Dec 152011
If you love culture and are a diving enthusiast our partner, Journeys Within, has a very special opportunity for you in early 2012….
Andrea Ross, founder of Journeys Within, is one of EXPLORE’s Travel Alliance partners. She has teamed up with marine biologist friend, Andrea Marshall, who, a few years ago, discovered a new species of Manta Ray. Together they are offering an amazing Myanmar itinerary with one week of cultural exploration and another week diving the archipelago and exploring the amazing Sy Diva Andaman.
Trip begins February 25, 2012 so contact Journeys Within soon! For more information regarding this unique itinerary: http://www.journeys-within.com/tours/groups/myanmar-culture-conversation.php
EXPLORE would like to thank Bushmans Kloof for giving three orphaned boys a wonderful and unique experience!
This month Bushmans Kloof generously donated a 2 night stay for 3 of Cape Town’s orphaned boys, sponsored by Cape Town based Children’s Aids Art Programme (CAAP).
Bushmans Kloof Wilderness Reserve and Wellness Retreat is an extraordinary haven nestled at the foothills of the Cederberg mountains near Cape Town. Malaria and predator free, the reserve is a natural playground with wide open plains, mystical rock formations, crystal clear water falls, and an abundance of flora and fauna. The warm, caring service and hospitality, delicious organic cuisine, breathtaking dining venues, superb facilities and accommodation have repeatedly won Bushmans Kloof international recognition and awards and provided the boys with an experience that was well beyond their wildest dreams.
Mary Miyata, founder of CAAP, said “the boys were over the moon with excitement!” CAAP has made a marked difference to the plight of countless AIDS-afflicted orphans. Founded in 2005 by Mary, the first CAAP art school was successfully opened in 2009 at the Baphumelele Children’s Home in the township of Khayelista, South Africa. The children are regularly taken out for exciting excursions on the weekends giving them opportunities to encounter new experiences, such as art lessons and exhibitions, exposing them to everyday life and practices that would otherwise have remained unknown to them.]
Bushmans Kloof
Proving once again that travelers are seeking quality, authenticity and genuine custom care….
EXPLORE ranks #3 in the world on Travel & Leisure’s 2011 “World’s Best” list for Tour Operators | Safari Outfitters!
Our deepest thanks goes to the intrepid EXPLORE travelers who voted for us, our superb lodges and operators who deliver the experience, and the irreplaceable guides who produce the magic.
We were thrilled to see that the top 4 “hotels” in the world are in Africa. All are EXPLORE favorites!
TRUNKS UP TO ALL!!
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.
If you know EXPLORE, you know that we specialize in Africa and pride ourselves in knowing its secrets. Cherri Briggs, EXPLORE’s owner, spends half the year combing the continent in search of new destinations and lodges and ensuring that our favorites are up to standard. Many of our travelers have been to Africa with us multiple times and occasionally want to try a new continent or visit a specific area in which we are not well versed. When our travelers call us for a reference to other continents we want to make sure they have the same quality experience that they had in Africa with EXPLORE. For that reason, we would like to introduce you to a few other specialists who are the best in the world for their respective destinations and are as passionate about delivering a great experience to you as we are. Please call Cherri at the EXPLORE office (970-871-0065) or, if she is in Africa, speak to Tena, and we will introduce you to the right contact person with our partner companies.
CAMBODIA | Andrea Ross | Journeys Within
In 2003 Andrea moved with her husband Brandon to Cambodia where they started Journeys Within Tour Company and B&B. Andrea has been on the Wendy Perrin Conde Nast expert list for Cambodia, Thailand and Laos for the last four years and takes her role as a regional expert seriously. She lives in Cambodia for more than half of the year and travels extensively through Southeast Asia to make sure the guides, drivers and hotels used by Journeys Within are up to standard. She loves to find new and unique trips, hotels and experiences for her guests.
More information on Andrea and pictures of Cambodia
CHINA | Mei Zhang | Wild China
Mei Zhang is Founder of WildChina, a Beijing-based premium sustainable travel company offering distinctive, ecologically sensitive journeys to all corners of China. A native of Yunnan province in southwest China, Mei earned her MBA from Harvard Business School and worked as a management consultant for McKinsey & Company until she found her true passion in sustainable travel.
Mei started WildChina in 2000, inspired by the clash she perceived between economic development and conservation of both nature and culture in Yunnan. She strongly believed that there was a solution to this: providing a sophisticated interpretation of Chinese culture and nature, and therefore creating experiential travel that was unheard of in China. She built WildChina on the mission to assist travelers to experience China differently.
More information on Mei and pictures of China
INDIA | Sanjay Saxena | Destination Himalayas
Sanjay Saxena was born in New Delhi, India. The son of a Brigadier General in the Indian Army, Sanjay has lived all over India and traveled extensively across Asia. He began mountaineering and rock climbing in the high Himalaya at age fifteen, after successfully completing mountaineering courses from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, India.
A professional guide since 1979, Sanjay has led countless groups trekking, climbing, touring and safaris to Tibet, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and throughout India. In January of 1992, David Breashears and Sanjay co-led the first western descent of the Brahmaputra river in India. The 250-mile white water rafting trip was filmed for the BBC series “Classic Adventures,” and was shown in North America by Arts & Entertainment. In 2001 he led the first western group to journey overland from Kunming to Lhasa along the “southern road.”
More information on Sanjay and pictures of India
MONGOLIA | Jalsa Urubshurow | Nomadic Expeditions
Since Mongolia’s peaceful transition to democracy in 1990, Jalsa has passionately promoted travel to Mongolia, his ancestral homeland oftentimes called the “last wilderness nation” due to its largely intact wildlife and nomadic traditions and lifestyle. He founded Nomadic Expeditions in 1992, a company that specializes in creating unique adventures throughout Mongolia such as birding trips targeting Central Asian rarities, dinosaur fossil excavating scientific journeys, family adventures to the alpine taiga in Northern Mongolia, weddings in the Gobi Desert, journeys to the Golden Eagle Festival of the Kazakhs in the Altai Mountains, overland jeep safaris and spiritual retreats.
More information on Jalsa and pictures of Mongolia
May 032011
In March, EXPLORE had the privilege of attending two very special events in New York: the annual GLAAD Awards and The Explorers Club Annual Dinner. We had an incredible time at each with good company, fabulous entertainment and great food! Thanks to the generous donations from many renowned lodges throughout Africa we were able to put together two tremendous itineraries that were the highlight of each auction! It was a pleasure working with everyone behind the scenes at GLAAD and ECAD and thank you for all of your hard work. We’d also like to extend a very special thank you to all of the lodges that contributed to these special trips:
- Singita Boulders Lodge / South Africa / Sabi Sand
- Singita Lebombo Lodge / South Africa / Kruger National Park
- Tswalu / South Africa / Green Kalahari
- The Saxon / South Africa / Johannesburg
- La Residence / South Africa / Franschhoek
- Ellerman House / South Africa / Cape Town
- The Table Bay Hotel / South Africa / Cape Town
- Rovos Rail / South Africa
- The Royal Livingstone / Zambia / Victoria Falls
- Jack’s Camp / Botswana / Makgadikgadi
- Duba Plains / Botswana / Okavango Delta
- Giraffe Manor / Kenya / Nairobi
- Sasaab / Kenya / Samburu National Park
- Sala’s Camp / Kenya / Masai Mara
Cirque De Solei at the GLAAD Awards
Tena at the GLAAD display table with her new friend
Tina Fey at GLAAD
Ricky Martin accepting his GLAAD Award
Michaelyn and Anna with Imagine at the ECAD display table
2011 Explorer's Club Annual Dinner
2011 Explorer's Club Annual Dinner
2011 Explorer's Club Annual Dinner
Apr 132011
Dear EXPLORE Photographers,
EXPLORE is teaming up with some of the world’s top photographers to help you improve your photographic skills and knowledge – and what better destination to refine those skills than Africa! From wildlife, landscapes and indigenous peoples to the small things, such as rare fynbos plants of the Cape and the tiny ant lion, Africa offers an inexhaustible variety of subjects for you to explore and capture with your lens.
On all our photo safaris you travel in a small group with your photographic expert, staying in exclusive, small camps at some of the best destinations on the continent (please see details below on Bill Ellzey’s 2011 Photographic Workshop). Each vehicle is limited to a few passengers so that all have a window seat, and in most cases are open-air to maximize viewing. Several camps even offer photographic hides to enable you to safely get up close to the action.
For the serious or aspiring photographer, this is the only way to experience Africa. EXPLORE’s photographic workshops free you from the typical safari schedule; instead, you call the shots so that you can best take advantage of “magic hour”, are able to leave camp pre-dawn so that you are in position at sunrise, and can stay out late to catch the more rare nocturnal animals when most active. Several of our photo safaris offer week long post production intensive options with master post production specialists.
We have a section on our website dedicated to these photographic workshops. We will be posting 2012 opportunities very soon!
Photographic Workshop with Bill Ellzey in Zambia:
OCTOBER 30 – NOVEMBER 10, 2011
Explore the fantastic and varied photographic opportunities that Zambia has to offer on this incredible photographic safari to one of Africa’s best secrets. Marvel at the majesty of Victoria Falls, one of the world’s seven natural wonders, as you capture the iconic waterfall in the early morning light. Head out on game drives and guided bush walks in South Luangwa National Park, where the amount of wildlife and birdlife seen is only rivaled by the dramatic scenery. Finally, finish your photographic safari in the Lower Zambezi, where game viewing on the Zambezi River provides a unique point-of-view of the wildlife and river scenery. Throughout your photographic workshop, led by noted professional photographer and instructor Bill Ellzey, you are joined in each location by local guides who share their intimate knowledge and experience of the wildlife and landscapes.
Bill Ellzey has been helping photographers come along the path of making better pictures since about the time he became a full-time working pro in 1972. From the most basic nuts & bolts of f-stops and shutter speeds, and now the exciting world of digital imaging, to examining what makes for strong compositions and truly meaningful images, to the delights of being in nature and sharing its beauty with others through photography, Ellzey’s down-home style, and experience, both as photographer and instructor, make him a highly valued workshop leader.
ITINERARY SUMMARY:
Oct 30: Arrive Johannesburg
Oct 30-31: Victoria Falls / The Elephant Camp
November 1-5: South Luangwa National Park / Kaingo Camp
November 6-9: Lower Zambezi / Kanyemba Lodge
November 10: Lusaka to Johannesburg / International flight home
MORE DETAILS…
If the 2011 government shutdown is anything like the one in 1995, passport services will cease. That year 200,000 passport applications went unprocessed and it could be worse in 2011 since the demand for passports is almost double. The backlog following a shutdown could create very long wait times for new applications.
Bottom line: If you need a passport in the near future be prepared for these delays and plan your travel accordingly.
EXPLORE would like to personally thank Zambezi Airlines, Courtyard Eastgate in Johannesburg and all other donors for their generous support of the Chiawa Mini World Cup in the Lower Zambezi. As we mentioned in a previous blog, Zambezi Airlines donated 4 airline tickets for the project and recently the Courtyard Eastgate in Johannesburg has supplied the hotel rooms that will afford 4 lucky Chiawa villagers the chance of a lifetime… going to Africa’s first World Cup! In addition to this, EXPLORE and Multi Choice Satellite TV are donating a TV, installation of a satellite dish and receiver, and one year of service to the local school at Chiawa. This way many of the village residents can enjoy the games and in the future have access to educational TV viewing (Discovery, History channel, BBC news, etc). Viewings will be carefully monitored by the Chiawa Headmaster. Please refer to our previous blog regarding details of this project.
A Special thanks to Don McDonald (CEO, Zambezi Airlines), Bronwen Poulton (General Manager, Courtyard Eastgate) and Gary Bissett (Operations Director, Courtyard Eastgate) for advocating for this incredible and well-received project.
The tournament is scheduled for May 29 and 30 and has created unimaginable excitement in the Chiawa Community!
Thanks to you all!
Follow us on Twitter 