
 

EXPLORE is located in the beautiful ski town of Steamboat Springs CO and as much as we love our great mountain everyone can use a change from time to time.  But who would ever think you could make Africa your next stop to hit the slopes?!  And the time of year to visit works perfectly with anyone trying to get in year-round skiing as our summer is their winter.  The best months to go are June through the first week of September.

The top African ski experience is located in the gorgeous kingdom of Lesotho surrounded by South Africa at Afri Ski offering a quiet and scenic environment.  This ski resort offers everything:  equipment rentals, ski school and private ski lessons, kids club, 1/2 day to 7-day passes, world-class snow making system and daily grooming, special events and festivals, and a variety of accommodations.  Afri Ski is only a 4.5 hour drive from Johannesburg (it is a 1.5 hour drive once through the border post and into Lesotho on a spectacular journey going through several mountain passes (the road is newly tarred but still beware of the occasional pothole!).  tip:  they highly recommend filling up with gas in Fouriesburg or Butha-Buthe on the drive and get cash at the ATM before heading to the resort.

The great thing about skiing in South Africa is the option to head to Kruger National Park during a time of prime game viewing.  Please contact us for more information on traveling to South Africa.

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Changes in Botswana’s Selinda Spillway create new opportunities for guests…

Mar 302011
 
A message from our friends at Great Plains Conservation:

Historic Opening of the Selinda / Zarafa Waterway in Botswana |
A channel now links two Great Plains Camps to the Zibidianja Lagoon

The Selinda Reserve is situated in the Linyanti Region of Northern Botswana and forms a vital conservation link between the Okavango Delta in the North West and Savuti / Chobe areas in the East. A river channel, known as the Selinda Spillway, ribbons through the reserve flowing eastward from the Okavango Delta into the Zibidianja lagoon before splitting into the the Linyanti and Chobe rivers to feed the Savute Channel.

Up until two years ago the Selinda Spillway was not a complete waterway. Through increased rainfall levels in Angola, and theories of substrata seismic activity in 2008, the spillway now runs freely from the Okavango through to the Zibidianja Lagoon.

This incredible change has already had a marked impact on the activities of the Selinda Reserve. The most substantial is the four day/three night Selinda Canoe Trail down the spillway, ending close to Selinda Camp during May to October. Fishing and boat cruises are expanded on the spillway and guests can arrive in camp by boat from the airstrip.

Between Selinda Camp and the Zibidianja lagoon lies a 4 kilometre stretch of the channel, previously blocked by floating reed beds. Now the reeds are cleared there is a channel from the Okavango Delta to the mouth of the Savuti Channel, eliminating the two hour drive between the camps. Guests can now find themselves in either the north or southern parts of the reserve in less than thirty minutes.

The newly expansive channel between Selinda and Zarafa camps is a stunning, deep waterway surrounded by high reeds. This untainted part of the spillway hides many rare birds and a Black Crowned Night Heronry.

Great Plains Conservation will move the Selinda Camp canoes further along the new channel. Opening up walking areas on the islands between the channels linking to a Selinda Hide. On the Zarafa side it opens up the Zibidianja Lagoon to the Selinda Spillway. HMS Zibidianja, a large platform boat for guests, has a new water system to explore.

Game viewing without boundaries will have a profound impact on both camps in the Selinda Reserve. At Great Plains we like to explore new boundaries and provide adventure for our guests. This breakthrough will certainly provide that.

Click to find the latest news of the newly opened waterway between Zarafa and Selinda camps.

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Namibian Coastline Offically Declared a Protected Area

Jan 212011
 

The entire Namibian coastal area, stretching from the mouth of the Kunene River in the north to the mouth of the Orange River in the south, has been officially declared a conservation area.

With the declaration of the Dorob National Park on December 1, the last piece of the puzzle has finally been put in place, thus converting the total Namibian coast into the eighth largest protected area in the world and the largest park in Africa – called the Namib-Skeleton Coast National Park.

The fact that the government declared the last section of the Namibian coastline as a national park during 2010, being the International Year of Biodiversity, underlines the country’s role and commitment towards global, regional and national conservation and sustainable development.

The Namib-Skeleton Coast National Park stretches along the total length of the Namibian coastline 975 miles, covering an area of 26,575 million acres or 66,822 square miles. It comprises four main terrestrial management areas, the Sperrgebiet National Park in the south, the Namib-Naukluft Park, the Skeleton Coast Park and now the Dorob National Park (Dorob means dry land).  The park will also not exist in isolation as it borders on the Richtersveld in South Africa, the Iona National Park in Angola and various communal conservancies inland.

According to the ministry, the proclamation of the protected area represents one of Namibia’s greatest conservation achievements since independence in 1990, and one of the most significant developments in the history of conservation in the country.

From Our Friends at Ultimate Safaris

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