Jim Steinberg is a noted nature photographer, particularly for his images of wildflowers. Here is a link to Jim Steinberg’s blog from his recent trip to South Africa. He was there researching sites and scenes for two upcoming photography workshops that will be held in 2012. The two workshops will focus on different interests – one with a clear wildflower focus and one for food and wine enthusiasts. Stay tuned for more details to be posted on the EXPLORE website…
Photos courtesy of Jim Steinberg
Finkelstein Family with Cheetah
Our trip – organized by Explore – to Botswana and Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe in late June was perfectly planned by Elizabeth providing us a myriad of animal life and creature comforts that could not be improved upon. We – family of 4 with two older children – stayed at four locations: three in Botswana – Pom-Pom Camp, Gunns Camp, and Chobe Safari Lodge and at the Elephant Camp in Zimbabwe. Each was spectacular yet different from one another. All provided both wonderful experiences with the African flora and fauna along with terrific food, lodging, and interaction with the staff.
The abundant animal life at Pom-Pom is a highlight we will not forget. Seeing 7 lion cubs and 4 adult females eating the remains of a giraffe on the very first jeep ride was shocking yet amazing. Gunns is a smaller camp but our most relaxing stop. Chobe 
Safari Lodge is a fine hotel and its design more familiar to us but we enjoyed the camps more. The Chobe National Park is a treasure but one only needs two jeep rides and one boat trip (lunch boat trip was more fun than the evening one). We had three days there and spent some time reading by the pool and watching the monkeys try to steal our Fantas. At no time were we bored. Lastly, we traveled into Zimbabwe and stayed at the Elephant Camp which was our favorite lodging. The tent rooms are luxurious and the setting spectacular. Seeing and interacting with their pet cheetah is a memory we will all cherish. Getting into Zimbabwe is a pain but worth it despite the visa cost for four people. Victoria Falls is great fun and the town curio shop prices quite reasonable. We kept away from the crafts market and the many street hawkers (although I nearly traded my Explore cap for a bowl). If I was there without my children I may have been a bit more curious. At no time did we fell unsafe. All of the camp guides (one or two assigned only to your group) and 
staff are knowledgeable and go out of their way to assist. At the Chobe Safari Lodge it is a little different as each trip into the Park is staffed by a different person so the individual connection is somewhat lost.
At each stop, the camp/hotel was expecting us and the small plane flights/auto rides to the next location always on schedule. All of the journeys into the bush or river at the camps/lodge are perfectly timed. We had two point and shoot cameras (Canon, Olympus) both with up to 80X that took fabulous pictures/movies so spending over $500 ($1000!) for a SLR with a powerful telephoto lens is, in our opinion, not necessary.
~K. Finkelstein
Dr Don Johanson sharing information about the hominid fossil
From one of our travelers whose family went on our special East Africa itinerary with Dr Don Johanson (famed for his discovery of Lucy, a 3.2 million-year-old hominid skeleton which he unearthed in Ethiopia’s remote Afar region in 1974). He is a world renowned paleoanthropologist and Founding Director of the Institute of Human Origins (IHO), a human evolutionary “think tank” he founded in 1981…
We had the most wonderful 11-day trip of a lifetime to Africa! Led by Dr. Donald Johanson, the man who discovered “Lucy”, the missing link between man and ape, we were treated to a safari with animals of all sorts (zebras, elephants, giraffes, lions, cheetahs, baboons, and the like) as well as an opportunity to learn about early hominids!
While we were a little apprehensive about sleeping in “tents” through the Serengeti, we were pleasantly surprised that the “tent camping” was better than some hotels we stay in while traveling, the service was incredible, the food amazing, the accommodations first class, and the views and access to nature absolutely unbelievable!
We will miss our morning wake-up calls by a Masai warrior complete with hot tea, coffee, and cookies to start off our mornings! A trip for all ages, from our youngest at age-10 to our oldest at age-13 along with us older kids at heart, this was an absolutely amazing trip!
Rand M, San Francisco, California
 Ballooning Over The Serengeti |
 Elephants at a watering hole |
 Zebras |
 Lions |
 Hippos |
 Masai |
 Lion cubs |
 Dr. Don Johanson and the family at Olduvai Cafe (next to the painting of "Lucy" on the wall) |
Photographer Stephen Frink’s blog from his latest EXPLORE African Safari to Botswana and Zambia (http://stephenfrink.blogspot.com/2010/08/african-safari-zambia-and-botswana.html):
Click here to see the photographs of Stephen Frink’s daughter, Alexa (http://stephenfrink.blogspot.com/2010/07/alexa-shoots-africa.html):
I’ve recently come home from an extraordinarily productive photo tour, on safari in Southern Africa, Zambia and Botswana specifically. Organized by our friends at Explore Africa, http://www.exploreafrica.net, this tour began at Lion Camp in Zambia, and then went on to Selinda and Jao camps in Botswana.
Here is a brief photo diary of the trip and its many, many highlights:
Our first camp was Lion Camp in Zambia. We specifically chose that because the game viewing is so very good there. Elizabeth at Explore suggested it, knowing that we would likely get enough stellar images the first few days that part of our photo imperative might be satisfied. She was so right! The first night we witnessed a leopard killing an impala. Good for us and our photo-ops. Not so great for the impala. Of course, that was on top of all the other general game (in the bush and along the rivers) we shot during the day.
The second night we witnessed another leopard kill, and the third night a lion kill. This kind of trifecta of predation I’ve never seen anywhere else on safari, and this was the 8th safari we’ve conducted in both southern Africa and East Africa.
Leaving Lion Camp and Zambia we flew into Botswana, cleared customs and then were flown via private aircraft to Selinda Camp, a private game reserve and lodge owned and operated by renown wildlife photography and cinema team, Beverly and Dereck Joubert. We’d met on safari three years previously, when I was leading a tour to Mombo Camp in Botswana and the Jouberts had just to shoot some stock footage. Coincidentally, the same day we’d earlier seen a beautiful scenario of a young leopard cub and mother in a nearby den. Dereck began filming this cub as it grew, for over three years actually, an experience which eventually evolved into a film, Eye of the Leopard, for National Geographic.
I’ve always been impressed with the Joubert’s visions of Africa, so intimate and respectful of the wildlife, and I figured if they felt the game opportunities were motivation to run a camp here, I would confidently follow their lead. Selinda did not disappoint!
A brief tip of the hat to Explore again for the air arrangements. We had private aircraft for our group of 19 at each camp, and they operated on time with the utmost courtesy and professionalism. When you are far away and in remote locations, that is great comfort.
Selinda offered the opportunity for game viewing from vehicles or boats, and because there is so much water in the Delta where they operate, Derek has chosen vehicles equipped with snorkels so they operate in water deeper than the floorboards. From hippos in the river to lions prowling the high grasses, this was an very productive camp, that operates at the highest level of service.
The highlight of our Selinda experience was watching a pride of lions with their young leaving for a night’s hunt. We photographed them in the gorgeous late afternoon light and into the dark as the searched for game, and eventually rendezvoused with the dominant male lion.
Like Selinda, Jao Camp is one of the premier safari properties operated by Wilderness Safaris. I’ve come to expect nothing but the best from a Wilderness Safaris property, and since Jao offered both excellent game viewing and an upscale spa ambiance, this is where we chose as our final camp.
This was a year of exceptional rain in the Okavango Delta, not while we were there, as is was beautifully sunny the whole time. But earlier in the year they had their most rain in several decades, and it meant that some of the roads near camp that might normally offer game viewing were underwater. However, the best game opportunities are but a 45-minute boat ride away anyway, at Hunda Island. Here we saw vast plains of grasses with elephants, giraffe, zebra, and of course the cats, both leopard and lion.
Being a Delta camp, Jao delivers the water activities quite well, including stable boats large enough for 8-10 photographers, and less stable but more intimate merkoros (like narrow dug-out canoes, but made of fiberglass these days) to offer a water-level view of the the vegetation of the Okavango.
Thanks to Explore and Lion Camp, Selinda, and Jao. This was the greatest safari experience yet, and we look forward now to the next one, hopefully soon!
To see the amazing images our 17-year old daughter Alexa took on this same safari, please visit my earlier blog post from July, here at http://stephenfrink.blogspot.com/2010/07/alexa-shoots-africa.html. It is easier to simply scroll up to the “July” tab on this page, and click on “Alexa Shoots Africa”. Yeah, I know, she kicked my butt. I’d say “beginner’s luck” but she had a terrific shoot on our last safari too. She has a great eye for composition, very instinctive.
-Stephen Frink, Photographer, www.stephenfrink.com
“Our trip to South Africa and Botswana was outstanding! There was beautiful wildlife, amazing landscapes, interesting and helpful people, meticulous planning and new experiences – what could be better?
While all of our guides varied in background, personality and guiding experience, all were excellent. We learned a lot and had much pleasure doing so. Private guides/vehicles gave us the flexibility and pace we enjoy. We wanted to have lots of time viewing leopards and our experiences were surpassed.
After multiple trips we continue to appreciate EXPLORE’s knowledge, experience, enthusiasm and responsiveness.”
-Madeleine Cohen, Spring 2009
“It was an unforgettable trip and we fell in love with Africa. I was pleasantly surprised by all of the birds and we saw every animal we hoped to see and photograph-many times. Our guides taught us so much!
We were happy to have seen all the areas we did. EXPLORE did a great job planning this trip for us. All our expectations were met and then some.”
-Lynne Cooper, Fall 2009
“We couldn’t have had a more special experience in terms of variety, people, culture, art, food, and natural beauty. Everything worked seamlessly- our guide and EXPLORE anticipated our needs, interests, and comforts.
We would not have had as special a trip without the special care and intelligence that the guide EXPLORE booked for us shared. He is an expert on Morocco and has great enthusiasm for his country.
We loved our trip. It was so much richer and more beautiful than we ever imagined.”
-Emily Randall, Spring 2010
In 2009, we sent Terry & Nancy McGrew from Wisconsin on a fantastic journey to Tanzania and Zambia. In their words… “What else can we say, it was a fabulous trip!”
The McGrew’s are great photographers and after traveling to the Tarangire National Park, Ngorongoro Crater, Serengeti National Park, Selous Game Reserve, and the Lower and Upper Zambezi they had plenty of wildlife photo-ops! We’d like to share some of those pictures with you as they are fantastic!
In October 2009, our Exploritas program #15863 traveled to South Africa, and they have since banded together to start something wonderful… During their trip to Africa, they visited the Mapusha Weaving Cooperative and decided to form “Bushbabies,” a collective effort to raise money in support of this group of women. The money they have raised so far has helped to fund advertising for this co-op. Barrie Gleason, the point person for Bushbabies, was kind enough to write about the group’s experience with these women and their village, and the effect the visit had on them.
If you are interested in helping the Bushbabies in their efforts please contact Explore at elise@exploreafrica.net.
Bushbabies and the Mapusha Weavers Cooperative
The Mapusha Weaving Cooperative is a nonprofit cooperative of women weavers based in the village of Acornhoek in 
the Limpopo province of South Africa. The purpose of the cooperative is to provide the opportunity for unemployed women in the village to learn a craft and make money to support their families. More then 50 family members depend on this income.
I met the women in the cooperative as one of 17 members of a tour group sponsored by Elderhostel/Exploritas in October 2009. On the day of our visit, we met the weavers, 
observed work in progress, and admired the hand woven rugs and tapestries at the workshop; we also toured the tiny village where the cooperative is located to visit the nursery school and the elementary school, just a short walk away. In our encounters there, we were greatly moved by the warmth of our greeting by women and children, and impressed by the diligence of the weavers in the cooperative.
Later, in the remaining days of our travels in South Africa, the tour group coalesced around the idea of offering some support to the women weavers and their village. We began to call ourselves the “Bushbabies.” When we returned to the states, we continued our trans Atlantic conversations via email, asking the weavers for ideas about the most appropriate support. Their suggestion speaks to their strong entrepreneurial spirit! The women proposed advertising in a brochure that includes things to do and places to stay in the Panorama, Lowveld, and Kruger National Park areas, the cooperative’s neighborhood. Well respected as a resource for tour guides, the brochure lists all the local activities; an advert would encourage more visitors to the 
cooperative. The timing for the brochure’s most recent revision was especially propitious given the FIFA World Cup Soccer Finals, when thousands of tourists will flood the country in the summer 2010.
Serving as the stateside point person for this project, I collected funds over the holidays to cover the cost for design and printing of the advert (SEE BELOW). We raised almost double the 
amount required and created a savings account at a local bank for the remaining funds. An interesting side note: when the bank manager learned about this trip and the purpose for the account, she offered to set up an account with no fees!
The Bushbabies are celebrating our modest project and considering how to continue our efforts. We are fortunate to have a point person in South Africa, a devoted independent community organizer who has lived locally and worked with the Mapusha Weavers for nearly a decade. Given ongoing email conversations with her and with Exploritas travel colleagues, it seems that the cooperative enterprise has two pressing needs: first, exploring the prospect of setting up nonprofit status for the cooperative (facilitating fundraising efforts); and second, developing a marketing website that supports the cooperative’s business in a more direct and concrete way.
The women weavers have displayed pluck and courage and sustained commitment by keeping the cooperative alive and well for almost 30 years. The Bushbabies will continue to focus their energy and talent in the most appropriate ways in their support and warmly welcome other travelers to join us in these efforts.
-Barrie Gleason
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Road Scholar Traveler Blog: Wild Africa | Botswana and Zambia
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