Mapungubwe, a place of cultural and geographic significance, and incredible scenic beauty. 

I recently took a trip to the northernmost part of South Africa.  Mapungubwe National Park is located at the confluence of the Limpopo and Shashe rivers. From the lookout deck in South Africa you can see where the two rivers meet and you can peer into our neighbouring countries: Botswana and Zimbabwe. 

After a long drive from Johannesburg, we were welcomed to our camp in the most spectacular way. A herd of about 20 elephants was making its way through the unfenced camp and came within a stone’s throw of our cottage. My 3 year old boy was giddy with excitement. There may be better things in life than this, but not many. Although I don’t usually recommend unfenced camps for families with young children, we loved our stay at Leokwe. The setting was breathtaking and the family cottages were best situated with great views over the sandstone hills and adjacent to the swimming pool. 

The striking rock formations, sandstone hills and enormous baobab trees give the park a real scenic beauty. We visited Mapungubwe with friends and so we were able to split the group, allowing two of us to do the walk to Mapungubwe Hill. Children under the age of 16 are not allowed on the walk, so the dads stayed behind to babysit. The first people to settle at Mapungubwe were early Iron Age settlers. They lived there from about 1000 AD to 1300 AD. Like the societies of Thulamela and Great Zimbabwe, Mapungubwe was structured along social classes. The kings and queens lived on top of the hill and the commoners lived below. The most famous artefact discovered in a grave at the excavation site is a beautiful gold-plated rhino which can be seen at the Interpretation Centre. 

Mapungubwe is a place that exceeded our expectations and is highly recommended for those who like to go off the beaten track. 

If you have not yet listened to our podcast, you can find it here. This month, I would like to highlight the episode with Les Carlisle. He is the conservation manager for &Beyond and has decades of experience in conserving our wildlife. He had me in stitches over a story of rhino capture from his early days in the field. He also had the best explanation I’ve heard on why rhino horn is still greatly desired in the east. Indulge yourself and take a listen to this wonderful episode!

The most exciting news from the past month is that we have a new team member! Daphnée Filliette joined the Leopard family in May and she is ready to help you plan your next holiday. Daphnée has spent the last 5 years in the travel industry and is a dynamic and methodical person with a passion for creating tailor made holidays for clients. You can read more about her on our website. 

Happy travelling,

Diana

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In South Africa, our diversity is our greatest asset. 

Nowhere else on the continent can you visit world class vineyards, go on safari, and encounter penguins in the beautiful city of Cape Town in the same holiday. Our diversity also extends into our food, art & culture, and people. 

In the first season of the Leopard podcast, I interview 8 people from different backgrounds and professions. These passionate people share what they love most about South Africa. From their secret beach spots to photographic tips and entertaining stories from the early days of conservation, my guests generously share their knowledge and give listeners a unique perspective on what South Africa has to offer. 

We start with Scott Ramsay who, many years ago, quit his office job to become a landscape and wildlife photographer. He famously did “A Year in the Wild”, which became 3 years continuously exploring our wilderness areas. Ngoni Mtizwa, a distinguished sommelier from Singita shares his knowledge about South Africa’s world class wines and how to make wine tasting less intimidating and more fun! Then Jo Buitendag tell us stories from Joburg. She talks about our famous residents Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo with as much respect as the graffiti artists and the everyday people she encounters in the city.

Les Carlisle, one of the foremost conservationists of our time, speaks of the plight of our iconic wildlife, mixed with some delightful stories of his time in the field. DuduBloom More tells us of her journey as a young black female artist in South Africa. She gives us insights into her abstract art and her creative process. I haven’t met a more passionate marine biologist than Pavs Pillay. She speaks about the sea creatures who inhabit our waters with a real enthusiasm and love.

Sean Privett describes a little known aspect of our biodiversity, our flora: specifically the Cape Floristic Region. His story about the ecology of the pincushion, clearly explains the interconnectedness of components in an ecosystem, and why we should care about preserving our flora. Chef Marnus Scholly, loves nothing more than the evocative smell of coffee and freshly baked bread. He talks about the launch of Klein Jan, a fine dining restaurant in the remote destination of the northern cape. 

Voilà! I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed creating! You may listen to the podcast on your favourite platform (linked here) or on my website (linked here). 

I hope this inspires you to travel to South Africa. And if it does, we are waiting to hear from you!

Happy listening,

Diana

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The ultimate wildlife experience, Mountain Gorilla trekking in Volcanoes National Park. 

Mountain Gorilla trekking in Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda is one of the most treasured wildlife experiences of my life. Earlier this month, after a briefing at park headquarters, a short drive to the entrance of the park and a vigorous hike through dense bush, I was suddenly surrounded by a gorilla family.

What makes the experience so unique is that you are transported to another world as you become part of the gorilla family for a short time. You are there on their terms. They can always choose to walk away, and they walk MUCH faster through the forest than humans can. I think a gorilla trek is the perfect compliment to a traditional African safari where you will see our other iconic fauna – lion, elephant, leopard, rhino – but always from behind a physical barrier because these animals are just too dangerous to get close to on foot. I cannot find the right words to describe the experience of seeing the gorillas in such close proximity, except perhaps awe-inspiring. 

To do a gorilla trek in Rwanda, you need 3-4 nights. Seeing one of the troops of habituated Golden Monkeys in the same National Park is a worthwhile addition to this. If you want to add a third primate experience to your holiday, a stay in Nyungwe Forest, to see the chimpanzees can done in a 5-6 day trip. I visited the Genocide Museum in Kigali and thought it was very well done, with an excellent audio guide, although I found it distressing to see what occurred during the genocide in 1994. Rwandans today are firmly looking to their future while remembering the horror of their past. 

Volcanoes National Park is named for the chain of 5 volcanoes that make up the national park. The park extends into two neighbouring countries: Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. There are currently 17 gorilla families on the Rwandan side, and some of these families are habituated for visits by tourists, others are monitored for research purposes. When you arrive at the Park Headquarters, you are assigned a gorilla troop to visit. The trackers head out early in the morning to find the different groups. It helps to have a guide who knows the park rangers well so that you are assigned a group appropriate for you. They will take into account your level of fitness, age and other factors when assigning you a group. I was assigned Agashya’s group. The family is named after the dominant silverback, Agashya. His name means something special, and his estimated age is 34 years old. There are 4 silverbacks in the family and a blackback. A blackback is a gorilla whose back is about to turn silver, which happens at around 12 years of age. There are currently 23 individuals in his family, including a 5 month old baby which was the cutest thing I have ever seen. After being assigned a group, you drive with your guide to the starting point and start walking.

The ranger is in constant contact with the trackers so he has a rough idea of where the gorillas are located. There are a few buffalo and elephant tracks in the forest but mainly you are walking through thick forest and mud. When you get close, you leave your backpack with one of the trackers and only take your camera with you. You are allowed to spend 1 hour with the gorilla troop. I was incredibly fortunate to be the only person on the trek. A private tour usually costs USD 15,000, so there are a few advantages to travelling out of season. You need to present a negative Covid test before the hike and wear a mask in the presence of gorillas. They are susceptible to all respiratory diseases and so you must take care not to pass on any diseases. You are also not allowed to touch the animals and need to keep a physical distance of 10 metres. 

I did a number of hotel visits the following day so that I can expertly advise my clients on the most appropriate accommodation for them. On my final day, I did the Golden Monkey trek, which was physically easier because the monkeys stay in lower altitudes on flatter terrain. The troops are much bigger, with around 100 individuals, and it is a truly delightful experience not at all similar to the adrenalin of the gorilla trek. 

Rwanda is an easy country to travel to. The people are the kindest and gentlest I have met. The food is excellent, and mainly vegetarian. The country is small and densely populated so people grow vegetables in every little corner they can find. The food was always fresh and I especially loved the fresh fruit juices made from passion fruit and tree tomato.

There three things to remember about gorilla trekking. It is expensive (permits are USD1,500 per person), you need to be over 16 years old to trek and you need to be fairly fit and adventurous to enjoy it. 

If you would like to plan a primate holiday, please get in touch!

Happy travelling,

Diana

P.S. Pictures are much better than words to explain the gorilla experience. Thanks to a good camera, I managed to take some lovely photos which you can see on the Leopard Facebook page by clicking here.

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The Eastern Cape, a journey into my 333 year family history in South Africa. 

Last month we took a family holiday to the Eastern Cape. We had planned it at the beginning of last year, and wanted it to include some time relaxing at the beach and some time exploring the Karoo heartland. It unexpectedly became a journey into family history for me.

During apartheid, an area of the Eastern Cape, called the Transkei, was created. Without going into the long, disgraceful and complicated history of apartheid, the Transkei was created as a “homeland” for black Xhosa-speaking South Africans. The Transkei was also where my mother and her 6 siblings (2 died at birth) were born and grew up. My mother was born in a tiny village almost nobody has heard of, called Cala. My grandfather recruited labour for the mines and my grandmother was a librarian. 

My grandmother comes from a very old Afrikaans family. We can trace our lineage back to Jean le Roux who sailed from France with his brother in 1688. My grandmother decided to do the unthinkable and marry a Scottish man, John Pringle. Today this doesn’t sound like a big deal, but to her Afrikaans family for whom the Anglo Boer war was within living memory, it was a disaster. John was also Catholic while my grandmother’s family came from a long line of austere protestants. I can just imagine the scandal this created in 1944. My mother was less controversial but also married a “foreigner”, my father being a British born Zimbabwean. Without intending to, I continued this pattern and married a Frenchman bringing our maternal lineage back to those intrepid French Huguenots! I remember my grandmother being proud to tell my husband about our family origins in France, although we have been South African for over 300 years.

The Karoo is considered South Africa’s heartland. Its vast semi desert plains and mountains give it an outstanding natural beauty, but its warm and friendly people should be its true source of pride. On this holiday we stayed at Die Tuishuise in Cradock, and the staff here epitomise the remarkable hospitality of the region. I visited the Mountain Zebra National Park for the first time and we had some incredible sightings of birds and mammals in this small park. Mountain Zebra is only 15 minutes from Cradock and so it is wonderfully convenient to use Die Tuishuise as a base. We also did a tour to the graves of the Cradock Four, guided by the exceptional Amos from Die Tuishuis, pictured below. 

Another highlight of the trip was the Valley of Desolation in Graaf Reinet. It’s sheer cliffs and dolerite columns are truly breathtaking, especially at sunset. The view is pictured above and below. 

Lastly, the Owl House in the remote town of Nieu-bethesda is a strange and interesting place to visit. The roads are not tarred and we visited on a dry and windy day. The dust blowing through the quiet streets was eerie. We felt like we had been transported back in time to the start of the 20th century. My daughter was captivated by the fantastic Owl House sculptures that were created by Helen Martins and her assistants.

Recently, I have seen some small positive signs of people wanting to travel here again and nothing makes me happier!

Happy travelling,

Diana

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Let the old year end and the New Year begin with the warmest of aspirations. 

As this year comes to a close, and I reflect on the year that was, or more accurately, the year that wasn’t, I find that I have very little to say. In my newsletters through lockdown, I shared my thoughts on travel and these have not changed. People like us will still travel. While there are many reasons to be cautious right now, I find many more to be hopeful for what 2021 may bring. I am looking forward to welcoming my valued clients back to Southern Africa for many more memorable holidays. And I hope, in the first part of 2021, to launch tailor made holidays to France. 

A friend, some time ago, reminded me of how I loved to share my photos and experiences whenever I returned from a holiday to a new place. These were the days before ubiquitous social media, (circa 2005) and the way I shared photos was to show my colleagues a slideshow of my photos on my laptop. I am by no means an accomplished photographer, but I enjoyed doing this because I loved sharing things I learned about the country I visited, people I met, food I ate and sights I saw. I still feel that way. It is why I enjoy my job so much, because I get to do this every single day. It was interesting to be reminded of this habit of mine by my friend, who is now a successful business owner, and see the connection between that life and this.

As a way to thank you for your continued support, I am giving away postcards! Without you, I couldn’t do what I love, which is to plan holidays for clients, and so this is my small way of saying thank you. The postcards will be made from an original painting done by my incredibly talented friend Jessica Maitland-Stuart. The painting is of a lilac-breasted roller, one of the most beautifully coloured birds in the bush. It is also known as Mzilikazi’s roller because its feathers were used to adorn the head-gear of the Matabele king. If you would like a handwritten postcard from me, featuring the beautiful original painting you see below, please reply to this email telling me where you want me to send it.

Let the old year end and the New Year begin with the warmest of aspirations. Happy New Year! 

Kind regards and best wishes,
Diana

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An ancient and truly remarkable plant.

Welwitschia mirabilis is endemic to the Namib Desert, one of the world’s oldest and driest deserts. The plant has only two strap like leaves which grow throughout its lifetime. These leaves split and fray in the wind and heat, making it seem as though the plant has multiple leaves. The welwitschia has been around since the time dinosaurs roamed the earth, and carbon dating has estimated the average age of a welwitschia to be between 500 and 600 years, although some of the larger specimens are thought to be 2000 years old. 

Welwitschia is ecologically highly specialised, and is adapted to grow under arid conditions. Rainfall in the Namib is less than 10mm annually and in order to survive these extreme conditions the plant has adapted to receive water from the dense fog that forms when the cold north-flowing Benguela current meets the hot air coming off the Namib Desert. The plant’s large leaves collect water by condensation. In addition, it has a very long tap root to reach sources of water underground. The best way to see these “fossils” is from the town of Swakopmund. 

Namibia itself is a strange and remarkable place, not only because it is home to the welwitschia. It contains some of the most ethereal landscapes I have ever seen. Also, it has a coast called the Skeleton Coast which conjures up images of ghostly shipwrecks. Namibia is home to Etosha, one of the continent’s top national parks, known for its salt pans and rich fauna and flora. The hauntingly beautiful Namib desert, which gives the country its name, stretches from South Africa, along the west coast of Namibia to Angola. Read our highlights for a trip to Namibia here. 

If you read our newsletter on birdwatching, you will know that one my of parents’ clients was a bird fanatic who was keen to see the shoebill. I remember walking through the dune sea just inland from Walvis Bay with my father and this client, trying to find the Dune Lark, a small bird endemic to Nambia. We took a tape recorder (remember those!) and played its call to attract the bird. We heard it, but never saw it.

Happy travelling!
Diana

Below are some pictures from a 2012 trip to Namibia which included Sossusvlei, and a short video on the plant, if you are interested in knowing more. 

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How the white rhinoceros was saved from the brink of extinction. But their fight for survival is not over yet.

The famous hunter F.C. Selous said, in 1892, “Therefore the two white rhinoceros which I shot in 1882 are the last of their species that I have ever seen alive, or am ever likely to see…. I fully expected that these animals would become extinct.” Luckily for future generations, he was wrong. But rhino populations were severely depleted at the start of the twentieth century, having been slaughtered for their horn, hide and flesh. After being hunted to near extinction, rhino survival was further threatened by industrial agriculture which destroyed their natural habitat and finally, most insidiously, the promotion of so called traditional Chinese medicine by Mao Zedong. 

I recently read “The White Rhino Saga” by Dr Ian Player. It is a thrilling account of how the southern white rhino were saved, for the entire continent, in a little corner of South Africa. It was a team effort and Ian Player goes to great lengths to give credit to the many people who played their part, most notably the legendary Zulu game ranger and tracker, Magqubu Ntombela.

Ian Player arrived at an empty Umfolozi Game Reserve in 1952. In the preceding decade, the government had senselessly ordered that all wildlife in the buffer zones be shot in an effort to control the tsetse fly, which caused sleeping sickness. This did not work and the tsetse fly was only eliminated (along with many other beneficial insects) with the aerial spraying of the pesticide, DDT. It was in this context that Ian Player decided that every effort must be made to prevent the extinction of the rhinoceros. 

By 1960, the population of white rhino had been sufficiently restored so that the team could start thinking about relocating small groups to start new populations in other reserves, thereby decreasing risk of extinction if one population was destroyed. They started repopulating nearby reserves in northern Kwa Zulu Natal, then known as Zululand, but soon set their sights further afield. The last white rhino in Kruger National Park had been shot in 1896, and it was time for these great beasts to return. Mandhlagazi, Mfohloza, Mpila and Madhlozi were the vanguard of more than 800 white rhino who were eventually translocated by 1970. Today, on a week long visit to Kruger National Park, you are almost guaranteed to see white rhino. For this privilege, we should thank Dr Ian Player and his team. 

Capturing these gentle giants was no easy task and tranquillisers were at an experimental stage. Around the same time, rhino were being captured and moved as part of Operation Noah at Kariba Dam in Zimbabwe. My father’s great friend, Frank Junor, was a young scientist in the Operation Noah team, and I remember being captivated by Frank’s stories of how they rescued animals from drowning. Frank was a great raconteur and told one particular story with relish, about how he was gored in his left leg by a furious, injured buffalo who was lying in wait for him to return to his boat. Luckily the story ended well and Frank was rescued and made a full recovery. This video, from Operation Noah, clearly shows how difficult and dangerous it was to capture rhino in the early days.

To assist with the capture of the first rhinos at Umfolozi, a scientist, Dr Harthoorn, was brought out from Uganda in 1960. There was a lot of guesswork at this stage because nobody knew which drugs would work on rhino, neither did they know the correct weight of the animals. And so, it was with a lot of trial and error, and heartache at lost animals, that the team slowly became proficient at capturing rhino. Animals were lost along the way to overdoses, constipation, septic wounds, and from getting their horns stuck during transportation. In one particularly sad failed capture, a rhino reacted badly to the drugs and ran off a cliff. The team tried desperately to save him, but did not succeed. 

Today, the future is uncertain. The western black rhino was declared extinct in 2011 and there are only two female northern white rhinos left. They are kept under 24 hour guard. The greatest threat to the continued survival of rhino is the persistent poaching of the animals for their horn which is believed to have medicinal properties. This has been proven by science to be a complete fabrication but the belief still persists is fuelled by misinformation and human greed. 

Conservation and anti-poaching efforts are mostly funded by tourism with small contributions from governments. Since the temporary stoppage of tourism due to the global health pandemic, funds for conservation, especially for the salaries of the rangers who protect wildlife against poaching have dried up. If you would like to make a difference to conservation, and help fund ranger salaries, please consider donating to Ride4Rangers by clicking here. 

Happy travelling!
Diana


P.S. A number of private game reserves in South Africa offer once in a lifetime rhino conservation experiences where you are part of the team that does either a notching or dehorning. I highly recommend this one at Phinda in northern Kwa Zulu Natal, close to where Dr Ian Player was based. 

P.P.S A rhino conservation experience is not the same as activities such as lion cub petting and feeding elephants, which are not recommended. For further information, please read this short piece I wrote on animal interactions in South Africa.

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Of Shoebills, wetlands and walking safaris.

In 2000, I briefly joined my parents as an employee on their overland safaris in Southern Africa. My father had started his company in 1992 and with it, he wanted to take people into the wilderness areas of Africa. The company had evolved by 2000 into a specialist birdwatching and ecotour business. My father was in charge of the car, driving and guiding and my mother did the cooking, helped with guiding and did the reservations. I was responsible for washing the dishes and the car and organising breakfast at 5AM.

On these trips I was introduced to a new kind of birdwatcher, a “twitcher”. My parents had always enjoyed birdwatching and I could identify quite a few birds by the time I was 18. But I had never met a twitcher. A twitcher is a birdwatcher whose main aim is to collect sightings of rare birds. Every evening, the group sat around the campfire, with a beer or glass of wine in hand, and went through the bird list of the day. They ticked off the birds they had seen and if a member of the group had seen a “lifer” this meant that they had seen and positively identified a bird for the first time in their lives. There was much excitement and discussion during these soirées especially if the number of species spotted was large and many “lifers” were seen. Their clients were a passionate bunch. 

One of their clients told us about the bird he dreaming most of seeing. This bird was the Shoebill Stork. It is very rare, and rarely seen. It lives for 35 years, an extraordinary long time for a bird. It is also tall, up to 140cm. The signature feature of the species is its huge, bulbous bill which gives it an odd appearance. It is not a beautiful bird but its elusiveness makes it very attractive to birders.

The Shoebill captured my imagination and I also dreamed about seeing it one day, even though I am not a serious bird watcher. 20 years later and I have still not seen one, but I have a plan! The best place to see Shoebills is Zambia, specifically the Bangweulu Wetlands. Conservationists there monitor breeding sites and if you visit in May-July (to avoid long walks through watery wetlands) you should be able to see a Shoebill Stork in a stay of 3 days or longer. Incidentally, Zambia is one of the best places on the continent for walking safaris, especially North Luangwa where the shady trees and sparse vegetation make walking very pleasant compared to other places where the hot sun and dense bush makes walking uncomfortable. 

The reason there are so few Shoebills left in the world is because humans have systematically destroyed their wetland habitat. Conservation is precarious, especially with increasing pressure from humans. Tourism stopped during the global health pandemic and this meant that funds, in the form of conservation levies from tourists, dried up. Here at Leopard we believe that we need to make every effort to preserve diverse ecosystems for future generations. To do our part to help, we are supporting Ride4Rangers and invite you to do the same. We are hoping to raise ZAR 10 000 (USD 560) to support rangers who are the first line of defence to protect endangered species but in many places, there is no longer the funding for them. Please visit our JustGiving page here for more information on how to support this cause.

Happy travel dreaming!
Diana

Below, with my mom, on safari in 2000. 

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Where can we go to feel like we are in another world?

I, like so many of you, have been confined to the place in which I live for the last few months. There is nothing that makes me dream of travel more than being told I cannot do so. To use this time productively and enjoyably, I have been seeking out new and exciting travel experiences and routes for Leopard clients. 

While South Africa’s beauty, diversity and excellent travel infrastructure makes it hard to beat in the region, I see that some people are searching for even more remote experiences. Places where they can truly escape their daily reality! Close to South Africa, there is Botswana with the incredible Okavango Delta, a truly unique wildlife destination. And, Mozambique’s islands are an excellent option for an idyllic beach island escape at the end of your holiday. 

Since I am already familiar with our neighbouring countries, I have been dreaming of places that are exotic and foreign to me. Places that are off the beaten track and that offer authentic and unique experiences for my clients. Top of my list of places to explore are Rwanda and the Congo Basin, which is also known as west equatorial Africa. 

Seeing gorillas in the wild is one of those experiences that can change a person. With Covid-19, new protocols are being developed to ensure the safety of gorilla populations from viruses and diseases humans can pass on to them. Gorilla and human safety are so important and no risks can be taken. There are 3 places to see the highly endangered Mountain Gorillas: Rwanda, Uganda and the Congo. There are around 880 of these magnificent creatures left in the wild. You can see Mountain Gorillas in all 3 countries, but Rwanda has the most developed infrastructure. It is also a very easy, safe and culturally interesting place to visit. Gorilla permits are the most expensive in Rwanda, but it is one of the easiest places to see them if you don’t fancy a very long hike through thick bush. These factors make Rwanda is perfect if you’re looking for an easy and luxury experience. Rwanda is also very simple to add on to a South African holiday which could include a Big 5 safari in Kruger National Park and some time in Cape Town. The very good news is that Rwanda is open to tourists from 1 August. 

For something more remote, more adventurous, and definitely off the beaten track, I’ve been researching the Congo and Gabon and I really like what I see. It will not be for everyone, but a circuit between the Republic of Congo, Gabon and ending with a few days on the second smallest country in Africa, São Tomé and Príncipe island, looks amazing. Congo delivers something very different, authentic and life changing. Its remoteness makes it attractive but also challenging. You have to be prepared for less than convenient logistics. If you see this as part of the adventure, you will enjoy it. 

Another trend we see is that families want to connect with each other in a less stressful environment. South Africa has some excellent options for this with remote bush lodges that can be hired for exclusive use, meaning that you will not come into contact with people other than staff. 

Where are you dreaming of travelling to, when you can?

Happy travel dreaming!
Diana

Above, a baby Mountain Gorilla plays in Rwanda. Below, a critically endangered Western Lowland Gorilla in the Congo. These gorillas, which are a different species from those visited from Rwanda, can be seen from Odzala Discovery Camp, which is part of the Congo Conservation Company.

Below you can also see Praia Sundy on Príncipe island. South Africa tech entrepreneur, Mark Shuttleworth, who incidentally was at the University of Cape Town 6 years before me and did the same degree, has funded a massive sustainable tourism venture on Príncipe, which Praia Sundy is part of. Photos of Praia Sundy are courtesy of Scott Ramsay/www.LoveWildAfrica.com.

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The ideal family holiday destination. 

When I think back to my childhood, my happiest memories are days spent together on family holidays. My favourite were our camping holidays in Zimbabwe and the Drakensberg. What about you? 

Now, as a parent myself, travel and holidays are something I take great pleasure in sharing with my children and husband. I try, as far as possible to expose my children to as many new environments, people and activities as possible, to open their minds. Because this is what travel is very good at.

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts.” Mark Twain

Apparently the rich learning environments created by travel can even make your children smarter. Of all the family holiday destinations you could choose, South Africa is one of the best. The diversity of experience in South Africa is unparalleled. From beaches to bushveld, mountains and deserts… and that is only the landscapes. There is also great diversity in people, culture, language and food. Being exposed to conservation of wilderness areas in one of our national parks, can lead to a lifelong interest in conservation for children; as can the exposure to our social issues and history give children empathy for those less fortunate. Whether learning experiences for your children are important or not, you will have endless amounts of family fun in South Africa. The variety of activities are endless, but I will leave that for another newsletter. 

I have worked on some incredible family holidays over the last 2 months and these holidays are close to my heart because I feel they have the potential to be life changing experiences for the families. Each family trip has been unique in its requirements and budget. For those with a higher budget, I have enjoyed selecting the very best South Africa has to offer. For those with lower budgets, such as a multigenerational family trip which included a self drive safari and basic national park accommodation, I worked hard to create the best value trip I could offer. For an adventurous family of 4, travelling to Africa for the first time, I helped curate a holiday that exactly suits their style of travel. For two families travelling together, with children ranging from age 7 to 21, it was important to select a safari lodge that will cater to their needs, as well as activities suitable for the whole family in Cape Town.

Regardless of budget, the experience of being together, in Africa, and particularly on safari will, without a doubt, be one of your most memorable family holidays. If you’re not convinced, just ask anyone who has been to South Africa. 

I collected some of my favourite photos of our family holidays in Southern Africa in the 1980s and 1990s into this album. 

I am standing by to help you plan the family holiday of your dreams, for late this year or 2021!

Happy travelling!
Diana

P.S. Our thoughts and best wishes are with all of those around the world affected directly or indirectly, personally or professionally, by COVID-19.

The impact to travel has been catastrophic, but we believe that we will emerge stronger than before.

Now, more than ever, we are all in this together. Please look after yourselves and look after each other.

Thank you all for your continued support, it means the world to us. 

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